A review by huntingforagoodread
The Wrong Man by Kitty King

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Big, muscular ex-con daddy coming right up! We don’t see prison pen pals as a trope often, and I wish we had seen more of that side before Essa grew up and Eli got out of prison, even if it was just the letters themselves. 

Eli spent seven years in prison and is now 31 and free. His pen pal, Essa, is just now 18 and in need of money so she’s going to auction her virginity off to the highest bidder. Eli tries to talk her out of it, but she won’t turn back. When a porn studio with a vendetta makes the winning bid, Eli agrees to be the one to take Essa’s virginity, despite Eli thinking he’s responsible for the murder of her father. 

Essa is a well written virginal and inexperienced character who had to grow up fast because she had no choice. Her friend, Piper, is a good supporting character and I love that she’s into smutty books. I feel like the author put us readers into Piper’s personality. 

Eli’s character, I have a few problems with but I think they may be contributed to spending seven years of his early adult life in prison and having an addiction. He frequently acts younger than his age, and slightly immature. There were quite a few moments where I wanted to smack him upside the head. As the daughter of an alcohol, some of his behavior was familiar and that may also be why I was harder on his character.

Overall, I feel like it’s a great first murder mystery for this author and a fantastic intro to this family/universe. I want to see more of Adon, Rhodes and Tate! The brother theme in books always gets me (note: Tate is Adon’s best friend, not a brother but it still counts in my head). 

Also, the author said she would really overuse the “daddy” bit in this book. I’m here to tell you that it could have had more daddy and we would have been fine. ;-)
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