Member Reviews
Wow!! I did not want to put this book down!! I love mc books, this one was more focused on cade and Indy. I loved how ms. Dee, brought yo their past stories along with the present. These two had a relationship since they were 5, and watching them grow in their love and what happened to change that was flawless. Can’t wait to see what happens with these two in the next book.
My first from Penny Dee, Kings of Mayhem certainly scratched my itch for an angsty MC book. This story follows Cade Calley and the lifelong love he has had for his neighbor and fellow MC brat, Indigo Parrish. Told in both past and present and also alternating POVs, we get all the reasons as to why these two have been separated for the past 12 years. Now back in town after leaving in a flourish when she was just 18, Indy is forced to face not only her past with Cade but the sudden death of her father.
I was pulled into this story very quickly and liked the main characters and the fierce devotion Cade had for his Indy. They have a lot to figure out even if Indy maintains she is headed back to her life in Seattle after all the services have concluded. And although they danced around each other, it was Cade who was as determined as ever to keep his girl for good. He is very charming and selfless and very loyal to those he cares for. I felt for him since he was never truly able to let go of Indy and the whys to their heartwrenching breakup.
But I did feel that there was a ton of extraneous material that could have been omitted. I found myself skimming a bit and a little surprised the Author used plot points from a few outside sources including other books, a movie and a TV show.
It's not that it wasn't well-written, it just felt a bit draggy at times and I was miffed more than once at how Indy, in particular, acted towards Cade. Making a book longer by continually having the characters avoid that very important talk makes me all kinds of crazy and I get a bit distracted from the story. However, I will read book two to find out how their love story will end.
I wouldn't hesitate to read more from this author and give Kings of Mayhem 3 stars.
In the beginning they had it all.
Cade was the local hero, he had the love of his life, they were preparing to build their future. He started the day having it all, but by the end he had NOTHING. All it took was one mistake.
It’s been 12 years. Will he have to live with the consequences forever?
“It rips my heart out to know that the one thing I couldn’t protect you from was me.”
Cade, to the outside he is all business. To those he cares for, he is compassionate, loving, and protective. He was the hot alpha with polished charisma that dropped the panties off many girls, but now he’s an empty shell. His only drive is living for the club.
Indy is a take no punches kind of gal. She tells it like it is. She left the small town and its small town ways behind her. Refusing to grow up and become like her mother, something owned by the club. She leaves her past behind her escaping to Seattle to live out her dreams.
Indy is not afraid of what life has to offer. Except when it comes to Cade.
The sudden death of her father forces Indy to return to the town she couldn’t wait to get away from. The minute she enters town limits her stomach starts to churn cement. How will she endure being back? How will she possibly survive being in the same room as Cade?
This town, these people, they meant nothing to her……. right? She was over Cade, right? But are you truly ever over your first love, a love that ran so deep you feel it in your bones?? As the days pass she begins to question her feelings and her past decisions.
While the preparations for her father’s burial are taking place and the emotional tug-of-war rages, we find other captivating story lines begin unfolding.
Seeing Indy again isn’t what Cade expected. It hits him hard.
“And that was when I realized I wasn’t falling in love with her all over again. Because I had never stopped. I never would. And I was fucking doomed.”
Will penance still need to be served, will history repeat itself, can they move on? Together or apart?
“With that thought, any reservations about what I was about to do turned to ashes and fluttered away on the cool, twilight breeze.”
This was my first Penny Dee book. I can honestly say I am now a true fan. The book was a captivating page turner! The pacing of the writing was good, the plot was enthralling & suspenseful. The writing style was entertaining. It had me laughing, cringing, and thoroughly, emotionally engaged!
Looking forward to the next book in the series!!!
KINGS OF MAYHEM by Penny Dee is the start of a very exciting series! The story heaps hold of you from page one and doesn't let you go! This story has it all, true long lasting love, devastating loss, second chances and all the excitement of a Motorcycle Club!
Rating 4.5 stars.
Kings of Mayhem is a well-written, well-paced, enjoyable story. I really liked both Cade and Indy. How cool is a tough biker dude who can openly admit he's still in love with the one that got away? He's glad Indy's back and doesn't hesitate to tell her and show her.
Indy isn't nearly as quick to be ready to repeat the past with Cade. She doesn't even understand her entire reasoning for leaving him twelve years ago. She's back for her father's funeral and must face a lot of different situations from her youth.
The biker culture isn't a major player in this story. It far more just a story of intense love, love lost and betrayal and love found again.
This is my first Dee book. I inhaled it in one day staying up late to finish and I immediately went back to request Brothers in Arms so I could follow the story, especially after the huge cliffhanger ending of this story.
Cade is a bad boy in every sense of the word, feared by his enemies, and respected by his club brothers. He’s desired by every woman he meets, but even after 12 years of being apart, Indy is the only one on his mind. Now she’s back in town for her father’s funeral, and all these feelings he’s been running away from for the past decade are rushing back. Indy, on the other hand, wants nothing more than to get this visit over with as soon as possible and get back to the successful life in the big city she built for herself after leaving the MC family behind.
Unlike most of MC romances, Kings of Mayhem concentrates almost entirely on the love story, which spans across over 20 years. The author uses retrospect to show the key moments in the lives of Indy and Cade that made them who they are today, and nurtured the overwhelming love they have for each other.
Still, there is so much angst and suspense, that it’s just impossible to put this book down. You’ll find yourself rooting for the main characters and reliving their heartbreaks with them.
"She was the light in all my darkness."
I have a serious addiction to MC Romance that resulted in me trying out this new-to-me-author. I'm pretty surprised to learn after reviewing her backlist to discover that though she's written other titles, this is her debut motorcycle club story. I'm very impressed and happy to report that it's damn good.
The author let me know with the blurb that Cade has loved Indy since he was five years old. So I knew going in that this would be a second chance romance. Well, at least I thought it would be. At the very least I knew that he still loved her and that she had good reason to stop loving him. But did she?
I really enjoyed the way the author alternated between past/present to allow me to see the relationship between the characters from childhood to adulthood. Seeing them through each other's eyes gave me an understanding that they lacked since what they thought and felt wasn't always what they shared with each other after the big blowup that ended their fairytale future.
They were separated for twelve years before she returned for her father's funeral. She might have never seen Cade again if not for that. She thought she was over him, but when she saw him again she realized that was a wish that hadn't come true. —because if I was being really honest, I gave my heart to a boy a long time ago. And he still had it."
The biker family that Indy had left behind when she fled with her broken heart felt like home when she returned. Seeing everyone brought back a lot of memories, both good and bad. But most of all it reminded her of the pain she'd not ever recovered from. Her trust was broken along with her heart and seeing Cade again was harder than she'd thought it would be. "How was it possible to hate and ache for one person at the same time?"
Cade is determined to prove to her that they are meant to be together and she's determined that he can't. She is fighting her feelings but it's getting harder and harder not to give in to what she really wants... Cade. She only plans to stay a few days and then go back to her life. Will he be able to change her mind?
This was my first Penny Dee read and I am a fan. I loved that she included a Path of Family , this very handy in an MC story as there are many players . This is the first book in the Kings of Mayhem series Cade and Indy's story. I loved the family dynamic of this story. Best friends since the age of 5 to , young love to heart break. Cade, broke Indy's heart on the night before they were set to leave for college and Indy ran.....
12 years later she is back in town for the first time since Cade broke her. In town to bury her father, her plan...get in and get out. Well, Cade, has other plans.
This story flow was great, easy to follow and totally addictive. This is gearing up to be a really great new MC series. Like I had mentioned, this is book 1 so there are many introductions to different characters and rival clubs. So there is a lot of emotion and facing the past, as it is written in "then and now" fashion. You get the back story of Indy and Cade, and it is handled just right. It does not go on for page after page. It is enough of a backstory that you get why the emotions are running so high.
The Club business is intertwined a little throughout the story, but the ending is where you get the set up for where the club is going and the drama that is going to follow.
This really has me wanting to read more of the series.
ARC Provided by NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.
I feel I need to start off by saying this MC novel isn't about an Outlaw/1% Club, (with the way KoM ended, that may change) but that doesn't take away from the awesomeness of this book.
I adored everything about this book, the duel POV the back and forth timeline, you get an amazing feel as to who these characters are, and you meet some intriguing characters throughout the story.
KoM ends with a pretty big event that some may classify as a cliffy, I say it's an incredable buildup to book 2.
All in all, it's a swoony, feely second chance romance, that I definitely recommend.
I really liked this at first. Sweet story about coming home and fi nding yourself. Then it dragged and dragged and I really got frustrated with Indy. I wanted to reach through my kindle and slap her. Not to give anything away, but the wasn’t your average I cheated on you I will never forgive you. There was scheming at play and it was alluded to why but it was glossed all over. If you were destined for each other and knew each other so well, this set up shouldn’t have worked.
All the serious plot points were mentioned but not really explained. Then we went from this light hearted MC to total seriousness. The last two chapters jumped the track and totally changed the tone of the whole book. The cause again was mentioned forgotten the brought up in a hurry and chaos reigned. Not sure I will continue the series.
Recieved a copy from the publisher through NetGalley
So I actually started book 2 first and realized, ummm I don’t think this is book one. Well, since I was already hooked, I had to put the book down until I got book one to start!!
Oh Cade and Indy!! If we could all be so lucky to find our soul mate at age 5!! Not a huge fan of stories that jump back and forth between present and past but despite that, you can’t help but fall in love with this series!!! So many great characters and you will even get teary eyed.
And make sure you have book two already on hand as there is a cliffhanger and you will want to continue right away!!
ARC received for review
Cade has loved Indy since elementary school, but when they were 18 he messed up big time and she left. Indy comes home for her dad's funeral and Cade is determined to not let her get away again. I loved all the flashbacks to their past. They get a HEA, and then someone gets shot and a cliffy....
4.5 Stars
Well alright! This is my first read of this author. What a way to kick off a fantastic MC series. Cade and Indy's story is a second chance romance set on first love and broken hearts.
The life of the MC is not the place for everyone. After Indy's heart was broken, she left and didn't return for 12 years. But hearts know their match and as much as she tries to fight it, her heart belongs to Cade. I did love that she made him work for it! Lots of time to make up for but they fell back into each other like no time had passed at all.
The MC is caught up in some nasty business but it keeps them afloat. This book ends on a bit of a cliffy but it appears Cade and Indy have resolved their issues for now.
Loved meeting the whole club, loved the world building, loved the heat between Indy and Cade. Great read!!
This book has a few things that some people, can have a hard time reading. But if you don’t have a problem with hard topics then this book can be for you. I really like this book, it’s abot second chances and a love that hold strong. Even if they meet hard times, there love is strong. I can’t wait to read the next book. This book ends with a cliff hanger.
I was given this book to give an honest review.
There's a lot in this book that might put some readers off. In fact, I'd go further and say that there's a lot in it that would usually put me off. But, I really enjoyed it. The book opens with the hero with another woman. He's in a motorcycle gang and while they avoid drugs and guns, their business interests certainly lie on the more unsavoury side of life (brothels, strip clubs and pornographic films). Then there's the reason that this couple split up in the first place, 12 years ago...
For some reason though, despite all of the things that would normally put me off a little bit, I really enjoyed this book. The descriptions of both the club in the modern day and the scenes from Cade and Indy's childhood were great and really added to the story.
I loved both Cade and Indy and the way that the interacted as they rediscovered their feelings for one another. As a rule, I struggle a bit with second chance romances, which is what this is in effect, but somehow it really worked. I did want Indy to drop her defences a little quicker with Cade, but in some ways, the fact that she didn't added to the overall feel of the book and worked well.
Although I have some reservations about the setting, I did like that neither Cade nor Indy felt that had to change who they were or what they did.
There was one thing I wasn't so keen about this story though, the fact that it was left on a bit of a cliffhanger. Now I HAVE to read the next one.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Raw sex, hot bikers and love gone awry make this a real page turner. You can't change your roots no matter how much you try so you need to accept them and make them work for your future as Indy finds out.
Great book ,great characters , interesting story . I love Cade and I can not wait other books in this series . Thank you Net Galley and publisher for this opportunity .
I received and ARC of this book through #Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Again one of the things that I love about Netgalley is the opportunity to try authors that are new to me. This book and author didn’t disappoint! An amazing start to what I am thinking will be an addictive series. Main characters are strong and lovable. Realistic hardships in life, turmoils in a long strained relationship and plenty of HOT sex!! I love the author’s style in telling the story both in the present and flashing back to their earlier years, both catching you up on their history, but not drawing it out to make you want to skim the contents. So many things that I loved about this book, I looked for the second in the series and started my review immediately after finishing it.
What you should know going in.... Mostly not things I dislike because I enjoy a broad array of story and writing styles, but since many have a particular type that they like or dislike, I will list a couple of things to give some insight, while not spoiling anything.
*Pretty soft core as far as biker books go. Definitely the culture surrounding the club, but not the amount of violence, illegal activity or profanity as you may see in harder core “club” stories
*Sex, lots of it. If you prefer more of a love story without the heat factor, this book may not be for you. The love story is there, but so is the sex and it’s hot, well written and varied
*Cliffhanger alert!!!! Normally this turns me off of a series, truly, but this ended in a way that kept you grabbing for the next one, while still somewhat completing the story that was started in this book. The cliffhanger scene leads into a different story line with the same background characters, instead of just dropping you off the cliff in the middle of the main story. A little more tolerable to me, but I still prefer a series that has standalone books.
The cliffhanger ending always feels to me as if the author is setting the reader up to “need” to buy the next book. I’d rather go there out of want of another great book, than because I needed to finish a story. For this reason, I didn’t rate it higher, but it is a good read. The book flows nicely and you won’t want to put it down! Would have liked to give it 3.5 stars. Definitely a 4 star book for me if not for the cliffhanger.
This was my first read from this author, and I was pleasantly surprised. The story was engaging, with a fair amount of drama. Cade and Indy were in love as teenagers before going their separate ways following poor choices on Cade's part, and now they have found themselves forced to spend time together following her father's death. This story is a second chance story in an MC setting. The writing flowed well and overall this was an engaging book. I am interested to see what happens in the next book of the series.
Kings of Mayhem is my first read by Penny Dee, and while I don’t mind the MC genre, it’s definitely not for the sensitive at heart as cheating and all that goes with living life by no ones rules, is certainly a motto embraced by most MC clubs.
Cade and Indy have childhood history, but life in the club can ultimately take its toll and moving forward isn’t always as simple as it seems. I liked both characters, and while the cheating is unsavoury, it plays its part I the overall plot.
A great cover, a decent storyline, good world building, and unfortunately a cliffhanger ending, ensure that readers will be eagerly awaiting the next instalment of this gripping new series.