Rock Chick Archives - Kaetrin's Musings

Avenging Angel by Kristen Ashley, narrated by Stella Bloom. Fans of the Rock Chick series will love this one. I did.

So much fun* and excellent narration.

*there is a very sad part regarding Raye’s background and it involves violence to children (not super graphic but still) so content warning.
Narrated by Stella Bloom

In excellent news for fans of the Rock Chick series, Kristen Ashley has started writing the second generation in the Avenging Angel series. Avenging Angel pairs Julian “Cap” Jackson (formerly known as Sniff; yes – he’s all grown up and no longer scrawny) and Rachel “Raye” Armstrong. Cap works for Nightingale Investigation & Security and has moved to Phoenix, Arizona, to assist Mace to open NI&S’s new branch.

Mace and Stella have moved to Phoenix from LA and there are cameos from most of the Hot Bunch in Avenging Angel. Alas, not much from the Rock Chicks but I think there will be more coming up in future books. I hold out hope. However, in a not-at-all consolation prize, there is the return of Tex! Hurray and huzzah! Oh Tex, I have missed you.

Listeners should note that Raye has a backstory which will be a dealbreaker for some: her little sister, Macey, was abducted when Raye was 8 and Macey was 6. Macey was never seen again. There are some sad moments in the story around this. It’s not graphic but still, it’s a very sensitive topic and for some, it will be too much. The book also starts with Raye (being the “avenging angel” of the title) locating a little girl who had been taken and there is a subplot with missing strippers and sex workers as well.

Apart from that, the book is very Rock Chick – lots of shenanigans (alas, not all that much use of stun guns) and the kind of instalove fans of the OG series enjoy. When Cap and Raye first meet, Cap knows almost immediately that Raye is “it” for him. Of course, he shows this by breaking into her apartment (if this sounds familiar it’s because it is – isn’t it great?) and then he pretty much never leaves. The Hot Bunch do things differently but it works for them! (Caveat: obviously not endorsing this in real life but it’s definitely fun to read about in fiction.)

Raye works at Surf Club which is the Phoenix version of Fortnum’s. The owner of Surf Club is Tito who reminded me a bit of Smithy, although Tito is far more mysterious. If Raye is the “Indy” in this scenario, then Luna, her BFF, is Ally (though Ally and Luna are not that much alike both Raye and Luna do get into Indy/Ally-like scrapes). Other servers at Surf Club are Harlow and Jessie, Raye and Indy’s other BFFs. We will get books for all of them. Liam Tucker (Darius and Melea’s son) is one of the Phoenix crew, Roam will also get a story, there’s a Stark son and others who work for NI&S as well so there are plenty of hot guys and girls to be paired up in future books. According to the author’s Instagram there are currently 7 books planned in the series but that may change.

The story is different but it has very much the look and feel of the Rock Chick series. There are the strong female friendships, the male bonding, the found family and extended family and family family as well as some suspense and loads of the romantic good stuff.

Stella Bloom, who has narrated all of the Rock Chick books, returns to narrate the Avenging Angel series and, as I expected, she nails the brief. She just gets the humour, she understands the author and the characters, and her delivery of Raye and Luna is top notch. There were some lines in particular which were delivered so well I took a little time to marvel as I was listening. One is just Raye thinking to herself “oh Lord” when looking at the various members of the Hot Bunch and the catch in her voice as the line was said was just *chef’s kiss*.

Ms Bloom is very familiar with the OG cast and the style of book and this only adds to the new-but-familiar feel of the story. I enjoy her narration so much – audio is definitely the best way to take in Avenging Angel. (That said, I do hear Ms Bloom’s voice in my head when I read Rock Chick and now Avenging Angel books in print, so there’s that). Apart from the content warning I referenced earlier, Avenging Angel is pretty much a hoot and anyone who enjoyed Rock Chick and wants more of the same (in the best way) will likely enjoy.

B+

Why I read it: I bought this one as soon as I knew it was available because of course.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) As a Rock Chick, Shirleen Jackson lived through all the kidnappings and explosions. Along the way, she also watched the dramatic love stories that came with those rides unfold.

But long ago, Shirleen made her choice. It affected who she was and would always be. She decided to settle for what she had and not want more. She had good friends. She was raising two fine young men who weren’t hers, but she loved them anyway.

She was good.

And then Moses Richardson crashed into her life, literally… and deliberately.

Moses has different ideas about Shirleen. He’s more interested in the Shirleen of now, mostly because she’s interesting. And funny. And loyal. Smart. Beautiful.

But Moses has a big challenge on his hands.

He has to convince Shirleen of all that.

And then convince her she deserves to have more.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I’ve come to expect kidnappings in Rock Chick books but there are none in Rock Chick Reborn. Perhaps that’s a good thing! In some ways, the book is fan service. Certainly those who have no familiarity with the series would struggle to understand who everyone is and how they came to be where they are when the story begins. That’s not a criticism. Fan service isn’t a pejorative. And, the Rock Chick books have a very large fan base, many of whom were crying out for Shirleen to get her own HEA. Indeed, from the acknowledgements it seems that parts of the book were crowd-sourced (the hero’s name for example) so I think it’s explicit that this is a book for fans.
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