Sebring (The Unfinished Hero Series) Paperback – January 11, 2016

In all my imaginations, and when it comes to KA there are many, I could have never dreamed a more perfect ending to this series! I think one of the things that made it such perfection was that it was so different from any of her other books, in ALL her series. But even in its vast differences, it was still classic KA magnificence in all its glory. I really enjoyed all the references and crossovers, even if just mentioned in context, from her other series. If you haven't read them yet you won't notice them, and you certainly don't have to read them to fully appreciate this story, but I seriously recommend getting on that! Off the top of my head, there were characters from Colorado Mountain, Chaos and Rock Chick, not to mention the men and women we have fallen in love with through the other Unfinished Hero books. Not only is her prose heartfelt and down to earth, it's like curling up next to a fire on a cold snowy day, her book being the blanket you wrap around yourself. Like the blanket, it totally consumes your every fiber, turning even the coldest heart into a puddle of goo by the time the story is done. And even though all the storylines were wrapped up, you still long for more because you simply cannot imagine a world where they don't exist. Luckily I'm still in that happy little bubble, but I suspect over the coming days that will pass and I will start to tumble into a KA depression that can only come from finishing one of her books. It's a catch 22 truly and the only cure is to read more of her books and dive into another equally fulfilling world.I went into this book not knowing a whole lot about Nick, even though he had a big part of Knight's book and was mentioned in the other three in the series. So I had my assumptions about him, my judgements had been somewhat drawn, but I could have never forseen just how deeply I would fall for this character. I understood what drove him to do the things he did and the man he became. But even he could have never prepared himself for Olivia Shade. That was even more unexpected. I was telling a friend that in certain ways their story reminded me a lot of Sadie and Hector but on crack. I won't go into the similarities or parallels as you truly should discover them yourself, but I strongly feel that I won't be the only one who has this fleeting thought. As Sadie and Hector's book was my favorite RC of the series, it will come as no surprise how much I fell in love with Nick and Olivia. It's difficult to talk about them without giving away too much the bare bones of their story, just know that it was filled with so much heart, fight, scorching sex, despair, and eventually, redemption. Because this truly was a story of acceptance, forgiveness, and redemption, and not just between our two main characters.While talking with a friend last night about all things Unfinished Heroes, I mentioned how even though I liked Knight, I didn't truly fall in love with him until I read the rest of the series. And if I thought it was love before, those feelings have only intensified tenfold after finishing Sebring. First in Creed, we got to witness his unexpected heartwarming soul-connecting friendship with Sylvie (Bottom of my soul. Bottom of mine!) But then to be a witness to the transformation between him and Nick. After reading Knight's book I would have thought that could never happen. As the majority of his book was in Anya's POV, it was impossible to know what was going through his mind past what he told her. But to hear their story from Nick's POV in Sebring really brought it all home. The guilt Nick felt for all his actions and his reasoning behind it. There was a conversation between the two brothers in this book that really brought it all home for me. It came from Knight and went something along the lines of Knight having such a hard upbringing that it was a pure miracle his relationship with Anya came so easily. And he was glad that since Nick had it so easy growing up he was now having to fight for his relationship with Olivia. It was pure Yin ad Yang for me and so unbelieveable poetic. This was just one of the many ways I fell in love with Knight and Nick during Sebring. You hear the title of the book and you think it's all about Nick, but in a lot of ways it was about both the brothers and only intensified the story that much more.But back to our main couple. Reading Olivia was painful, but not in the way you may be thinking. The despair, utter hopelessness and resignation that emanated from her will shake you to your core. She was trapped from every angle in her world and here comes one more person to add to that crapstorm that was her life. The daughter of a failing gangster who had been struggling for years to keep a stronghold on every aspect of his life. With the exception of Sadie, I don't think I've read a character of hers that portrayed such believeable despair. No choices were her own, having learned the hard way years ago the hard way to tow the family line. Be it her father, mother, and even sister, she was never truly free. But the benefit of a dual POV book is we got to see thing from her perspective. So even though she was essentially a prisoner in her own life, her inner light couldn't be denied or staunched, you just had to dig deep for it. But when it radiated, whew, it was so bright it would blind you. The capacity of this heart to love knew no bounds, it just rarely had a chance to exist. And that in itself was a seriously disheartening thing. Even though there were nefarious happenings going on in the outside world, when it was just Nick and Olivia in their secret cocoon the world ceased to exist. It was truly a joy to watch them grow not only as a couple but as individuals. They both went into their arrangement for very different reasons, but we all know that can only last for so long before feeling become involved.Even though this series is now over, I felt like the theme was represented thoroughly throughout and with perfection. In many ways these men were heroes, especially for the women in their lives, but they were in no way men who lived on the right side of the law. If you looked at criminals and law enforcement, these men equally rode somewhere in the middle. They existed to keep a very much needed balance in a world where it was essential to have those services. They made it a better place to be. But they still had their morals and lines they wouldn't cross. They still possessed their humanity; their ability and capacity to love with all their hearts. In the words of Olivia, "You're good at what you do. Taking care of us, the women you love, making us free in all the ways we can be."

I got it. Early into this book, I got it. I understood why Nick Sebring and Olivia Shade’s story would close the curtain to this unforgettable series. I felt it, I got it and I loved that the finale gave Nick Sebring and Olivia Shade their happy ending. As you are all aware of, because well, I proudly and maybe at times obnoxiously made it known just how much Kristen Ashley rocks my literary world. She IS, the very definition of Rock Chick and her stories are all and always, always a double platinum hit for me… Ok.. Some a triple platinum hit … But always a hit. All a hit to the gut, to the heart, and to the soul. There is something just unexplainably magical about them. The way they make me feel and the way in which they allow me to burrow myself into its pages and live the multiple lives even if just vicariously through her characters. I fell in love with a powerful man who’d go to the ends of the earth for me as Anya, found my second chance with the love of my life being Sylvie, pleased as hell to have been the woman who finally got the happy ending she’d wanted with a boy since she was 6 years old in Hannah, over the moon honored and content to have broken through Deacon in the beauty that was Cassidy Swallows… and in Sebring, I became my most favorite heroine of this series.Olivia Shade blew me away into miniscule shards. Be it from the heartbreaking and I mean… HEART friggin’ BREAKING life she’d be dealt with as a Shade or simply because she’d managed to remain good amidst the ugly that surrounded her. Whatever the reasons are, Olivia Shade had me on my knees. There were too many times that I’d felt the annoying sting right at the bridge of my nose leading up to my eyes at which would cause tears to brim and ultimately, without regard, lead those tears to crawl freely down my cheeks. A wee bit poetic? Yes. Hell. Yes. Because that’s what Olivia Shade deserves and Nick Sebring is exactly the man she deserved to finally have in her life. Frankly, as excited (and I mean… ALL CAPS EXCITED) as I was to have Nick Sebring’s story come to life… I was also apprehensive about how Kristen Ashley would turn this antagonist into her leading protagonist. I really should have known better than to even feel that shadow of doubt. Only Kristen Ashley could make a believer out of me and make me feel a hint of shame at ever thinking I’d not love this Sebring. I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVED (and I mean… ALL CAPS LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVED) him. Everything he did… He did them all right. Having atoned for his past discretions, paying in ways that would cripple other men (obviously not KA alpha males.. nope not ever), he instead became the man that Knight Sebring was proud of. And for those who’ve followed this series, that right there should say it ALL. Knight Sebring was proud of the man that Nick Sebring had become. An anti-heroine to match the most notorious anti-hero. A match made in KA heaven, a match that lit a burning, raging fire in me whenever Nick and Olivia were together.To say that Nick and Olivia were hot for each other would be too much of an understatement. These two together lit up the entire city of Denver… Hell, they lit up the entire damn state of Colorado. Animalistic, raw, primal, perverse… That’s how wild they were for each other and I FED off of them. Rock chicks… seriously.. The “hottie tottie” scenes in this book had my lady bits tingling and buzzing like bees having a rager in a honeycomb. Dripping sweet, sweet goodness I could feel their chemistry at the marrow of my bones. HOT like fire and these two were not afraid to play in it. All hail KA and her ability to get me hot and bothered when reading at places no one would ever think they could get hot and bothered at. Like I said.. Magic. KA magic. The very best kind.Sebring though bittersweet, brought back our beloved characters in this Unfinished Heroes series and boy, did those few paragraphs on each of the characters send me into a frenzy. I may have done a happy dance in my living room, not giving a care even when my husband and son directed strange looks my way. This book was the perfect culmination of everything beautiful about this series. Addictive with a set of characters that embodied what the meaning of hope is. Both defying dark pasts, slaying demons in order for them to find their happily ever after with one another. In Sebring, Kristen Ashley sheds a blinding light of faith and allowed us all to believe alongside Nicky and Livvie that goodness, no matter how stark in that moment, actually exists. KA drove it home. She knocked it right out of the park, sliding this series to a home run worth the World Series. I got it in the beginning and I still get it now as I’m emotionally writing this review why Nick Sebring and Olivia Shade’s story needed to close this chapter out and I know… I know, you will too.

Nick Sebring's story starts off with a bang and Nick walks down a path of vengeance to right a wrong that truly can never been undone. Olivia Shade, youngest daughter to Vincent Shade (one time kingpin of the Denver underworld and now crazy washed up mad man), is very much a pawn in Nick's plan.What Nick didn't count on was falling for the "cool customer" that is Olivia Shade. She's not what she appears. While she may live in the dark world of drugs, guns and violence, she's a prisoner with no way of getting out. She tried that once when she was young and foolish and paid an unforgettable price to always remind her that she's owned by her father (and her sister): by the House of Shade.“I live in dark. Dawn never comes for me. There will be no new day where I wake up complete. Happy. Loved. There is no other side to make my way to. There is no believe. It just isn’t for me.”This was a lot edgier than some of other KA books, still not as dark as other anti-hero stories, but it worked and it worked well. I also think part of this edge was because Olivia wasn't as accessible as her other heroines. Olivia's a hard nut to crack but I adored her. Despite her horribly bleak situation, she's strong, good and is coping as best she can with the horrible hand she's been dealt. Watching Nick tear down her walls and take up residence in her heart and soul was a beautiful, sexy and moving thing.And Nick Sebring *sigh*, never thought I'd come around to this man but KA worked her magic. While fully reformed (I hated this man in Knight), he does pay the ultimate price for his dastardly ways and I couldn't help but fall for him.This moved at a fast paced and while I knew where most of the plot was going, I didn't care, I was that invested and engrossed in the story of Nick and Olivia. With this being the final book in this series, it was a like a true reunion of the these unfinished heroes with cameos from all. And a sweet treat from KA towards the end! This was a great way to end a really goood series!

Uma história de superação. Nosso herói passa de um ser desprezível nos livros anteriores para um ser humano decente e digno de ser chamado de herói. Esta série trata de pessoas imperfeitas e humanas, com falhas e defeitos reais, mas que são perfeitas juntas e se completam. Nossa heroína é uma sombra que aos poucos vai tomando forma e se fortalecendo como pessoa.Ele renasce do desejo de vingança e ela renasce da estagnação total e falta de saída que é a vida dela. É muito interessante ver a jornada dos dois que se inicia puramente sexual e vai mudando a medida que os dois vão se conhecendo e deixando as facetas da personalidade deles aparecerem.Temos cenas muito quentes e também cenas tocantes entre os heróis. Como não podia deixar de ser num livro da autora, temos ação e suspense e muitos vilões.Adorei a participação dos outros personagens da série e minha frase favorita foi a seguinte:“I live in dark. Dawn never comes for me. There will be no new day where I wake up complete. Happy. Loved. There is no other side to make my way to. There is no believe. It just isn’t for me.”Recomendo muito!

Another great book from Kristen Ashley. I wasn't really sure about nick because of the way he is in knight but I really don't regret buying this book. Olivia and nick relationship was a little bit slower than what I'm used to with this author, Olivia went through a lot and she doesn't believe she can have anything for herself anymore until nick. I love how nick relationship with his brother changed and the way he is with his nieces.

Sebring it ein guter abschluss der serie und fast so gut wie knight. die serie hat zwischendurch geschwächelt, die geschichten waren zu vorhersehbar, dieser band ist wieder topspannend gut geschrieben, gute geschichte

Kristen Ashley is one of my FAVOURITE authors. All her books are amazing. All the heroes in the unfinished series are rough around the edge..anti heroes ..u havta read the book according to the series to understand Nicks mindset.This was a fantastic confusion to the series.