Shameless King

Publisher's Summary

A deliciously steamy enemies with benefits romance.

Declan McAvoy. Voted Biggest Flirt. Highest goal scorer in Kings of Rittenhouse prep history. Everyone’s impressed, well except one person.... 

After a blow out in high school, Makenna Halstead and I were happy to never have to cross paths again. Except life has a way of knocking you straight in the teeth with a puck when you least expect it. She hasn’t just returned to my life, she crashed into it like a wrecking ball...into my college kingdom, into my class, and smack dab into the seat next to mine. My new lab partner to be exact.  

For years we hated each other.... I may be King on the ice, but she is the Ice Queen. She has no problem calling me out, doesn’t back down, and her piercing blue eyes have me picturing more than than just my arms wrapped around her. 

Now we’re stuck with each other, and there’s no getting around that fact that we have to work together. My hockey career hangs in the balance. Problem? Oh, yeah. 

I can’t deny it. I want her. More than I ever thought I could want a woman. I’ve got one semester - only four months - to convince her everything she thought about me was wrong.  

Will my queen let me prove to her I’m the King she can’t live without? 

Only one way to find out....
 

©2018 Some Kind of Wonderful Publishing LLC (P)2019 Some Kind of Wonderful Publishing LLC

Sweet, college romance

This was a sweet, quick read/listen. The angst was fairly low, which I find appealing in a new adult romance, as the genre too often tends towards characters which blow things out of proportion. The main characters knew each other in high school and were often at odds, but find each other again fours years later; this was another element I liked about the story - that Declan and Mak were almost finished with college (seniors) as opposed to just starting out. Both characters are single-minded in pursuit of their larger goals, but their reunion knocks each a bit off track and it is enjoyable to watch as they come to know themselves and each other better as a result. There was the requisite heat between them, but also a deeper connection that made for some sweet moments.

Hughes has also set up Declan’s fellow Kings of Rittenhouse, some of the leads to come in subsequent books. The reader gets enough of their individual personalities and tight-knit group dynamic to pique her interest in what’s in store in future installments.

Jason Clarke was as amazing as always (he’s a perennial favorite of mine for a reason! 🐉); Emma Wilder was new to me, but was also excellent and I will definitely look for more of her work. Both were well-cast here and gave dimension to Declan and Mak in a way I might not have fully appreciated had I merely read the book alone. I find strong audios can often lift a story up and set it apart from those with similar plots and characters. In a saturated market like romance, that is especially helpful towards making books and authors more memorable. I hope Hughes brings the other books in the series to audio.

Overall, well worth a listen/read and I will definitely continue with the series, especially if the rest come to audio.

Read thru KU; listened thru Audible.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Loved Makenna & Declan

Shameless King was a wonderful enemies to lovers romance. I liked the characters a lot and enjoyed the banter between them. I really felt for Makenna. It hurt my heart to hear what happened when she was younger and how she dealt with it.
This was definitely a story about not just taking things at face value but looking deeper.
I can’t wait for more. Look forward to listening to the next book.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Great!

Loved! Hoping to hear the rest of the kings books in the future. The narrators were perfect!

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Love these characters

I must admit I read this book a long while ago. And I loved Declan and Mac then. This narrative brings the story to a whole new level. These two are enemies in high school. Well not really. They just travel in different circles. As they approach their senior year in college they cross paths in the form of partners in a class they both must do well in to achieve their goals.
Emma Wilder is a new to me narrator. I will definitely not think twice to listen to her again. She drew such emotion out of this character that I felt it through my speakers. And Jason Clark is one of my favorites. His ability to convey the alpha character of Declan is so good. I might just run off for the rest of the series. Who am I kidding? I definitely will.

A truly great story!

I really enjoyed this! We have MaKenna and Declan, both of whom are struggling to get through college (and really life) in their own ways. They met in high school, with preconceived opinions about each other and later, when they meet again in college, they still believe these things to be true and try to avoid each other. They are then thrown together by chance, and spend the rest of the book coming to some big revelations about each other and themselves. I really loved watching them discover their feelings while realizing some self-truths. I was expecting a hot little sports romance and got that and so much more. The narration was also done really well. Ms. Hughes took some time setting up the story and supporting characters in a way that I can't wait to listen to more in the series.

*I received this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

Loved it!

The Story was very entertaining and sweet. I loved both MC and I’m looking forward to hearing the rest of the kings books in the future. Both narrators were perfect!
Absolutely love Emma Wilder narrating! This was my first time listening to Jason Clarke and holy hell does he have a sexy voice.. I Definitely will be listening to him more in other books!

This book has everything plus amazing audio narration!

I received a copy of this audiobook from Blue Nose Audio and voluntarily give my honest review.

This book had so many things I love, and the narration was amazing!
✅Enemies to lovers
✅Characters with a complicated traumatic backstory
✅Hockey hotties
✅Humor
✅The promise of more stand-alones with related characters
✅✅✅Emma Wilder
✅✅✅Jason Clarke

If my reasoning has not convinced you to grab this audiobook right now, you are probably a lost cause. This book was wonderful and I hope that the rest of the series gets audiobooks as well.

Fantastic Enemies to Lovers Romance-New Adult

I absolutely love the enemies to lovers trope and if that is your jam you will like this story. New adult is not a normal go to for me because usually there is a lot of angst. I have to say that there was very little angst until the end of the story. I loved the narration. Jason Clarke is always good. Emma Wilder did a good job also. I would recommend this book but make this suggestion: Read the prequel novella Kings of Rittenhouse. There are actions in this short story at the end of high school that will come up in this book. There is an apology given and I did not really understand what had happened until I went back and read the novella prequel. I also think it is a good set up to get to know the guys that will get their own stories and part of Emmett's story will start in the prequel as well. Fun, smart, and sexy story.