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Book Review-The Girl In The Mist by Kristen Ashley

by | Jan 6, 2022 | Book Reviews | 7 comments

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

About The Book

Renowned author Delphine Larue needs a haven.

A crazed fan has gone over the deep end, and she’s not safe. Her security team has suggested a house by a lake. Secluded. Private. Far away. In a beautiful area of the Northwest close to the sleepy town of Misted Pines. It’s perfect. So perfect, Delphine has just moved in, and she’s thinking she’ll stay there forever.

Until she sees the girl in the mist.

After that, everything changes.

Delphine quickly learns that Misted Pines isn’t so sleepy. A little girl has gone missing, and the town is in the grips of terror and tragedy. The local sheriff isn’t up for the job. The citizens are up in arms. And as the case unfolds, the seedy underbelly of a quiet community is exposed, layer by layer.

But most importantly, girls are dying.

There seems to be only one man they trust to find out what’s happening.

The mysterious Cade Bohannan.

My Review

First Impression

The Girl In The Mist is the first book in the NEWEST series by Kristen Ashley. This is also the first step into a different genre, the messaging behind this book from social media was romantic suspense but I actually think it’s a blend of romantic suspense and a romantic thriller. It has more focus on romance than most romantic thrillers have but it tends to have a bit less heat and sex scenes than what you normally would expect from this author. And the way that the plot develops in this one gives the impression that it’s a mix, or at least, that is the sense that I felt with this one. I have some mixed feelings about this book here, however, because even though I greatly loved this one, Kristen Ashley has a recent change in her writing that I don’t completely jive with. But I was so pleased by so many other factors that really come together in this story. You know how much I love this author, so I did have high expectations especially when so many other readers had said it was classic KA. I don’t think it really is, it has some similarities but not really. It was quite fun to see this author try out something so different from what she has done so far. But she does tend to go to different genres in such a fun way that it was quite an adventure to see how she handled the romantic thriller side of romance.

Humans are animals. As such, we adapt. We’re also individuals. As such, how we do that is unique to every one of us.

Summary

Delphine LaRue is no longer safe, a crazy fan has made some serious threats towards her, and she has settled in the small town of Misted Pines, in a safe house by the lake near the misty mountains that give her the perfect view. Delphine has had a good solid life. She has had two divorces, but two beautiful daughters who are successful in their own right. She is ready to find a new home here in Misty Pines. Even though she is in danger, there is a sense of haven she senses within this town even if she doesn’t have much freedom currently. But then she meets a teenage girl whom she connects with, in a way that resembles a connection to her daughters. And this bond only leads her to her sexy mature father who is impressionable and a man she would love to get to know further, Cade Bohannan. Cade is a man of mystery but a solid protector who sees so much from her than she normally feels comfortable with. But now there is a serial killer in the town, killing innocent girls, the law enforcement in the area being no help, and the only warmth Delphine finds is with Cade and his endearing family who wins her heart. But will Cade and Delphine find the killer before its too late?

Stand on it as your foundation so that you allow no one, not one single soul, to shit on you again

What I Loved

There was so much to love about this book here and I just couldn’t resist sharing my love for this story here. I really enjoyed seeing Kristen Ashley explore a new sub-genre. Now I definitely feel like this is much closer to a romantic thriller (just with a bit more focus on the romance than what other authors do). There was such a solid plot with the serial killer and seeing who the culprit was and I didn’t see it coming. I felt so much love for the Bohannan family. I just adored every member of that family and saw their close-knit connections. Kristen Ashley has a talent for writing the best familial connections and in this story, it’s no exception. I adored the way the siblings play with each other and seeing how they support each other no matter what. Their father (our hero) has such a commanding presence, he is so QUIET at times and broody, love his personality. KA definitely hasn’t lost her touch when it comes to writing her heroes. He is so blunt and doesn’t hide what he is thinking and I found that refreshing. I did like that he was willing to voice his own opinion to the heroine even if he disagreed with her. But the heroine, Delphine, is the center of the story as it’s in her POV. I liked her for the most part, she had such a solid strength but a sweet nurturing personality. She is more mature and wise in many respects and she had a sense that others didn’t have. Both the hero and the heroine have the same type of psychic sense. I did feel like there could have been more focus on this psychic ability that they both have but I really enjoyed the light touch of it. It flowed gently within the story. The romance that develops between Cade and Delphine was so perfect, I just loved their sweet bond, and seeing them so “together” from the very beginning. I did really enjoy the level of couple-page time that we received even if the heat was lighter than I was expecting.

“It’s you,” he said to me. “I had her, but all along, I’ve been waiting for you to get to me.”

What I Struggled With

I won’t lie, this book I had some issues with and it might be some factors that won’t bother others, but it definitely was factors that kept this book from a higher rating. I did go into this book expecting this to have a classic KA feel to it. Other reviews I had read had left that impression but unfortunately, it didn’t quite have that. It had glimpses of course, but there could have been more consistency. Also, the pacing, is slow at times, especially at the beginning. So forewarned before going into this one here. But the pacing isn’t just slow at the beginning, there are spurts of slowness in and out of the whole story. And this is one of my favorite authors so I just wasn’t expecting that. Also, the tone in this story at times felt much more “feminist”, and even though it was more subtle, there were moments that it did rub me the wrong way because while KA has always written strong heroines, the way she writes her heroines lately is different and not as relatable. And there was also a feeling of this being an anti-marriage vibe. It happens toward the end of the book but it definitely had a cynism to it that really bothered me. (Now her book Knight wasn’t pro-marriage but it wasn’t anti either) but in this one, it just felt like an attack on marriage and the more traditional values and it felt so un Kristen Ashley. So I did try not to let it ruin my enjoyment of the story but it did affect it to a point.

Overall Outlook

I felt like The Girl In The Mist was such a unique twist in the different dynamics and growth of this author’s writing, I felt so drawn into this story despite my issues. Its a story that will touch the heart in the most poignant of ways while at the same time offer a delicious amount of thrills to entice you for more….

Book Details

Title: The Girl in the Mist

Author: Kristen Ashley

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Format: eBook

Source: Self Purchased

Length: 512 Pages

Book Links

Amazon| Barnes and Noble| Kobo| Goodreads| StoryGraph| Literal Club| LibraryThing

If You Like These Books, then I would Recommend The Girl In The Mist

Murder At Sunrise Lake by Christine Feehan

You Can Run by Rebecca Zanetti

dangerous protector by janet chapman

Book Evaluation

Storytelling Quality: 4

Story Itself: 3.75

Character Development: 3.75

Writing Style: 4

World Building 5

Feels + The Romantic Heart 4.25

Pacing 3.5

Plot 5

Cover Art 5

Ending 4.5

Book Ratings

Overall Rating of the Book

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Steam Level

Simmering—soft warm touches and light intimacy

Warm- a medium level of sexual tension, a balance of sexual and emotional intimacy, lighter on the details in the sexual moments.

Steamin’ up the room -the sexual content is more explicit in the language and tone, heavier amount of sexual scenes.

Blazing fire to the building-The prime focus is the sex scenes, scorching hot, and could burn one. Less focus on the emotional intimacy to the relationship.

About The Author

Kristen Ashley was born in Gary, Indiana, USA. She nearly killed her mother and herself making it into the world, seeing as she had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck (already attempting to accessorize and she hadn’t taken her first breath!).

Kristen grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana but has lived in Denver, Colorado and the West Country of England. Thus she has been blessed to have friends and family around the globe. Her posse is loopy (to say the least) but loopy is good when you want to write.

Kristen was raised in a house with a large and multi-generational family. They lived on a very small farm in a small town in the heartland and existed amongst the strains of Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon and Whitesnake (and the wardrobes that matched).

Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music, clothes and love was a good way to grow up.

And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better.

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7 Comments

  1. Tanya @ Girl Plus Books

    Despite the pacing issues, it sounds like KA really nailed her foray into a new genre!

    Reply
  2. Ann Lorz

    This sounds like a good story. I really enjoyed your review.

    Reply
  3. Nadene

    Sounds like it was worth the read despite the issues you encountered. I am contemplating if I should pick this one up. My one and only experience with her work did not go so well for me.

    Reply
  4. Nikki H

    Thanks for your honest opinion. I have struggled with her latest books, and have a couple stilling languishing on my TBR. I added this one to my hold list at the library and am looking forward to seeing how this one turns out.

    Reply
  5. Natalie

    Well, I’m convinced lol. It may not have the classic KA signature, but I can never go wrong with her books (although I have tons to still read of hers). Another stellar review 😀 ❤

    Reply
  6. Rachel

    Happy to see you enjoyed the story overall! I’ll be getting to this eventually.

    Reply
  7. Michele H

    Lovely review! Now I want to read this book even more (if that’s possible! lol). I will likely always pick up KA’s newest, even if it’s a totally new genre, just to see what type of world she created for us this time.

    Reply

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