4.25 stars

Can a woman's dream man be the key to finally feeling worthy of love?  It's not as easy as you'd think.  With a balance of scorchingly hot chemistry, Alpha bossiness, and emotionally tender moments, this is story is my favorite book in the series thus far.

What has made the author's series stand out from other Dom/Sub books, particularly with her history for legendary Alphas, is that the Doms haven't been the Alphas.  Until now.  This is Stellan and Sixx's story, which is a surprising in itself.  I have to admit, I was worried about this pairing given Stellan's past interest in Amélie.  I never want a love story based on a second choice.  So I'm glad that Sixx tackled this issue early on and Stellan's response was good enough to appease me.  But even without that response, his actions speak loud and clear.  Sixx is 100% who he wants, and he spends an inordinate amount of time proving that.

"You sit here as mine, Simone." 

Sixx/Simone had a rough childhood, and through experiences with the family she thought would love and protect her, developed the belief that love would never be in the cards for her.  And given the risky life she's come to lead, was never willing to give anyone a chance.  But that set path is thrown off kilter when the man she has lusted for, finally gives her the attention she has craved.  Questions now is, can she give him more than that sexual gratification?

"Thank you," she whispered.
"For what?" he asked.
"For thinking I deserve you."

Stellan has his work cut out for him with Sixx, or Simone, as he prefers to call her.  While there were times I wanted to shake some sense into Simone, so that she'd finally open up to Stellan and be honest with her thoughts and fears, Stellan handled things perfectly. 
He gave her space when she needed it, particularly with her drawings. 
He pushed when Simone got caught up with her personal demons/insecurities. 
He listened when she finally did open it. 
And when he did all of these things, it was hard for Simone to ignore.  That gave them the first shot at a real future.

"I need to build a foundation for her that she believes in.  That she knows in her heart will never crack."

Other than cracking Simone's protective shell, this story has a side plot involving Simone's career, which can be dangerous at times.  Stellan, being the Alpha that he is, didn't always like this career path, and in my opinion, took the wrong approach to address it.  Lucky for him, things didn't blow up like they could have.  With Simone's career and being in Phoenix, one KA couple immediately came to mind.  So, you know I freaked out when they were mentioned.
Aasdfadgyvkenasdfyh!!

If you know me, you know one of my all-time favorite couples are Tucker and Sylvie Creed.  When they not only got a mention, but play a small role in the story, I totally squealed (I may be old, but not above squealing, lol).

As with the other books in this series, I was impressed with the level of detail the author provided in the erotic scenes.  The scenes involving Sixx and Stellan were very very hot!!  Seriously.  May not want to read this in public.  

My only real criticism of the story is why such lengthy scenes involving a MMF couple were included.  I get why they were part of the plot, tying to Simone's job.  However, I didn't think they needed two full chapters of their role playing.  Although the dynamics between Maddox, Molly and Diesel were interesting and likely worthy of their own novella, I thought the inclusion of their escapades took the focus off Simome and Stellan for too long.  Ultimately, there is a tie in that brings the story to conclusion, so that did help.

If you are a fan of this series, and a loyal KA reader like myself, this book will be just what you need.

Final note: loved that this story included a shout-out to Tiffany Reisz, the queen of BDSM (in my opinion.

The greatest Risk is BDSM with a sweet bite. Kristen Ashley shows us the beauty in pain and an internal struggle needing to be set free. Sixx is a woman that is a two sided coin wrapped in vulnerability and strength. She finds herself at the hands of a dom willing to go to any length to show her she’s worth it.

Stellan, a dom with a sweet understanding of life and its erotic intricacies, has a predilection for domineering debauchery that will help a troubled female dom learn to switch into to a submissive that is understanding of herself and let the past remain where it needs to be.

As always, KA showers us with a family feel and a deep love of friendships. It’s her hallmark. Add a bit of leather, and you have an erotic read perfectly played for fans of the genre.

Another 5 star read.

I really enjoyed this couples' story, right up until it started focusing on the ménage and being about their scenes. It seemed to take up way too much of the story.