This book is technically part of a series, but you don’t need to read the previous ones to understand the plot. It’s the same universe, but different characters.

Check out my review for Torment: Part One & Torment: Part Two (the first two books in The Bleeding Hearts series) if you’re curious.

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SYNOPSIS

Fate is as fickle as an unattended flame, you never know what’s going to happen—and sometimes all that’s left are the ashes.
Twice now my life has been altered by the choice of someone else.

The first time I was ten; when my mom got married she moved us into a better neighborhood, which meant I had to leave behind everything and everyone I loved.

The second time was six years later; when someone made the choice to drive instead of calling a cab, my life was once again altered and I had to move back to the place I left. Harley had always been a bad neighborhood, but things had gotten so much worse.

No one should walk down the streets alone after dark, and gangs ruled everything, including the classrooms.

Then there were them; Vail, Lee, and Shaw.

The three boys I grew up with. I cried over them for days after we moved away, the loss I felt was only overshadowed by the knowledge that they didn’t want me there.

Once upon a time they tried to protect me from the hardships of our neighborhood. Now they are the hardship.

But like the nursery rhyme we used to sing said, eventually,
We all fall down.

Trigger Warning

**Warning: This book is meant for mature readers, 18+.

Ashes is a 135k+ word mature high school/contemporary dark romance and contains scenes and situations that may be upsetting for some readers. Includes several triggers and sensitive material such as: domestic abuse, profanity, gang violence, PTSD, depression, anxiety disorders, and sexual assault. This is a reverse harem novel, meaning the main character has more than one love interest.

Please do not read if you are uncomfortable with any of the above. Thank you. **

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REVIEW

I loved the scenes where Casey & the boys were young. All of them were really cute, they had so much potential. I was sad when they were separated by the move. I was so excited for them to reunite and to discover the reasons why they ghosted her…

…then I was disappointed by one of my least favourite tropes: the characters had decided not to communicate…just because. And they kept doing it. There was no reason for them to treat Casey like a little girl and keep withholding information, keep refusing to include her.

Ashes had a lot in common with the Losers series by Harley Laroux (Reverse Harem, Polyamory, Gangs/Violence) but the men in this one were a lot more jealous (especially Vail). Jealousy doesn’t appeal to me. I was a little disappointed the men never got sexually involved with each other. I don’t understand how Casey wasn’t exhausted.

The last third of the book had new characters emerge from nowhere. I didn’t care about them at all. It really broke the flow for me.

It was nice to see James (from Torment: Part One & Torment: Part Two) even though it was brief. I like the backdrop of all these romances, with the increasing gang violence. I’ll read the last book in the series just to see where it goes, but I’m not rushing.

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