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Review

“She’s not what I expected. She’s not what I wanted, but fuck me if she’s not what I need.”

A sexy and romantic read with a bit of an edge. 3.5 stars

This is book 1 in the Underground Kings series, and is also a spin-off of the Until series, with Kenton being a cousin of the fabulously alpha Mayson boys. He appeared in a number of the Until books, and I’ve been looking forward to getting to his story – though having said that, this can easily be read as a standalone.

Kenton is a bit of a bounty hunter/security/badass kind of guy. It’s never really revealed what he does, but there’s no doubt he’s a good guy who just happens to work on the shady side of things. But his life is turned upside down when he does a favour for a buddy by taking in a young woman in hiding.

Autumn Freeman is a bit of a loner. She had a very tough upbringing, but she is a fighter and has escaped her controlling and abusive mother to live her life on her own terms. She is studying to become a nurse and makes ends meet by working at a strip club, and it is there that she witnesses a multiple murder. Whisked away by one of the security guys, she is sent from her home in Vegas to stay with Kenton in Tennessee.

Kenton takes one look at Autumn and sees that she’s a total knockout. That, mixed with her job at a strip club is enough for him to write her off as a flaky stripper that he wants nothing to do with. He’s actually a bit of a douche in the beginning of this book, but even then you can see some sparks between them. And when he learns just how wrong he is about her, he embraces his inner caveman and pulls out all of the stops to make her his.

She’s not what I expected. She’s not what I wanted, but fuck me if she’s not what I need.

I really liked Kenton and Autumn together. They are both extremely stubborn, and even though Kenton is a total alpha, telling Autumn how it’s going to be, she has been hurt by his immediate dismissal of her, and she fights him every step of the way. It takes a bit of time for them to get on the same page (and more than one explosive encounter), but it’s worth the wait once they sort themselves out. Their romance is sweet and passionate, and a little bit dirty, with lots of sweet and funny moments and it develops beautifully.

“I’m in like with you,” I tell him….
“Yeah?” His eyebrow rises and he kisses my forehead. “I’m in a whole lotta like with you too, baby.”

But even as these two fall hard and fast into a deeply intense love, it becomes clear that Autumn isn’t out of danger yet, and the bad guys are hot on her trail.

I enjoyed this book. Like the others in the prequel series, it’s very formulaic, and you know exactly what you’re going to get going in – some boy/girl drama, an alpha staking his claim and the inevitable to-and-fro, steamy hot sex and a fast moving, swoonily romantic and super functional romance… and then some more drama (external to the relationship) before the gooey HEA. Predictable, yes, but extremely comforting, and enjoyable when it’s exactly what you’re in the mood for.

There’s also a lengthy epilogue which gives us lots of details about Kenton and Autumn’s future together – although in this case, to me it almost felt a bit information overload. There were a lot of bombs dropped, and they were the sort of things I would have liked explored more in the actual story, but I still like how it all ended and it was still a nice way to wrap everything up.

Throughout the story we are introduced to a number of Kenton’s super-hot, badass friends and colleagues, and I’m guessing they’re going to make up the rest of the series. I’m looking forward to diving in.

3.5 stars.

 

The Underground Kings series

 

Also note that this series loosely ties in with Aurora Rose Reynold’s Until series.  Find more information on our Series Info page.