Thank you to both the publisher, Macmillan, and to Netgalley for allowing me to read Dax (Bad Boys of Willow Valley, #1) by Shannyn Leah in exchange for an honest review.
This review may contain spoilers.
Dax Colyn is one of the bad boys of Willow Valley. A fearless volunteer firefighter and hard ass mechanic, he makes all the woman swoon and he likes it that way. He keeps people at a distance since his mother died. He doesn’t want to let anyone in, much less a woman he knows he could fall in love with.
Ava Anderson keeps people away, too. Haunted by her tortured past and constantly fearful of the future, it’s only her daughter Olivia and Dax’s dad Rowdy that she’s let in.
But when tragedy strikes, it pushes Dax and Ava together, forcing them both to let go of their fears. They soon learn how hard it is to keep pretending and how easy it is to let others in. Especially when those people are family.
Publication Date: November 21, 2017.
Prior to reading Dax, I truly didn’t know what to think of this story. I didn’t think very highly of this story, since this book is more or less a fireman story. For some reason I believe I have this predisposition against Firefighter stories? Stop that, Adele. I’m pretty sure I thought I wouldn’t end up liking Dax since I don’t like the cover at all. Even though the cover does have some merit to the story as a whole.
I’ve read a few New Adult stories. New Adult stories tend to bleed into one another for me, ’cause the New Adult stories I’m drawn to are typically the sport themed.
New Adult books tend to also have quite a bit of sex scenes in them! While Dax does have steamy moments, there aren’t any sex scenes. Which is something that is different about this book versus all the other by-the-norm New Adult books.
While reading Dax, I couldn’t predict a thing. I like being able to read a book and not be able to predict what would/could happen.
One thing that I can recall from the book is that there’s the mentioning of the two characters’ ages, but other than that, their ages — I’m talking specific ages — aren’t talked about. Sometimes New Adult stories talk about their character’s ages. I’m both glad and a little worried that the author chose not to in Dax.
What I liked about reading this book is that there are two points of view in this story: Dax and Ava. The second thing I like about this book is that Dax starts off with Dax’s point of view. When I first started reading Dax I had hoped there would be a second point of view, and when I read that there was, I did a little happy dance in my room. And then continued on reading (obviously! haha).
Ava is a great character. She’s a mom, so when her child is threatened and put in danger, she absolutely turns into a momma bear. I liked that she was able to be vulnerable, and I love that she was able to stick-it-to-the-man. Basically we see many facets to Ava, and I really enjoyed that.
Dax went quite a bit of character growth. He started off as this egotistical, arrogant, cocky guy, to who he ended up being at the end of this first book.
As much as I’m looking forward to a continuation of Dax and Ava’s story, I know that typically, in New Adult series, the books tend to be a companion series. If that’s the case for the Bad Boys of Willow Valley, then that’s whats gotta happen. I’m still going to be looking forward to book 2 in this series no matter what.
Something that I loved reading about was obviously that the antagonist got what they deserved(!!!!!). Another thing that I particularly enjoyed was reading about Dax and Ava coming over their fears and working together as a unit.
One thing that I didn’t like about Dax was that there was a great character that was needlessly wrote off. At least in my eyes. I understand why the character was written off, but come on man, he was the human version of a puppy-dog.
Overall, I didn’t think that I would end up liking Dax. There was just something (besides the cover) that was bothering me. Turns out, it was just me being annoying. I’m glad that I read Dax, since we see so much happen between Dax and Ava; we see them grow into beautiful people.
I give Dax (Bad Boys of Willow Valley, #1), 3 stars on GoodReads.
Thank you so much for stopping by!
Happy Reading!
Adele
Adele Is Reading 
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