Ashwin
Gideon’s Riders, Book 1

I Picked Up This Book Because: #BookSpin pick for February.

The Characters:

Ashwin Malhotra:
Dr. Kora Bellamy:
Gideon, Deacon,

The Story:

There are tons of good things about this story but there is one bad thing that can’t be helped. I’m just not interested. I pushed hard to see where the story was going and how Ashwin and Kora’s relationship was developing but I couldn’t do it. Maybe I’m just not in the mood. :-(

The Random Thoughts:

DNF = No Rating

I started Ashwin with a craving for a powerful storyline with action and intrigue. Ashwin and Kora's story started out powerful. This alternate world of war and survival was everything to create an incredible plot. Lack of detail still leaves a bit of this world as a mystery, but it slowly comes into focus as the story progresses. Ashwin is a deadly and lethal character that added an extra element of danger to the building suspense. Kora, on the other hand, was lovable from the start. Her desire to protect and be a part of a family kept the reader engaged in the world and anticipating a future that would allow her to belong. Although, I must say that I felt that part of this story fell as the relationship between Kora and Ashwin develop. With a solider that was programmed broke fairly easy for this story, and I felt that caused a loss of momentum for me. This seemed to continue as the story came to a close. Overall, I would say the story was good but had some areas that could have been developed to have offered an adventure that would have held steadfast beginning to end.

~BookWhisperer Review Jax~

I followed Kit Rocha's Beyond series and was excited to read Ashwin's novel. While I loved that series, and am excited about the spinoff, this wasn't my favorite as I found the writing to be choppy and disjointed.

I did find the chemistry between Ashwin and Kora to be HOT and fiery and look forward to more from these authors in the future.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book for an honest review. Bravo! 4 stars! ~Ratula

This book wasn't for me. I absolutely loved Kit Rocha's previous series and I can't put a finger on why I didn't love this but I just didn't It will not keep me from trying the next ones though as i love the freedom of their writing and empowerment of the characters.

I really had trouble getting into the book initially and getting caught up in the emotions of the characters. The storyline was good, but it just didn’t stand out in my mind amongst other books in the genre. The blurb was great, but overall the book just fell flat for me.

Kit Rocha pulls you into her fictional world and makes them feel real. This is a great start to a fascinating new series. Different from the previous series but still sexy and addictive. Can't wait to see where the authors take this spinoff series. They've developed a fully realized world with strong, compelling characters. Love it! Highly anticipating the next in the series.

I very much enjoyed this story, I was looking for a new author or storyline, just something different, and this more than delivered! I really liked that this was a gritty, dystopian romance. And while it was a romance, it wasn't sickly sweet, or overly graphic. What details there were in the intimate scenes actually bound the story together, providing continity from earlier parts of the story, Its very atmospheric, as you get further into the story, it comes to life making you feel as if you are a part of the action. And while it's a serious subject matter, it's actually quite light and easy to read. Very well done and can't wait to read the next!

I was totally lost with this. The characters felt bland and the background of the world was confusing.
Maybe if I had read the previous series it would have helped!

I held off on reading Ashwin because I didn’t want to leave this amazing world (you know, while waiting for the next release) but after two shitty books in a row, I had to break open the emergency Rocha Book. So damn glad I did, as Ashwin was everything I had hoped it would be, everything I’ve come to expect and love from Rocha.


Ashwin fits in my new favorite Hero Type (think Nalini Singh’s Psy/Arrow heroes): cold, deadly, scary to everyone around them – but utterly devoted and caring and loving to his woman. Plus the whole awkward how-do-I-act-like-regular-humans-I-don’t-understand-all-this scenes and jokes, which I also adore.


And, much like Singh’s heroes, Ashwin is ALLLLLL about putting 200% of his Very Intense Concentration into pleasing Kora. And I am 1000000% here for their smoking hot chemistry. (Again, no surprise, as this is Rocha, and I’d expect nothing less!) I’m not sure what I loved more: him giving her four orgasms in one scene before they even have intercourse or the tub scene or the cabin-standing-up scene or . . . Hell, I love them all. So. So. Sooooo. Much.


But their relationship development isn’t just about the sex, and I loved all of that, too. Who wouldn’t fall for a hero who can turn washing clay off her hands into an erotic experience? Or a hero who spends years filling a safehouse with things that she’ll love? Oh, Ashwin. (happy sigh)


Besides the romance, sex, and feels (oh yes, there are Definitely Feels involved as this big, dangerous Super Soldier finally breaks down, opens up, and admits that he doesn’t know what he’s doing but he has All The Feelings for her), I loved the story here. I loved seeing this world again, post-war, loved seeing peeks at a few old friends (Rachel/Ace/Cruz and the babies! ❤), loved seeing how Rocha is setting up for future plots and characters. And the brotherhood dynamics here with the Riders were great! I’m not sure who stole my heart more: Zeke and his jokes and seemingly carefree attitude, Deacan and his So Serious attitude (and also Ana! I need their book today *whines*), quiet Ivan . . . Really, I just love them all and how they mess with one another but also have each other’s backs 100% -- yes, even Ashwin. #BromanceFeels


If I have one complaint – and note it wasn’t enough to take down my 5 star rating because everything else just made me that damn happy -- it’s the fact that Ashwin keeps the secret of Kora’s birth/past until 80%+ in the book. I’ve never been a fan of keeping the secret, no matter the reason, until so late in a relationship (and book). But, like I said, I’m still not really MAD at this because I loved everything about this book otherwise. Admittedly, I have a huge soft spot for this world Rocha has created, and their writing, so I’m not always as critical/unbiased as I should be with my ratings, but IDGAF. There are some authors/books that you just love unconditionally and they can do no wrong. This is one of those for me and I won’t ever apologize for it.


ASHWIN kicks off the new series was a bang (and plenty of flames 😉) and I cannot wait to see what Rocha brings us next. You could read this one without having read the Beyond series, but since I will never NOT recommend the Beyond series to everyone I come across, I’ll still recommend you read those books first, to get a feel for this world, what happened before the final battle, and who some of the other characters are that are mentioned in this one. You’ll thank me later, trust me. 😊 (Note: Beyond series MUST be read in order, especially for the later books!)

Loved the Beyond series and this was a great spinoff! what a great start to the series!

I was a little concerned when I realized that this book was a spinoff of Kit Rocha’s Beyond series. I’ve read from this duo’s alter ego, Moira Rogers, before, but I have not read the books featuring the famous O’Kanes, so I figured I might be lost here. I am happy to report that this is a great place to step into this world. I had absolutely no problem acclimating to it and I was never lost, nor did I feel like I was the odd man out of an inside joke. So if the same fear has you on the fence about this book, don’t worry about it. Let yourself jump in. You’ll be glad you did.

Ashwin is my favorite kind of hero. He is strong and powerful physically, but he is emotionally stunted. Think: the Psy heroes in Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling books. He was a genetically engineered a soldier, never allowed to feel. He and the heroine, Cora, have met before. She was the doctor at the base where he served. There was a connection between them back then, but his growing feelings for her overwhelmed him and he feared he could be a threat to her safety. He turned himself in for reconditioning, a painful process to try to burn the feelings out. It didn’t quite work.

Cora is now an adopted sister to Gideon Rios, the leader of sector one. Ashwin does not know this when he is assigned to infiltrate Gideon’s team of enforcers. But he quickly realizes that he will have to choose between his mission and protecting the life that Cora has built among Gideon’s people.

I loved Ashwin. His intentions are always so pure when it comes to Cora. He puts himself on the line. He puts his mission on the line. He doesn’t care about any vows he’s made or responsibilities he should have when any of that is put against protecting Cora. She is always number one. The only thing in his heart. The heart he doesn’t think he has. And it’s so delicious and satisfying as he begins to understand and accept that he does care. That he is a man. And that she really is everything.

I liked Cora OK. She saw a spark of humanity in Ash when when no one else ever did. She tried to reach out. She tried to love him. And I got all the feels.

As always with these authors, the sex is smoking hot. The writing is just fantastic. I was all in. I did not want it to end.

There so much rich ground for future books to mine. I can’t wait for Deacon and Ana’s story or Zeke’s.

All I can say is, go read this book. Go buy it now. You’ll be glad you did. Whether you were a fan of the Beyond books or if this is your first trip to the rodeo. Really good stuff.

Rating: A

Ashwin (Gideon's Riders, Book #1) Kindle Edition
by Kit Rocha 
I received a complimentary ARC from NetGalley in exchange for review purposes

Kit Rocha has perfectly blended the new genres of the MC romance with post-apocalyptic/dystopian romance in to a near perfect novel with full and complete female and male characters and tight plot.

Kora is a doctor who worked with the Base on creating Mahkai soldiers, genetically and socially engineered soldiers who are trained to believed that not only can they not feeling emotions, but when they do, they are destabilizing and must go through torture to reset themselves. Kora is vehemently against this, even more so when it comes for Ashwin, the lieutenant that she deeply cares for.

Ashwin put himself through such torture to rip Kora from his mind, memory and soul, but It failed. Something he finds out when on a 'secret mission' to infiltrate Gideon Rios's Section One's elite forces – the Riders. Where Kora is the doctor,patching the men and women of Section One back together like no other can.

Ashwin finds himself swiftly back in the emotional place that Makhai soldiers call destabilization, what the rest of us call falling in love, all the while he is holding on a secret about Kora, one that can destroy the tenuous tie between them.

I haven't had the pleasure of reading the preceding series, the O'Kane's series, but I can't wait to! Ms. Rocha has created such a layered world, from religion to economics to the difference between 'Eden' and Section One in terms of love and sex and marriage. The dialogue is well enough done that it is easy to separate who is speaking, which shows Ms. Rocha's deep talent as well as her love for her world.

Each character, from Del, the psychic tattooist to Jaden the rider is well rounded and completed. The men talk about and do more than chase skirts and fire guns – very unusual in a post-apocalyptic/dystopian romance that focuses on military/militia behavior and the women don't talk only about the men when alone.

The romantic scenes, because that is what they are, romance between two very inexperienced people. Kora is physically inexperienced and Ashwin is emotionally inexperienced. The passion and the love is palatable to the reader.

An excellent book and I can't wait for the future novels of the Riders and the previous novels about the O'Kanes! Ms. Rocha is so talented that I was able to piece together sort of what happened to the world as we know it without having read the previous novels, which is highly unusual and she should be commended

This Book is Book Nerd approved.

5 shiny, roaring, rumbling stars out of 5

https://www.amazon.com/Ashwin-Gideons-Riders-Book-1-ebook/dp/B01N6ECB83/

shwin is the first book in the Gideon's Riders series by author Kit Rocha. It is suppose to be a follow up to another series she has, but this is my first time reading anything by this author. I will say I was not lost, it is very easy to follow book. I might have missed small nuances but the over all story was fine to start with.
We have the story of Kora and Ashwin.
Kora she has been with the riders about nine months now. She is protected by Gideon their leader. She fled a life as a military doctor. She wants stability and a family. The riders offer her that and more. So she is willing to do what it takes to stay. I liked her right away. She is vulnerable yet a very strong person. She might need protection but she can fight, and she is a strong heroine in her own right.
Ashwin he usually thinks with his head. He calculates, measures, never goes into a situation half cocked. That is till he meets Kora. She puts all his rules on their head. Cause he cannot predict what she will do or his reaction to her.
I like that is more than meets the eye. He is strong and alpha in his own ways.
Over all this is a really great start to a series. There is action, adventure, and lots of love. There is also some room for more. I would love to know more about this world and the riders that live there.

Five Shooting stars

Kit Rocha is amazing duo that sucked me in with their Beyond Series. The world these ladies created with Eden and the Sectors is so vivid and uniquely written, I fell in love instantly. So, when I heard they were writing a new series in the same world that I loved I just knew I had to get my hands on a copy!

Before I get into all the steamy, sexy details that is Ashwin and Kora I think it’s best to point out a few things so that readers have a better understand of where this series stands compared to the Beyond series.

1. The Beyond series was smut on fire, but Gideon’s Riders seems to be a little more tame in that aspect. Oh, there is sex and sexy, steamy moments that make you have to fan yourself, but it isn’t the O’Kane kind of smut. The scenes were mostly monogamous (there wasn’t any sharing of partners), but don’t think hearts and flowers either. They have their own unique dealings and views on sex. It isn’t Eden crazy but it isn’t O’Kane madness either.
2. Yes, the Beyond series characters are skillfully woven throughout this book but you do not have to read that series first. This is a completely new series with a little extra added in for those of you who know the characters in the Beyond series.

So, now…for my take on the book iteself…

If you’re a tried and true follower of Kit Rocha then you already know Ashwin, but if not then you must know he is a genetically modified human built for the sole purpose of executing missions for Eden’s higher ups. [Eden in this series and the Beyond series in the “city-of-the-futre” that is blocked off from the rest of the destroyed world and the Sectors, the villages/towns that surround Eden]. Anyway, Ashwin was created to be cold, calculating, and emotionless to the point where any kind of feeling is unknown and uselss to him. I loved getting inside his head and seeing how his mind worked; how he processed the emotions he was told all of his life that he didn’t have.

“I think it’s his tell, Kora. Efficiency. When he feels something he doesn’t know how to process-compassion, caring even just the urge to help someone-he has to rationalise it, so he claims he’s just being efficient.”

Kora used to be a doctor in Eden, but she left that world to try and help the dying and hurt people outside the walls. Now, she’s living in Sector 1 (there are 8) working as a healer/doctor for the royal family and the people of that Sector. When Kora was still in Eden she worked at the base Ashwin belonged to. That’s where they met, but our story picks up after the rebellion against Eden; she hasn’t seen Aswhin in 6 months and honestly, she thought he had died during the choas the rebellion had brought.

When they meet up again, the chemistry is there and it isn’t too long before it’s just too much for them to try and deny themselves. I loved these characters together. Kora understood Ashwin and accepted him in ways that a lot of people couldn’t. The brothers that formed Gideon’s Riders also took a chance with him and helped him understand the meaning of brotherhood and family. My heart swooned as we saw a ruthless super-soldier who was used to being alone finally see himself as a person instead of a thing, as someone worthy of love and family.

“Family. A peculiar concept. Another weapon in Gideon’s arsenal, and perhaps the most dangerous. Ashwin didn’t know how to fight back against acceptance.”

You’d think that being an emotionaless cyborg brute of a man-thing that Ashwin wouldn’t be much in the sexy, steamy romance department, but boy Kit Rocha did not disappoint. He was everything and more. Again, it is NOT an O’Kane book..meaning their type of *ahem* sexual antics is completely different from this book and the way I feel this series may be going. With Sector 4 you got sexual freedom in all aspects; in Ashwin’s book there is still an undertone of innocence and anticipation for the unknown instead of anticpation for the next O’Kane type of party. I loved it and I loved the way Ashwin loved Kora even more.

“You make it hard to breathe, Kora. you make me wonder waht beautiful means. It’s new for me too.”

“Will you teach me how to do this right?” His expression was so serious. So earnest. “How to love you?”

Kit Rocha did not disappoint with this spin-off series. The transfer between the Beyond series and this new series was beautifully done and skillfully woven to where even someone who has never picked up an O’Kane novel can still enjoy Gideon’s Riders. I can guarantee you, in Kit Rocha fashion, the series is just going to keep getting better and better from here!!!

Very different from the original series, but still felt like home. Fast paced adventure that I read in one sitting!

Ashwin is the first in a new series set in a postapocalyptic, dystopian world already detailed in the Beyond series by the same author. While you don't HAVE to have read the Beyond series to understand what's going on (I haven't) there is an absolutely vast cast of characters and references to previous events that I suspect went right over my head because I didn't have the backstory.

The only thing I can compare it to is watching the Avengers movies without watching any of the Iron Man, Captain America or Thor movies. Yes, you can follow along with the story and be vastly entertained, but you don't really have a clue why the characters are behaving as they are, because you don't have the backstory.

Ashwin is an excellent example of a dystopian romance, but as the first in a series, it leaves something to be desired.

Four stars, because although it's thoroughly enjoyable, I wouldn't recommend picking this up as an introduction to the author's work.

I don't know what it was, but this book was hard for me to get into and finish. The writing was fine but a little uninspired -- it felt like too many other stories to me but might not to other readers. I did think the story meandered a little trying to do too much in one book: establish the world they existed in, establish a new religion, establish a new male group, introduce a bevy of new characters who were hard to keep track of, and finally the story about the 2 main characters that didn't even get to the point until 80% into the book. I think if the book had been parsed out more into several books, it would have been a much more enjoyable read.

I'm sure that lovers of Rocha's Beyond series will be as universally excited to dive into this new spin-off series, Gideon's Riders as I was.

Book one kicks off with Ashwin and Kora. Ashwin is a Makhai soldier who had been genetically created by the military Base to be a cold, ruthless killer who should have been unable to form emotional attachments. Kora, also from the Base was a doctor who had previously given medical support to Ashwin many times.

After a rebellion which saw the downfall of the controlling Eden, Kora has escaped to Sector One and has been adopted, or 'chosen' by the reigning royal family there. In an attempt to rid himself of his growing obsession for Kora, Ashwin has spent the last six months letting the Base try to rid (for this, read torture) him of his feelings for him.

Ashwin and Kora meet up again in Sector One and all of their previous sizzle and attraction soon sparks to life.

In this book we get the chance to meet up with some of our previously loved characters from Sector Four and the chance to get to know some of Sector One's people in much more detail. This book excelled at maintaining it's own story whilst giving us a sound introduction to what are sure to be the main characters in books to come.

Book two - Deacon is going to be a highly anticipated read for me.

ARC provided, many thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and authors.