King of Pride (Kings of Sin, 2) Paperback – August 22, 2023

Devoured. Loved. Obsessed. King of Pride has the most intriguing opposite attract dynamic, angsty yet delicious forbiddenness and incredible Asian representation. It was an immediate win for me. I just knew from King of Wrath, Isabella and Kai’s story was going to be amazing. As always, Ana’s writing was spot on and I could not recommend her work enough.Intelligent, controlled and proper to a fault, Kai was groomed to become the CEO of the Young Corporation. With a life-changing vote looming, his title, company, legacy were all at stake. He could not afford to lose. He had to focus but the gorgeous, sweet and spirited Isabella had completely tilted his world off its axis. She was not his typical acquaintance. She was bold, impulsive, so irrepressibly herself and he was charmed by her.Coming from an Asian background, I resonated with Isa very strongly. Ping poinging between chasing her dreams and living up to her family’s expectations. Amidst her chaotic life, Kai brought her a sense of tranquility. Having been scarred by her ex, Isa was not looking for a relationship. She also liked someone rougher around the edges, nothing like Kai. Yet she found herself admiring him and developing dangerous fantasies about him.His reputation and her job were on the line (no fraternisation at the club), so they kept their distance. However, life kept pushing them into each other’s paths. Their witty banter, stolen touches and brewing chemistry was everything. Eventually, their tension exploded. Kai was no doubt a gentleman but he could get real dirty behind closed doors.What I loved most about them was how positive and healthy their relationship was. They supported, motivated and reassured one another through the ups and downs. They brought out the best in one another.A special mention to Isa’s friendship group. The most loving, caring and loyal bunch ever. I loved the crossover of the Twisted and Kings of Sin worlds. There were cameos of familiar faces and also new ones. I am very excited about our next couple. In typical Ana fashion, I believe there will be some major grovelling involved…

Kai and Isabella. It took me a bit to get into this one. They are a cute couple, but the story is not as good as the first one in the series. I did enjoy a lot of their banter. It made me laugh out loud at different parts, although their mis communication or lack thereof would also make me mad. I have to say I did like Kai much more in the first book, I just thought a lot more of his playful personality would come out. I had one problem with Isabella and it was the lack of confidence in herself, even though she appears like a bad ass. Now the spicy scenes were H O T, the piano one. Let’s just say it leaves nothing to the imagination. Overall it was a pretty good read and for a hopeless romantic like me it had enough of the slow build up that makes my heart sing.

The story was fine and it was written well. The characters were just ok, I personally didn’t feel much of a connection with them. I liked the idea of each character they just felt a little flat for me. They had issues/hangups and we got some background but there really wasn’t a reason for the specific issues that carried the story. Kia felt like he had to win at everything…why? We got some history about his mom and her being controlling, but why was he so concerned with winning everything. And Isabelle lacked self confidence and chose to self sabotage instead of putting herself out there. But why? I didn’t see a reason in her backstory as to why she was the way she was. Her family seemed loving and for the most part understanding. I guess if I’m gonna spend 400+ pages reading about a girl who never finishes anything and then only makes a change in the last 50 pages I would like a reason for the issue that took up so much of the story. Plus in the end she wasn’t even the one to make an effort to over come that issue, Kia put her out there. Kind of a let down. Did she grow…I guess, but it wasn’t like we got to watch her make the effort to get there. We spent a lot of time reading about her internalizing her problem, but there wasn’t any real payoff in her overcoming it bc Kia put her out there and then poof she had an epiphany and everything was all better. Meh. The breakup was just off, I rolled my eyes through most of it. It didn’t feel like it fit, it was like the author just wanted to add another layer of drama, but it wasn’t seamless, it felt forced. Once I got half way through the book I found myself scrolling past large portions and only reading what was in quotations. I hope the next one is better. And yes I will read it bc I do enjoy her writing, this one just didn’t hit for me.