Also in this series: Walk Through Fire, Wild Like the Wind
Series: Chaos #3
Published by Forever on June 30th 2015
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Motorcycle Clubs
Narrator: Kate Russell
Length: 17 Hours and 11 Mins
Pages: 640
Format: Audiobook
Source: Self Purchased
ISBN: 145553322X
The ride of her life . . . Once upon a time, Carissa Teodoro believed in happy endings. Money, marriage, motherhood: everything came easy---until she woke up to the ugly truth about her Prince Charming. Now a struggling, single mom and stranded by a flat tire, Carissa's pondering her mistakes when a vaguely familiar knight rides to her rescue on a ton of horsepower.
Climb on and hold tight . . . In high school, Carson Steele was a bad boy loner who put Carissa on a pedestal where she stayed far beyond his reach. Today, he's the hard-bodied biker known only as Joker, and from the way Carissa's acting, it's clear she's falling fast. While catching her is irresistible, knowing what to do with her is a different story. A good girl like Carissa is the least likely fit with the Chaos Motorcycle Club. Too bad holding back is so damned hard. Now, as Joker's secrets are revealed and an outside threat endangers the club, Joker must decide whether to ride steady with Carissa---or ride away forever . . .
Summary
Carissa Teodora always dreamed of falling in love, getting married and being a mother and living a HEA. But her world has turned upside down. The man she loved cheated on her multiple times, and they got divorced while she was still pregnant. Her ex pays hardly any child support, and as he is a lawyer and comes from a family of attourney’s, she was forced to only have half custody of her son. Carissa works hard to support themselves on very little. But she will do anything for her little boy. But then her life turns around when she gets a flat tire, and a biker comes and helps her out. He seems familiar but she can’t pinpoint on where she knows him from. As Carissa learns more about “Joker” she only finds herself more intrigued. Especially when he starts to pursue her with the Chaos Motorcyle Club pitching in to help her out. But Carissa isn’t used to anyone helping her out, and tries to give back what she can while trying to learn Joker and the relationship they have. But will Carissa be able to handle the truth about Joker’s true identity and be the woman he needs?
The Hero
Carson Steele, may be a bad boy and a loner but is truly a miracle when you see who he truly is and the life he came from. Carson’s mother abandoned him when he was just a baby, and his father was cruel, beat him often and practically treated him like a slave. Carson was never considered one of the popular kids in school, but there was one girl by the name of Carissa, he fell in love with. Because she saw him as a person and not the social outcast. He always wanted her but knew he could never have her. As soon as he could, he left him hometown and searched for his own happiness in the Chaos MC. He found a brotherhood, a home and a place where he truly belonged. Now Joker was such a fantastic hero. He is blunt, charismatic, charming at times but one hell of a alpha male. He takes care of his own. But he also has vulnerabilities which I found so charming. Joker is a hero that has gone through hell and back and come out on top and doesn’t even realize it.
The Heroine
Carissa Teodora, grew up in a loving home. Her mother died of cancer when she was a teenager, and her sister was killed in a brutal accident when they were kids. Carissa only wanted a family and a home to love. She never dreamed that the man she thought she loved, would betray her, use her and pull out all the stops. Carissa is willing to fight with every breath for her son who is still a baby. But she knows that she may lose him for good if her ex has his way. When she discovers Joker and the Choas Club, her life alters in a way she doesn’t expect. Carissa is hardworking, sweet and bubbly. She has her own way of doing things. Carissa was quite refreshing, and I loved her from the beginning. She stands her ground on certain things which I loved especially when it came to Joker.
“What the fuck are you doin’?” he asked…
“That’s twenty cents,” I returned.
“Huh?” he grunted.
“Regular curse words are a nickel,” I told him. “Bad curse words are a dime. Everyone knows the f-word is a bad one and since, starting now, you’re paying me every time you curse, that’s twenty cents you owe me… I’ll give it to charity or something. The way you cuss, we’ll probably be able to build a homeless shelter in a week.”
I liked the way she brings a freshness to the series I wasn’t expecting. Her personality is so open and loveable.
Plot and Story Line
In Ride Steady, I was blown away by how much I adored this book. I mean truly and honestly, this might be my favorite book of the series. I can’t express enough how much I loved this book and seeing these colorful characters from the Chaos MC. I will say that I think Kristen Ashley has written one of the best MC romance series ever!!
And that was what it was all about. The meaning of life. Why every person on the planet was there. They got what they gave and then they gave what they got, and it was the measure of you if you could endure the shit that came with life and still find it in you to focus on the good and put that out there.
I can never get enough of her, and she did a fantastic job with Ride Steady. And As a plus we see the workings of the club, and seeing more involvement of their enemy that adds a wrinkle into the plot which I truly liked seeing. We also get an introduction into some new characters that I believe are connected to her other series she has been working on so that makes me super excited. I also loved seeing the various relationship we see in this book. I loved the way this author pulls me in emotionally with the connection between these characters and boy were they fun.
When I closed the door and turned to the guys, I saw they were all leaned slightly to the right, heads tipped, eyes on my behind or, in the case of the lanky guy, my legs. I felt warmth hit my cheeks and called, “Is Joker around?” They all came to and looked to my face.
“She brought him pie,” the lanky guy muttered. “Fuckin’ brilliant,” the greasy jeans guy also was muttering. “Does Joker even like pie?” the coverall guy was only slightly muttering.
But my heart squeezed. Didn’t he like pie? Didn’t everyone like pie? Oh no! What if he didn’t like pie?
“Does Joker like anything?” greasy jeans guy asked. “I bet, today, he’s gonna like butterflies,” lanky guy noted. “Today, I like butterflies,” greasy jeans guy declared.
The story sets off with getting a flashback to the past, when Carissa and Carson “Joker” first meet and seeing Carson’s childhood. Which isn’t pretty at all. He goes through some rough times, and my heart ached for this little boy who grew up into an honest and hardworking man despite his horrible upbringing. Now Carissa had a whole different childhood. She suffered pain, but in a different way. She has lost most of her family except her father, and was betrayed and set aside by the man she gave her whole life to. I loved her inner strength. She has a heart of gold, and hasn’t become bitter over what has happened, just keeps fighting for the life she knows she deserves. There are secrets that Joker holds back from Carissa, since she doesn’t recognize him at all. He plans on keeping it that way. We see these two form a relationship with each other, start to learn each other and they go through some ups and downs.
“I’ve loved her since high school, man. She means everything to me. You gotta drag her down, that’ll suck, but I’ll pick her back up. You gotta rip her apart, I’ll fuckin’ hate watchin’ it, but I’ll put her back together.”
But we also see how much they need each other, and the romance that forms is so tender yet passionate. I kept wanting more and more of these two, because wow—-they are an awesome couple together. They just FIT so well together and I loved seeing that balance.
The Cover
What a cover!!! I love the blue and gold tones of it,
Overall View
Ride Steady is a truly magnificent romance that will take you on a joy ride in the sunset. It reveals the truth tests of life and love and fighting for what matters most!! A SEXY AND TOUCHING ROMANCE!!
“Yeah, Carrie,” he answered. “It’s you. It’s always been you. It’ll always be you. Fuckin’ always.”
I kept seeing this one around but hadn’t really looked into it. Looks great!! Thanks for the lovely review 😀
Oh yeah! Felt the same way about this one. Love the series, but I had an extra soft spot for this pair.
Can you believe that I haven’t read Kristen Ashley yet? I actually have 3 books from this series ready to go on my kindle and 2 of them are from NetGalley so I really need to read them and get them reviewed. The story sounds so good too so I don’t know why I put it off. The characters in this book sound amazing. Great review!
Carole @ Carole’s Random Life
I still have not tried a MC one 😉