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4.5 Stars!



Oooh, heck yes! My first read by this author in probably a decade and it was SO GOOD!!



Tropes:
- Southern mafia
- Cowboy vibes
- Small town
- Forced proximity
- Sleeping with the Enemy trope
- Hurt/comfort
- Touch her and die

"She was becoming an addiction. It was a cruel circle. The longer I kept her with me, the more I was craving her."

Well, wasn't this just a gust of fresh air?! Color me instantly addicted!

Rumor is on the run from her abusive husband when she meets King Salazar. She's extremely frightened and untrusting when it comes to men, and rightfully so. He approaches her so carefully and knew exactly what she needed.

"Monsters could come in pretty packages. I knew that only too well."

So I went into this book totally blind. I didn't read the blurb and I had not read the Smokeshow series that this series is a spinoff from. When I first started reading, I thought the book was going to go one way.. well, at about the 30% mark, it changed and we got to know King A LOT better. And let's just say, I liked the changes that transpired.

King is convinced that he's the last person in the world who can be anything more than a friend to Rumor. I absolutely adored the tenderness between these two. The hurt/comfort trope is STRONG in this story and I was here for it.

Rumor has never had a healthy relationship with men and King is determined to show her some good.

"You don't have to be jealous, sweets. Your body has my complete attention."

There are secrets and lies and not everything was the chance encounter that it initially appeared threatening Rumor's sense of feeling safe.

There were several characters and names I didn't know which was a little hard to keep track of. They really don't play into the story, except for a couple of them. The feel was all small town, ranch living, horses, sweet tea...

I cannot wait for Slay King and I need it like now.



I received a complimentary e-ARC of this book from the author and Wordsmith Publicity in exchange for an honest review.