Fierce Salon: Wash (Season 1) by Aspen Drake

This is a serialized novel. Each episode is a cliffhanger. For mature readers. 

The Season One Box Set includes episodes 1-5. 

Synopsis:

When Nate Edwards left his drug addicted ex and his modeling career, he followed his other passion and opened up Fierce Salon. He's a player in every sense of the word but never steps over the line of professionalism when it comes to his staff. They are the only women off limits to him. 

Amy loses her job and her boyfriend on the same morning when her salon shuts down unexpectedly and she catches her boyfriend cyber cheating. When she runs into an old friend working at an upscale salon, Amy’s desperate situation begins to look up. 

It takes some convincing, but she lands her dream job and gets to spend her days looking at the most beautiful man she’s ever seen. If only he was willing to break his golden rule and see her as more than just an employee. 

Written as a short sitcom, each episode provides glimpses into the different characters at Fierce and the daily drama they face as young, attractive millennials in Menlo Park, California. Each episode creates as many new questions as it answers. Read as they are released or wait for the entire season to be published as one book.  

Reviews:

Iva's Review:

Fierce Salon: Wash by Aspen Drake is five episodes that are grouped together in one book, that is almost 300 pages long. There are several episodes to follow, so beware that it does end with a cliffhanger. 

I enjoyed reading the book, the author has some new slants on old ideas and a few new ones, but while the book was very easy to read, it was also easy to forget. The story is there and the author is able to get the words to flow, but I didn’t feel a connection with either of the two protagonists. 

Amy remained just words to me, which was emphasised by the fact it was written in first person. I never felt the emotions she was telling me she felt. I think, because her feelings to situations were explained rather than conveyed, it really put a barrier up between the character and me as the reader. 

Nate was like two different people. I could not see how someone who hooked up with women and dumped them regardless of their feelings could also be a consoling, patient and empathetic hairdresser. It felt like two extremes. Having the book broken up into episodes was damaging to the story and the characters. Several times I felt as though the protagonists’ feelings were dismissed too quickly in order to get to the next plot point and I think this is why they remained just names, rather than a person I could feel empathy for. 

Being a serial was also to the detriment of the author’s talent because the story is there, but it feels broken and each new episode presented an opportunity to stop reading rather than presenting a need to keep reading. I feel there needs to be some work done on character development for this story to become more memorable, and that a different format would help allow this to happen. 

Would I purposely continue with this series? No. I need the connection with the characters and there are too many other books wanting to be read, but I wouldn’t go out of my way not to read it either. 

I believe Aspen Drake does have the potential to be a bestselling author, however a serial is not the right format to showcase this. It's a 3.2 read for me.

Jess' Review:

In this installment of episodes we meet Amelia (Amy), Nate, Olivia, Gabi, Mason and a small cast of thousands. Amy has had a shithouse day, you cant help but feel for the girl, but as luck would have it she is not down on hers for too long. 

Amy ends up at Fierce Salon looking for work. Enter Nate – hot broody ex model and self confessed manwhore. Nate doesn't dip his wick with his employees, but pretty much everyone else if fair game. Nate finds himself attracted to Amy, and as their relationship develops, things start to change. Does this relationship run smooth – hell no.. but you will have to read to find out where the pot holes lie. 

Now where to start with my thoughts…. This story was an easy read, but I was pretty underwhelmed. Essentially, the story was built on the instalust between Amy and Nate, but I struggled to believe even the lust aspect of the relationship. This may have directly been affected by the story being written as a serial, which really didn’t allow for much character development. 

Nate was a dichotomy – he was represented as a manwhore, a bang and flick kind of guy, but then he was a compassionate and nurturing business owner. The two elements did not sit well with me so rather than them being two sides to a personality, it almost appeared that it was two separate characters. 

Amy was a woman whose world as she knew it had collapsed, she should have been at rock bottom. Now while she was resilient and this is a trait I admire, I felt no emotional connection to her experience. She was meant to be vulnerable, with Nate having to save her, but at no point did I sense a real vulnerability with her. 

The plot was a bit all over the shop (without going into too much detail in case you decide to take a chance), it seems like the flow was like the energizer bunny, hoping around in all different directions and just going and going…. The secondary characters, interestingly, seemed to have more depth than the leads – but their story seemed to be weaved into an episode on a random tangent that had me asking ‘what was the point of that?’ I am sure it would become clearer as the story goes… 

Now I don’t want to be completely harsh, Fierce has some fun moments, it’s a light read, and it has potential. I can see the characters start to build and they too have potential – I am just not 100% sure that a serial format will allow their growth to ever be realised. 

I would rate Fierce Salon – Wash as a 3. Its not bad, but I was left wanting… and not in a great way!

Reading Write Now's Average Rating

Links

Amazon