Since she was young, Cher Rivers knew she was not the kind of girl who got what she wanted. A girl who could hope. A girl who could dream. She knew a happily ever after just wasn’t in the cards for her.
In love for years with the last bastion of the ‘burg’s eligible bachelors, Garrett Merrick, Cher worked hard at making him laugh. Being one of the guys. Having him in her life the only way she … only way she could. All this knowing he was in love with another woman.
The Merrick Family is known for loving deep. So when Cecelia Merrick was murdered, it marked the Merricks in a way none of them recovered. Both Cecelia’s children found love. Both turned their backs on it. But Garrett “Merry” Merrick knew in his soul the woman he divorced years ago was the one for him.
Until the night when Cher took Garrett’s back and things changed. The Merrick family loves deep. They also protect fiercely. And with his eyes finally open, Garrett sees the woman who truly is for him and he goes after her.
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ℍ by Kristen Ashley is the final and 6th book in the ‘Burg Series which brought a bunch of alpha men and lovable characters into our lives. I’m so sad to see these new book friends of mine go, but man, that epilogue sure did do this beautiful series justice.
ℍ is Cher and Merry’s story. The ‘Burg is a brilliantly written interconnected small town romance series that brought us fabulous love stories that I’ll never forget. Who knew that when serial killer Denny Lowe stalked Feb and Colt, it would lead to a beautiful love story between Merry and Cher all these years later? I sure did not see that one coming until book 5 The Promise when Benny brought to our attention that Cher had a crush on Merry.
Boy did things progress beautifully. From a fun night at the bar to danger brewing on Cher’s street, a one-night mistake led to a new beginning for these two broken souls.
We see all of our faves in this one. Being the last book, the gang is all here. Cher has a loving and intelligent young son who she raised with the help of her mother. It’s always just been Cher and her boy. I loved how Feb, Cal, Colt and Ryker all had a hand in this match. Whether is was providing advice or straight up meddling, everyone respects everyone else while always wanting the best for them. If only we could all live in The ‘Burg and have such kind neighbors and friends.
It’s funny because I saw a meme that said something along the lines of “women want a badass alpha who also goes for long walks and plans picnics” and thought to myself that’s totally every male character from a Kristen Ashley novel ha
I specifically loved the way Merry treated Cher. Who doesn’t love a mean who respects his woman, throws down in the bedroom and wants to be a father to her young son I mean come on…perfection?
I highly recommend this entire series.
I have finally gone back to read the last book in this awesome series by KA.
You do not have to read the other books, but if you don’t you will feel like you got dropped into the middle of the story line, which I sort of felt since it’s been over 3 years since I read the first books in the series.
In Hold On, Cher and Merrick get their HEA and we get to revisit all our couples from the Burg series.
Cher has weathered many storms in her life, raising her son Ethan alone (drug addicted father abandoned her), surviving a ‘ relationship’ with a serial killer and watching her friends find their HEA’s. She works the bar at J&J and in known as the tough chick in town. She has a posse of not only women, but their hot men that look after her and make sure she stands strong for her son.
Merrick thought he had the HEA with his wife Mia then realized that something was missing in him. As a cop, he understands one day he may not come home and this has him pull farther and farther away from Mia, resulting in a divorce. Through all this Cher is his friend, who is always there to listen, not realizing that she has fallen in love with him.
A KA story is not complete without some drama, and we get that in spades: Cher’s baby daddy and his zealot wife, Mia trying to restake a claim to Merrick, a fake FBI agent and Merrick realizing his greatest fear is not him coming home but losing his woman like his Dad did.
All this drama just re-enforces the need to just ‘hold on’ to weather the storms.
Best part is the epilogue. We get a glimpse into the future for all the Burg couples that we know and love
This book has the best series epilogue ever!
The burg series is a fave. Hold on is absolutely amazing. Drags out all the emotions.
Since picking up my first Kristen Ashley book, I have made it my mission to devour every one I could get my mitts on. Waiting for Hold On, the story of Merry and Cher, my impatience and excitement almost got the better of me. I couldn’t wait! And now after reading it, I again can’t wait…to read it and the whole series again because I’m only sad this journey in the ‘burg has ended.
Summary:
Cher Rivers never dared to hope or dream. Since childhood, she’s known she’s not the kind of girl who gets what she wants. Having her boyfriend leave her high and dry after she told him she was pregnant reinforced that belief. But getting mixed up with a crazy, homicidal ax-murderer nailed it home, that a happy ending was just not in the cards for her. So, even though she got a whole new group of friends and family in the ‘Burg, she knew the love she held for the “last good one standing”, Garret “Merry” Merrick, would never become what she wanted or needed it to be. She worked hard at being a smartass, making him laugh, and being one of the guys in order to keep him in her life the only way she could have him. But in the end, she knew he was in love, just not with her. As for Merry, everyone knows that the Merrick family loves hard and deep, and that losing their matriarch marked each one of them in different ways. The only thing they have in common is none of them recovered. Cecelia Merrick’s children both found love, but they also both turned away from it. Regardless, Merry knew the woman he left behind was the one for him. Until the night Cher took his back, and Merry finally woke up. It’s true the Merricks love deep and protect fiercely. Now that he’s been able to think on things, it’s clear that Garret was holding onto the wrong woman when the right one was under his nose all along. But he still carries poison within him that could cause him to turn again when he absolutely doesn’t want to. And that’s just his issues. Cher has had years to build a strong, impenetrable wall around herself. Can she open up enough to let Merry in, and believe in what they have?
I fell in love with the ‘burg from book one. It could have been that I’m a midwest girl myself and it gave me a window to home. It could have been that it’s a KA book, and everyone knows, she’s got it goin on, no matter the content. But mostly, it was the fact that the ‘burg is filled with characters you can’t help but fall for, and a togetherness you automatically feel apart of. I have been waiting for Merry and Cher’s story a long time, even before I knew it would be their story. Lol. I just wanted to be apart of the ‘burg world and apart of that close-knit family, even doing it with my nose buried in the pages of a book. Having gotten to know a little bit about Merry and Cher throughout previous books, when I learned their story would close out the series, I couldn’t wait. Not surprisingly, KA made that tortuous wait worth it. Cher had been through the ringer. Honestly, when we first met her, I was unsure whether I’d like her as an addition to the crew I was already becoming engrossed in. Luckily, Cher is a tough chick, and pretty much easily loved. She’s funny, smart, thoughtful, hard-working, loving, determined, selfless, humble, and all the good in between. She’s all that, but also easy going, one of the guys. I loved this. While we saw her hard shell softening for the love of a good man, she was still our same tough chick Cher who rolled with the punches. She was comfortable hanging with the guys, but always right there for her girls, too. She was a fantastic single mom, who owned up to her mistakes, but never once made her child feel her burden. She was a friend you could count on, and knew would have your back immediately. She was a wonderful heroine, not perfect, who is? But perfect for her role. I always wondered at how the Denny Lowe craziness truly affected a woman so independent, and we got to see that here. It was truly the closing of a chapter. Merry surprised me. We have definitely seen and heard from Merry, most especially in Tanner and Rocky’s book, but it was surface. Getting to see the soul of the man who won Cher’s heart was fantastic, even if it was surprising. Merry was our good-time guy, always with a woman in his bed, just never the same woman. He had a tragic childhood, a whirlwind, happy marriage, and then seemingly broke his and his exes hearts by abruptly breaking things off and ending that marriage. Having seen Rocky’s break, we aren’t unaware that the Merrick family has some unresolved issues, but we couldn’t say exactly what those issues were. From Merry’s POV, we got that enlightenment, but better we got him determined to do what he had to, to resolve them. He was a strong man, a man’s man and seeing him use that strength to battle a demon he’d carried for way too long was awesome. I think what surprised me most about Merry was how short a fuse he had. I see him as the laughing, happy-go-lucky, always up for a good time, man. He is and can be this, but he’s also protective, possessive, and unafraid to get a little messy when he’s carrying out these traits. I only wish he saw what was right in front of him, for five long years because I wanted more of Merry and Cher settled. The storyline was interesting, and I liked that the content was a final nail in the coffin for the Denny Lowe ordeal. I am gonna miss these loyal, loving, close-knit characters, and the small town they call home. The good news is, I can go back to the ‘Burg anytime I want by just picking up a book. And the even better news is, Kit loves giving us these amazing characters, so we have a lot more goodness coming our way. <3
An excellent, amazing, awesome end to an outstanding series! I wasn’t sure about these two at first, but as usual, I shouldn’t have doubted Kristen Ashley and her mad skills. Merry and Cher were downright adorable!
Help! I’m trapped in a KA vortex, and I can’t get out!
I’ve read a lot of KA recently as well as re-read some. I can’t get you gone Ride Steady and Walk Through Fire. Beauty. Chin lift. Look down at the floor. Hand on my neck, your neck. Somebody’s neck?
This review is a place holder so I’ll know I’ve read it.
Heroine is an ex-stripper, mother of the year, with a deadbeat ex married to an insufferable Bible beater that wants the plot moppet/son.
The H is a divorced mess that has a ONS with the h where the angel’s wept and he’s reborn despite saying initially it was a cheap ONS they both knew going in. But no. Now it’s not, and he has a gigantic Christmas tree with pink ornaments on it and the longest epilogue ever about characters I did and did not know.
I knew from the beginning that this was the last book of the serie… Really like the story as a standalone but I should say that I didn’t understand (specificly, the relationship between some of the characters) some of the details just because I haven´t read all the serie. But, besides that, I liked the story, always love Kristen´s “macho alpha” and her strong women.
When it comes to keep his woman and her boy safe Merry goes that extra mile, “spending the night, Cher.” I felt my eyes get big at this declaration, but I didn’t speak or move. “With you in your bed.” There are times a man has to let his woman know that he’s not up for it, “babe.” I started, my eyes darting from his crotch to his face. Even though he caught me checking out his package, all he said was, “Tired.” Merry is one of those men that can say whatever and it always sounds hot, “eff no,” he answered. “But it is me tellin’ you to get off my ***k. I need to go to the john and get rid of this effin’ condom so I can bang you again.” I really loved this book, Merry was all alpha and Cher knew how to handle her man.
The story was better than I expected, but the epilogue…the epilogue was epic!
Cher and Merry!!!!! I am so glad these two get their HEAs that didn’t include Merry getting back with Mia, that woman is horrible!
So much happening in this story that there were times I thought the universe was against Cher getting her HEA with the man she has loved for years.
The Epilogue was AMAZING! This being the last book in the series KA gives us a peek into the future of each of the couples and their children. Yes this book had me tearing up at times but I truly broke down when Ethan spoke at his own wedding during the epilogue about how a man is suppose to treat the woman he loves….man oh man, Merry was an awesome Role Model for that boy.