Rise of the Fallen

All the King's Men, Book 1

By: Donya Lynne

Narrated by: Mikela Drew

In the streets of Chicago exists an uneasy, centuries-old truce between vampires and their distant cousins, a race of shifters called drecks. Vampire enforcement agency, All the King's Men (AKM), is charged with maintaining the truce, but when volatile enforcer Micah Black loses his mate and falls into the biological agony that results from the broken bond, he tests the boundaries of the truce by seeking out Apostle, a leader in the dreck community. Micah wants Apostle to kill him, a request Apostle is more than happy to fulfill.

When ex-Army medic-turned exotic dancer Samantha Garrett inadvertently disrupts the plot and saves Micah's life, a chain reaction sets Micah's heart on a collision course with hers, but he will have to protect her from Apostle and her obsessive ex-husband if they will have a chance at forever.

©2012 Donya Lynne (P)2016 Donya Lynne

Woulda, coulda, shoulda ...

Any additional comments?

First I will begin by saying I found this book a hard to listen to story. Not because of the narrator, that was done well enough. The problem is the main character. I found him completely unlikable. I had a hard time listening because over the course of the book I grew to dislike him even more. There was potential in the book with other characters that was unrealized. I only kept listening for more of their stories. I could have been good in the way Black Dagger Brotherhood is. I would have been better I'd Tristan were the main character. I should have stopped before halfway through the story. I rarely leave unpleasant reviews, but there was little to like about this one. I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.

"BROTHERHOOD" SERIES & ALL-GENDER RELATIONSHIPS

Any additional comments?

I was gifted this audiobook by the author, narrator or publisher for an unbiased review.

Introducing AKM... A new series revolving around the vampire members of "All the King's Men," an ancient Royal protectorate group that has evolved to become more of a secret force against the evil Dreks.

The concept is refreshingly new and many players are expertly introduced giving us glimpses into what their stories may be. This first book is about the vampire Micah and the human Samantha. Micah is the group's toughest enforcer and we meet him at the height of despair over the break of a relationship he believed to be a heart-bound mate. Samantha is on the run from a rich but abusive husband. Being ex-military, she uses her in-shape body to stay under the radar as a cash-only exotic dancer. Unfortunately, it was Micah's friend Trace's story that grabbed me the most. Shrouded in a mysterious background and lifestyle, with a surprise identity, he turned out to be the ultimate protector.

The conceptual story is great! The execution, IMO, needed some timeline tweaking?
Introducing Micah as suicidal was a mistake. First impressions, and all, I was never able to see him as the bad-ass his character was meant to be. Also, validating Micah and Sam's connection seems like (the author's) afterthought, written in as an explanatory missing link.

Micah's story should have opened as he celebrated some Alpha victory by watching Samantha dance... leading into his attraction to Jackson. THEN I'd have met an Alpha Micah, understood his later despair in a way experience, not recollection achieves, and the ultimate (life)mate revelation would've fallen easily into place.

I was pleased with the inclusion of genderless relationships; accepting that love is love, regardless. Brushing lightly into BDSM just upped the hotness ante. Everything taken into consideration, it was a good start to a new series.

Two Thumbs Up.

Good

Any additional comments?

This audiobook was given to me for a honest unbiased review. This was a good book. A great start to a series. Was a little confused due to lack of world building, but this was a good start to a series.

Not my cup of tea

I don't think this story was necessarily bad. In fact, the author's writing style paints very good pictures.

I'm always a bit skeptical of any book portraying BDSM culture, and this one is no different. Mind you, it's nowhere near the train wreck the 50 shades series is, so there's that. It's a bit hard to write about it when you lack decent experience, and there are a lot of people out there with the wrong types of "decent experience." I expected for these portions to fall short, but I was pleasantly surprised at the try. D/s is not absolutely take and give, respectively. Doms take pleasure in giving their subs what they want within the confines of boundaries; subs take pleasure by giving over control of their pleasure to their Doms.

Honestly, I applaud the author in doing better than the other cult classics with this subject matter. I gave this book a decent rating because I enjoyed the story. However, I never connected with any of the characters, so this book did not grab me.

very good

Loved it !! this story. the narrator is so fantastic it's like your really there!! good overall