Golden Trail (The 'Burg Series Book 3)

I am a HUGE fan of Kristen Ashley but I just never could really buy into Layne and Rocky's story. The reasons she left were just...silly and well it's 3 stars because it's Kristen but NOT because of the story Sorry! Just not a favorite of mine.

I am a longtime fan of Kristen Ashley but this book was very different, in not a good way, from the dozen or so of her books, including the Rock Chick series, I have read previously. In fact, the way women are portrayed in the novel is so different, again not in a good way, that I might have asked, "Who really wrote this book?" were it not for Ashley's usual terrific ability to emotionally engage the reader and to keep up the fast-paced tension.

The fact is, this book gave me the heebie-jeebies. Gone are Ashley's independent, strong-willed women and instead we have compliant women whose only abilities revolve around traditional roles---sex, cooking, laundry, and nurturing each other, their children and their macho men. The story is told entirely from the point of view of the male protagonist, Layne, who basically "rules' his woman like a right-wing fundamentalist. This may be, in part, due to the fact that the few attempts by the "?heroine?" to help catch the bad guys are half-cocked and poorly executed. (True, the Rock Chick women often are impetuous, even fool-hardy, but at least they tend to actually accomplish some things and their men respect them for their determination and courage--and their men don't try to "rule" them.)

Layne's teenaged sons, who seem like twenty-first century Hardy Boys, have way better ideas about, and are more effective at, helping to catch bad guys than our "heroine," Rocky. So, who wants romantic suspense in which even a pair of teenaged boys put the "heroine" to shame in terms of their abilities and the respect they get from the "?hero?" for their exploits?

Now, I usually like Ashley's alpha males but not this guy, who really "rules" the roost, lying to, manipulating, seducing his woman, doing whatever he has to to get her to bend to his will. He repeatedly makes her promise to be "a good girl," threatening her with a spanking if she doesn't comply. Ugh! Rocky reminded me of the wives in the old TV series, Big Love, about the submissive wives of a quasi-Mormon husband. Yick!

I'm sort of afraid to try reading another book by Ashley. I sure don't want to read another story about macho supermales whose submissive, adoring women kow-tow to them.

Kristen Ashley has done it again. She always engages her readers in a solid love story with interesting characters. And there are always the requisite hot guys with the adorable yet very approachable heroines. Tanner Lane may not be the father of the year but he's a great guy.

The Burg Series is my least favorite series of all Kristen Ashely Books....but I enjoy all her books, because of the characters. Similar premise of some of Ms. Ashely's book of older mature love interest and old loves that are reunited.

If you have read the rest of the series then you will like this book, but don't read it as a stand alone.

I love the author of this series and the first two books I was completely mesmerized by... This one not so much it dragged a little and even though I loved Tanner Lane, Rockie I really didn't like so much she annoyed me...

Golden Trail (The 'Burg Series Book 3)

The Burg Bx set
Oh Dig
2 notes & 2 highlights (All visible)

4.95 Stars
Genres; Adult, Contemporary, Mystery, Romance, Suspense.
Negatives & Positives
I found one typo.
Both main characters, Tanner Layne and Raquel Merrick, were amazing. Very complex and in depth personality build.
At one point I was sure I had figured out why Raquel (Rocky) had left Tanner in their earlier relationship. I was wrong!
This story is jammed full of adult romance, mystery and suspense.
All the characters are well developed. The intrigue is top notch. I was constantly and pleasantly surprised. Twist and turns everywhere. The flow was spot on.
Loved it and want more of it.
Can't wait to read book 4 in this series.
bookshelves: 1-dig-lib, kristen-ashley, romance, contemporary, adult, suspense, mystery, 0-review-share

Author is sooo good with character interaction. This is lots of everyday life. But after a while I became impatient. I wanted more of a story or more of a plot. I read the first 26% and the end.

The couple fell in love years ago and then Rocky (heroine) left Layne (hero). That’s the back story - not shown. Layne doesn’t find out why she left him until the end of this book. That’s the big tension/mystery about the relationship - not the best plot for me. According to a few other reviewers it sounded weak on romantic relationship development.

It’s a very long book. I’m sure it could be good for readers in the “mood” for this. I just wasn’t in the mood.

I really liked the author's other books: Sweet Dreams and Mystery Man.

DATA:
Narrative mode: 3rd person. Story length: 611-664 pages. Swearing language: strong including religious swear words. Sexual content: moderate to strong. Setting: current day suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. Copyright: 2011. Genre: contemporary romance with a little suspense.

I’ve been going through a bit of a rough patch when it comes to reading and all things book world related. I haven’t loved anything in a while and quite frankly I’ve been really burned out. So naturally, I trust only one person to help pull me out of that funk. Kristen Ashley. And she’s succeeding. I mean I’ve been doing KA double time. Kindle at home, Audible in the car. Wherever I go, one of her heroes is with me. And I’m finally feeling like I’m breathing fresh air again.

Golden Trail was exactly what I needed. A solid, sweet, good through and through guy and an amazing second chance romance. I loved it for all of the same reasons that I always love Kristen’s books, but also because it was slightly different and that was nice.

It completely took me off guard that the entire book is third person from Layne’s POV. I am not normally someone who can connect with a story told in third person. I normally can’t emotionally attach myself to the characters and I need that to enjoy a book. It normally creates this wall there that keeps me from being invested. And only Kristen Ashley and one other author have ever been known to demolish that wall. Again, normally with Kristen, there are only a handful of chapters that are third person. I was a little concerned when it dawned on me that the book was going to continue that way but then almost as suddenly I completely forgot about it and I was just enveloped in the story.

I loved these characters in only a way I can love KA characters. They’re strong, stubborn, and good to the core. They’re resilient, even in the face of utter devastation. And there’s plenty of it in this book.

Kristen Ashley does a flawless job of infusing an exciting and breathtaking storyline along with a love story that you already can’t get enough of. Just her love stories would be enough. But she adds this extra level of intensity and drama that keeps you on the edge of your seat and completely unable to put the book down.

At some point, if not already, my KA reviews are all going to sound identical because they all just do it for me in a way others can’t. I loved this book, just as I’ve loved all of her other books. This series is definitely one of my favorites of hers and I can’t recommend it highly enough.

Golden Trail begins with Rocky showing up at Tanner Layne's house to invite him and his two sons over for dinner. Since Layne hasn't spoken to Rocky in years since she left him, it is a major surprise to find her at his house so early in the morning inviting them to dinner. So he does his best to get rid of her. But when he finds out she's trying to help out on a case he's been working on and it went bad. He has to do something to make her stop so she doesn't get into trouble. Along the way these two try to work out all of the problems they had before, and figure out why Rocky left him to begin with. None of this is easy, and it gets worse when ex-spouses, kids, and the local church group all throws up a whole lot of problems. But Tanner isn't going to let Rocky go this time, even if he has to fight herself for it. He's done messing around, and Rocky is along for the ride.

I liked the book. I thought it was good, but not real good. I loved the writing, and I loved most of the characters. But I was a little bit frustrated with some of the things that happened. It all just felt like too much in one book. All of the messes that kept happening just didn't seem to fit for some reason. And the main person I felt like I should have known a lot about was Rocky, and I felt we really didn't get to know much about her. So that made the book not as good as it could have been. Other than that I loved Tanner's kids. Jasper and Tripp-O-Matic where the bomb!! Seriously these are some of the best KA kids ever! They made this book so much better, and I loved reading the epilogue with some of their happy ending in it as well. Now I can not wait to read the next book in the series, and I'm still looking forward to Benny's book too.

More reviews at Shooting Stars Reviews, [...]

I noticed I hadn't done a review for this the first time I read it. Well how lame of me! It was, of course, freaking awesome like the rest of this series! I had forgotten how much I loved Layne and Rocky's story! I remember the first time I read it, I was coming off a major Joe Callahan high and didn't think the (at that time) unknown couple in Golden Trail could in any way, shape, or form live up to At Peace. Granted, I still love Joe, but Layne definitely gave him a run for his money. Tanner Layne is one seriously baddass, alpha PI who also happens to be hot, funny as hell, and a great dad. What's not to love! Rocky was a great leading lady and I think I liked her so much because this book wasn't in her pov. I had actually forgotten about that. I say that because she had a some serious issues that needed to be worked through and I don't think I would have been emotionally capable of being in her head while she went through the awful things she had to go through. I felt for her so much. I was happy that Layne was as strong and determined as he was so he could see her through her darkest time. This is another second chance romance in The 'Burg that KA completely outdoes herself on. With a serious non stop action and drama plot, freaking amazing characters, funny and sexy times galore, Golden Trail is just an all around awesome book that I loved just as much the second time as I did the first. Maybe more.

3.5 Feathers
Golden Trail
Reviewed by Suzanne & posted at Under the Covers Book Blog

Raquel "Rocky" Merrick walked away from Tanner Layne without ever giving an explanation, but 18 years later, Layne has an ex wife and two boys, but he still can't get Rocky out of his head. Especially when she starts planning something crazy and dangerous, something that weeks earlier got him shot 3 times. Determined to stop her doing something risky he comes up with a plan that will not only help him catch the bad guy, but also get him close to Rocky again.

This has got to be the only book of Kristen Ashley's I have read where it is entirely from the guy's POV. For me, this was a double edged sword, I liked seeing things from the guys perspective for once, and I got to know Layne a lot better then I would normally know the hero of the story, but although I liked Rocky, I never felt a big connection with her like I did Vi and Feb in the previous books. We definitely needed a big scoop of Rocky in this book.

What was great about this book though was, seeing Layne's realtionship grow not only with Rocky, but with Jasper and Tripp as well, Layne's teenage sons. They were such a great family unit and damn do they grow teenage boys like that in America? I don't remember any guys as hot and as sweet as Jas and Tripp in my school! I loved that we got a little romance going on with Jasper and Keira, Vi's daughter from At Peace, I love a secondary romance, even if it was only a small one.

This book also had a lot more action and suspense stuff in it. I think this is a by product of it being entirely from Layne's POV. We got to see all he was doing to bring down the bad guys, when normally if it was from Rocky's POV that wouldn't happen as we all know that KA's uber manly alpha males do their best to keep their women out of the action, and Layne was no different.

Golden Trail wasn't my favourite in the series, but it was still a fantastic read and I enjoyed every word.

I’ve never read a Kristen Ashely book I didn’t like. Golden Trail was no exception. I loved Layne and Rocky’s second chance love story!

Eighteen years. That’s how long it’s been since the love of Tanner Layne’s life up and left him. Raquel Merrick. Rocky. She was the one for him. They were happy and in love, until one day she was gone. Since then, Layne has had two boys- Jasper and Tripp, who are both teenagers. He’s been married, then divorced. He’s traveled all over for work and now he’s back and settled in the Burg to be near his sons. He tries not to think too much about Rocky, but it’s hard now. She’s infiltrated his job and his life.

Rocky is determined to help take down a dirty cop. She has her reasons for wanting to help, but Layne can’t let her do this alone. He still cares about her and he doesn’t want to see her hurt. For this operation to work, they have to ‘pretend’ to be back together. Since Layne is single and Rocky is in the middle of a divorce, it works. Layne thinks he hates Rocky. Hates her for leaving him, for what she put him through. But with time, he realizes it’s the exact opposite.

Layne and Rocky aren’t just dealing with their feelings for one another, they also have so much more than they bargained for in this case they’re working. Bad things are going down in the Burg and they’re working to solve the mystery of whats going on. As they continue to work the case, Rocky grows closer to Layne and his boys. Layne comes to find the reason Rocky really left. Their ‘fake’ relationship turns more real day by day. Neither had lost the feelings they’ve always had for one another.

One of my favorite things about this one- it was 100% written in Layne’s pov. Love books written in the males perspective. Especially when it’s a KA male.

Layne was a wonderful hero. That is one of the best words I could use to describe the man. HERO. What a guy! He’s a stand up man, great father, kind, considerate, but still that possessive and sexy alpha male. And his sons… I fell in love with them both! Jasper, just like a mini Layne, and Tripp who was the sweetest! Couldn’t get enough of the Layne boys! I loved what Jasper said when he first started dating Kiera (Joe Cal’s step-daughter)

They made me smile and laugh out loud so many times. Ryker was also a fun character, and Rocky’s brother Merry. I’m looking forward to his book!

Rocky was one of those heroines I wasn’t sure about in the beginning of the book, but she grew on me. I didn’t understand her at first. What her reasons were for the things she did in the past, and to be honest I just didn’t like her much because she broke Layne’s heart all those years ago. But the more I got to ‘know’ her character, saw how she was with the boys, her students, and saw how much she truly did love Layne, I started to really like her. By the end of the story, she won me over.

The only reason I didn’t give it 5… I felt like there were parts in the middle that dragged. I don’t mind that most of KA’s books are long, in fact, I love that about her stories. It’s just some of the middle felt like it was unnecessary and I had a few moments that I was a little bored. Luckily, the bulk of the story captivated me so it wasn’t a big issue.

I love Kristen Ashely’s writing. That woman has a way with words. I fall in love with every book of hers I read. Most every character too. With how courageous and brave Layne was, it was difficult not to love him. Her ‘The Burg’ series is great because it’s not only romance, but it’s packed full of family, friendship, mystery and suspense. There is always so much going on, but it always comes together in the best way by the end. You will laugh, cry, swoon, and be moved when reading one of her books. This is a series I adore and I’m looking forward to jumping into the next one asap!

Another AMAZING read in the Burg series- book 3. Tanner Layne left town after his divorce but has come back to town to step up and take care of his boys as his ex-wife is living with a loser of a guy. I love Tanner Layne he is a man's man but he is a great father now that he is back in his boys lives. I love how he treats his boys at the maturity they are. Rocky has a darkness inside her that had her leave Tanner all those years ago and now she is a teacher at the boys school and back in Tanner's life. I love that Rocky is a strong capable woman but the walls she has up around her heart and life to protect herself. There is a lot squished into this story and lots of stories and characters intersect in a wonderful way. I cried, was on the edge of my seat and fell in love. And Kristen Ashely knows how to write a fantastic Epilogue seriously. I love that we continue to see the other characters from the first two books as part of the story. FANTASTIC Read!

How to become a golden couple in the 'burg:
1. Be outrageously beautiful. Be the most beautiful girl in high school, and be the hottest guy in school.
2. You KNOW you're meant to be together no matter what. Time, age, life, nothing will change your epic love.
3. You must be in your late thirties. You will have been separated for more than a decade before your reconciliation will stick. The time spent apart is irrelevant.
4. You must have a tragic past. Something absolutely horrible has happened to you and it shadows your relationship with your significant other.
5. You are a pillar of the community. Everyone knows you and knows the intimate details of your star crossed love.
But guess what? These five steps add up to an AMAZING story. It will be deep, dramatic, and emotional. It will be intense. You will feel it, and love it.

Tanner Layne and Raquel Merrick fell hard, fast, and young. They also thought it would last forever...till Raquel left Tanner with no excuse and no reason. They both moved on marrying others and Tanner having two kids. Both divorced. On a case involving a dirty cop Tanner was critically wounded bringing Rocky back to him. Making a deal to work together Layne also has a game plan. One involving Rocky back in his life. In order to make his plans work to bring down a dirty cop, and keep Rocky in his life he calls in his mentor, and Rocky's cop brother Merry.

There were so many moving parts to this story. Webs of lies and deceit and crime abundant. Between Layne's ex-wife shacked up with a scumbag loser, weird disturbing things happening in the Church Youth Group, and a dirty cop Layne has his plate full. Layne has to be one of my favorite Kristen Ashley Men. He is strong, loyal, hard working, and in my mind sexy as all get out! I have yet to be disappointed by Kristen Ashley and I don't think I will....Rock On!

This is the third book in The `Burg series. We meet Rocky Merrick and Tanner Layne. They were high school sweethearts, but Rocky ended things 18 years ago for reasons unknown. I am not sure I would have noticed this but another reviewer noted that the only narration happens through Tanner (or at Rocky calls him "Layne"). We are never in Rocky's head. I didn't really miss this, and since we didn't find out until the end, I can see why the author chose to stay in Layne's head. It gets really old if you have to read vague references to situations two dozen times before you get the details. So although we knew Rocky was hiding the secrets from Layne, we didn't have to listen to a narrator who was hiding her thoughts from herself (which doesn't make sense) and the reader.

Layne is a private investigator for The `Burg. There is so much drama going on in this book! Layne's ex-wife has a live in boyfriend who is trouble so he is working on gets the goods on this guy to get him outta his kids life. There is something weird going on with the local youth group and Rocky is determined to figure it out so that forces Layne to get involved. One of the local cops is dirty and Layne already almost died from getting too close to this situation, but he is back in action here. His boy's football coach is a big jerk and turns into an even bigger jerk.

In true Kristen Ashley alpha male fashion, Layne is able to fix all the problems. What he can't fix is Rocky because she won't let him in. When you find out her secret you kind of want to punch her brother and father because they could have helped her, but instead they kept it "in the family" and let this crap fester for twenty years.

I can't wait for #5 in The `Burg series to be released! It is going to be the bomb.com!

For more Kristen Ashley reviews: [...]

I must admit even though I love Kristen's books it took me a while to get round to reading this one, I downloaded the sample and started it a few times but something just didn't gel I think it was because after For You and At Peace I expected this book to start with known characters (personally I was hoping for Mike) I eventually got over my snit and got round to actually reading it, once I'd got going I was hooked. I loved Layne but then who doesn't, I also really liked the Jasper/Keira romance and how we're kept in touch with all our favourite characters.
Value for money the 'Burg books have to be up there you just get so much in them, an excellent read.
### re-read August 2017

I enjoyed this book even more this time than the previous times I've read it, I'd forgotten just how funny Dev is and when Vera sees Ryker for the first time.

Ryker relaxed and shoved his gun back right before Vera hit the door. She looked up at Ryker and her mouth dropped open.
"My,” she breathed, “you’re a big boy.”

Ryker has become one of my favourite characters from this series.
This book has a strong story and strong characters.

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My Review:
This book took me a few days to get through, which is unusual for me, especially with a KA book. Typically I devour them within hours. To me that means there was a little something missing but it was still a great book and I'd, of course, recommend it to everyone. I mean, really, it's a KA book so it's a winner.

There were so many different problems in this book that helped push the flow along. Layne's ex-wife's a-hole boyfriend, a high school football coach who is trouble, something funky with the church's youth group and a dirty cop.

During all that drama, we get to see Layne and Rocky get to know each other once again but Rocky's got some serious issues which caused their initial breakup and threaten to cause it again.

Layne enlists everyone in helping him solve those problems, his sons, his mentor, Rocky, and a scary guy who is in everyone's business.

This book, must like the rest of the series, was a great read.
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What I Liked:

Tripp and Jasper. I loved Tripp's exuberance and Jasper's cool. They were both the perfect parts of Layne. Both of them wanting to step up and help take care of those around them.
Ryker. I loved Ryker. I would love to see more about him.
Its entirely told from the POV of the hero, which is pretty awesome.
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What I Didn't Like:
The Cover ("don't judge a book by it's cover" they say but I just can't help it!)
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Favorite Quote:

“It’s good she hooked up with me, she such a nut, she needs a badass to take her back.”

There are certain times in life when I NEED a Kristen Ashley fix. You know when life is hectic and crazy or you feeling a bit down and you just need a dose of hot alpha male to get you through. Well that is why I recently picked this one up and boy is Tanner Layne that fantasy fix.

Golden Trail is told in the third person but from Layne's POV which is unusual from a KA book. It was a bit weird for me at first as I kept expecting Rocky's voice to appear but I did eventually get used to it.

Now for those of you who have read KA before you know what you are getting. For those who haven't her books follow the same formula but it is a winning formula none the less. Boy meets girl, boy is demanding over the top hot alpha male, boy and girl have trouble, boy and girl have ever happy after and Golden Trail doesn't disappoint with this.

The Burg series is follows characters in their late 30's early 40's so there is history and baggage with each of them and in this book we meet up with characters from the two other books in this series. I loved Layne and Rocky and Layne's kids Tripp and Jasper are awesome. I would love to read their story, I think it would make a great spin off.

I enjoyed Golden Trail as I do all of Ms Ashley's books. So why am I only giving it threes stars? Well it was a little long and some of the story could have been trimmed for me. After such a big build up the ending was a bit rushed and a bit of a let-down and I would have loved to read some of the book from Rocky's POV. Still it is a definite read for KA fans out there.

I am really enjoying these books by Kristen Ashley.
She writes about mature characters; usually in their 30s and 40s. They have history. They have drama. They have BAGGAGE and how KA unfurls that baggage is pure drama with a dose of angst thrown in for good measure. Nothing like making the reader work for that happily ever after.

In this book we get Tanner Layne and Raquel Merrick (Layne and Rocky) who are reunited after 18 years apart. It's a love that proves to have survived the test of time - time that includes an ex-wife and two kids. For most of the book I couldn't figure out why Rocky left the man she loved and when the truth comes out - it both makes sense and is frustrating at the same time. So much time lost and coming back together is NOT easy. Tanner's two boys are terrific characters as well. Don't even get me started on the dog! Of course, we get plenty of prior 'Burg story characters and are brought up to date on their state of matrimony. Oh......let's not forget Ryker.......he is something else and darned if the love of a good woman (and her daughter) doesn't bring down his bad-a$$ self. Who doesn't love a sensitive tough guy?

We have bad guys......lots of 'um. It's quite a puzzle that KA weaves for us readers and when it all finally fits together (like at the end of the book), what a reward we readers get.

Another fine 'Burg story. I adored it. Thank you dear authoress.

Another super long book by KA. I really enjoyed this one. It is written totally in 3rd person from the POV of the hero. While this made me totally love the hero, it did make it difficult to really get to know and warm up to the heroine. I liked the scenes of her teaching. However, I felt like she started out strong and became weaker as the book went on. Still she was okay and this was really Layne's story so it worked.

They were apart for a long time (18 years) and I really thought that it would bother me worse than it did but I was pretty okay with it. Plus in the interim, Layne had fathered two really wonderful boys so that made it better.

This book had a stronger suspense plot than any of the other three I have read by this author. I was pleased with this because I felt that the weak suspense plot really hurt the quality of Lady Luck. Well done, interesting secondary characters. There was a lot to enjoy in this book.

I have to mention that there was far far less of the staccato talking without pronouns in this book so that made me a happy camper.

I'm not sure how I discovered Kristen Ashley but she's a new favorite romance author. The dialogue between the H/h is very natural in all her books. I've gone through the Chaos, Dream Man, Unfinished Heroes Series and just finished Golden Trail, my third book in the 'Burg Series. So far the "Burg Series is my favorite. And although, I loved Layne this was not my favorite book in the Series. It often felt like Layne was speechifying everyone. And there was hardly any Rocky POV.

What I did enjoy was Kristen's ability to get into a man's head. The way Layne dealt with his sons, his home environment, very "male headed". I enjoyed Layne's relationship with his sons so much the love story seemed secondary. Maybe the true love story was supposed to be the Father's love for his sons.

And I'm so thankful that in this era of writing books with Part One, Two and Three all Ashley's books so far can be read on their own. There is a beginning, middle and end with the same book. The fun part is getting glimpses of characters from the previous books continuing their story but it's not an essential read into THEIR story. Their original story had an end.

It's not a quick read, it's a nice entertaining longish read.

Generally love Kristen Ashley, but as some of the others have commented, sometimes the guys can be real jerks. This guy is waaaaayyyyy beyond that! Seriously could not stand him! He treats his ex wife like crap (she deserves some of the crap but wth- can you say way over the top?). He is a good dad sometimes and other times a complete moron who thinks not doing anything makes him a good dad. He treats her brother and dad horrendously acting like its out of concern about Rocky... None of which is hot, All of which is infuriating! Yet somehow Rocky falls for his backwards, ultra ridiculous reasoning. I just could not get behind this one. I was really looking forward to their story because they have cameos in the other books, but OMG seriously hate hate hate this guy and wonder why a smart woman would tolerate him!

It was good and surprisingly since it is narrated from Layne POV only. I think that's the first time ever I read a book only from the man POV. Not bad :)

As for the story, as I said, good but not great. With For you and At Peace, I got used to some real action, real problems and threat to the woman. In Golden Trail, we have TOO MANY problems and threats, it comes from everywhere and nowhere and can get a bit confusing. Also, the story is really long and not fast enough at some points. I liked Layne, Rocky was ok but missing some badass attitude.

I love every Kristen Ashley book I read and Golden Trail is no exception. K A knows how to write an interesting story with strong characters that I care about. Layne and Rocky start dating when they are young, but circumstances separate them for eighteen years. They find each other again, but it's not easy trying to establish a new relationship, with all they other things going on in their lives, including catching bad guys. Layne is a badass, macho guy, but loves Rocky with all his heart and will do anything for her. We also catch up with everyone else in the Burg, including the characters from the first two books in this series. Layne's two boys are delightful and add to the story.

Kristen Ashley has never failed me yet. This is another truly excellent book with stellar writing and complex interesting plotting. All of her books are long which is great from a financial standpoint, also because you spend a lot of time with her wonderful fully drawn complete characters. I thoroughly enjoyed the many facets of this story. It's a romantic love story, a very hot and sexy story, a family saga, a mystery, a suspense/thriller, and an action/adventure. There are true villians and true heroes also in this book. I tried hard to put this book down and go to bed but this truly is a hard one to put down because I was so involved in the story I coudn't even wait untill morning to finish. Great book, another epic success for this author.

I rarely write reviews since I feel like I have nothing more to say other than plagiarizing someone else's raves or criticisms. I really did not want to read this book even though I am currently addicted to Kristen Ashley books. The plot point of almost 20 years before they meet again just was too frustrating, Like the worst t.v. show couple shipping. Who wants to get into that from the beginning? Luckily someone else wrote that some of the characters from "At peace" appear and as that is one of my favorites so I decided to buy the book and just read those parts. The book was too good too much going on and I had to read the whole thing and am I glad. Still a frustrating situation but that is Ms. Ashley for you.

The Golden Trail leaves a golden trail in the hearts and minds of readers of The 'burg Series. The more titles read, the deeper the characters are interwoven and the stronger the bond between reader, characters, and story. I'm anxious to open book 4.

Really can't believe it but this is the first and only KA book that I didn't like! From the beginning, I just couldn't get into the story! I think there was too much "'Burg cop lingo" to pick up the initial plot. I only *slightly* got into it around 60% and then it seemed like there was too many storylines. Layne and Rocky just didn't grip me the way most of KA's characters do. I finished it, but it was more a matter of principle rather that interest.

I loved this book so much. So many things going on and Layne...sigh... Really liked Rocky. She was real and not overly strong but after reading Rock Chicks and this series, I am getting a complex about myself cause I dont have a "great rack or ass" or long hair. I'd love one of the guys to fall for a normal girl. But in spite of that, I will keep reading! Loved Mike in the last book but in my head he's blond so lets see how that goes for me in the next one.

As always, Kristen Ashley scores a perfect 5 stars from me. I liked that this book was entirely from Layne's POV. Completely unique from nearly all of this author's other books. Hot, sexy, and above all, romantic. Beautiful!

I love anything KA so that being said; i felt like this book had alot going on and it felt like there was almost too much. Dont get me wrong - I still liked it but it's not my favorite by KA. I love that any book that i've read of hers that she does an amazing job of developing her characters and she can always hook me.
The relationship between Tanner and his boys was heartwarming. I loved hearing about the characters from the first two books of the series too.

This was a sad, beautiful story. I loved, loved, loved Layne. And Rocky is the typical amazing KA heroine who has some major issues her bad boy has to work through with her. There is A LOT in this story with the exes, Layne's mom, the sons, the coach, youth group, etc. Loved the boys and bringing Cal and Keira in from "At Peace".

I so liked this book! Loved Layne with his boys, although I had a problem with enlisting then in undercover work. I also loved knowing how Layne operated on a case. Rocky was all right. Her character was not as developed as Layne's.

I loved everything about this book. I can honestly say it was my favorite in the series. There is a ton of drama and suspense. The characters are extremely lovable. There is a great love story and tanner and his boys have an amazing relationship. Loved it you have to read this book. You will not be disappointed!