Fast cars. Outlaw country boys. Snarky werewolves, vengeful ghosts, and menacing monsters. Dawson King’s family has been hunting things that go bump in the night in Transylvania County, North Carolina, since before the Revolutionary War.Dawson was never happier than when he was racing his souped-up Mustang along winding mountain roads and hunting monsters with his best friend, Grady. Then Grady … friend, Grady. Then Grady fell in love with him, which should have been perfect since Dawson had already fallen hard for Grady.
But Grady was only seventeen, and Dawson feared that sooner or later, Grady would realize his feelings were just a first crush, and then he’d be gone, leaving Dawson devastated. They both needed space to figure things out. So Dawson joined the army, while Grady stayed on the mountain.
Four years later, Dawson is coming home. He’s more sure than ever Grady is his forever love, and they’ve both agreed to begin this new aspect of their relationship as soon as Dawson gets back.
Then Grady’s father is killed in a werewolf hunt gone wrong. Grady is devastated, and he’s throwing mixed signals about moving forward. Dawson knows he needs to hold off on this new thing between them until Grady has time to grieve. But monsters never sleep, and one hunt after another throws Dawson and Grady into constant danger, while tension and unresolved feelings ripple between them.
Making it even harder, Dawson’s got a secret. He’s dreamed of death omens—which point to something stalking Grady. Can Dawson figure out who’s trying to kill Grady, save his life, and win back his heart?
Plenty of mutual pining, hurt/comfort, spooky chills, sexy thrills, and a very happy ending. The Kings of the Mountain is the first novel in the series. It is a MM romance intended for readers 18 years of age and older.
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If you were a fan of the old Dukes of Hazzard TV series or are a fan of the TV series Supernatural you are really going to enjoy the first book in this new series by Morgan Brice. We’ve got cousins, tooling around rural mountains in a souped up 1969 Mustang (shades of the General Lee) hunting and taking out monsters. Now we never saw Bo and Luke Duke getting hot and heavy, and despite the fanfic sites we aren’t seeing Sam and Dean as anything other than brothers, but here we do get a relationship between cousins Dawson and Grady. If that squicks you out a little be aware that there is no blood relationship between the cousins. It was a bit of a risk for the author to take but believe me, there is nothing in the book that remotely made me feel uncomfortable with the way the relationship is portrayed.
Dawson is just returning home from three years overseas in the military doing a different kind of hunting but he’s ready to come home and to finally pursue the relationship with Grady, two years younger, that caused him to join the military to begin with. He and Grady have resolved their issues via email and video chats when they could over the last couple years, and they are ready to give things a try. Fate seems to have other plans for them. Additionally, Dawson has been having a dream that he’s always been taught is a bad omen and you can’t speak of. Color me intrigued.
The book, as is a hallmark of this author, relies on a lot of folklore and legend for its villains. Things are action packed and suspenseful and the trajectory of the relationship ties in very smoothly with the development and escalation of the storyline. There’s a lot of emotional baggage that you just want them to unpack so they can get to their HEA. Lack of communication and over sensitivity to the other’s drama keeps throwing up obstacles and while the reasoning is clear there are points you just want to smack both of them.
The crisis moment is suspenseful and will keep you guessing initially as to what’s happening and how. The big final confrontation really gets the blood pumping. The ending is sweet and leaves us looking forward to the next book in the series as well as the series crossovers that are a staple of Brice/Martin’s work.
**I voluntarily read an ARC and this is my objective review.**