Destructive King by Rachel Van Dyken Pages: 329
Series: Mafia Royals #3
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Source: ARC
Also in this series: Ruthless Princess, Scandalous Prince, Mafia King, Broken Crown
Also by this author: The Consequence of Loving Colton (Consequence, #1), The Consequence of Revenge, Capture, The Dark Ones, Untouchable Darkness, The Consequence of Seduction, Empire, The Matchmaker's Playbook, The Bachelor Auction, Enrage, The Playboy Bachelor, Eulogy, The Consequence of Rejection, Envy, Risky Play, Ruthless Princess, Surrender, Scandalous Prince, Mafia Casanova, Mafia King, Office Hate, Falling for the Villain, My Summer in Seoul, Broken Crown , Office Date, The Anti-Fan and the Idol, The Godparent Trap, Dissolution, Exposing the Groom, The Unperfects, Office Mate
Goodreads
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.
Asher Abandando is most certainly a Destructive King. He has assumed the mantle of leader for the new crop of la familia and so far, he has been pretty brutal. Now, its important that you read Ruthless Princess and Scandalous Prince before diving into Destructive King or else you won’t understand how Ash and Annie got to where they are now.
Asher had a fiancee. There is a backstory that is important, but I don’t want to spoil it too much if you need to read books 1 and 2. But, the fiancee is gone and Ash’s life has been miserable. He is horrible to Annie (for several reasons) but she has a bit of a crush. Now, I will say I struggle with stories that include a dead loved one. How can Annie ever compete with a ghost? And, the ghost of a woman Ash loved so much! But, Van Dyken makes it work. Annie is simply enchanting-she hasn’t had an easy life and her entry into the mafia world has been brutal. Despite that, she is kind, sweet, and tough.
Ash is more difficult for me to like. He is such a jerk to Annie! I can empathize with his grief, but that is no excuse to be an asshat. Eventually he stops being king douchecanoe and their relationship faces other obstacles. By the end, I didn’t hate him, but I felt like Annie deserved someone better. (I am kind of bitter so I doubt others will dislike him as deeply as I did).
Destructive King delivers all the crazy mafia behavior, danger, betrayal, and romance readers expect from the series. This is another exciting entry in the Mafia Royals series that readers will just devour!
- POV: dual 1st
- Tears: a few
- Trope: bully, mafia, dead love
- Series/Standalone: series
- Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
- HEA: View Spoiler »
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other mafia romances like Beautiful Criminal by MN Forgy, El Diablo by M. Robinson, Menace by JM Darhower…then you will probably like Destructive King!
Destructive King
Great review you have of this one here. I am definitely eager to pick up this series and that COVER LOL just makes me giggle. Happy to hear that the hero does become redeemed in the end.
I have enjoyed this author but her books have tended to be a bit outrageous and not exactly believable. At least the ones I have read. I tend not to read mafia books. Glad you enjoyed it.