Saturday, September 9, 2017

Book #Review: Ashwin (Gideon's Riders) by .@KitRocha

Book Title: Ashwin (Gideon's Riders)
Author:  Kit Rocha |Website| Twitter| Facebook|
Genre: Dystopian Erotic Romance
Series/Standalone: Series
Format: ebook
Cost: $4.99
Pages: 266
How I got it: Purchased
Purchase: Amazon | B&N |
Publication Date: March 7,2017
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Synopsis:
The first book in the follow-up to Kit Rocha's bestselling BEYOND series...
Gideon's Riders, Book One

Lieutenant Ashwin Malhotra is a Makhai soldier--genetically engineered to be cold, ruthless. Unfeeling. His commanding officers consider him the perfect operative, and they're right. Now, he has a simple mission: to infiltrate Gideon's Riders, the infamous sect of holy warriors that protects the people of Sector One.

He's never failed to execute an objective, but there's one thing he didn't anticipate--running into Dr. Kora Bellamy, the only woman to ever break through his icy exterior.

When Kora fled her life as a military doctor for the Makhai Project, all she wanted was peace--a quiet life where she could heal the sick and injured. The royal Rios family welcomed her like a sister, but she could never forget Ashwin. His sudden reappearance is a second chance--if she can manage to touch his heart.

When the simmering tension between them finally ignites, Kora doesn't realize she's playing with fire. Because she's not just falling in love with a man who may not be able to love her back. Ashwin has too many secrets--and one of them could destroy her.
I went into this one right after finishing book nine in the Beyond series and I'm so glad, because that book was amazing and while it continued the story of Sector Four it also gave us a bigger glimpse into Sector One and this one dives right into the Sector.  Sector One differed greatly from Sector Four, while Sector Four was all things sexy, dirty and raw, Sector One is all religious, royal and most closely resembled the world before the flares.

In Sector One Gideon is the royal heir who rules the people while he passed the powers of the religious aspect of the Sector to his sister who more closely resembled what the people needed.  Despite this clear and open decree there are those who don't believe that a King would really give up power, and so Ashwin is sent in to infiltrate and report back the truth.

When the war was taking place Ashwin asked Bren for a favor, for him to hide Kora because he feared what he as a Makhai warrior might do to her, Bren did as he asked and no matter what Ashwin did he couldn't get the information he needed about her whereabouts.  He came to Sector One to complete the mission and in doing so discovers Kora.  He knows that what's left of Eden doesn't know his secrets and he can't have them discovering them now.  By being here he places Kora in danger she's unaware of but he can't leave either. Now he is faced with completing the original mission or falling into line and aiding Gideon which aides Kora; what does a Makhai warrior who should have no feelings but the desire to complete the mission do??

Kora was one of the most gifted doctors in Eden and as such she was made to work on the Makhai warriors, being who she was she tried to make life better for them, especially for the warrior Ashwin.  She felt the connection with him and wished to make his life just a little bit lighter, but the Makhai are not meant to feel, fear or express emotion, they should only emulate the ones they think others need them to feel.  When she ran to Sector one she was welcomed into the royal family and treated like a sister to Gideon and while this made her uncomfortable it did give her the ability to walk amongst the people and aide them the best way she knew how.  In walks Ashwin and her life gets turned on it's head because with him comes danger not just to her but to the sector as well.

I absolutely loved this story.  I loved Ashwin as a character because he's so lost as to who is he to be.  To get and keep Kora he needs to be more of the man he had felt himself becoming before the end of the war, but he fears where those desires will lead him.  I cried when it was revealed what Ashwin did to save Kora because only love would have pushed someone to that extreme.  Having seen what an Makhai warrior in love could do Ashwin protected himself, Kora and the Sectors by going back to the military and considering the mission first. Kora for her part could no longer face the mission, she believed Ashwin fell during the war and that loss carved a part of who she was out and she wasn't willing to aide in the destruction anymore.

There are so many sweet moments as Ashwin learns what emotions are and how to handle them.  As he struggles with the training, the conditioning and his hearts deepest desire.  I loved that he learned to tell knock knock jokes for her, I loved their first dance, that moment made my heart hurt with the sweet innocence and yet dance with the simple eroticism inherent with two people dancing so close.  We had been seeing Ashwin a lot during the final books of the Beyond series and knew he was doing way more than he was supposed to be doing since he's truly supposed to be an agent of Eden, so when I knew we were getting his story I just knew it was going to be amazing.  And it wasn't just amazing, it like the Beyond series jerked your emotions, made you love it, made you want to cry, and turned you on while making you fall in love with not just the characters but with the sectors as well.

Ashwin's struggle to understand who he had to be here in the sector, Kora's desire to aide him while healing from being a part of Eden was a great story to read.  I absolutely am in love with Isabella and her family, Gideon is this mysterious leader that makes you want to sacrifice for him but doesn't ask it from anyone.  My favorite scenes are when the sector comes together, when we see the Riders healing from their extensive loses in the war.  I absolutely love the temple and the Priestess there who sees so much.  I also loved when Ashwin and Kora are at the hidden bunker, those moments are the best because they mean so much to the story.

I love the sector we are beginning to see and can't wait to get more. I especially loved that there were so many layers & secrets not just in Ashwin's life and Kora's but within the sector as well.  I can't wait until we get more. I especially want Gideon's story, but we won't be getting that one for a while I think. It will be interesting to see how this sector truly shapes up after the war, who Gideon turns out to be, how they rebuild the world around them and what the sectors fate will be.

I highly recommend this series and the Beyond series my loves. I literally read this in less than a day. I refused to stop reading until I knew everything that was happening in the world and now we have to wait for the next one**sob**
 ★★★★1/2☆
Happy Reading my loves, 


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