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A review by idratherbereading542
American King by Sierra Simone
4.0
- Heroine: Greer
- Guys: Ash, Embry
- POVs Included: Multiple POVs (Ash, Greer, Embry), Abilene
- Book Playlist (Ménage Romance Playlist)
- Alternative Book Playlist (Book Hero is Powerful Playlist)
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SUMMARY: (SPOILER WARNING)
Now that Embry has decided to run for President against Ash, tensions are high. But the three of them are having a hard time staying away from each other. Especially once Greer learns that Embry didn’t betray her but was raped by Abilene.
As the campaign trail gets more intense, the feelings running between the three of them also grow more intense. Even on opposite sides of the political game, they can’t deny what they have together.
Things get strange though, and dangerous. And when Merlin tells Ash that either he or Embry will die in an assassination attempt, Ash is determined to sacrifice himself so that his loves can still have each other.
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REVIEW:
After “American Prince”, I was very pissed. I read that one about 6 months ago and decided to abandon the series. That’s how mad I was about how it ended. But I decided to go ahead and pick up the final book in the trilogy for my “Second Chance Sunday” challenge. And so I can see how it all turns out.
I will say I’m glad I decided to finish the trilogy out. It was an emotional roller coaster, but I’m glad they all finally got their HEA together.
This book was also miles better than “American Prince”. It’s not perfect, and the series isn’t perfect either, but it does have a lot going for it.
The most phenomenal thing about these books is the smut. I have read A LOT of ménage books, even more erotica books, and even more just plain romance books in my day. And I can honestly say that (for me) these books (especially the first and third books in the series) are some of the best sex scenes I’ve ever read. They hit literally every checkbox for me. And even though I don’t plan to re-read any of these books cover-to-cover, I will definitely come back to re-read some of these scenes in the future. They are so smoking hot.
That being said, the sex is the best thing these books have going for them. But the romance itself is also really well done. Especially the romance between Embry and Ash. The depth of their feelings for each other is incredible and emotional. However, because Ash and Embry’s love story is so deep with such a long history, it does tend to dilute the feelings they claim to have for Greer. I just don’t feel the depth of love for her that they clearly feel for each other. So as a ménage it feels rather uneven. We are TOLD they’re in love with her, but I don’t FEEL it so strongly as I do between Ash and Embry.
The plot itself (with the campaign and whatnot) is pretty secondary to the romance plot. There is some political drama though and I’m not a huge fan of that. But it was alright. The biggest issue with the story is how overly dramatic and emotional it is. Blackmail, accidentally incestuous babies, psychotic stalkers, assassination attempts, overthrowing radicals. There’s a lot of drama. A lot. And it can be a little too emotional and heavy at times.
I also find that the author writes in a very lyrical and verbose manner; which, while pretty to read, also unnecessarily adds to the page count without adding any extra value to the story itself.
And speaking of plot and adding to the page count. A big part of the story is the struggle the characters have with whether they should be together. Embry in particular struggles with this. So there’s a lot of back and forth (“I love you” … ”but we can’t be together” … ”but I love you” …etc). The back and forth gets old. I get why they can’t publicly be together, but I never really understood the reasons why they can’t privately be together behind closed doors.
Let’s talk about the big reveal by Merlin. He tells Ash that he was born knowing who he is (re-incarnated Merlin from King Arthur days) and he reveals that Ash is King Arthur and all the other people in his life are playing out their tragedy over and over again. He does something which shows Ash his past memories to re-enforce this.
The problem with this fantasy-like twist is that the entire series has been firmly contemporary. Yes, Merlin has been strange and appeared a little psychic throughout the series. But other than that, there have been no fantasy elements to the series at all. There are parallels to the original fantasy story of course. But honestly introducing this random paranormal twist is really strange to me. I think keeping the parallels just that would’ve been better. It’s just not a fantasy or paranormal series and so having this one fantasy twist at the end feels like a series identify crisis.
I also felt like Ash being “killed off” to the public was a very annoying plot device. I was so pissed with this book I was ready to stop reading. If I didn’t have a feeling he wasn’t really dead then I think I would have. This whole thing seemed to be solely for shock value. And I didn’t even see how it was necessary for him to kill himself off in order to maintain his work as president. This was just a weak reasoning and now he has to stay hidden forever. Seems damn inconvenient to me.
The only other thing to note I didn’t like was Abilene. She is probably the most pathetic and delusional character I’ve ever read. Hated her.
Still, overall I enjoyed the book and series as a whole (sans “American Prince”). It’s very entertaining and you seriously can’t beat the steam. Some of the best smut ever. It’s not a perfect series, but I’m glad I decided to go ahead and finish it.
- Guys: Ash, Embry
- POVs Included: Multiple POVs (Ash, Greer, Embry), Abilene
- Book Playlist (Ménage Romance Playlist)
- Alternative Book Playlist (Book Hero is Powerful Playlist)
-----------------------------------
-----------------------------------
SUMMARY: (SPOILER WARNING)
Now that Embry has decided to run for President against Ash, tensions are high. But the three of them are having a hard time staying away from each other. Especially once Greer learns that Embry didn’t betray her but was raped by Abilene.
As the campaign trail gets more intense, the feelings running between the three of them also grow more intense. Even on opposite sides of the political game, they can’t deny what they have together.
Things get strange though, and dangerous. And when Merlin tells Ash that either he or Embry will die in an assassination attempt, Ash is determined to sacrifice himself so that his loves can still have each other.
-----------------------------------
-----------------------------------
REVIEW:
After “American Prince”, I was very pissed. I read that one about 6 months ago and decided to abandon the series. That’s how mad I was about how it ended. But I decided to go ahead and pick up the final book in the trilogy for my “Second Chance Sunday” challenge. And so I can see how it all turns out.
I will say I’m glad I decided to finish the trilogy out. It was an emotional roller coaster, but I’m glad they all finally got their HEA together.
This book was also miles better than “American Prince”. It’s not perfect, and the series isn’t perfect either, but it does have a lot going for it.
The most phenomenal thing about these books is the smut. I have read A LOT of ménage books, even more erotica books, and even more just plain romance books in my day. And I can honestly say that (for me) these books (especially the first and third books in the series) are some of the best sex scenes I’ve ever read. They hit literally every checkbox for me. And even though I don’t plan to re-read any of these books cover-to-cover, I will definitely come back to re-read some of these scenes in the future. They are so smoking hot.
That being said, the sex is the best thing these books have going for them. But the romance itself is also really well done. Especially the romance between Embry and Ash. The depth of their feelings for each other is incredible and emotional. However, because Ash and Embry’s love story is so deep with such a long history, it does tend to dilute the feelings they claim to have for Greer. I just don’t feel the depth of love for her that they clearly feel for each other. So as a ménage it feels rather uneven. We are TOLD they’re in love with her, but I don’t FEEL it so strongly as I do between Ash and Embry.
The plot itself (with the campaign and whatnot) is pretty secondary to the romance plot. There is some political drama though and I’m not a huge fan of that. But it was alright. The biggest issue with the story is how overly dramatic and emotional it is. Blackmail, accidentally incestuous babies, psychotic stalkers, assassination attempts, overthrowing radicals. There’s a lot of drama. A lot. And it can be a little too emotional and heavy at times.
I also find that the author writes in a very lyrical and verbose manner; which, while pretty to read, also unnecessarily adds to the page count without adding any extra value to the story itself.
And speaking of plot and adding to the page count. A big part of the story is the struggle the characters have with whether they should be together. Embry in particular struggles with this. So there’s a lot of back and forth (“I love you” … ”but we can’t be together” … ”but I love you” …etc). The back and forth gets old. I get why they can’t publicly be together, but I never really understood the reasons why they can’t privately be together behind closed doors.
Let’s talk about the big reveal by Merlin. He tells Ash that he was born knowing who he is (re-incarnated Merlin from King Arthur days) and he reveals that Ash is King Arthur and all the other people in his life are playing out their tragedy over and over again. He does something which shows Ash his past memories to re-enforce this.
The problem with this fantasy-like twist is that the entire series has been firmly contemporary. Yes, Merlin has been strange and appeared a little psychic throughout the series. But other than that, there have been no fantasy elements to the series at all. There are parallels to the original fantasy story of course. But honestly introducing this random paranormal twist is really strange to me. I think keeping the parallels just that would’ve been better. It’s just not a fantasy or paranormal series and so having this one fantasy twist at the end feels like a series identify crisis.
I also felt like Ash being “killed off” to the public was a very annoying plot device. I was so pissed with this book I was ready to stop reading. If I didn’t have a feeling he wasn’t really dead then I think I would have. This whole thing seemed to be solely for shock value. And I didn’t even see how it was necessary for him to kill himself off in order to maintain his work as president. This was just a weak reasoning and now he has to stay hidden forever. Seems damn inconvenient to me.
The only other thing to note I didn’t like was Abilene. She is probably the most pathetic and delusional character I’ve ever read. Hated her.
Still, overall I enjoyed the book and series as a whole (sans “American Prince”). It’s very entertaining and you seriously can’t beat the steam. Some of the best smut ever. It’s not a perfect series, but I’m glad I decided to go ahead and finish it.