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… 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…
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***** AUDIOBOOK REVIEW *****
Declan is the man every man (college student) wants to be and every woman wants to be with. He’s charismatic and fun plus he’s Hockey King and everyone wants a piece of him. Well, except ice queen Makenna from high school. Now, here they are in college thinking they’ve finally gotten away from their nemesis only to find them walking the same halls… in the same class… and now they find themselves lab partners. Fun and banter will ensue! They find the hate turning to lust and long nights of homework to nights bursting with sexual tension!
These two were hot as Hades! I loved that it was a bit lighter in the angst… I mean, this is college, but it wasn’t as angst as it could have been and I appreciate it! I hate it when its way more angsty than it needs to be! Maya Hughes really spent her time and developed the characters. I felt like they were strong characters and I really was invested in this story due to the way it was put together. I do kind of wish we got more of the friends added in. I loved the first few chapters were we got a bit more of sports aspect of it. This could be because I just wanted more of the secondary characters too… they were just as fantastic!
The narration from Jason Clarke and Emma Wilder was perfection! I really don’t think these two can narrate anything badly. Emma Wilder’s voice is my absolute favorite for females. It’s soft and silky yet she still has this strength in her voice that Makenna needs. Jason Clarke is a fabulous Declan. I could totally picture him being a jock in his early days. He just has the voice that makes you sit up and take notice.
This steamy sports romance was just what I needed this weekend! It is a quick easy read about high school enemies who then stumble into each other in college years later. They both have secrets and hidden feelings from the other. It is definitely a slow burn, and at times I was like “just kiss her already!” AGH….but the wait was worth it.
Declan McAvoy was the high school hockey team captain who is now the star player in college. He is a big dose of YUM….athletic, built, smart, a charmer, cocky flirt, and driven. His family past is the catalyst for him to finish college and make it in the pros; but he keeps his deeper insecurities to himself…until Makenna comes along.
Oh this girl Makenna…she is as uptight as they come. She’s a perfectionist, brilliant, beautiful, and a bit of a control freak. Ok a lot of a control freak. She keeps to herself besides a few close friends, and is determined to succeed more for her parents and brother, than for herself. She carries a lot on her shoulders, and I felt badly for her for a good part of the book. She just can’t seem to Let Go.
When Declan & Makenna are together it is such hot chemistry. Their banter. Their debates. Their arguments. The push and pull of their fleeting touches. GAH they drove me nuts for a while. But it is so worth it once they figure out exactly how perfect they are for one another. They just balance each other out.
This story is sweet, funny, steamy, and has fab secondary characters – I can’t wait for the other King books! Well done Maya Hughes! I’m a fan!
I love sports romance, especially hockey. But most of the ones I’ve read have been at the NHL level. This one focuses on a group of college players. Hot, swoon-worthy college hockey players! I couldn’t wait to dive into this one!
This book was a fun, angsty new adult, sports themed thriller! Declan and Mackenna rubbed each other the wrong way in high school, and couldn’t wait to part ways once graduation arrived. But then, they arrive at college only to find themselves paired together to complete an assignment that is going to throw them closely together for the entire class. This sounds like an explosion waiting to happen! And it was! A hot, steamy explosion, that leads to an amazing HEA!
Declan is a sweet, misunderstood hockey master. Hockey is his life, but there is so much more to him, that he doesn’t share with just anyone. He seems to put on a front, hiding the real him behind a mask. Mac is a girl who hides her vulnerability behind her studies, and doesn’t let anyone in. This leads to to hard feelings and confusion that follows them from high school to college.
This coming of age story was full of emotions, full of the kind of vulnerability that so many work so hard at this age to overcome. It highlights the difficulties that face young adults as they are finding out who they are, and who they could be. This fabulous story is the beginning of what promises to be an amazing series, that I am eagerly waiting for!
Wow, this was a fabulous enemies to friends to lovers college sports read, not always a trope type that ticks my boxes, but this one certainly did, it was a fabulous read by new author to me Maya Hughes.
So this is the first book in a new series that just has so much potential with the characters we meet in here, I just know this is going to be one delicious series to read!! This book focuses on Declan and Makenna, who have gone through high school together but both being at different ends of the spectrum, he’s a top class hockey player and knows he’s that good and is heading for the big time, she is all about work and studying no time for fun and partying as she is out to be a doctor. But their chemistry is undeniable, even as they pick and fight and push each others buttons. After a couple of years of not seeing each other they both end up at the same college and get put together to work on a project for the whole year. They’re still pushing each others buttons but know they need to knuckle down and get the work done, so slowly start to get to know each other as friends, and oh so slowly they became much more than just friends!
This was a fabulous read – sweet, romantic, funny with some drama and angst in there also – did I mention HOT – talk about steamy, when these two get it on, phew!! I loved Dec and Mak together, they make a perfect couple as you slowly get to know them. The chemistry and the storyline had me flipping through the pages, engrossed and captivated with their story and how it would all turn out.
With a supporting cast of fellow hot hockey mates there are sure to be more hot and steamy books to be added to this series with these boys!! I honestly can’t wait to read more from this series or this author for another matter!! Highly recommended reading here!!
Oh Declan! What an unabashed ladies man! I liked that he embraced that part of himself, he owned it, good for him… And my heart broke for Mak. So broken and I know from life experience it takes awhile to fix yourself even with the best help and love from others. Forgiving yourself and loving yourself are hard things to do, and I think Mak still has a ways to go which the author did an excellent job of representing here. So many feelings in this one, and I look forward to glimpses of these two in upcoming books from one of my favorite indie authors!
It’s no secret I’m a hockey romance junkie. But this new series… well, the Kings of Rittenhouse are undeniably sexy, adoring, and scrumptious! This series kicks off with Declan’s story. And this man, because he is allll man, is swoonworthy to the nth degree. And what makes him even hotter is his Ice Queen, Makenna.
Two misinterpreted kids from high school who had it out for each other gladly parted ways at graduation, and then life throws them back together in college, where the misinterpretations keep fueling new fire in their feud. It’s always said there’s a fine love between love and hate. And that could not be more true. Mak and Declan are at each other’s throats with destruction as their end game, which quickly turns into love bites and drawing out moans and the best kind of pleasure. These two were insatiable in their dislike for each other, until it they became unexpectedly insatiable in their lust and love.
This book takes sexy to a new level. Makenna and Declan are insanely hot. I mean…wow. Their passion knows no bounds. But behind the passion and their previous placement as enemies, these two have had the world stacked against them at times. Which in truth, is what led to the aforementioned misinterpretations, past and present. But Declan’s sweet nature, and Makenna’s inherit vulnerability can’t be hidden forever. Their tough exteriors come down as they get closer. But as they give in to their emotions, their passion, and their need for something more in life, it may just be enough to scare them away from the intense reality of their relationship before they can find happiness and truly resolve the tortured parts of their pasts that still dictate their lives.
This book is sublimely perfect. I loved Makenna. I loved Declan. I loved the hilarious, and enticing cast of friends we got to meet (and will hopefully see more of in the future). Makenna and Declan’s story is one that shattered my heart a bit a times, and then turned around and had my laughing, or trying to catch my breath (I know I mentioned these two were hot, but I’ll say it again: WOW). For every page I turned I just kept needing and wanting more. I loved every second of it, and if you’re in the market for a steamy, enemies-to-lovers book, grab this one now, because it’s to-die-for amazing!
Happy Reading!
*ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review*
I’m always up for a steamy enemies to lovers romance, especially when it comes with some witty banter. This one has that and then some. Mak and Declan never pass up an opportunity for verbal sparring. They really aren’t so much enemies – it’s more that neither of them really let others in and they both jump to conclusions about the other. Both are driven by events in the past, which is where most of the story’s angst comes from. When they’re forced to work together toward a common goal, they learn that appearances aren’t always what they seem. I liked the close, almost family type relationship between Declan and his team mates. And Heath! Gah! Every group should have a friend like Heath! There are some heartbreaking moments, especially as Mak deals with her past, but for the most part, the book is lighthearted and fun, with some sexy goodness and a bit of hockey thrown in.
Shameless King by Maya Hughes was my first book by this author and it was a great start! A sports romance with an enemies to lovers story, no way you can go wrong there!
Declan McAvoy is a king on the ice. Makenna Halstead is known as the ice queen and all about school. Declan and Makenna have no love lost between. After high school they were both happy to go on their way. But now they find themselves in the same college and to make it worse, same class they both have to past. Now they are stuck working together.
Declan and Makenna are like fire and ice, but they also had an intense chemistry. They always seemed to push each other as much as they could. But how long can they deny what they feel? When they give in, wow! The hotness factor is off the roof! I truly enjoyed seeing Declan and Makenna go from enemies to sort of friends to maybe more. Their journey was fun and sexy and so worth the ride.
I have to admit I am a huge fan of college romances and add in a sports romance and I am hooked. Shameless King by Maya Hughes was hot and steamy with a great stories and characters you will love! I am so excited to read more of this series!
Read and reviewed for Sultry Sirens Book Blog.
Happy reading!
Enemies to friends to lovers is the theme of Shameless King by Maya Hughes. It’s a story about teenaged adversaries who reunite when their futures depend on both of them passing the same college class. Little do they know that working together means a lot more than studying.
The storyline is good, there’s plenty of angst, arguments, putdowns and the lot. The build up to the relationship is long and detailed, taking over half the book. I found myself beginning to wonder if the characters would ever get together and nearly stopped reading. Good news is that they do. Once there, the book moves much faster to the HEA.
There’s an epilogue but it was centered around a reunion of the high school hockey team, not around Mac and Declan as much. What happened to them? Where did they end up? These questions weren’t answered other than they are together and happy.
With all the characters introduced in the book, I’m hoping that we’ll see more of Mac and Declan in subsequent books about the other members of the Rittenhouse Kings hockey team.
Not a bad book so check it out!
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
The name Declan McAvoy draws a lot of attention on campus, he’s a hockey star, famous with the ladies, and Makenna Halstead’s sworn enemy. From the day they met back in high school things between them were rocky, he was supposed to be her partner on a project and he flaked on her and they had a major falling out, that put them at odds with one another.
Now they are on the same campus, and once again find themselves working together, this time as lab partners for the entire school year, but the difference this time is Declan has a lot at stake. His career in the big leagues is hanging in the balance, and he will do anything to make sure his hockey dreams come true… even working alongside his sworn enemy… his gorgeous, ball-busting enemy!
Shameless King is a sexy, angsty, and ridiculously fun little page-turner that is sure to keep you smiling and swooning throughout! From the moment I dived into this one I was hooked, the banter between the hero and heroine pulled me in and had me dangling on the edge of my seat, because I just knew it was going to lead to something sinfully good… and boy was I right!! This was a wonderfully crafted tale, one that was not only highly entertaining, but also a very impressive introduction to a new author, I highly recommend it!!
I requested an advanced copy of this title, and I am voluntarily leaving my honest opinion.