REVIEW: Deacon by Kristen Ashley
C+ ReviewsContemporary romance14 Comments
Dear Ms. Ashley:
This is the fourth in the Unfinished Hero series. I’ve read Knight, Raid, tried Creed and abandoned it, and now Deacon. This is a relationship book more than anything. There aren’t a lot of hijinks and there isn’t an overriding suspense story.
Because it’s told almost entirely from the heroine’s point of view, it’s more about what will Cassie endure to have the love of her life. After years of saving, Cassie buys a Colorado property consisting of eleven rundown cabins. She moves with her boyfriend Grant and begins to renovate the cabins. Grant turns out to be a lazy asshole and her only returning customer is “John Priest”, a big guy who has danger written all over him. He pays in cash and his ID is no doubt fake.
But John turns out to be more steady than Grant and soon Grant is kicked to the curb as Cassie builds up her business. In the beginning, it’s amusing to see Cassie proudly inform the returning Priest that the rates to her cabins have gone up. With each infrequent stay, Cassie becomes more attached to the enigmatic Priest. During one visit, she takes a piece of pie to his door and is turned down, abruptly.
Yet there would be no book if Priest does not succumb. He does so but he’s not willing to give Cassie anything but his real name, Deacon, and only his first name at that. She teasingly calls him Deacon Deacon.
Part of the conceit of this book is that the reader assumes the hero is a good guy. Through Cassie’s friend Milagro we question Cassie’s seemingly unquestioning acceptance of a man who only spends a few weeks with her, never divulges any details of his past, but promises that his future is in her eyes. The reader is treated to Deacon doing good guy things such as standing up for drugged teens, being patient with children, and helping Cassie around the property. But Cassie knows only a few things about Deacon before she invites him to her bed. That he pays in cash, that his SUV is dirty, and that he looks hot and dangerous.
That’s kind of TSTL behavior.
What he does is a mystery, even at the end of the book. I have only the vaguest of vague memories as to what Deacon does for a living. I know that Knight was a pimp and that Raid was some kind of bounty hunter of sorts. Deacon’s refusal to talk about his “work” and how it was going to be hard to extricate himself from the dark life he hid from Cassie hinted at something far darker. However, this build up was met with a rather unspectacular denouement making me wonder if Deacon’s refusal to leave his job had more to do with his own uncertain emotional state than any outside pressure.
Deacon was a mystery to me!
Parts of the story unravel at the end. There’s a dark emotional moment between the two and I’m still befuddled as to why Deacon responded in the fashion that he did other than the book needed an emotional dark moment. His past was horrific and yes, I can see how experiencing that would result in strong aversion to certain things but his emotional motivations didn’t match the actions or at least, I didn’t understand.
I enjoyed the relationship part of the story as Cassie and Deacon fought and reconciled over things like money, expectations of the other in terms of contact (i.e., their first fight was over Deacon not calling Cassie back and Deacon upset that Cassie hadn’t continued to call him), children, and so forth.
In most parts of the relationship, the important parts, Cassie and Deacon were a good fit. He never interfered with her running of the cabins as her first boyfriend did. He offered advice if she asked for it. The power dynamic in their relationship was very even.
It’s a comforting read and while the pace is a bit slow, I was entertained. I wish the ending had less of a crazy factor and was more in concert with the tone of the rest of the book. I don’t really know how to grade the book. I think if not for the ending, I would have given it a B- but as I reflected on the ending when writing the review, I was really disturbed by how much Deacon was unknown to me and frankly Cassie, even until the end. I’m sure Cassie would say that she knew everything she needed to about him but I guess I needed more. C+
Best regards,
Jane
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Man, I pulled this book around me like a fuzzy fleece blankie. I loved almost everything about it, even though Deacon was a typical KA knuckledragger in some ways. I can promise you this, if my husband ever said to me, “Woman, here” when he wanted me to come to him, he wouldn’t live to tell the tale.
But I liked the sweetness of the story, and know that it will be added to my stack of routine KA re-reads that comfort me when I need it.
Knight is one of my favorite KA books, I routinely reread it. Creed was okay for me, not a memorable rereader, but I liked it just fine. Although I didn’t like Raid. But I still feel a “less than” KA is better than most other books. Normally I’m an automatic KA preorderer but this time I was cautious, waiting to hear what others thought of Deacon first. Readers on Twitter are also reporting back, saying they enjoyed it. They agree with you-more relationship, no big external conflict, but they still liked. Good news. So, looks like I’m going in. :)
I definitely thought Cassidy took Deacon back way too soon. I did enjoy the music aspect, which felt like a big part of their healing, even if it was just a couple songs, they are pretty powerful songs.
Never heard of the “Unfinished Heros”. Who are they? And what’s TSTL behaviour? Sorry, reading this I feel really green.
@Windsprite: The Unfinished Heroes is a series of books with connected characters by Kristen Ashley.
TSTL means Too Stupid to Live – an example being when the heroine (or hero) knows there is an axe murderer about but upon hearing a noise walks outside in their nightgown calling is “anybody there!” Lol!
I really disliked the songs toward the end as part of the emotional journey since they weren’t included in the book, the reader would have to pull out of the book and go listen to the music … anyway, it seemed like a lazy thing to do if the songs weren’t well known and the lyrics weren’t available to read.
I felt like 90% of the book was the KA I love to read and the last 10% I could have lived happily without.
It should also be noted that the Unfinished Heroes series is her BDSM lite series so there’s some non vanilla sex play. And if it wasn’t spoilerific, I just got to say it didn’t work for me at all. Not where it went.
@Willa: Uh, that really sounds stupid.
@Lori: BDSM-Lite? Like they’re using Plush-Chains?
I agree. I thought the ending was weirdly rushed. There were some elements thrown in that made me go “Hunh?” It was almost like there were scenes missing….like the pink flash drive with the song. I had to go back and re-read because I missed where Cassidy gave it to Deacon. Also…when was music even part of their relationship story? Including songs made sense in the context of Faith and Chace’s story and the song at the end of Zara & Ham’s was perfect. This time it was jarring and weird and seemed like a short-cut to convey feelings/emotions we were otherwise not privy to.
Still. I liked the book overall. I just wish the last few chapters could have fulfilled all the potential that was there.
I’m not sure on this one. I enjoyed it a lot more than the last couple K.A. books that have come out and I’m sure I’ll want to re-read it (since I tend to re-read K.A. books a lot anyhow), but there were some plotting/pacing issues that tripped me up.
**SPOILERS AHEAD**
First, I thought Deacon flipped the switch from unfriendly and standoffish to best boyfriend EVARRR in way too short a time — shouldn’t there have been some back and forth or contemplation time here? I fully expected him to take off and then come back after a few weeks and it was kinda weird that, in a matter of hours, he settled in.
Second, I really didn’t like that there were not one, not two, but three “very meaningful songs” thrown in all at the same time in the book. Why? Like Cathy above, I see this as an emotional cheat or a shortcut in writing and it’s one of my pet peeves. One would have been plenty. Yes, those songs are emotional powerhouses and memorable, but they came out of left field.
Lastly, the order of the reconciliation was just weird. Why not discuss and grovel first before the hot sex? I just didn’t see any way Cassie could have spent six months in a broken hearted black hole and then after a few minutes (hours?) say, “whelp, time to climb back on that guy!” In a lot of ways it shortchanged the emotional pain for both of them and left me scratching my head, plus I spent the entirety of the sex scene wondering what they would say to each other.
Like I said, I enjoyed the book, but it’s not quite there for me.
Yep, the ending felt rushed. I think there’s a Cassidy chapter missing that should have shown how Deacon’s actions impacted her. I enjoyed the humor though. There’s a lot of joking about badasses in the middle of the book that made me laugh. Maybe more than any other KA hero I’ve encountered (and I think I’ve read them all except for Mathilda), Deacon has the ability to laugh at himself — to tease and be teased. I also really liked that Cassidy already knew what she wanted sexually and found the safety with Deacon to pursue those desires. That part really worked for me.
I bought this because the beginning sucked me in. Parts of it were typical KA, though some of her phrases are beginning to annoy me. For a guy who was pretty open to discussion his reaction made no sense. I could have seen this going another way that fit this couple. His response was irrational and she took him back way too fast especially after he disappeared. The sex got weird in a not good way at the end. I think she took a risk, but the way it was introduced as atonement totally took me out of it. I think i will just read it to just before the argument and mentally tell myself that the story worked out differentky.
I found this to be an average KA book. Lots of descriptors on clothes and interior design. We know what we’re getting ourselves in to. I felt the sex was a little weird. Especially in the last half of the book. I guess because it’s supposed to be her version of erotic romance. I glossed over most of the second half sex. Like she was trying too hard. I did enjoy the romance. I’m a sucker for the KA alphahole. But the epilogue, where I think KA normally shines, fell flat for me. I won’t give it away, but I’m still feeling a little cheated by it. Overall solid book.
I loved this book! I actually thought that whilst Deacon was quite alpha he was also more flexible than most KA heroes. He let Cassidy pay for things, he let her maintain her independence and was attracted to it, he gave her quite a bit of power in their relationship, and he loved dogs. Winner winner chicken dinner! I liked Cassidy, she was a strong heroine and the book wasn’t overdone with quirky secondary characters or confected drama. It was sweet and nice and very, very sexy for a Kristen Ashley book.
I liked this one more then the last couple of books (the best being The Will) but it might be my favorite Unfinished hero book. I don’t always love KA’s books when we only see one half of a couples point of view. This one worked for me. I don’t know if it was because I liked Cassie (despite TSTL tendencies) or if KA is just getting better at showing us what a character is like without having to be in his/her head. It’s also a little odd that in a book labeled erotic I tended to skip over most of the sex scenes. Also, why no groveling? :(