Thursday, January 27, 2022

Hauling Ashe by L.B. Dunbar ~ New Release & Review



Release date: January 27, 2022


LINKS:

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3mBn9L2

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3zq7v8Y

Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/3yl3dyv

Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/3mGpjcB


#FREE in KindleUnlimited


Goodreads TBR: https://bit.ly/HaulingAshe_Goodreads


Tagline: Life might be a highway, but the last thing this grumpy silver fox expected was a road trip across the country with a ray of sunshine.


Blurb:

Tucker Ashford has forgotten who he was. The former rock star – Tucker Ashe – turned social media sensation knows exactly where life took a U-turn. Problem is, he’s convinced it’s too late to circle back. When he needs a ride from Chicago to California for his daughter’s wedding, an eight-state journey with a quirky woman is more than he bargained for, but quite possibly the chance he needs to rewind time.


Mae Fox is ready to discover who she is. After two decades of marriage (gone wrong), motherhood (still going), and a not-so-small business (going quite well), she’s looking for the adventure of a lifetime – alone. However, her well-planned escape of come-what-may down the Mother Road is slightly detoured when she’s asked to haul a grumpy silver fox across the country.


The highway is a melody of cheesy sight-seeing stops, nostalgic locations, and a playlist that rocks as two lonely hearts take a road trip down the path of second chances and the possibility of love over forty.


+ + +


Hint: Can be read as a standalone, but if you’ve read After Care, Midlife Crisis, and Second Chance, this is the elusive original band member who left them behind.


Trope: later in life romance; second chance romance; road trip romance; travel; dating after loss; dating after divorce


What to expect:

*Grumpy silver fox

*Ray of sunshine

*Cross country shenanigans

*Second chance

*Love over 40



Elizabeth's Review


3.5 stars  - Worth a Reader's Time

Review Copy Provided by Author


Hauling Ashe is a stand alone that begins introducing us to the Fox sisters with middle sister Mae as she embarks on a journey along Route 66. Mae ends up with an unexpected traveling companion in Tucker Ashford and the resulting journey changes more than either expect.

Overall, this is a book that I enjoyed, but I feel like I need to review it in two different parts. It's a bit hard to seperate the story from execution/voice, but for me it feels neccessary here.

The story: 4 stars: The journey Mae and Tucker take is evocative and timely. They traverse emotional journeys as the miles go by and their evolutions resonated with me. I appreciated that both characters had issues/baggage that they brought to the equation and needed to deal with. These two fit together well and balanced each other in ways that had me rooting for them to find a way to be together.

Execution/Voice: 3 stars: As much as I enjoyed this book, there were pieces of it that just didn't flow well for me. Some of these are pet peeve type things that really fall under preference, so I am not going to list them here. The one thing I will call out is that while this is a stand alone book, there is a big element of "small world" in the secondary cast (that mainly appear in conversation/memories). The majority of these characters have been main characters in other books by Ms Dunbar. While it was nice to see what these characters are doing now, for me, this distracted from the story of Mae & Tucker.

If you have been a fan of Ms Dunbar's silver foxes and books like After Care, then Hauling Ashe will be something that you enjoy as well.



View all my reviews

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