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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These two just burn up the pages!
Declan & Mak are simply delicious!! Loved their back and forth. Pushing all the buttons! Sooo good! Can’t wait to read the rest of the Kings stories.
*3-3,5 stars*
It was my first read from the author and don’t really know how to start this review. In the first chapters I couldn’t really follow and felt a bit detached from the characters and what they were trying to say in the story. But then it picked up and I got a feel for both Makenna and Declan; how they were going on. I wish I felt like that in the beginning but I didn’t. Although it took me some time, I did enjoy the enemies to lovers romance and of course the sports romance. I’ll definitely read another one of this author and I would love to find out Emmet and Avery’s story.
Makenna has been through a lot these last few years and is trying to get through her last senior year to get into a program for becoming a doctor. But when she needs to team up with Declan, it doesn’t go as planned and even though they but heads at times, they will need to learn to work together and put their differences aside. The more they learn about each other, the more they see they have more in common than they thought they would. And somewhere down the line there’s this chemistry between them that seems to unfold even more…
Shameless King picks up with Declan and Makenna now a few years later in their senior year of college.
Mak originally went to Stanford, but due to her father falling ill, she has transferred back to Philadelphia to attend her senior year at the local college, where Declan also happens to attend. He is her one fly in the ointment to a perfect senior year considering he was relentless in giving her hell back in prep school. She just needs to avoid him and her year will be golden.
Declan just needs to make it through his last year of college and he will be set for the future in the NHL. He only has one minor problem. He now has to retake a sophomore class and until he passes it he’s off the team. Oh, and the other big problem, Makenna Halstead is his partner and has the one opportunity to screw up his entire future.
Until Mak can see Declan as anything other than a knuckle-dragging caveman and until Declan can prove he actually is trustworthy and won’t screw up Mak’s perfect GPA, these two need to put aside their differences and work together to get through the semester. Once they do they might actually enjoy it.
What I liked about this book; things are never what they seem and the grass is never greener on the other side of the fence. We are all familiar with these phrases, yet, no matter how hard we try to let down our defenses, we all still wear a mask. Whatever the reasons; to keep people out, to keep people in, to keep up appearances, whatever wall we build there is a reason “to keep” a perimeter around our heart and that grass we think is so green on the other side of the fence is really just turf.
Mak and Declan eventually break through those walls, but this entire series is built on the notion of kids all attending a rich preparatory school, but a few of those kids, like Declan, were in fact not rich. It made for an interesting dynamic to his story.
I’m excited to read the rest of this series and see how the rest of the Kings fare in their coming years.
I loved Makenna and the more I read of the story the more I fell in love with her character. The way she dealt with things and when you discover something you begin to understand why she acts and feels so cold and tries to do the best. I don’t want to tell you because it’s better if you read it! Either way, I understood the reason Makenna was so focused. I also enjoyed when Declan began to get her to begin to have fun I loved that side of Makenna too.
Declan he was an interesting character especially as we just saw Makenna thinking he was dumb when it came to working yet he was just as focused as her especially because he needed to pass. I loved his character and even more when he began to open up to Makenna. It did make me laugh because the first time they had sex because Makenna left him in bed alone, it was so funny to actually see his insecurity. It was a different side to him and I liked seeing it.
Despite coming to love Declan and Makenna it really did take me a while to actually like them, I think when they both started opening up to each other, that was the moment I began to actually like the characters. But once I did I loved them so much!
I loved Heath, Preston, Colm, Ford and Emmett, I loved their friendship that they all had. I love the bond that they all had for each other. ALSO! My one question throughout this whole book is what happened between Avery and Emmett! I really need to know what happened! When I read the prequel and there bust up I really wanted to know why! I hope we get a book explaining!
Also, I really liked Declan standing up to his dad, it was a long time coming! When he did it I was like yes. It’s about time!
I really enjoyed the plot and the storyline! It kept me hooked all the way through and I honestly can’t wait to read Heath’s book! The writing was great and it kept me immersed in the story! It was honestly such a great book!
This is a not so long college romance that I’m sure contemporary romance lovers who like stories set at campus will surely like.
At Rittenhouse Prep nothing is what is seems, and this is why Declan McAvoy thinks Makenna Halstead is an Ice Queen and a perfectionist looking people from above and thinking she’s better. Makenna also believes Declan to be full of himself because he is a great hockey player, but appearances are deceiving, because Declan and Mak’s lives are not exactly what the other believes them to be. The truth is quite different and after high school ends they never think they’d meet again in different circumstances.
Declan and Mak almost kissed at the high school ball, but then she left like Cinderella and until four years later they don’t know how the other is doing. Not that they care. Declan and Mak have hated each other during school, but that feeling in their chests when they danced their last dance sometimes still comes knocking. It happens to everyone to think about that person from their past and wonder what they are currently doing. If they are OK, if they are married, they graduated…
When Mak and Declan meet they are not in the best shape: she just moved from Stanford and needs to take a few classes to be in par with her degree course and he needs to get better grades in order to remain in his hockey team. Needless to say, it’s like fate brings them together and they are paired up. They dread it because they aren’t keen on working with each other after the way they parted, but in the end it’s just three months of doing projects together, what can happen? Declan knows Mak is a committed and organized student and that she’ll never miss a deadline, and he needs to succeed or his future career will never take off. Mak is the same, since she needs to get a good grade to be accepted in a study program she needs for her future as well.
Necessity (and an annoying Professor) brings them together. As Heath, one of Declan’s friends and teammates comments: “They bicker like a married couple”. Declan and Mak think they will have a hard time working together and want to minimize the meetings they need to have, but they soon realize that they are trying to run away from each other and what could happen between them.
Mak is the queen of running away, in fact her favorite past time – among many things – is go for a run at odd hours of the day. Declan calls her an Ice Queen, but she is not really cold. She is a perfectionist, loves to have things in order and doesn’t give too much of herself to others and this is is why she has just one close friend who understands her. She likes control because she wants everything to be perfect, but she’ll soon realize that not everything can be arranged and sometimes mistakes happen. Her fear to get closer to Declan comes from the worry that he will mess up her schedule (this girl has a schedule for anything!) and will make her lose sight of what is important. Mak has a dream she wants to achieve. She wants to become a doctor for her brother, and she is willing to avoid having fun and any distraction such as Declan because she needs to succeed. What she doesn’t understand and that Declan and her parents help to see, is that in order to get what she wants, she also needs to take breaks and live life, and stop being hard on herself because in the end she will only look back and be depressed she lost her chances to be happy.
One of her chances to be happy comes from Declan, who understands her personality and finds that after all, they are a good match. During high school Declan always believed Mak to be a stiff girl who could only be sarcastic and cold towards him because she had it all in life, but after he discovers why Mak behaves the way she does, he realizes that his idea of her had been wrong for years. Declan is a great hockey player and despises his birth father because he left him and his mom alone, so despite the love for hockey and his skills, at first he also wants to prove his father that he is better than him. After he falls for Mak, though, this changes. He realizes that he has to play for himself, for the crowd, for the team, and not for his resentful father who can only judge.
I liked the couple of Declan and Mak. They fit well together, and around them in the background we were also presented other characters. I’m especially intrigued by Emmett and Avery, and I hope that the author will write about them but also about Heath, Ford and Colm.
I love enemies to lover story, I love the hate, the bickering than the hooking up part.
This one I don’t think they hated each other as much as they made an assumption about each other.
Makenna is studious and this can be seen as no fun girl.
Declan’s a jock and likes to have fun so she thought he was a meathead.
They’re opposite and I like those types of stories too.
This was an enjoyable read.
I love Maya and her stories. I have yet to find one that has not touched me in some way. Shameless King is an interesting read. This one is a slower read for me. This story starts in high school and then heads to the end of college.
Declan and Mak are not friends in any sense of the word in high school. But they want each other, they just can’t have each other. There is just too much keeping them apart. Social pressure, their own issues, and friends.
So we jump three years to the last year of college. Mak is back in town and is finishing school and runs into Declan. When they are made to work together it takes everything she has not to freak out. Declan is not someone that she thinks is trustworthy when it comes to school work.
Declan needs to ace this class or he will be kicked off the hockey team. And he will do anything to make sure that doesn’t happen. But when it comes to working with Mak he doesn’t know if he can do it. She is to stress, doesn’t like to have fun and takes everything too seriously.
But sparks start flying when these two finally start showing their feelings. But will they both let their past and future get in the way of their feelings for each other?
So I want to say that I enjoyed this story, I really did. But it gave me different feelings. I liked both characters but at the same time, I wanted to slap them. But I guess it is their age. I am hoping that Maya gives us more of these characters and that Mak and Declan are there also.
Solid 3.5 star
This is a bit of a slow burn but does help set the scene, Declan has had to work hard to get to where he is where as Makenna is from money they meet in high school and instantly have a hate for each other not knowing what each other has been or is going through. 3 years later they meet again at college and now Declan needs Maks help to ensure his dream stays alive however she has her own ambitions and doesn’t want Declan getting in her way. The sparring they do with each other right from the get go is fantastic as well as seeing them having to work together which in turns makes them actually get to know each other and then well you will have to read it to find out!
This is a voluntary review for The Assassin’s reading reviewing group.
4.5 stars. Floved these two. We first get a look at these two in Kings of Rittenhouse, which is free by the way (I know, subtle), the two enemies always giving as good as they got. Despite their continuous picking at each other, they have amazing chemistry. No they never date, sad but true.
Fast forward 3 years and Makenna aka Books aka Mak, has transferred from Stanford to be closer to home, due to some unfortunate circumstances. This poor girl has had some real tragedy in her life and it broke me reading about it. Because of this, she puts a lot of pressure on herself and has the biggest walls around herself. Thankfully Declan, the hot af hockey player, is a persistent guy and doesn’t give up. They end up having a class together and have to be partners in that class, that goes over like a lead balloon. But these two end up burning up the sheets….whew, dayum they were hot af and could not get enough of each other.
For me this was a safe read, he does take someone home because she was annoying and wouldn’t take a hint, but nothing happened and he was not, I repeat not with Mak yet. After they were together, no om or ow drama. Some girls still tried flirting with him, because you know, hot af hockey player, but he wasn’t having it. I really adored Declan, because honestly, he adored Mak and I loved it. Mak was good too, but she kept trying to push him away and went a few times for a week or two and avoided my Declan, and my baby was a bit broken up. Honestly, I understood where she was at mindset wise, and she was always great at “making” it up to him. Like I said, these two were just insatiable and their love was so natural and so obvious. We get an epilogue, but I’d like to see these two in the future with their smart af hockey babies. We get to see the old high school clan again and he is still on the team with Heath. I honestly can’t wait for the next book, I love this group.
Shameless King is a hot, sexy story that proved that there is a fine line between hate and love.
Declan and Mak have hated each other since high school. They love to argue and push each other’s buttons. When they become study partners, they realize they need each other’s help if they want to see their dreams come true.
As days pass, the study sessions become a time where the characters open up and where past events are explained. This leads them to realize that their thoughts and opinions of one another may not have been accurate.
Declan has the world at his finger tips, but he is out to prove his worth to his mom and dad. He is arrogant and snarky when he is around Mak, but playful, fun, and outgoing when he is around his friends.
Make is closed off and only relies on herself. She has the world on her shoulders, and the pressure is about to break her. She only seems to truly have fun when she is around Declan. They love to bicker and have an electric chemistry that leads to some smoking hot scenes.
I loved how the characters were both very passionate about their dreams and then channeled that passion into their relationship.
This was my first book by this author and it will definitely not be my last. I am looking forward to reading more of this series and getting to know the rest of the Kings.
-An ARC was generously provided in exchange for an honest review.-
College romances have been one of my all-time favorite go-to genres for years now and I am so glad to have discovered this AH-FREAKING-MAZING one from Maya Hughes! Oh and let’s not forget the fact that this story is also centered around HOCKEY! If you look through some of my favorite reads you will see an abundance of hockey romances because I just can’t get enough of hot guys playing this sexy sport! Also have I mentioned that this also happens to be my THE first book I’ve read from this author…I KNOW. SHAME ON ME for waiting so long, but I guess I just had to wait for the tight book to speak to me and WOW did this one do just that!
Shameless King is the first book in Maya Hughes highly anticipated (at least in my eyes) Kings of Rittenhouse series and I have got to say that Declan and Makenna were the PERFECT couple to start it off! These two give us one of the best enemies-to-lovers romance that I have ever read and I could not get enough of their witty back-and-forth banter that made my heart leap time and time again. Their chemistry was off the charts HOT and I was rooting for them right from the moment they met! I seriously cannot stop thinking of these two and how wonderfully beautiful and uniquely original their love story was.
Even though I know that Shameless King is only just releasing, I am already so excited to announce that I am eagerly anticipating the chance of getting my hands on the next installment in this series because I NEED it NOW! Maya Hughes truly has an incredible way with words and I cannot wait to see what she comes up with next because SERIOUSLY…I am head over heels in L-O-V-E with this brand-new series and you will be too as long as you one-click yourself a copy!
Maya is a new author to me. I loved Declan and Makenna story couldn’t put it down till the end. They had instant connection plus there chemistry also the banter back between them was funny. So can this king of the Ice melt the Ice Queen heart to get the HEA or remain hating each. you just have to wait and see when it release’s. ITS A MUST READ, I VOLUNTARILY REVIEWED AN ADVANCE READER COPY
Who doesn’t love a enemies to lovers hockey romance? I don’t know why they always seem the best, but between hockey or soccer romance books, I seem to enjoy these sports the most. Put this in a college setting and why is that even more appealing? I don’t know, maybe it’s the young love that does it for me.
Declan and Mackenna were definitely some focused enemies. Both of these characters think each other have it made in the shade, but little do they know about the others life. The grass always looks greener from the other pasture, right? But it isn’t too long into the story that they get to see the real side of each others pasture and it doesn’t look as green as they thought.
Declan is definitely a seasoned player, on and off the ice. Mackenna, not so much. So one we put these two enemies together, we have fireworks going off everywhere and Declan is full of stamina. Lot’s of hot and sexy times.
If you’re a hockey romance fan, you’ll want to catch this book as it’s the beginning of a new series and we have more of his friends to explore!
I was a new reader to Maya Hughes and this was my amazing introduction into her world of words. I am a huge fan of hockey and as I am from the Philadelphia/South Jersey area, I was pleased to find all the references to the Philadelphia Flyers, Rittenhouse, and other famous landmarks. Declan and Mak are “frenemies”. Mak is the proverbial book worm while Declan is the typical jock but deep down there is so much more to these characters including passion and pain, love and tears but all is hidden so that no one may see the real person. Fast forward to senior year of college where these two are thrown together again in a class that they felt was assigned to them in error. Each must work together to pass so that they move on to achieve their future goals. Sometimes life is messy and plans do not follow your envisioned path. Will these two be able to put their differences aside to work towards a common goal and maybe discover that their is something appealing in each other.
I was a new reader to Maya Hughes and this was my amazing introduction into her world of words. I am a huge fan of hockey and as I am from the Philadelphia/South Jersey area, I was pleased to find all the references to the Philadelphia Flyers, Rittenhouse, and other famous landmarks. Declan and Mak are “frenemies”. Mak is the proverbial book worm while Declan is the typical jock but deep down there is so much more to these characters including passion and pain, love and tears but all is hidden so that no one may see the real person. Fast forward to senior year of college where these two are thrown together again in a class that they felt was assigned to them in error. Each must work together to pass so that they move on to achieve their future goals. Sometimes life is messy and plans do not follow your envisioned path. Will these two be able to put their differences aside to work towards a common goal and maybe discover that their is something appealing in each other.
Loved this enemies to lovers romance! This is a sports romance that is filled with drama, but has heart and soul and tons of heat!! Get ready to have the ice melt!
Rate: +5/ 5 stars
Maya created a perfect new and addicting sports world for me and I know for a fact this series will be one of those that will take over my life, I just know it. All of the Kings already stole a piece of my heart and we barely got a taste of them. So I know that with every book Maya pops out in this series, I’m gonna fall a little (probably a lot) more for each and every one of these guys.
At this point I’m already dying and praying for more. And of course the one I’m most excited for is the one who will probably come last because anticipation is key and it sure will be the death of me. I’m so so very curious about Emmett and Avery, there is so much more to what went on and I’m dying to know it all…
I don’t want to be here spoiling anything for anyone because believe me this is one of those books you’ll be happy to know little to nothing about, and then be over the moon about how much it surprised you and exceeded your expectations. At least that’s how it was for me. I mean with that blurb you get the gist of the story and it sounds freaking amazing! But there was so much more in this book besides that, so many angles and layers. There is so much heat and chemistry between Makenna and Declan. So much ignorance and misconceptions about each other. But once they are forced together, quite literally, for the whole college semester, they find out there’s a lot more to the other than they had always thought. They help each other out, besides the school work and soon they open their hearts up to one another and to a chance at love. And once they do there is so much love and patience, beyond steamy hot sex and also so much swoonness (is this a word? if not, now it is!).
These two will just win you over from the start and then make you fall more in love with them as they fall in love with each other. They were truly amazing characters, and I won’t soon forget them (if ever because I honestly don’t think it’s possible to). You’ll finish this book wanting more more more. I never wanted it to end, that’s how much I loved it.
Shameless King was not only hot, it was super fun and sweet and overall spectacular. All the characters are amazing and you’ll just want more of everyone, you’ll want to know everything about each and every one of the Kings, the team mates…everyone. I’m so ready for more of this series, so so beyond ready! I can’t wait to see where Maya takes it, and I’m dying to know who comes next, will it be sweet Emmett, mysterious Colm, intriguing Ford or hilarious Heath?
I’m honestly fine with any of them because I know I’ll love them all.
If you’re a fan of:
(hockey) sports romances
college romances
enemies to lovers
study partners
a tight knitted group of friends and team mates
a strong and nerdy heroine
confident, sexy and overall great hero
then read Shameless King because this book is so for you!
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 to read what Mrs. Hughes writes next.
I’m gobbling up hockey romance right now and I knew I had to read this one. There is a prequel to the series that I read going in which did help give a background on this group while they were in their senior year of high school. I liked getting the background and set up for this book. Makenna and Declan would always push each other’s buttons back in high school and it’s no different when they end up at the same college. Now they have to work together and it shows them a different side of each other. I liked the chemistry between the two. One of my favorite things about the book is the banter between Declan and Makenna. Makenna grabbed at my heart because of how much pressure she put on herself to take care of her family and to live up to an unrealistic expectations of herself. She needs someone like Declan in her life. This book will suck you right in. Getting to know the other guys during this book I can’t wait for more from this series.
I highly recommend reading the prequel, Kings of Rittenhouse, first since it perfectly sets up not only Shameless King but also the entire series (which I can’t wait to continue). Declan and Makenna have such an adversarial relationship with each other, but the undercurrent of attraction is undeniable so coming together is a bit inevitable. This is heightened by the fact that their gripes with each other are due to misperceptions and lack of knowledge because if they took the time to get to know each other they would find that they are the perfect match. So it’s no surprise that once they’re forced upon each other for an extended period of time, sparks fly. I loved how their influence on each other served to cause both of them to mature and grow as individuals. They truly were so good for each other. Plus their chemistry was dynamic! I’m really looking forward to seeing how Emmett and Avery’s story plays out, as well as Heath and whatever mystery woman he gets, and the love triangle between Ford, Grant, and Olivia! This was the perfect kickoff to what is sure to be a great series! 3.75 out of 5 wine glasses.