Review ~ Bounty ~ Kristen Ashley #COYER #ShelfLove

Bounty by Kristen Ashley
Colorado Mountain Series #7
Release Date: April 18, 2016
Genre: Adult, Contemporary Romance
Source: Gifted paperback
Rating: 5 Bookworms
Challenges: #COYER, #ShelfLove, #TravelingtotheTerminus
Goodreads

Synopsis
Justice Lonesome has enjoyed a life of bounty.

Even so, she's inherited the curse of the Lonesome. A poet's soul. Which means she's still searching for something. Searching for peace. Searching for the less...that's more.

And when the foundation of her life is pulled out from under her, grieving, she goes to the mountains to find her oasis. She hits Carnal, Colorado and decides to stay.

Deke Hightower lost everything at the age of two. He lost it again at fifteen. His life has not been about bounty. It's been about learning to live with less, because there's no way to get more.

Deke's also watched all his friends go down to the women wh ogave them what they needed. He wants that for himself. But he knows that search isn't going to be easy because he's a rider. His home is the road. That's the only place he can breathe. And the woman who takes her place at his side has to do it sitting on the back of his bike.

When Deke meets Justice, he knows she's not that woman. She's cute. She's sweet. And she's into him, but she's got it all and Deke knows he won't fit into that. So he holds her at arm's length. Establishes boundaries. And Justice will take it because she wants Deke any way he'll let her have him.

But when Justice finds herself a pawn in a dangerous game, Deke makes a decision.

When he does, he has no idea he's just opened himself up to bounty.

As per usual with anything from KA, I have myriad reasons to love it. Here are a few of the myriad as pertains to Bounty.

• Deke had certain preconceived notions of what people with money were like and he had solid reasons for these notions but I love how KA gave him Justice and therefore reason to change those preconceived notions...to realize not all people fit under one definition. And then gave him the bounty for being willing to change.
• I loved that despite the fact Justice had everything and the money to buy what she didn't, she was always looking for the less that was more. That's what she needed - less - and with Deke that's what she found... a less that was so much more.
• Justice and Deke were truly made for one another. They fit, even if Deke took a little convincing, and i was so completely natural. They were just together, even before they were, and it was easy.
• KA always but always makes the most important things in life important for her characters: family and friends. With family, it's not always smooth sailing, there are bumps in the road and both Justice and Deke had and were experiencing those bumps. But they both understood loss and that family - even when you might wish they weren't your family - comes first. As for friends - with KA, female solidarity is always a focal point and in Bounty, we got that when the women of Carnal, Gnaw Bone, and Chantalle, rallied around Justice - became her posse and enfolded her into the tribe. And Justice made that easy. But I think the even stronger expression of friendship came with the camaraderie among the mountain men. We've seen them all have each others' backs but this time there was a little something stronger in the dynamics which illustrated just how tight these guys are.
• Bounty - as a title punches you with what this story is all about. KA typically shares life lessons as a thread in her stories - at least it's one thing I always get out of one of her stories - and Bounty was no different...except it was. I loved that in changing Deke's perceptions, Justice's were altered and it all equaled a shift in perspective. At least in mine...how they looked at life - how I look at life - what it means to be happy. What do we really need to achieve it?

"Best anyone can hope for. Either the contentment of knowin' they're right where they need to be, doin' what they should be doin' among the fold they should be with or takin' a path that, least it could be is interesting, best it's a god-damned kick in the ass." -Deke

"I was grateful for thermostats and a new deck and creamy foam in my walls. I was grateful for Jim-Billy. I was grateful for fate setting my feet on that sidewalk so I could be there for a woman I barely knew, but she was a woman that needed me. I was just grateful that the life I'd been born into already giving me so much, continued to offer me bounty." -Justice

"That's it, Deke. I'm a lucky girl. Blessed. Given so much bounty, it's almost embarrassing how much God likes me. But He must really like me because I have all I have and He also gave me you." -Justice 

• KA wove in some suspense as well and she gives good suspense. I actually feared she was going to take us somewhere I didn't want to go. I shouldn't have feared but I did.

All these things combined for a deep, powerful, and compelling story with all the complexities in the characters that draw me to KA. Y'all know I love her and she's not let me down yet. Hopefully, if I talk about her enough, y'all will eventually cave - if only to see what all my gushing is about!