Her mother’s death. His PTSD. A combustible relationship. Ashley Bryant has less than five weeks left to organize, sell, and pack away her old life before she’s uprooted and forced into a completely new one. She needs to make several critical decisions and with her life upended and spiraling out of control, the last thing Ashley needs is a sexy U.S. Marine complicating matters.Gunnery Sergeant … matters.
Gunnery Sergeant Chase Daniel’s has just buried his best friend, and his commanding officer has given him a month to commit—retire or return to active duty. Struggling with PTSD, fatigue, and grief, he stumbles into Elkridge, the quiet little mountain town, to figure out his future.
With their lives in upheaval, Ashley and Chase have a lot in common, but the last thing each needs are more complications—like their instant attraction to each other.
The ELKRIDGE SERIES is a set of steamy contemporary romance novels about wounded women and the men who heal them. If you like heartfelt characters, deep topics with powerful emotional cores, and happy endings, then you’ll love Lyz Kelley’s incredible tales of strength, love, and survival.
ABANDONED is the third full-length novel in the series and continues to give you a peek into the day-to-day lives of the town characters, and the drops clues as to who murdered Sheriff Sam.
Buy ABANDONED to unlock the emotional tale today!
more
This book is about four lost and damaged souls searching for their purpose and finding the next step they are to take after different tragic events. The two main characters are Ashley and Chase; she is dealing with the death of her mother and being “abandoned” by her father and Chase is dealing with PTSD and the death of his best friend. They are brought together by fate and the third lost soul, Lucky, the abused dog that they rescue and Ashley adopts. Ashley finds some letters that her father wrote to her mother which starts to unravel her feelings towards him, especially when he sends her all the letters that her mother wrote to him. Once Ashley puts the two collections together she begins to see herself in a new way. Chase comes to Elkridge based on a description of the town from his Marine buddy whom he has just buried. Chase stumbles upon Ashley in her mother’s store and they keep running into each other, until Lucky has them moving in together to help him recover. Strong feelings ignite, but can they find a way to meld their lives together and become a family. It takes a tragic event to open not only their eyes, but those of the final lost soul, Ashley’s Father. This was a wonderfully written story and I encourage you to read it and see how all those involved work things out to find their HEA. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Throughout Abandoned, the third book of her Elkridge series, Lyz carefully drops breadcrumbs for us to follow in solving the murder from book one, Blinded. Lyz Kelley is one of my favorite authors when it comes to reaching into the hearts and souls of her characters. She uses such wonderful, descriptive language that touches her readers, no matter if it’s emotional ( “lost, broken and shattered like delicate china” ) or her special blend of humor shown with the cupcake metaphor that is both delightful and delicipus. Ms. Kelly’s protagonists are never weak. They are flawed and scarred, yet strong and resilient. And the sizzling chemistry between Ashley and Chase is undeniable, and oh so hot! The secondary characters have so much heart that you find yourself wanting to visit this charming town of Elkridge and having a cup of coffee with the good townspeople. Another stunning novel, Lyz. I highly recommend this Elkridge series and cannot wait to read the next book.
Abandoned is the third book in the Elkridge Series and I definitely recommend you read the first two so you understand what is going on. This is Chase and Ashley’s story about their search for peace. Abandoned took me on an emotional rollercoaster ride, I laughed, I cried and I didn’t want the story to end. This series just gets better and better. I can’t wait to read more from this author. We still don’t know who killed Sheriff Sam.
Favorite Quotes:
He keeps looking at you like a woman on a diet looks at my cupcakes, not sure if he should indulge or not. I think if you gave him a reason, he might be tempted to lick you to death.
He was way too smart to be standing in Elkridge, Colorado. He should be solving the world’s hunger problems or creating world peace.
It didn’t matter whether the guy was a cook or mechanic or on the front lines, every soldier tasted war long after they’d left the service.
She couldn’t name the jumble of feelings that filled her now, many of them awkward, yet satisfying at the same time. She finally felt visible. He saw her.
There’s more polyester and Polident in this area than there are people under the age of thirty.
My Review:
I am enjoying the uniqueness of Lyz Kelley’s thoughtful Elkridge Series – each book is a different type of genre hybrid, yet they are all based in the same town with several recurring characters. The stories are inter-connected yet each installment can stand alone – which I totally appreciate. Abandoned had elements of adult contemporary romance, active military, small town, and family drama with a storyline that involved an active Marine who meets and admires a young woman while passing through her small town during the holidays. Both are struggling with major life transitions and the accompanying stressors of indecision, uncertainty, lack of familial support and a few other twists. Sprinkled amongst the angst was a bit of mystery, amusing humor, a rescued dog, and sensual steam – which could be found on my list of favorite things.