Review: Destructive King by Rachel Van Dyken
SYNOPSIS:
A mafia romance about love and loss by Rachel Van Dyken, the number-one New York Times bestselling author of the Eagle Elite series.
…When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.
— Mary Elizabeth Fyre
“I’m sorry for your loss.” I would rather be tortured for an eternity than hear those damn words from one more person, as if Claire, my dead fiancé, was a cell phone or car keys.
How about, I’m sorry your life is over.
I’m sorry you want to die too.
I’m sorry you see her in your dreams and wake up only to relive the nightmare.
I’m supposed to be the strongest of them all. Ash Abandonato, ruler, assassin, made man, brother, friend—instead, I hurt everyone I touch in hopes that they’ll feel even a sliver of the pain that bears down on my shoulders.
I didn’t lose.
It was taken from me.
And it’s all her fault, Annie Smith.
I daydream about her death.
And then I close my eyes, and I see her soft smile. I feel her touch, her kiss—it was a mistake what we did that night, but I can’t take it back, and now she’s under my father’s protection—my protection.
My worst enemy.
The woman I’m the most attracted to.
I can’t decide if I want to strangle her or kiss her, and now that she’s stuck in my life, my only goal is to make her feel the same loss I do and destroy her in the process.
I’ll trick her with my touch.
Seduce her with my kiss.
And in the end, when my enemy is at her most vulnerable—I’ll bring down an entire Empire and continue my reign as King.
Bow down, I’ll say as I bring the Five Families to their knees.
Blood in.
Never out.
Damned.
REVIEW:
*Book Received in Exchange for Honest Opinion/Review*
Finally we are getting back to our mafia roots with this installment to the Mafia Royals Series. There is external danger that leaves more questions than answers, a slow-burn romance, and ultimately a return to normalcy, well as normal as the mafia gets.
But most of all this story is about Ash, and I am not going to lie, I definitely thought this was going to be a retelling of Chase’s book from the OG series, Eagle Elite. Thankfully, while there are similarities between the father and son, Ash’s battle was completely his own. I never really cared for Claire, I didn’t think she was a well-developed character and I thought she wasn’t a good match for Ash. But after her death, Ash went off the crazy, wild, insane deep end with grief.
The first 60% of this book is Ash’s battle with grief and guilt. Ash eventually pulls his head out of his butt and sees what was there all along. Then there is sweet, innocent (maybe) Annie. Annie really grew as a character for me over the course of the story. She is still the weakest link in my eyes but she did have her moments of strength and determination. Honestly, I think Ash needs someone like this, much like his father needed someone like Luc.
In terms of external danger, I have so many questions and feel like I never really got closure on the whole situation. The white horse mystery continues. There were a few major plot twists that happened towards the end of the story. Some I loved, and some I didn’t care for. This story seemed much more focused on the newer generation of kids and therefore I thought it was better balanced. But for the love of all things holy, can we see these kids using protection at some point…condoms children, condoms.
LINKS:
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
