Play It Safe

Publisher's Summary

No connections. Play it safe. These were the rules Ivey lived her life by. Until she hit Mustang, Colorado, a perfectly imperfect town where the citizens were welcoming, and one of them included the tall, beautiful, macho-man rancher cowboy Grayson Cody.

On the run for a decade, Ivey knew she was supposed to play it safe. But she was tired of being on the run. She wanted normal. She wanted real. She wanted a home. And she wanted Grayson Cody. And Grayson Cody wanted Ivey. No one who looked at them couldn't see they belonged together. There was one man in this world for Ivey and one woman in this world for Grayson Cody. So they fell in love.

But just as quickly as they fell together, they were betrayed and torn apart. Separated for years, Ivey was certain her life would not include her rancher cowboy. Until the town of Mustang reached out to her when Gray was in trouble. Even though she thought he broke her heart, she charged in to help. Then Gray and Ivey discovered they were betrayed, and, not only that, but Gray had an enemy who would stop at nothing to defeat him.

©2011 Kristen Ashley (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

A NICE LOVE STORY THAT ENDURED SO MUCH TURMOIL

Ivey, together with her older brother, were nomads and had been hustling around the States since Ivey was 12.... until they landed in Mustang - her brother thought he'd found love but it was actually Ivey that would eventually find it with a handsome, sexy, dimpled Ranch owner named Grayson. Grayson knew this beautiful, fragile, innocent 22 yr old woman was different and , from their very first meeting, they were drawn to each other..... although it didn't start off too well.

Grayson was very understanding, thoughtful and kind to Ivey guessing at the vulnerable and precarious position she was in. So he took it day by day to tempt her to stay with him, to tempt her to trust..... and to tempt her to be his. Then, just as they had finally found happiness, they were both bitterly, heartbreakingly and utterly betrayed.... a betrayal that would take years to heal, a betrayal that brought years of heartache, a betrayal that changed the direction of Ivey's life and a betrayal that would make her some lifelong friends.

So their broken hearts, dreams and trust wasn't going to be easy to fix, lives had moved on... Ivey was now famous, had hardened her heart and was doing well. But unfortunately Grayson's Ranch had suffered one man-made disaster after another and had hit rock bottom - and it was then that Ivey finally stepped back into his life.... to save him - and the Townsfolk of Mustang. Because Ivey had initially made friends there and had finally felt the desire to stop hustling, get a job and put down roots.... roots that were viciously torn up with the heartbreaking betrayal by someone whose motives she never doubted or questioned..... but alas she should have done.

Another enjoyable KA romance, it spanned years, was so frustrating during their breakup and for the time lost so unnecessarily, there was passion sex and explosive chemistry, some good secondary characters along with a villain or two and a love story that endured.... despite time, drama and each other's vulnerabilities and wrath. Told from Ivey's POV, great narration and an Epilogue that spanned months then years.

Worth a credit? Yes, it wasn't my favorite KA book, I felt there was a lot of unnecessary descriptions and the story did seem to go on a bit.... but nevertheless an emotional love story that deserves to be heard, savored and enjoyed.

15 of 16 people found this review helpful

A Must Read/Listen...

When I read this years ago I liked it. But usually I Love KA novels. It was obviously the head space I was in because I just finished it and holy heck it was fantastic. Absolutely, amazingly fantastic!

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

I wanted to love this story but I didn't

I loved Lash! I hated this story! Ugh it was drawn out and annoying. Too drawn out and the antagonist was predictable and again annoying. This is a miss on KA :(

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

I need more

If you could sum up Play It Safe in three words, what would they be?

Great love story

Which character – as performed by Savannah Richards – was your favorite?

Love them all but I have to say, Lash is awesome !

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Great Story!

Really enjoyed this book. kept me wandering how the ending would turn out. Really good

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Favorite KA book so far!

I was about to give up on KA. I really liked Soar. But some of KA's books seem far too weighted toward steamy bedroom scenes leaving them thin on plot. This book was a pleasant surprise as it was fairly fast paced with an entertaining story line and several well developed characters.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Not one of KA's best

I don't know if it was the narration but the story didn't grab me like KA's usual fare. I didn't get hooked into the characters and the story was all over the place.

5 of 6 people found this review helpful

Longing and Hope

I was excited about this audiobook version because Kristen Ashley is an automatic download. I didn't notice until I was a 10th of the way through that I had already read this book, but that didn't stop me from enjoying this story again. This story had the beauty of two people from different worlds coming together and choosing to make it work against many odds. The heartbreak of life interfering and the struggle of finding that beauty again. I was undone. Savannah Richards brought even more to the book with her narration skills. It's been a long time since I have listened or read a book more than once. This one is good enough to come back to for a third time.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Perfect Pairing

Great book with great narration. Loved Mustang, CO. Loved Gray and Ivey, the good guys, the bad guys, the supporting townsfolk. All of it. I won't rehash the story. I'm going to focus on the overall listen, but I will say that there were definitely moments where my nose stung and my chest hurt and moments where I had to hit pause to stop laughing. These are the things that make every Kristen Ashley story an experience, rather than just a read or listen. I absolutely love her writing style and her ability to communicate those subtle little "somethings" that make all of her books immediately go into the category of "definitely revisit, often and repeatedly."

Savannah Richards is a total professional. She narrated "Knight" (highly recommended) by KA, and I was so happy to see that she was doing another of her books. I really like her delivery and style. Her voices are good, and her inflection is perfect, as far as reading the sentences in the way (I believe) they were written to sound. There are a lot of narrators who let that slide, but SR does an absolutely fantastic job.

While I'm gushing, here's a well-deserved THANK YOU to Audible Studios: KA's audiobooks are coming out fast and furious, and this has concerned me as someone who is exclusively a listener, but even with the speed of production and all the various narrators, there hasn't been a badly-read one yet. Even when a good narrator is paired with the wrong book, it can get ugly, so again THANK YOU to the person/people who cast the narrators. You are top notch!!! Again, because I only listen and never have time for actual reading, if a book is narrated badly, it is irrevocably lost to me. Thank you for consistently exceeding my expectations!

If you are looking for a great story that is also a fantastic listening experience, Play it Safe is a standalone novel with no cliffhanger. I don't know if there will be further books that are set in Mustang, but I thoroughly enjoyed this. Heat factor is pretty hot, though not gratuitous or using sex to make up for a lack in storyline. Whether it's cash, credit, Whispersynch or sale, this is definitely worth purchasing.

14 of 19 people found this review helpful

if you like profanity, this book is for you . . .

Although the plot was decent and the characters were well developed, "fuck" was the most common word used by all characters in the book. This is typical of Kristen Ashley, but worse than her other books. The characters were shallow and sophomoric.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Excellent

This was a beautiful and emotional story that was delivered with a brilliant performance. Had been getting a little bored with the usual plot line of KA books, but this one restored my interest. Loved it.

Amazing

Loved everything about this book and the narrator was fabulous. Grayson Cody is everything you would want in a man.