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Blog Tour: Fragments of Ash: Katy Regnery

by - Monday, October 01, 2018

Fragments of Ash
(Inspired by "Cinderella")
Collection: A Modern Fairytale
 Katy Regnery
Release Date: October 1, 2018

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From New York Times bestselling author Katy Regnery comes a dark and twisted retelling of the beloved fairytale, Cinderella!

My name is Ashley Ellis…

I was thirteen years old when my mother – retired supermodel, Tig – married Mosier Răumann, who was twice her age and the head of the Răumann crime family.

When I turned eighteen, my mother mysteriously died. Only then did I discover the dark plans my stepfather had in store for me all along; the debauched “work” he expected me to do.

With the help of my godfather, Gus, I have escaped from Mosier’s clutches, but his twin sons and henchmen have been tasked with hunting me down. And they will stop at nothing to return my virgin body to their father

…dead or alive.


** Contemporary Romance. Due to profanity and very strong sexual content, this book is not intended for readers under the age of 18.**


This is an edgier and twisted take on the Cinderella and Prince Charming story. Ashley Ellis has lived a hard life and has always had to be flexible and adaptable to survive. Her true identity was hidden, she never felt wanted, her home life was either chaotic or in later years totally controlled. She is an innocent in the clutches of unstable, uncaring, or controlling people. Luckily in recent years she has been away at religious boarding school and has been able to avoid some of the negativity in the home of her stepfather. But with the sudden death of her mother, she is realizing what kind of plans  he has for her and how alone she really is. 

With the help of the only two people on her side, she makes an escape. But her stepfather and his twin sons won't stop looking for her. So she is placed in a remote farmhouse that comes with a room mate. And the house mate, Julian Ducharmes does not seem like anyone's Prince Charming. He is a cranky, angry, disgraced, loner who has sworn off women. He has made mistakes that changed him and he can't seem to forgive himself. 

These two both have past issues that have marked them and are uncomfortable to talk about. They are both untrusting.  But Ashley has this sweet and giving personality and is used to managing in any situation. And Julian can't ignore his own protective streak and the attraction he feels towards this natural and genuine young woman.

This story pushes some boundaries at times. But despite the dark aspects, there is definitely a silver lining that eventually emerges. There are secrets surrounding both of them. And they have to deal with threats that could be coming their way. This is also a journey of self discovery for Ash as she learns more about her past while also exploring a whole new world in the present. All she ever wanted was to feel wanted, loved, and safe. And he really needed to feel worthy despite his past mistakes. I loved the side characters of Gus, Jock, Noelle, and Father Joseph. 

This is a slow burn,  emotional, suspenseful, mysterious, darker twist on Cinderella. But it is also a romantic story about true love, hope, healing, home, and making your own family. The little references to the fairy tale made it fun and familiar, but it also was its own unique story. 

I would have liked to have had a little more at the ending since there was a lot of  build up. The climax and resolution happened a bit fast for me. But overall it was an interesting, dynamic read with characters that really had a chance to show growth.  

I received this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Ashley Ellis has very few people she relies on. She has learned over time to be flexible, think fast, and remain unnoticed. When her mother dies, her world is set in a tailspin. She has never liked her step-father, but when she learns of his plans for her she knows she can’t stay in his house any longer.

Trusting only 2 people with the truth of her situation, Ashley sets out to change her future. But her step-father’s reach is long and it is only a matter of time before he discovers where she is hiding.

These characters were dynamic and intriguing. I loved watching each learn more about themself and the people around them. Ashley’s lack of support made me sympathetic towards her almost immediately. That she came from the background she did, was facing the future she discovered, and still trusted people was amazing to me, and her circumstances had me trusting very few people along her journey. But Julian had his own troubles keeping him secluded and learning more about him made me hope that they could find the happiness that each so desperately deserved.

The ending is the only part of this story that I felt didn’t live up to the rest. I wanted more detail, more drama in the climax. Because parts of the climax were easy to see coming, I wanted those more surprising aspects to last longer. But even with the quick resolution, I loved watching Ashley and Julian fight for what they wanted, to put their pasts behind them.

One thing I loved about Fragments of Ash, and really every book in this series, is that thought they are modern fairy tales, they don’t follow the originals in every aspect. Loosely based on the classic Cinderella tale, I found myself surprised at the direction of this story on several occasions as Ashley navigated her new reality and worked to find happiness.
 

I received this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

My mind skitters to her face—her beautiful fucking face—and the way she stared at me with those wide eyes and her lips lightly parted. Those lips. She has Angelina Jolie lips. Scarlett Johanssen lips. Liv-fucking-Tyler from the “Crazy” video lips. Except this chick doesn’t look like Liv. She’s got blonde hair and a perfect pout like Alicia Silverstone. I remember the beginning of that video when our girl, Alicia, climbs out a bathroom window in her Catholic school uniform, her skirt riding up to show her black lace panties…and ahhh, yes, I feel my cock twitch just picturing it.

Fuck my life.


Shit. Shit. Shit.


Because yeah, I was yelling at Jock, but she was standing behind him, and I didn’t miss the tight lines of her teenaged body under a pair of new jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt. Her rounded tits strained just a little against the fabric of her top. Not enough to be dirty. Just enough to hate her. Because no guy alive—least of all me—has a right to want someone like her. Or sure, we can want her, but we’ll never have her. Not in a million years.

She looked to be about Noelle’s age—somewhere between eighteen and twenty, and ridiculously young to suddenly arrive alone in the middle of nowhere, put up in an old farmhouse by a couple of aging queens.


How in the fuck is this her best option?


Who is she?


And what exactly is her deal?


I grimace because the headlines of her story—the easy parts—start materializing as I think about what I know about her. I didn’t do all that training for nothing. Plus, I have good instincts. I could practically smell it on her—the fear, the desperation, the way she wouldn’t meet me eyes except to insist that she was an adult.


God, what a joke. If she’s an adult, I’m a French poodle.


Then something occurs to me: it was Jock’s boyfriend, Gus, who gave away the most important part of her story away.


She has nowhere else to go.


And then something else occurs to me, and I wonder, Is she in hiding?


This girl—what’s her name? Amber? Audrey?—is in trouble. Big trouble. The kind of trouble that gets other people in hot water when they were just trying to live their lives and mind their own business. And she’s been dumped on my doorstep. Literally.

Fragments of Ash is part of the ~a modern fairytale~ collection: contemporary, standalone romances inspired by beloved fairy tales.

The Vixen and the Vet (Beauty & the Beast) - available now
Never Let You Go (Hansel & Gretel) - available now
Ginger's Heart (Little Red Riding Hood) - available now
Dark Sexy Knight (Camelot) - available now
Don't Speak (The Little Mermaid) - available now
Sheer Heaven (Rapunzel) - available now
Fragments of Ash (Cinderella) - coming October 1, 2018
Swan Song (The Ugly Duckling) – coming soon

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Katy Regnery

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Katy Regnery started her writing career by enrolling in a short story class in January 2012. One year later, she signed her first contract, and Katy’s first novel was published in September 2013.

Forty books later, Katy claims authorship of the multititled New York Times and USA Today bestselling Blueberry Lane Series, which follows the English, Winslow, Rousseau, Story, and Ambler families of Philadelphia; the six-book, bestselling ~a modern fairytale~ series; and several other stand-alone novels and novellas, including the critically-acclaimed, 2018 RITA© nominated, USA Today bestselling contemporary romance, Unloved, a love story.

Katy’s first modern fairytale romance, The Vixen and the Vet, was nominated for a RITA® in 2015 and won the 2015 Kindle Book Award for romance. Katy’s boxed set, The English Brothers Boxed Set, Books #1–4, hit the USA Today bestseller list in 2015, and her Christmas story, Marrying Mr. English, appeared on the list a week later. In May 2016, Katy’s Blueberry Lane collection, The Winslow Brothers Boxed Set, Books #1–4, became a New York Times e-book bestseller.

Katy’s books are available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Turkish.

Katy lives in the relative wilds of northern Fairfield County, Connecticut, where her writing room looks out at the woods, and her husband, two young children, two dogs, and one Blue Tonkinese kitten create just enough cheerful chaos to remind her that the very best love stories begin at home.



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