Wild And Free Tour Stop!

Abel Jin and Delilah Johnson have lived their lives with a hole in their soul, yearning for something they don’t understand.

Until one night Delilah is in mortal danger and a man who’s otherworldly strong and supernaturally fast saves her. Delilah is then cast into a world where fiction comes to life in the form of Abel, her destined mate, a vampire/werewolf hybrid who claims her at first breath as his.

But Abel knows the danger isn’t done. He’s dreamed for centuries that his mate will perish and he will stop at nothing to keep her safe.

For Delilah, she’s not only coping with fantasy come to life, but a mingling of very different families. Not to mention, she has on her hands a man who doesn’t understand his true nature and has lived his long life thinking he’s a monster.

Abel and Delilah together fills the hole that has been clawing at them for decades. But finally finding each other, it also tips their destinies as the last of The Three. They must unite with the other destined lovers, who with Abel and Delilah, are fated to save the world.

Or die trying.

Kristen Ashley is my go to author.  When I’m sad, I read one of her books.  When I’m happy, I read one of her books.  When I just want to hunker down and read a really great book with really great characters and a great plot, I read one of her books.  Needless to say I’ve been waiting with baited breath for this installment of the Three series, and boy was I so NOT disappointed!

Delilah is saved by a very mysterious and otherworldly man, and when she is something clicks into place for them both.  Abel is a vampire/werewolf hybrid (oh yes) and he recognizes Delilah as his mate.  This is a great thing for them both, as they both feel something has been missing from their lives, but it also means that they are both in danger.  As Abel guides Delilah into a world she thought only existed in fairy tales, Delilah also helps Abel to understand his true nature.  When they come together with the other destined lovers from the series, they must try to save the world, even if it costs them their own lives.

The only thing I can say about this book is…whoa.  Just, whoa.  5 stars.

Kidding, there’s plenty more to say about the awesomeness that is this book.  I just recently began reading this series in preparation for this book, as I had never read any of KA’s paranormal romance before.  But I figured I couldn’t go wrong with a KA book, and I was totally right on.  I absolutely love the heroes of her stories.  They are strong and oh so deliciously alpha, but every single one of them lives and dies for their true love.  She alone has the key to their heart and brings out their soft side, and Abel is no exception.  He is fierce, but also loves Delilah fiercely.  He does not take for granted the gift that is their love.  I am continually blown away by how she balances the alpha aspects of a hero with the lover aspects.  Many authors fail horribly at this balance, but she manages to make it perfect every single time.  I have decided that if Heaven does exist, I hope it’s a place where all the heroes of KA’s books reside.  I want to go there.

As far as plot goes, you can’t get much better.  I was hooked from the get-go.  I could not put this down and it kept me engaged and interested. It had a great pace and there were several parts that kept me on the edge of my seat.  And it is nicely balanced in the heat department too.  Vampire/Werewolf hybrid?  Oh hell yes!

Overall, I adored this book.  Read it! 5 stars.

When I first started this book, I did so without rereading the previous two books in the series. While I remembered much of what occurred in Until the Sun Falls from the Sky and With Everything I Am, it was the details regarding the series’ Immortal War storyline that escaped my memory. So with much aggrievement (yeah, because it’s such a hardship to read a KA book…LMAO), I went back and reread books one and two and am so glad I did – and not just because it’s been a few months since I treated myself to her writing, but because there was so much that occurred that I had forgotten.

As with all of her books, Ms. Ashley writes characters that feel real to me regardless of the genre of the book. Like the previous books in The Three series, Wild and Free features a paranormal hero, Abel, and a human heroine, Delilah. Despite it being a paranormal romance, she manages to give their tale a decidedly contemporary feel such that I suspect non-paranormal romance readers would find themselves swept up into the story. Taking all of that into consideration, KA managed to take Wild and Free one step further with both the paranormal AND the contemporary genres by making Abel a vampire werewolf hybrid and Delilah a biker bitch. And just like the previous couples, Delilah is the perfect mate for Abel because her being raised in the life meant that she accepted him as he was and had an innate understanding of Abel’s alpha male tendencies. This is not to say that her understanding and acceptance of Abel’s nature meant that everything was smooth sailing in their relationship. Not at all. Like all KA heroines, Delilah is sassy, independent, and not scared of her man so she has no problem going toe-to-toe with him when she needs to. And she does. This translates into some serious chemistry (above and beyond that which comes with paranormal beings) and some freaking hot sex scenes. But most importantly, a beautiful love story.

Wild and Free is an excellent conclusion to The Three series. I really enjoyed the way in which Ms. Ashley expanded the conflict between the Immortals, adding other Immortals to the series to demonstrate the breadth of the conflict but doing it in such a way that it didn’t feel contrived or forced, but rather enriched the story. Due to the conflict, fans of the series are reunited with Lucien and Leah, Callum and Sonia, and other characters from the previous books and this made for a grand reunion in spite of the circumstances. Even knowing that the couple in all of KA’s books get their happily ever after didn’t keep me from crying when things looked bleak – as I did several times during this book. For me, a KA book is a cathartic read because her stories make me laugh and cry, they break my heart and make me fall in love, and they always leave me feeling like I’ve spent hours with friends. As I expected, I absolutely loved Wild and Free and have added it to my reread list. 

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“I’m a monster, Lilah.”

“What?” I whispered.

“I’m a werewolf vampire. I exist on human blood. I can tear a man’s head off and I have. I’m a monster.”

“You—”

“I am,” he stated flatly. “And the first chance I’ve had in all my years to understand why I am as I am is to go to that fuckin’ hotel.”

I stared at him, then straightened my body so I was fully facing him. This caused his jaw to get hard again, but I ignored that and stated, “Okay, let’s break this down.”

“Nothin’ to break down.”

“Humor me,” I snapped, his head jerked, and his lips curved up.

“Carry on,” he muttered.

“Thanks,” I bit out. “First, how many men’s heads have you torn off?”

“Four, and two wolves.”

“That’s it?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“These being the night we met,” I stated.

“Yeah,” he repeated.

“The night some of them were trying to kill me and the others were trying to kill you.”

To that he said nothing.

I kept going, “So you haven’t torn off unsuspecting citizens’ heads willy-nilly, for the fuck of it, or on a psychotic rampage?”

He pressed his lips together and I knew it was to hide his humor because his eyes lit with it before he unpressed them to say, “No.”

“Right,” I said sharply. “Have you ever had a psychotic rampage?”

He shook his head.

“So let’s get to the human blood part,” I suggested. “When you were,” I paused, “drawing from one of your ex-bitches, did you ever kill one of them?”

“Fuck no.”

“Take too much and make them sick?”

“No.”

“Do it against anyone’s will?”

His eyes went guarded, but he said, “No.”

I threw up a hand. “Okay, so what’s the problem?”

He blinked, straightening in his chair, but again said nothing.

“I mean, seriously,” I went on, “I’ve seen lots of vampire movies and TV shows and even the good vamps screw up and overindulge. Hell, Jessica killed three fairies in a ravenous attack. She might have had her issues as a young vampire, but by that time, she was full-on good.”

His brows shot together. “Fairies?”

“Fairies.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

I threw up both hands and cried in exasperation, “True Blood!”

“Jesus, Lilah,” he muttered.

“No, seriously, Jessica is very sweet.”

“For fuck’s sake,” he growled, sounding like he was losing patience, which I didn’t figure was a good thing.

“Okay, back on track,” I began. “Tell me. Tell me one instance in your life where you actually behaved like a monster.”

“I wanna fuck you,” he snarled.

I stared.

“Yeah,” he ground out. “I wanna fuck you, Delilah. Consumed with the need and I have no idea why, but I can guess, seein’ as it’s like you’re a bitch in heat, I’m a dog that catches the scent and his mind is wiped…wiped of anything…but the need to mount you and”—he leaned forward—“rut.”

“Holy fuck,” I breathed.

“Yeah,” he said again. “That make you feel safe?”

“Abel—”

“I can smell your fear.”

I swallowed.

“It turns me on,” he kept going. “Makes me wanna tear into your throat and fuck you and feed from you. Now, does that make you feel safe?”

“No,” I whispered, because it really fucking didn’t.

“Right. No,” he bit off. “So I’m not a monster?”

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