Smooth Sailing

Wild West MC, Book 3

De: Kristen Ashley

Narrado por: Joseph Discher, James Hudson, Stella Bloom

When the Chaos Motorcycle Club came to call, Harlan “Hugger” McCain wasn’t ready to be welcomed into the fold. They said he was a legacy. He felt like an outcast.

But he patched in anyway.

And he was all in to be a part of their not-quite-outlaw missions.

This takes him down to Phoenix, right into the orbit of Diana Armitage, a beautiful, green-eyed woman with a heart of gold and a scarily honed tendency to sacrifice for pretty much everyone she cares about and some people she barely knows.

Hugger has been existing. Life has never given him much; now, he expects even less.

Diana lives life to its fullest. And she doesn’t keep it a secret she wants to drag Hugger right along with her.

But Hugger is certain he’s got bad blood. He’s got one foot in Chaos, one foot out. One foot in Diana’s life, one foot out.

Diana and his brothers in Chaos have their work cut out to show Hugger who he is.

That he belongs.

And he’s worthy to be loved.

©2025 Kristen Ashley (P)2025 Audible, Inc.

I love it but

I love it so much, I love the narrators. KA is an instant buy for me, I see a new preorder and I buy it right away. But for this story, is it the Diana show or is the Suzette show? The plot was driven almost completely about Suzette and that character was more intriguing than Diana and Hugger. I can't wait to see Suzettes story, and Pete's but I wish that the danger and plot was more centered around Diana rather than Suzette. Overall it was great, but I wanted more of Diana, less of Suzie.

That said.....KA's books are depth within depth within depth and not many authors do that. I love fully getting immersed into the story.

Kristen Ashley never disappoints!

Smooth Sailing: Wild West MC, Book 3 by Kristen Ashley
Narrated by Stella Bloom, Joseph Discher & James Lurie
While the romance in this book stands alone, the rest of the book does not.
4.25 Stars

“Wind. Ride. Fire. Free.”

Da*n you, Kristen Ashley! I am SOBBING again while writing this! That epilogue was just so beautifully done. Smooth Sailing is the third book in the Wild West MC Series, and I think this is another one written for her die-hard fans. This series is an offshoot of the Chaos MC Series, which spun off from The Dream Man Series, which itself branched from Rock Chicks. It’s also tied to the Avenging Angels since we’ve got the main players in Phoenix, and we all know how Chaos works with Nightingale Investigations. (See my Complete Guide to Kristen Ashley for all of these series.)

Smooth Sailing was beautiful. Too beautiful for a traditional MC book, but absolutely perfect for those of us who’ve been along for the ride all these years. It’s a little corny, yes—but a lot of her recent reunion-type books are, and I am here for it.

Harlan, aka “Hugger,” has had a rough life. With a crappy sperm-donor father and a prostitute mom (who was wonderful and did what she had to do to keep her kid fed and housed), Hugger learned to take care of himself young. His mom was involved with Chaos and always wanted her son to join, but after she passed, Hugger never let himself get close to anyone. Rush and Big Petey finally convinced him to become a prospect, then a brother, but he never felt fully “in,” thinking his dad’s bad blood made him the same.

Diana lives in Phoenix. When she discovered a young girl had been sexually assaulted by a big-time local crime lord—and found out her own dad was defending the a-hole—she decided to step in. She rescued the girl from the hospital and guarded her, thinking the criminal wouldn’t come after his lawyer’s daughter. Chaos got wind of this all the way in Denver and sent Hugger and Big Petey to work with the Phoenix clubs to protect these women.

Well, you know how it goes in Kristen Ashley Land! That protection leads to more. Diana was another amazing KA heroine I’d want to be friends with. Harlan got the nickname “Hugger” ironically because he didn’t like being touched…but Diana changed all of that. I loved how she made him realize how much more life had to offer.

Smooth Sailing is the perfect name for this book because, honestly, for a story that starts off about protection, there wasn’t much action. But there was a LOT of family—both by blood and by cut.

“You went through the worst with us and it was a Rough Ride, but you Walked Through Fire with us, and finally, when we got Smooth Sailing, (…) Ride Steady, my brother.”

Likes:
•OMG, the emotions!
•I’ve always loved Big Petey, and I’m glad we got to know him even more.
•All of the crossover characters from other books and series.
•Even though so many characters were mentioned—including ones I barely remembered—I never felt lost like I did in previous books in this series.
•Visiting Chaos in Denver and seeing all the players and their kids (but seriously, how did Diana keep all those names straight?)
•I loved how Diana just accepted Harlan as a biker and never made it a thing.
•All the reminders of what a real family the club is, and how that brotherhood means everything.
•The songs. You NEED to listen to the two she mentions, really listen to the lyrics.
•The epilogue. It broke me. But it was written so beautifully, and the way Kristen worked in the book names was genius.

Dislikes:
•I was hoping for a little more romantic suspense. The reason Hugger and Pete went to Phoenix just kind of fizzled out.
•Chaos (and the other clubs) are too good now. The men are too wise. The women are too quick to accept anyone. It’s all wrapped up in a pretty little bow. I just felt like we needed a little more grit—it was all so healthy, sweet, and beautiful.
•I normally love how Kristen does 1st person for the female POV and 3rd for the male POV. I usually barely even notice it, but for this story, the 3rd-person narration felt more distant and removed than usual. Maybe it was meant to be because Hugger felt distant, but I don’t think so. It also just could have been the narration.
•The Kristen Ashley motorcycle slang felt goofy at some points.

The Narration:
Stella Bloom is always perfect for KA books. When I hear her narrate anything else, she immediately makes the book better because it feels like I’m listening to a Kristen Ashley book. Joseph Discher is a great narrator, but I don’t love him in romance. He acts well, but his voice just isn’t sexy. I started Smooth Sailing by reading an ARC, and I loved it, but due to eye problems, I had to switch to audio. I definitely liked this one better when I read it because of his voice—he just sounds like a teacher and just not gruff enough to be a biker.

The Down & Dirty:
There’s a feeling that a Kristen Ashley book gives me that nothing else compares to. There’s a reason she has been my favorite author since I started my blog 13 years ago. Smooth Sailing is such a fitting title because the club drama, turf wars, and all that crap are over. Now they just run a custom shop and make babies. It’s a sweet and slightly corny love letter to Chaos. While it seems like Kristen is getting ready to move the series to Phoenix, I honestly think Smooth Sailing would be the perfect end to the Wild West MC series. It’s perfect for any Kristen Ashley MC fan, especially because it has that reunion feel, but people who read a lot of other MC romances may find it a little too sweet and tidy for them.

Rating: 4.25 Stars, 2 Heat, 3.5 Narration (I think the male narration pulled my rating down a bit).

A Must Read MC Romance

I absolutely adored this book. I smiled big like a goober, I cried hard, I swooned. It was fantastic. I cannot wait for the next one in the series. This is a must read.

K.A Does it again!

To start this book touched on the serious issues of human trafficking. The ability a human can profit from this hideous crime is disturbing. K.A put this story in good context. Next HUGG wow, this was a complete shock. Not going to spoil this by stating I totally UGLY CRIED. The ability to have a physical response to fictional characters is that this lady can write one hell of a story. I AM AND WILL ALWAYS BE A K.A. FAN “ROCK ON”

As always KA!

A powerful series of stories in one. It was great to go back and visit Chaos and Resurrection. I couldn't stop the tears for Big Petey. KA always takes you on a journey and I love the way she writes, I would love to sit behind her eyes for a minute.

As always…

KA will make you laugh, love fictional characters and ugly cry, and you’ll love every minute.

The song of you me against the world

Love it all thanks for the memories of that song was raised by a strong single mom forgot all about that song broken hearted about big petey love all your books

Outstanding writing once again

I love all KA books some more than others but still the biggest of fans in her writing. This book destroyed me, in so many good ways but alas in the bad ones to..All I can say is Big Petey…. And go listen to this book you will love it!

Milo

Audible brought this story to life!

I already read this book on KU but as is my usual practice with anything KA writes I used my credit on the audio version. Great decision! Stella Bloom is such an outstanding voice actor that she brought even more depth to the story with her performance. The only reason for my 4 star review instead of 5 stars is the casting for the MMC. The male actor just wasn’t casted well at all. His voice just didn’t work for Hugger and it definitely didn’t work for the men of Chaos. His voice and inflections were almost feminine and that’s completely contrary to KA’s heros. Despite that issue I loved the audio version of this amazing story. It was so cool to revisit Chaos with our beloved characters being the older generation now. KA foreshadowed the loss of Big Petey exceptionally well but I still cried like I’d lost a great friend…both when I read the print version as well (and probably more!) as the audiobook.

Great storytelling - as usual

Spoiler alert - can’t help but say it outright. One of the great things about romance by Kristen Ashley - her stories are all interesting stories with a sweet HEA. All except This One. The ending of this book was (of course) very well written and because it is well done it is a bittersweet - rip your heart out - sad ending that is totally different than the usual book by KA. It is not the two main characters - so - if you can handle the beautifully done heartache of the loss of a beloved character from So Many of KA’s MC books - then you would probably still be able to appreciate the heart rending ending of this one too. Unfortunately - if I am finishing up a book late at night, and am crying my heart out, then I end up with a stuffed up nose and a slight headache from crying. For those die hard KA fans who can’t help but anticipate every new KA book release (like myself) this new book may be welcomed with great relish, but for me it was one book that I was looking forward to but was let down by an ending that was a bit lack luster (no big buildup to some tense climactic ending) just a somewhat tepid story ending - which then led into the heart breakinjg loss of a beloved character who all the fans of the MC series’ stories will recognize and mourn the loss of. Sorry for the spoiler - but - have to say - I wish I had been warned because I think I would rather not have read this one - - no matter how good I think all the KA MC books have always been.