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.

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.