★ A TOP 35 AMAZON BEST SELLER! ★I should have died.I should have been forgotten.But I didn’t, and I wasn’t.Living the life most women only dream about, I was madly in love with my soulmate–Asher Valentine–amazing husband, loving father, and rock’s favorite frontman. A man who loved me every day, in every way, since we first met as teens. We were blessed with a beautiful daughter who was the … teens. We were blessed with a beautiful daughter who was the light of our life. My all-female rock band was tearing up the charts.
Then tragedy struck, and I lost it all.
Now, after waking from an eight-year coma, all I have is a stack of journals, an antique key, and a big black void where my memories should be.
Used to be.
And I have him–this man with wild hair, tattoos from head to toe, a soft voice, and an even softer touch that gives me butterflies. He’s clearly hopelessly in love with his wife.
I’m told that’s me.
But that wife is gone, and she took everything they once had, leaving me in her place.
A broken replacement. A new version that doesn’t quite fit.
I’m slowly falling in love with him, but will he ever truly love me? Or will he forever be in love with her, the phantom woman who haunts us both?
* Asher can be read as a single book
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5 stars for Loving Twice- Now And Forever
Breathtakingly Beautiful and Achingly Desperate, it’s a love story standing on shaky grounds, hanging by a thread of insanity
I’ve NEVER EVER read a book about Amnesia like this before. It’s the ultimate rift causing villain and only the dearly, decisive love is what helps them beat all the odds. It hits deep, right down in the soul and camps there. Asher’s book has been highly anticipated, eagerly awaited and lemme say this- the wait was Totally Worth It!!.
It’s a heartfelt journey of an excruciating romance between a hopelessly devoted husband- Asher Valentine and the love of his life- Ember. Carian squeezed out all the tears out of my eyes At Every Word. I felt their amazing connection, the depth of their undying love, all through the book. It’s undoubtedly the The Best Book In The Series
“The accident was like a bolt of lightning. It struck me first, but then branched out, searing everyone close to me with its electric shocks.”
A major accident throws their life into a tizzy. Asher is left with a haunted shell of his wife. It’s like he’s standing on shifting sands, the memories lapping at his feet like waves, pulling him in and throwing him back on the shore. His wife is lost in the fog of her memories, in a suspended vaccum, trying to come to terms with her new life without her old connections.
“I didn’t just lose eight years of my life while in a coma. I lost my entire life. Memories, experiences, relationships, loves and hates, my career, my family. Things I obviously believed in, worked for, fought for, and cherished.
All wiped clean like a crashed hard drive.”
It was so interesting to see how a weakened Ember manages to settle her anxieties but the ripples of the tragedy ultimately weaken Asher, his trauma is no less scarring or debilitating than Ember’s. Their marriage goes through tough times and back, yet Asher hangs on to their connection, never letting go. Funnily no outside factors cause turbulence, it’s their own intense love that invites this third entity into their marriage
“You’re stuck on a past that doesn’t exist in her mind, and she’s tired of competing with it. And you’re stuck on her being who she used to be.”
The shift of the spotlight was a brilliant move on Carian’s part, a feat achieved by a faithfully sensitive soul and an impressive talent.
A boat unmoored. A loveless relationship. A tormented mind.
Ember is being pelted from all sides by anxiety, panic & identity crisis. Yet her strength of spirit and survivor tenacity amazed me.
Asher is the stuff dreams are made of. His unswerving loyalty and unwavering dependability is tested in every chapter and I was frustrated FOR HIM. My heart cried out FOR HIM, what a perfect partner, he made me swoon, made me fall in love, made me pine for his affections.
‘Asher Valentine, you’re—’”
“—giving me some major crazy butterflies,”
This is truely the Perfect Couple who made me believe in the Miracle of Magical love.
Carian has written this book, this entire series with a lot of heart. highlighting the soul connections between artists and their muses, Each book has been a beautiful journey, but Asher’s is most temepstous and magnificent. I cannot wait for the next two characters to get their stories.
“Sometimes things have to hurt before they get better.” – Asher
Crystals, butterflies, dreams. In the world of Asher and Ember…the angst, emotions, and love…that takes place the moment Ember awakens from a coma through the high hopes of Asher’s commitment to his soulmate. Regardless of the setbacks that stem from the traumatic experience, their journey gives way to the magnetic connection between the two; at times unrequited, and yet tethered by an unyielding connection, which had me unable to put down this book!
“I love you twice—now and forever.”
Soon after awakening, the relationship between Ember and those in her life, become key to understanding who she was and who she has awakened to. The constant change throughout the story weaves the journey of the Ember today, while existing with the ghost of Ember from before, all while Asher comes to terms about who Ember really is, and who he knew as his wife.
This rating was given for the author’s unique style of delivering an intricate story of life, love, loss, and renewal. Asher and Ember’s love story will forever be one of great trials and overcoming tribulations, all in the name of love. I found Asher and Ember’s unwavering bond to be breathtaking, and engaging. Also, I enjoyed the cameos of interrelated characters from other Cole novels.
“Years of not being able to communicate, forgotten memories, and altered appearances can’t change that our hearts always, always, find a way to beat together.” – Asher
Carian Cole’s Asher is an emotional, angsty, second chance love story, and book 6 in the Ashes and Embers rockstar romance series. I look forward to additional novels by the author, and highly recommend.
Carian Cole
Asher’s book is amazing! The love between Asher and Ember is unbreakable. Their story is not always easy, but because of that you can more relate with them. Wonderful book, highly recommended!!!!!
Darling, I Fall To Pieces When I’m With You
*read on KU. No need of sugar daddies called promo teams*
What’s this book about? (I’m trying to give as little spoilers as possible)
Ember is confused. She shouldn’t be here. She doesn’t belong in this perfect life of love and happiness. She doesn’t recognize the person she used to be. Gradually, she starts to fit into her new old life. She’s falling in love again, but she doubts his feelings. Does he want her or Ember?
This was my third Carian Cole read. Torn, Tied and Asher; I read them back to back. As always, this was a captivating and addicting read. Fast-paced, emotional. This was once again more steamy than Tied. Asher and Ember have such a deep connection that even the barriers of the books couldn’t stop. The first half had me heartbroken for Asher. I had a tougher time connecting with Ember, and she’s actually the main reason why I started drifting off after 70%. This being the third book I read by the author, I’m noticing a pattern in the characters, and I wonder whether that was just my luck with my choice of reads by Cole or if she always has these patterns LOL. The book made me understand how hurt and traumatized Asher was for all these years, and the final 30% just screwed all of that up. I tried to be understanding, but the lack of communication really made me dislike a certain someone.
I recommend this to lovers of heartfelt romance, a couple of the ages, and a family drama unlike any other.
I have been waiting for this story since I first read about Asher, way back in the day! Now this can totally be read as a standalone and please don’t be discouraged by the series number of this! I am telling you right now….READ THIS!
Asher is Asher and Ember’s story, their long history, their love that encompasses and brings them strength, through the good times and the bad.
This novel is going to put your heart in a blender set on frappe. I felt all the emotions in this book. In fact I had to put down my kindle because I was afraid my tears (a full-fledged ugly cry) was going to short it out. I would catch myself laughing out loud, and I fell in love hard with both Asher and Ember.
This story is about learning to love again and the magic that happens when two soul mates go through tragedy. To look to a new future, to try to let the past go and be in the now.
Ms. Cole has an absolute magical writing style, she brings the reader into the world she creates and makes you feel like your part of the story. You become invested in the outcome of her characters, you will laugh, cry, and cheer them on like they were your own family and friends.
This is definitely in the running for my “Best Reads of 2020”. Well done!
I feel like I’ve been waiting for this story forever and it was definitely worth the wait.
Asher and Embers love story was so tragically cut short.
In a coma for 8 long years after her accident and subsequent brain trauma and during that period Asher has never given up on his wife his hope in their future and her eventual recovery is what has kept him going.
visiting her every day sitting by Her bedside and wishing for a miracle.
The medical experts all telling Asher it is extremely unlikely that his wife will ever recover.
And then a miracle happens and Ember awakens but she is far from the wife Asher remembers.
In fact, she has no memory of even who she was and definitely no recollection of her loved ones.
It’s like slowly piecing together the jagged edges of a broken puzzle and Ember feels that she just doesn’t fit into the mould.
She feels so disconnected and separated from her former identity that she actually feels a sense of displacement and almost irrational jealousy against her former self.
Almost like a cuckoo in the nest and Ashes expectations weigh just as heavily as she just can’t and almost doesn’t want to be the woman he loves and wants her to be so desperately.
In her head its almost an invisible power struggle with her former self.
Asher himself is also struggling emotionally and is holding on to the hope that Ember will eventually recall there past.
But at the same time, this is also preventing him from forging a new connection one void of its former expectations with a whole new Ember.
This was such an emotional journey and concentrates mostly on the intricacies of human relationships and bonds.
It’s a rediscovery of love and the question of what do you do when your whole life has been erased.
It doesn’t just affect the immediate individuals but has such a far rippling effect on all involved like a pebble on a pond, echoing outwards.
This was a story about rebuilding connections and rediscovery.
If I’m honest though I wasn’t completely sold on the finish with this as I felt it was slightly bittersweet and contradicted what Ember was trying to originally project and accomplish with herself and her whole new persona and Asher’s acceptance of it all.
It felt a bit of sell-out and totally negated all the effort Ember had put in just for others to see her as an individual separate and apart for her forgotten past.
I feel it implied that without her memory’s she was still somewhat lesser in her husband’s eyes and Asher was just biding his time until his wife’s past came back fully.
In the meantime, he was really just settling for the next best thing.
It made a mockery of all her inner turmoil and their former struggles.
Still, I did enjoy this a lot it was excellently written and very engaging and easily managed to keep my attention throughout.
I also managed to read this in one sitting, which says it all really.
I voluntarily reviewed a copy of Asher.
Reviewed By Beckie Bookworm
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This is the story of Asher and Ember Valentine. Ember had an accident and was in a coma for 8 years. Asher remained faithful to her and held onto hope for her to wake up and resume their life together.
But as Ember wakes up, she has no memory of her past life with Asher.
This is the story of how they rekindle their love and how they each deal with Ember’s recovery.
This book was such a great emotional rollercoaster. It was really slow paced but rightly so. I thought the ending was a bit drawn out but I loved the raw emotions.
True love at its best.
Who wouldn’t want a man like Asher Valentine? He will do anything for the love of his life.
Seven years after an accident left Ember in a coma, she finally wakes up, but now she has amnesia. Asher, Ember’s husband, is not your average rock star. Even though millions of women threw themselves at him, he remained faithful to his wife. He was by Ember’s side nearly every day when she was in the hospital. He even slept on the floor at times. When she finally woke up from the coma and came home, Asher does everything possible to help Ember get her memory back. But even when it looks like she won’t remember a thing, he still doesn’t give up. When Asher said his vows, for better or worse, he meant it.
Normally if I were to read a blurb where someone has amnesia, I would think “ho hum, another amnesia tale”. But Carian Cole has a way with words that blow me away every time I read one of her books. This story was raw and emotional, heartbreaking and hopeful, and everything in between. I won’t be able to forget this story for a long time.
I have been intrigued by Asher since he first appeared in Storm’s book. He has always been in the background of each book. Always helping the couples find their way. I knew something happened to his wife Ember, but never the full story. Just bits and pieces here and there. It had me so excited for his book.
Asher and Ember have been together since they were 14 years old. They never fought or argued. They were always happy making music and raising their daughter Kenzie.
Then a tragedy occurs and Ember is in a coma for almost 8 years. When she finally wakes up, she has no memory of who she is at all. When she looks in the mirror, all she sees is a stranger looking back at her.
Their story defines true love. Just because the memories are gone, doesn’t mean that our hearts forget.
I am really intrigued for Redwoods story.
After devouring all of Carian Coles books I realized there was one story that was missing. Asher and Ember’s story. While the world sat and waited for this story to come to life it quickly became one of the most antipated reads of this year. Its also at the top of the best books for this year. Be prepared for a roller coaster of emotions. Even within the first chapter I was in tears. (Don’t try to read this at work, trust me.) But with in the pages we learn how deep Asher’s love really is for Ember. We see joy and sadness when Ember wakes up but does not know anyone. There are some genuine heartfelt moments where we experience true and pure love, as well as humor. I tried to savor reading Asher but once you start its so hard to put it down. I can’t wait to find the time to read this one again. If I could give this book more than five stars I would. Sometimes you just have to let the words and emotions consume you to take the time to read it again.
“I don’t want to be alone anymore. I miss you – your love and your touch. And I hate missing you when you’re Right. F*&^ing. Here. It’s destroying me” – Asher
Asher and Ember are relationship goals. They’re the live story we dream about having someday. They only ever loved each other and planned on loving each other twice – now & forever. Tragedy strikes and Ember is in a coma for 8 years. Asher’s love never waivers. He continues to love her now and forever. When she wakes, she has no memory. This book tells the story of their past told through Asher’s memories and Ember’s journals, their present, and their future.
This book was a rollercoaster. You experience love, laughter, tears, and gut-wrenching heartbreak. It breaks your heart, sews it together, and breaks it again. It was a remarkable story about love, loss, and second chances.
This is the 6th book in the Ashes & Embers series and holly sh!t that was an gripping, heartbreaking and full of raw emotions story.
This book wrecked me, but also make me unbelievable happy.
Sorry, I’m all over the place
What a unique and wonderful love story. I don’t even know how to make you understand how beautiful, haunting and unbelievable romantic this book is.
Gosh, I love Asher so much, I can’t tell you how unbelievable loyal, strong and devoted to Ember this man is.
Yes, he is a famous rock star, but one without the need to party, drink or women. He is married to the love of his life and she, his family and music is all he cares about. He loves his music and is one of the best, but is still a nice guy that loves to help everyone.
But a tragic accident put Ember in coma for a very long time and Asher in the world of ghosts and memories.
Ember is amazing. I love how strong and stubborn she is. I love her inner monologues and the fight with her amnesia that’s tried to break her the second time. She’s on a trip to find her new identity and yes, her love for her husband that she don’t remember, but loves nevertheless.
“He protected my heart, my memories, our marriage, and my life fiercely. He never gave up—even when the odds were stacked against us.”
Yo. .
Carian Cole is like Colleen Hoover for me in the way these two author can make my emotions explode out of my face. Like, I know picking up a book from them, I’ll need tissues and fucking running to squeeze the life out of my husband. Death hugs.
Carian Cole definitely got me with this book.
I read Torn before this. While both a stand-alone, I feel like new readers should read Torn first as an introduction to this family.
Asher and Ember Valentine. My heart literally bled for them both through this entire book.
Being in a coma for nearly eight years, Ember wakes up not knowing who she is. Who her husband is. Her daughter. Feeling so lost and alone, not even recognizing herself in a mirror.
Asher.. waiting for his only true love. Waiting and wanting only her. He never gave up his love and his loyalty to his wife. His undeniable bond with Ember, it tore me up!
The love Asher has for his wife is rare. Words can’t explain how well Carian Cole wrote these characters raw emotions.
“All I can do is hope it’s a sign that the heart always knows where its home is, no matter what.”
This is a heartbreaking romance with a happily ever after. This book is for people that want to see love and loyalty and passion. It’s for people who believe in soulmates. I mean this book was absolutely incredible and as heartbreaking as it was, it was a really romantic. I promise that it’s worth reading.
Oh my gosh! I can only hope that one day I will find someone who loves me just as much as Asher love Ember. He never once gave up on her throughout the entire process of her recovery. They definitely had there ups and downs while they navigated their new life as individuals and a couple. You cannot help but feel for both of them for their loses and confusion. Ember trying to find out who the new her is and Asher while he comes to turns that the wife he loved before might never come back.
I understand why Ember wanted to change her appearance but I think she could have gone about it in a different way that could have eased Asher into their new reality.
I’ve been a fan of this series from the beginning. Asher appears in each book as the talented front man, all-knowing wise man, and protector of his family. He always seemed to have insight into his brother’s (and cousin’s) relationships and could say the one thing they needed to hear. From the moment Evie ran into Storm’s look-alike brother coming out of the bathroom I’ve wanted to know more about him. Sometimes all that anticipation can be a letdown when the story finally arrives – but this was more than I had hoped.
**Spoiler Alert***
Asher and Ember’s situation is heart wrenching from the beginning but he believed in her recovery enough to wait and love her through it. He never expected her recovery to be so difficult or that she wouldn’t even remember who he was. This is not a sweet “everything works out perfectly” romance. It’s realistic and true to life. Asher loves the Ember he’s always known but Ember doesn’t even know how to love the stranger she woke up to. They both have to navigate through profound emotions to reinvent their love for each other.
I spent so much of the book hoping and wishing for Ember to suddenly remember everything but as they learned to love the people they are now, I honestly didn’t mind if she never remembered. They had preconceived notions about their love and each other as individuals. They had frustrations and fears. They even lost their cool – but who wouldn’t? What made it all worth it, is that they were drawn together and connected regardless. Their love got them through all of it and they learned to redefine their relationship.
This is a journey and trust me it is so worth it. I cried, laughed (literally out loud) and found renewed hope in the human spirit and capacity to love. Asher makes me believe in love, hope and fate.
For fans of the series, all of the characters make appearances. It’s like having a reunion while getting a sneak peek into their lives. If that isn’t enough, there are two very intriguing characters introduced. One gives me chills while the other makes me want to give him a hug. I am so looking forward to their stories!
This is a standalone but I urge everyone to read all the books in this series, the All Torn Up series as well as No Tomorrow first. This is truly the coming together of all the threads that have run through each of the books so far. I commend the author on writing a much anticipated book that was so much more than could have been hoped for! This will always be one of my favorite romance stories!
Asher
Ashes & Embers Series, Book 6
By: Carian Cole
Narrated by: Maxine Mitchell, Aiden Snow
After listening to the first books in the Ashes and Embers series, I couldn’t wait to hear Asher’s story. He is the main focus, though lies in the background and his history with the others is what made the band. With careful thought and talent, Carian Cole has released this gem and we get to hear how it all started. We only knew Ember in a coma with the devoted husband by her side. Now we get to see where their future will go. As Ember wakes up, with no memory, these two take the journey of a lifetime. Not easy, not perfect, but always loving. I was not sure what to expect with this story, but I was blown away! Asher is incredible. He is loving, patient, devoted and never gave up. Ember is much more complicated. She has so much to deal with, plus the expectations of the people around her. I love the interaction of Tor and Kenzi too! After listening to Torn, it’s fun to have the stories overlap. This is a beautiful story and I am so glad I grabbed this one!
The casting of these characters is perfect! Aiden Snow as Asher gives him that growlie, wounded sound. Asher is hurting and you can hear all the emotions running through Snow’s voice. He is amazing. Ember’s complexity needs a woman who understands all the emotions and Maxine Mitchell shines through the performance. I enjoyed this couple as they gave us their interpretation of Asher and Ember.
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Amazing. A heartwarming definition of “in sickness and in health”.
Asher and Embers story moved me.
Asher is a beautifully written story and even if you dont normally read rockstar reads I would urge you to read this. I highly recommended it because it’s more than that, so much more.
When the love of Ashers life, the girl he’d loved since he was a teenager, the woman who shared him with his fans while living a very public life as a rockstar has an accident, Ashers life is paused. His own life also goes on hold when Ember goes into a coma.
Years later and he still clings onto hope that the other half of his heart will wake up.
I don’t want to add spoilers but I will say… buy it, you won’t be disappointed.
ASHER Ashes & Embers Book 6 by Carian Cole
Oh what an unbelievably heart wrenching ride this one is! I loved every minute of this and could not put it down. I think every woman needs an Asher in her life! Since I can’t give this excellent book 10, I will give it 5.
I feel like I’ve been waiting for Asher’s book for forever! It’s now become my favorite book by Carian Cole. The build up to this story from reading all her other books heightened the experience that is Asher and Ember Valentine. A love between two people that is so deep, even memory loss couldn’t make their connection disappear. From the very first page I was completely sucked into the special love they shared for each other. Through the whole book my heart felt like it would burst. It’s mind boggling to even imagine losing your memory of everything. To wake up to a husband, a daughter, family and friends that you have no clue who they are. To not feel or look like who you thought you’d be. To only have journals of your life that tell you how it all went down but no memory of any of it. This book was heartbreaking but also completely perfect. Of course I cried a few times but I smiled so much too. And that ending was everything I could have wished for. I’ve never read two characters before that have such a deep connection as Asher and Ember do. This will be a book that I read over and over again.
“I love you twice – Now and Forever.”
What can I say about this outstanding book that would do it justice the for the sky full of stars rating it deserves? I have loved and reread the Ashes and Embers series and all the connected books mulitple times, including a recent refresher to get in the zone for Asher and Ember’s long awaited story.
There have been pieces of their heartbreaking history sprinkled through all of these books, one of my favorite rockstar romance series. Glimpses of the the mystical, zen-like advice Asher seemed to impart to his younger brothers about life and love just when they needed it most. The sweet, kind way he had with his wonderfully unique family, who wouldn’t love them all, while spending every moment he could with his soulmate, Ember, found at 15 and cherished forever…..alive but not living. How heartbroken he was, but was still involved in every aspect of her care. Lost without her, but never giving up hope when others were sure he was denying the inevitable lost cause. Music sustains him but his happiness has been stolen by one terrible moment in time, leaving him empty inside.
How I just loved the mysterious Asher from the 1st time I saw him. Wondered about what had really happened to the love of his life, Ember. Faithful, loyal and so in love with his wife, he sees only her after all those many years. If this sexy, beautiful, sensitive and soulful man isn’t the definition of swoonworthy, I can’t think of anyone who would be! Experiencing what he goes through was painful to watch but I couldn’t have stopped reading unless my Kindle had been on fire. I wanted to savor every word, page and chapter but also needed to see every tear and feel every triumph and failure.
Ember was like a sleeping beauty, waiting to be set free so she could learn to fly again like those butterflies she loved so much. What struggles she had to overcome- physically and also mentally, with such a huge chunk of who she was still missing- those elusive memories were gone and her future was uncertain.
Carian Cole wove a tender, loving story with such care, ensuring that everyone that mattered to this couple leaned in to embrace and lift them up when it mattered most. I don’t think I’ll ever forget this, one of the most emotionally charged stories I have read in a very long time. This book will forever be in my to read again and again pile, always loved and never forgotten. ‘Asher’ is the cherry on top of the Valentine family sundae and you’ll want to indulge in it over and over again.
The last few chapters made me smile so wide, filling my booklovers heart with happiness, hope and joy, while beautiful moments for many of the beloved characters I’ve enjoyed for so long played out before my eyes. It seems my wish has been granted as there will be more to come, down the road, from this quaint New Hampshire setting. I will be waiting, Carian Cole, for whatever you chose to give me, with bells on!