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As I've mentioned a couple times recently, the October book that was chosen for the Smart Women Read Romance Patreon live review was Unraveling Him by Claire Kingsley. That is the 3rd book in her Bailey Brothers so I had to pick up the first two books. Unbeknownst to me when I first picked them up, the first two books are kind of a duology focused on the same couple. Book two, Fighting for Us, is the true HEA. Fighting for Us was able to work for the cursive title prompt for the second board of Fall in Love. I also was able to apply this to the #squadgoal prompt for Bang in the Night Bingo.
We pick up 7 years after Protecting You. Asher is getting out a year early from prison after the governor's daughter exposes that she was assaulted by the same person that went after Grace and he pardons him. Grace has been waiting 7 long years to get Asher back and trying to survive in her own way.
This was such an angsty book, which I expected going in, but oh boy. I understood how Asher was going through a lot and I guess a form of PTSD from his experiences in prison. He's had to completely shut down emotionally just to survive. He had a plan to start preparing for release when it got closer to the end of his sentence, but being let go early has screwed up his plan. Grace was so sweet and did such a great job being patient with Asher.
Where this went a little wrong for me is a couple of things. It took a little longer to address Grace's trauma and what she went through both in Protecting You and when Asher was gone. What bothered me is that it wasn't even really addressed earlier when it was just Grace and Cara or Grace and the other brothers. I did wish I had read the Miles Family series first since we got discussion of her half-siblings. It was fine, but knowing that I was missing the fun extras about their stories is what bothered me. I absolutely love the addition of her best friend Cara and hope that she gets paired up with one of the brothers. It feels like it might be Logan, but I'm not sure. I don't want to spoil anything in the future so haven't really looked at the other blurbs outside of which brother is next.
It was interesting seeing the boys all grown up and dealing with the loss of Asher for so long and the struggle for everyone to adjust to the new normal. I liked the chemistry between Grace and Asher. I really love Claire Kingsley's writing and she really sweeps me into her stories. Because it was more angstier than I prefer, the book did feel a little long to me. Especially when paired with the first book as their complete story. I'm not the biggest fan of time jumps, but wouldn't have minded if there was a small one where Asher was trying to find his footing.
I'm excited to see Asher and Grace in the background of the rest of the series and see their HEA continue. Hopefully one of the future books will show their wedding. I can't wait for the next book which focuses on the reclusive brother Evan. I can't wait to continue the series and definitely need to get her Miles Family series at the top of my contemporary tbr!
Have you read Fighting for Us?
Bookishly Yours,
Stasi🍎
STATISTICS: Fighting for Us, Claire Kingsley, 4-stars, 3 days, eBook, 443 pages, published in 2020
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