Cross

Dark Kingdom, Book #4

By Shantel Tessier

ISBN# 9798467646695

Author’s Website: shanteltessier.com

Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi

Review

*Beware of Spoilers*

Cross first laid eyes on Alexa at Titan and Emilee’s wedding.  However, Grave was quick to deem her off-limits since she’s best friends with his girlfriend, April.  Grave didn’t want the trouble a random hookup between Cross and Alexa would cause in his own relationship.  Cross has behaved for his best friend’s sake … until now.

Cross and Grave run into Jasmine and Alexa at the Airport.  The guys know the things that can happen to women there and Grave refuses to leave them unprotected while he fights.  So, Cross gets assigned babysitting duty.  And, when it’s time to leave Grave asks Cross to give Alexa a ride home.  Something he is more than willing to do.  However, his car isn’t the only thing she ends up riding.  And, what do you know?  One night just isn’t enough.

Cross doesn’t want to upset Grave though, so he and Alexa keep their little fling a secret as they keep hooking up again and again and again.  Cross quickly realizes that he doesn’t want to let Alexa go and that he will eventually have to come clean to Grave.

“This woman is my damnation. I’ve always known I was going to hell; now I know it’ll be her who sends me there. Because I will do absolutely anything for her. She doesn’t even have to ask.”

Then, tragedy strikes, and shortly after, Cross realizes that Alexa’s life is in danger.  He will do whatever it takes to protect his queen, whether she approves or not.  A King has to do what Kings do after all, and nobody will take what belongs to him.

“The road to being a King is paved with dead bodies. Eventually, our sins will catch up with us and demand a payment for all the carnage we leave behind. They can have my Kingdom, but they will never touch my Queen. I will set fire to the world and watch it all burn, me included, before I let her pay for my sins.”

I enjoyed the romance between Cross and Alexa.  I like how open and honest he was with her.  He never seemed to beat around the bush, even if he told her things she wouldn’t approve of.  I think he actually may be the most protective of all the Kings.  Or maybe he was just given more of an opportunity to prove it.

Cross’s parents completely sucked, though.  I felt so bad for him and the horrible childhood he had.  His dad deserved the ending he got, and so much worse.  And, for a mom to allow that too.  My heart broke for poor Cross, and I’m glad he grew into a better man than his dad could have ever dreamed of being.

I also really enjoyed the cover of this book, with the lit match in his mouth.  It seemed so fitting for Cross, honestly.

The girls who lunch thing gets a bit repetitive, though, now that we’re into book four.  The lunches all seem to be about the same, and there were a lot of lunches in this story.

I felt the ending was a bit rushed in this one.  Everything comes together, and they reveal everything in a hurry, and then the book is just over.  I would have liked the book to have been a bit longer, just to avoid that rush and just ease into things a bit more.

I enjoyed this book, but I’m sad to say this is my least favorite of the books I’ve read from this author.  I think a big reason for that is that she did Grave and April so dirty in this one.  They have been my favorite couple up to this point, and Tessier blew their happily ever after to smithereens.   They’re still together, but they struggled in this one. Everything else about their happy ending just got completely blown up.   I really hope she makes up for that in Bones’s book.  Bones is Grave’s brother after all so we can expect to see him in it anyway.

Please give me a happy Grave-y.  He’s my favorite.

Overall, this was still an enjoyable read, I just wish it didn’t come at another couple’s expense, when it didn’t need to.