Every year, I do a KA re-read marathon. I tend to need them when things have been stressful and I am in need of a comfort read. I made a list of some of my very favorites and that list was in the double digits but I chose to start with At Peace and then I moved on to Heaven and Hell. Looking at my Goodreads account, I realized that I first read H&H 4 years ago and I’ve read it again every single year. It doesn’t get old for me.
This book was somewhat of a saving grace for me as I was dealing with my grandfather’s illness and death earlier this week. Sam and Kia served as my soft place to fall when I needed a break. That’s what a comfort read does, right? I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read this one but I discovered something this go round…
I read this book on my Kindle via a copy I bought from Smashwords four years ago. It was highlighted and bookmarked so, normally I knew when my favorites parts were going to happen. For some reason, I couldn’t get that copy to load on my Kindle. My Paperwhite is acting a bit wonky these days so I just decided to suck it up and buy it from Amazon. My only reservation was that this would be a clean copy, no notes or highlights. To be honest, I liked it. Not having those cues helped me to discover new moments I may not have focused on before. And this led me to my discovery- Sampson Cooper isn’t a book boyfriend…he’s a book HUSBAND. I didn’t highlight the new copy of H&H with the exception of one passage:
Spoiler alertish?
My husband was beautiful. My husband was gentle, protective and loving. My husband was funny, but the thought I was funnier. My husband gave me everything.
Sampson Cooper is one if the best male characters that KA has written to date for me. I’d have to say that he is a bit of a rarity in the male character world right now. Sam isn’t a complete manwhore, he’s wealthy but not a billionaire, he doesn’t have a massive amount of issues to get over. He’s alpha but not in a complete pound his chest get in your face way. Kia is very vulnerable when they meet and their time together feels totally natural and not forced. He’s a celebrity of sorts but he’s just Sam and it feels completely organic. Sam is the husband, not the boyfriend.
What’s the point of this post, you ask? There are several:
- Comfort reads are necessary and awesome.
- Highlighting and bookmarking are overrated. You have the opportunity to discover something new!
- Sam Cooper is the inaugural BOOK HUSBAND.
- Heaven and Hell is the dark horse in the Kristen Ashley stable, in that I don’t think it’s talked about as much.
So, tell me, have you ran across any other male characters like this- ie Book husband vs Book Boyfriend? Let’s make a list shall we?
Purchase:
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