Armed with an impressive set of covert skills, she’s more than prepared to tackle any job that comes her way…except one involving Cooper Lockman.Ĭooper and Claire used to work together before his feelings for her sent him packing to Europe for six long years. ✭ NBJ TOP RECOMMENDATION | ROMANTIC SUSPENSEĪs an employee of MacBain Security and Solutions, Claire Kelly can certainly hold her own. Kristen Ashley’s intimate understanding of her characters is on full display in this story, and it hits every note of emotion.

Bursting with the author’s trademark energy and imagery, Still Standing is a celebration of one woman’s indomitable spirit and resilience, of family, loyalty, friendship, and of love conquering all, and it’s the kind of story that reminds us that the human spirit can flourish and triumph even in the face of the darkest adversity. But that is exactly what she delivers once again.

That is why I dove into her latest offering of biker-y goodness with both anticipation and trepidation, fearing that nothing could ever replicate the badass biker vibe of Motorcycle Man, or the enduring romance of Own the Wind, or the sheer raw emotion of Walk Through Fire-and she’s already given us all of those. But the problem with loving something so much and for so long is that one’s expectations only continue to rise higher and higher, and while I could read some of her books repeatedly and never grow tired of them, I know that the bar has been set sky high. I’ve had a love affair with Kristen Ashley’s books from the first moment I came across her inimitable style of storytelling, and to me, there is no one who writes Motorcycle Club Romances quite like her. I fell in love with every word, every sentence, every page of this exceptional Gen-X romance. But on the other hand, this is also a searingly personal tale of a woman navigating her way through middlescence, of finding herself after a lifetime of self-doubt, and of letting her natural sparkle shine even brighter. When they see each other again some years later, their new working relationship forces them to face their past and to deal with feelings that neither of them have ever truly gotten over. On one hand, this is a third-chance romance between two college best friends who, after losing touch for more than twenty years, run into one another and have a single night of passion that ends badly in the morning.

I’m forever on the lookout for emotionally satisfying stories with strong heroines over forty who are embarking on a ‘second act’ in their lives, and as my own years begin to add up, I find myself gravitating more and more towards not only characters with some miles on them, but also towards stories that make us believe it’s never too late to find true love in life.

Undercover by Eliot Grayson