Taut: The Ford Book (a Rook and Ronin Spinoff)

Oh Ford, Ford, Ford. Where do I begin? I never seem to get all my thoughts about a book down accurately, so I don't review much, but I need to try and write a good review for this book. Because it rocked.First, bravo to JA Huss for a fabulous spin-off book.(Which is really hard to do right!) Ok, I need to recap something... I wasn't a Ford fan after reading the Rook and Ronin series. But...the epilogue in Panic let me with WTH thoughts. (I despise cliffhangers. I HATE them, and while the epilogue in Panic wasn't quite a cliff, it still bothered me because it left me hanging for more. More Ford and I thought to myself, how the hell did that happen? He never appealed to me in the books, now I want to know more.) I then was relieved to learn that there was a Ford novella coming out that picks up right where Panic's epilogue left off. (And a bonus for being a JA fan, she writes really fast, and I didn't have to wait FOREVER for it.) So I read Slack, the day it came out, in one sitting. And slowly I found myself becoming "in like" with Ford. I started to see his appeal. And I started cheering for this weird, seemingly off character.Ford's appeal grew leaps and bounds for me in the first few chapters of Taut. He's a different and unique male character, which frankly is a huge plus in my book. If you read a lot, you probably see a trend in book boyfriends these days. Well, Ford is a different character all together, which is SO refreshing. Sure he's a hot, alpha, multimillionaire, but he's weird. He's crazy scary smart. He's got issues. BIG fat issues that I didn't think I'd get past...but I did. I mean he had female pets, as in women-we're not talking female guinea pigs or bunnies or cats...and they were collared and weren't allowed to speak. But now I adore him.Why do I love him now, let me count the ways. First, Taut is a smart, unique, standalone book with a HEA. When I say Taut is a smart book, it's really a smart book. JA must be one creative, smart ass chick, because I found myself googling terms and phrases so I could better understand Ford, a fictional character. (I was actually researching to better grasp his character!) I love Ford now because I love how he responded to Ashleigh. I love Ashleigh. What a strong female character. She's got baggage, and by baggage I mean it literally. She's running from a past while trying to come to terms with it, and she lands in Ford's lap. *swoon*I loved this book. I loved the length of this book, it's long but doesn't seem long, and I didn't want it to end (and at 95% I was texting my friend going...how can this wrap up in 5% while my pits were sweating from being anxious!). I laughed out loud while reading certain parts (Sphere of privacy is probably my favorite part of any recent book I've read) and I literally sighed at Ford's actions and conversations throughout the book. It has just the right amount of angst, along with the right amount of lust and love, plus some hot sex.This is a winner. Not only is it a great book, but a wonderfully unique story. Now I wait. I wait because my most anticipated book of 2014 is out in March. It stars Ford's BFF, that's right, it's time to prepare for Bomb (out next month) and then Guns in March. I'm seriously worried what's going to happen when this series and characters are complete.*****5 stars for me. It also left me with a book hangover for 8 days! I couldn't read another book for 8 days because I was still thinking of Spencer's epilogue (swoon). I kept thinking of Ford and Ashleigh. Hell, I was even thinking of Rook and Ronin. And I was thinking of Spencer, wait, did I already mention that, well, I think about Spencer as much as a man thinks about sex, so probably.I'm gifting this book to friends when it releases!

I love, adore, worship J.A. Huss. With Taut, I think she's kinda outdone herself. I don't know what it is about this book - maybe it's simply that I know Ford so well at this point that seeing this deeply into his psyche is that much more pleasurable. Whatever it is, I love, love Taut and I love Ford and all his many peculiarities.Ford, for those of you who haven't read the Rook & Ronin series, is a genius. He's a genius with few social skills. He's a genius who puts his talents to use in hacking into powerful peoples' business for purely philanthropic reasons. He's also a film director. And he doesn't do relationships, although he would have made an exception for Rook, if she hadn't been Ronin's.Ashleigh is dealing with some major life tumult. She's traveling alone with her baby, trying to make her way to see the father of her child one last time. She meets Ford when her car dies and leaves her stranded in Vail. Is it fate?Taut has so many shocking revelations. There were many 'oh my's and 'what the?'s and *gasp* 'Oh no!'s. I'm not going to dwell on the plot though. You can read the synopsis above. I'd rather tell you about how Taut made me feel.One thing I realized about Ford in Taut? Ford is really looking for someone who needs him and who he can help to be strong and fulfill their potential...and I realized that's exactly what he needs as well.Another thing I realized is how others' perceptions of us can affect our perception of ourselves. Ford perceives himself as weird, off-putting...a freak. But he's really none of those things. Others have formed that impression of him, and because they see him in those ways, he's decided he is that way.Ashleigh...well I'm going to love any girl who can steal Ford's heart. She's obviously going through a lot of stuff - I mean she's on a road trip, alone, with a baby. But this girls seems to have some pluck. She definitely keeps Ford on his toes. I really liked that she was genuine. She generally told Ford - straight-up - how things were. And with him, she usually gave as good as she got.Ashleigh is intuitive - she seems to really get Ford. She's crumbling his walls - over-stepping his boundaries and he doesn't even know it. It was so much fun watching Ford try to put Ashleigh into one of his categories, especially since she doesn't fall neatly into any one.Taut is an incredible read. I adored watching Ford grow and learn about himself a bit. And I loved seeing Ashleigh be able to begin to heal with a little help from Ford. I think this may be my favorite book in the Rook & Ronin world, and it's all because of Ford. The emotion evoked in this book off the charts. And I'm forever a Ford girl...pet...er, lover. :)

***4.5 stars***I'm totally swooning over Ford right now & I never could have anticipated feeling that way about him given his first impression back in Manic!This story, just wow, it really took us on one heck of a journey & one that I never would have expected. I loved seeing the changes in Ford. Ashleigh, god she is just perfect for Ford, she challenges him in away that I feel Rook never could/would have, although I think through his friendship with Rook & his feelings for her, ultimately opened Ford up to the possibilities of loving another person & generally feeling.

I was disappointed with this story of Ford as I had read the other 3 stories about Rook and Ronin where Ford was featured and I absolutely loved them but I felt this one was a bit far fetched, especially as to how he met Ashleigh and within a few pages after that he was involved with her sexually. I felt it was all a bit unreal and yes I know it is fiction after all but for me it has to be believable and I didn't feel this was. Don't get me wrong, the story is a good one but very different to Rook and Ronin so that's maybe what I was disappointed about. It didn't have enough angst in it for me and I felt it was a bit rushed at the end. I'm going to read about Spencer now and hope it will be a better read for me.

Absolutely amazing read. Oh how I love Ford's character. This story carries on from Slack and also The Rook & Ronin series and all of this series have just been a joy to read. Ford's character has evolved so much, he has gone from being the weird nerdy freak who doesn't feel emotions to feeling them all and falling in love and not with Rook. He meets Ashleigh and her baby Katelynn by chance on a snowy night where they are both stranded. He offers them to share his room and it just goes on from there, they end up on a road trip to L.A. with a stop in Vegas. I had so many expectations from this book and can honestly say it was just so amazing and I'm sad it's over. I will definitely move on to Spencer's books now. I would highly recommend this series and other books by this Author.

Wow. What a fabulous book!I loved the story of Ford and Ash. Two people fighting against loss. Ford's idiosyncrasies were handled with care and written so very well.The developing relationship between the two is achingly beautiful and the whole story is lightened by the superb dialogue between them.I enjoyed Ford's growing self-awareness and journey through the book. Though it is clear to the reader what Ash's loss is, this does not diminish the impact of the reveal.Beautifully written. Enjoy!

Absolutely loved this book - what a fantastic character Ford is. You just love him for all his foibles that make him so - Ford! I enjoyed seeing his relationship unfold with Ashleigh and his/their interactions with others - he really made me laugh. The complexity of the overall plot for this series is further revealed which is quite gripping. What a brilliant read, I haven't enjoyed a character as much as Ford in ages. I felt quite bereft when I finished this book cos it was such a good read.