Review ~ Steal You Away ~ Victoria Ashley

She belongs to my brother…

I’ve stood back for years watching Dax repeatedly screw things up with Kennedy, as if he doesn’t think anyone could ever swoop in and steal her away.

Breakup after breakup, they always end up back together, even though I’ve always had a thing for her. I’m tired of waiting. He had his chance.

I want mine.

When Dixie’s Alibi — her Grandmother’s bar — needs a new cook for the food truck, I jump at the opportunity, despite the fact that Kennedy Ward hates me. At least, she pretends she does. We both know she secretly wants me and always has.

One way or another, I will get her to finally admit it, even if it involves losing my brother. I plan to play dirty — real dirty — just like he did.

This time I’m going to beat him at his own game. I wanted her first, and he knew that, but our age kept us apart. Not anymore.

Now, I’m grown and ready to take what should’ve been mine to begin with.

Naomi, at Naomi’s Reading Palace, first put Victoria Ashley on my radar. After seeing some of VAshley’s posts on Instagram about Steal You Away, I took the plunge via KU. Although there were a few issues, overall I enjoyed my first VAshley read and I’ll definitely check out more.

What Worked:

• Plot
  The main plot of the story really worked for me. Colson and Kennedy grew up together, his sister being Kennedy’s best friend. They hung out a lot and Colson wanted more but he was younger than Kennedy. Unfortunately for Colson, when he told his older brother he liked Kennedy, Dax went after her instead. Of course, Kennedy never knew of Colson’s interest but they shared a close friendship and passion for skateboarding…until Dax got to be too jealous. Now Kennedy and Dax are broken up and Colson’s back in town determined to finally win his girl.
• Characters
  The character development was done well enough to make me care about them all and root for Colson and Kennedy. The skateboarding element felt very authentic as did Colson’s culinary expertise. These things helped demonstrate the close Colson and Kennedy had when they were younger and served as vehicles for Colson to work his way back in. We could see and feel how much Kennedy had missed her relationship with Colson which made her falling for him inevitable.
• Smexy Scenes
  I’m not gonna lie – the smexy scenes were scorching HOT!

What Could Have Worked Better:

• Dixie – Kennedy’s grandma
  I think VAshley could have expanded more on Kennedy’s grandma, Dixie, and their relationship, especially as it concerned the bar which was being handed over to Kennedy. Grandma’s have a lot of wisdom to share and more Dixie would have served to further develop Kennedy’s character.
• Editing/Inconsistencies
  There were inconsistencies with verb tense as well as some very “clunky” flow in both the dialog and the narrative.

Honestly, even though I had a few issues with Steal You Away, I’m looking forward to reading more VAshley. I’ll probably check out a few of the titles that Naomi reviewed which first piqued my interest. 😉

About Brandee @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Brandee is a mom of 3 and a soon-to-be empty nester. She is also an avid reader, a genre omnivore, and a compulsive one-clicker - but she's in recovery. Besides being a reader, she's also a writer and hopes to divide the vast quantities of spare time she'll soon have between reading and finally publishing her first book.

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