Forbidden: King

The Four, Book 4

By: Sloane Kennedy

Narrated by: Michael Dean

Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

My job is to rescue kids who’ve been stolen from their families. I’m good at it and it helps me forget my own ugly childhood, but I’m a grown man now and the family of my heart is all I need.

Except that I haven’t seen them in two years. I walked out of their lives without an explanation. I walked away from him without even saying goodbye. I know how much I hurt him. I know how badly I broke his trust. But even though we’re not related by blood, our family thinks of me as his uncle.

Yet there’s no part of me that thinks of young Giovanni Covello that way. Problem is, I shouldn’t be thinking about him at all, especially since my thoughts have become less and less innocent since Gio turned 18. He’s closing in on twenty now and there’s no escaping him anymore, because he’s in New York, the place I rest my head. I don’t trust myself around him, yet I can’t stay away, not after learning about the painful nightmares and frightening memories he’s experiencing about his own abduction and imprisonment as a child.

He’s the son of one of my best friends and he’s had a crush on me for years. But I have to leave him alone. I just have to.

Not because I don’t want Gio, but because he shouldn’t want me. I can’t give him what he wants, what we both want.
Not now. Not ever.

Gio
Things didn’t make sense until he came along. Four years ago, he saved me from myself. Now he’s trying to do it again. But I don’t need saving. I need more than that. So much more....

I don’t remember much about the life I lived as a child after I was stolen from my family, but my doctor says I will. Apparently, the wall in my head will come crashing down one day and all the ugly memories of what had been done to me will come rushing back to me.
I haven’t told anyone, but it’s already happening. I just need to get through the computer course I’m taking in New York City so I can prove to myself that I can live an independent life before returning home to Seattle.

My plan is a pretty good one, but I forgot to include one important variable.
King.
He’s supposedly my uncle but I’ve never seen King that way and there’s not even one drop of shared blood between us.
Two years ago, he was my protector and my friend. And then he was just...gone.
He’s back now and wants back into my life, but not to resume our friendship or to act on the attraction he’s finally admitted to having toward me. No, he just wants to keep me safe.
But that’s a good thing, right?
What could go wrong with having the guy I can’t stop thinking about living with me under my own roof?
Answer: Everything

©2021 Sloane Kennedy (P)2021 Sloane Kennedy

Absolutely LOVE this series!

These brothers own me! I cry, smile, swoon EVERY. SINGLE. TIME!! King’s story is probably my favorite because his sacrifice and love know no bounds.

A lot of drama

Wow. I feel like I’ve been out through the wringer. These two main characters fight their feelings for over half the book. Talk about creating dramatic tension! This series as a whole is not for those who need fluffy feel good. This series is for those who want to feel the hard work it takes to build yourself back up and come out a winner! Kennedy has ramped up character development and fine tuned the angst in this book. So much happening- both characters are deeply scarred. Both have PTSD/flashbacks/auditory hallucinations, and they are both very good at hiding their true feelings. The constant tension through the first half of the book is only increased as facts about the past are uncovered, but slivers of hope break through the later part of the story. The backstories and current day plot points are intriguing (if violent and graphically awful), and make an excellent, well-rounded story that had a bit of everything I love- great characters, great action, a true community, and a deeply held love that we can see will last forever.Michael Dean’s portrayal of Gio and King is amazing.

Loved it!

Michael Dean was awesome as always. With everything that King and Gio had been through in their lives they deserved their HEA. At first I was worried because of who they were to each other but I should have known Ms Kennedy would have written a story that would have you feeling comfortable with them being in love with each other. Great story with great narration.

Loved this series

Great narration and story. Loved the whole series. But, I don't remember a single time they took the dog out for a potty break. Just Saying.... I have followed this author for years and look forward to new stories in any and all of her series.

love this author

this series along with the others from Kennedy is amazing. I have fallen in love multiple times.

Excellent listen!

This book ties up some loose ends in the series. It was an explanation of how King got the money and it also shows what happened to Gio! I am so impressed with the storyline and the development of the each of the characters. It doesn’t matter the time in the book, there is a bit of backstory. The continuation of the storyline throughout each series is awesome. This is geared more to how real life works!

LOVE THIS SERIES!

Love this book. I found King, as with Luca, to be my 2 favorite brothers. Tie in Gio, and it’s a winner!

Keep coming back to it

Very entertaining book , this is some of the best works of Sloan Kennedy and Michael Dean

so disappointing......

I am so sad that this ends up being the fourth book of this series. There should have been a prologue to help pick up Gio's story since its been a long while since we've seen or heard much about it. This book only takes place over about 4 weeks, but its still 8 hrs long! I really expected more from Sloane. I am avid reader/listener and the first 3 books were so much better than this. I assume this is the last book in the series, and yet we did not get any kind of closure for the whole thing. yes there was a bit of an epilogue for this story, but nothing for the series and not much for this story either. This was just straight up awful. This was nothing but chapters of inner monologue over the same freaking issue through the whole book. There was hardly any character growth for Gio, which honestly should have been the focus of the book. King's personal issue was good, but again not fulfilling. If it had not been Michael Dean, who is amazing, narrating I never would have finished. NEED TO HAVE SLOAN REWRITE THIS!!!!!!

Least of the original 4

Although most of the brothers ended up with abuse victims. The idea that Kings story tookover the story was sad.
Spoiler to follow
King suffered, that was bad. Geo however was in an abusive situation for 8 years, I think this should have been about how Gio overcame his demons.
Instead, we continue to hear how King was always turned on whenever he's in Gio’s presence - going back to when Gio was found and while King visited him in the hospital.
I wanted this to feel different guess. King being involved with helping abuse victims - came across as a pervert.