Publisher:
Harlequin
Published: November
25th, 2014
ISBN: 978 077831 583 4
Genre: Erotic Romance
Book
Format: Paperback
Obtained
via: Publisher
Reviewed
by: Helena Stone, helenastone63@gmail.com
Rating:
5
In the second book in the Original Sinner’s, the White
Years series it is Kingsley’s turn to tell his story and boy does he
live to his name. It is hard to imagine a character more on Edge than our hero at
the start of his tale. Sleeping his way around the Upper Eastside, Kingsley is
never alone, rarely sober and constantly lonely. It might appear he is living
his life more than to the full, inside he yearns and ache’s for the one thing
he can’t have; Søren.
On the brink of destroying himself through
over-indulgence it takes Søren’s reappearance in his life to infuse Kingsley
with a new desire to not only live but do something constructive with his life.
It is Kingsley’s dream to open the ultimate
BDSM club, a safe place and playground for those like himself and Søren and it
doesn’t take long before he finds the ideal location. Between Kingsley and the
fulfilment of his desire stands one man; Reverend Fuller. The man who owns the
building Kingsley wants, the man who is determined to put a stop to Kingsley’s
dream come what may, the man who is evil incarnate beneath his sanctimonious
shell. A battle between two unmoveable objects is about to commence and the
outcome may well depend on a rather unexpected turn of events.
“Honesty was its own special brand of sadism”
– Kingsley
I
can’t imagine anyone who follows my reviews being surprised by the rating I
gave “The
King”. From the very first moment I stumbled across “The
Siren” I have been mesmerized by Tiffany Reisz’s words, the world she’s
created and the characters inhabiting it. The Original Sinners have
captured my imagination to the extent that they are now as real to me as most
of my (online) friends are. I wouldn’t be surprised if one or two of them
knocked on my door and invited themselves for dinner (or one or two other
activities). I’d smile, welcome them and delight in their company; which is
exactly what I do whenever I start a new title in this series.
I
don’t want to say more about the story than what can be found in the blurb.
These stories, in my opinion, should be read with as little foreknowledge as
possible. The less you know when diving into the stories, the more magical the
revelations and surprises are. Emerge yourself in this world and allow it to
carry you from shock to surprise, from laughing out loud to silent tears
falling from your eyes, from utter joy to heartbreaking sorrow and everything
in between.
Having
said that, I can’t make myself stop my review there either. So I’ll share a few
quotes that jumped out at me and give you my thoughts on those.
The
following quote makes perfect sense, taking into account most of the story
takes place twenty years ago. I can imagine how much fun Tiffany had when she
put the words into this story.
“A
Jesuit pope? It’ll never happen.” –
Søren
When
I first met Søren I wasn’t sure I was ever going to like him. Which each
subsequent book my appreciation for him grew until, by the time the last book
in the Red Years series came along, I’d fallen fully in love with him. In fact
I was convinced there was no way I could grow fonder of him. Of course I was
wrong. Søren’s words always hit a nerve with me.
“You’re
the most miserable bon vivant I’ve ever met. Drinking is for celebrating, not
for suicide.” - Søren to Kingsley
And:
“You
can be a new man, Kingsley. If he’s dead, then he’s dead. But you don’t have to
live the rest of your life walking around inside his corpse. You can have a new
life.” – Søren
Kingsley’s
love for Søren is a thing of beauty, both heartbreaking and uplifting. The bond
between the two men is something to envy and aspire to. You know these two will
still be tormenting and uplifting each other well into their eighties and I for
one, would love to present when the reminisce about the lives they’ve lived at
some point in the future.
“You
never hurt me. Do you know that? Even when you hurt me you never hurt me. I
loved it. It wasn’t until you stopped that I felt the pain.” Kingsley
to Søren
Just
in case you now think this whole book is filled with heart wrenching and soul
crushing moments, let me reassure you. Tiffany Reisz has, as always, found the
perfect balance between deeply moving and laugh out loud funny and everything
in between. Kingsley’s relationship with Sam is just one example of that.
“Are
you dressed? Is it safe to turn around again. I don’t want my delicate lesbian
sensibilities overwhelmed by your incredible manliness. I might get vapors,
whatever those are.” – Sam
Everyone
who’s read the Original Sinners books from the start is well aware of
Kingsley’s trademark question whenever he gets into a car with somebody else.
It was wonderful to at last discover the origins.
“Have
you ever had sex in the back of a Rolls Royce, Kingsley asked, trying not to
rip Søren’s shirt in his rush to
unbutton it. He needed Søren’s skin on his skin right now. No, Søren
said. But ask me that question again in an hour.”
Quotes
like the following are one of the reasons Tiffany Reisz has me hooked on her
words for life. She manages to articulate emotions and feelings I’ve
experienced but have never been able to verbalise. Her talent is a thing of
beauty.
“His
heart clenched so tightly, his chest hurt. No wonder he’d sought after pain all
his life. It felt just like love.” –
Kingsley
As
the title suggests, this is Kingsley’s story. Just as Nora told the story of
her early years to a relative outsider in The Saint, so does Kingsley in this
book. Since the blurb doesn’t reveal who our King talks to, I won’t tell you
either. Suffice to say it was nice seeing that character again and learn a
little bit more about their present day circumstances. The following quote
summarizes this book for me better than I ever could; better even than the
official blurb.
“But
his confession hadn’t been to a priest but about a priest, the priest he loved
not despite all the sins they’d committed against each other but because of
them, because the sins were what bound them together. And the love. Of course
the love. Always the love.”
The
King has more than earned its five star rating, but here’s the thing. I adore
Tiffany Reisz’s writing. Her dialogue is sharp and witty, her characters are
larger than life and as real as if I personally know them, and her stories
captivate me every time I read one. And yet, these White Years stories don’t
quite touch me in the same way the Red Years books did. And I know
exactly why that is. In the first four books everything was new; the
characters, the ideas, the way the story developed. All of it was exciting and
surprising, every single detail and twist kept me on my toes.
The
stories in the White Years books are more detailed explorations of events
mentioned in the earlier books. While we get an endless amount of new to us and
utterly fascinating details we already know the basics of these stories, and,
more importantly, we already know how they’re going to end. You can only read a
story for the first time once, and The King made me sorry it wasn’t really my
first encounter with these characters and the drama unfolding around and
because of them. And that is why The King ‘only’ got five stars; the reason why
I didn’t attach a few plusses or even turned the grade into a six.
Having
said that, I can’t wait for the next book.
This is an objective review
and not an endorsement of this book.
