Kneel with the King by Amanda Richardson is the third book in The Midnight Series, featuring Asher Harrison’s redemption arc. Asher is a character in Play with the Phantom, and now he’s getting a story of his own in this MM, “diet” dark romance. It is the least dark in the series so far, but it has its moments in this spicy, rivals-to-lovers, fake dating romance.
*this review features very minor spoilers for Play with the Phantom*
Asher Harrison is a workaholic, but he’s been reeling since his ex-girlfriend fell for his twin brother, and he lost his biggest account to his business rival, King. This couple’s retreat is his chance to land an important client and get everything back on track.
But when his date bails at the last minute, he finds himself on this retreat, focused on trust and surrender, with King, a man he hates with a passion. King is there for one reason and one reason only. To completely ruin the man who fired him after an illicit kiss ten years ago. Stealing his biggest client was only the beginning of what King plans to do to Asher. With years of betrayal and hurt between them, it’s a recipe for disaster.
As the retreat goes on, a fiery chemistry and unstoppable attraction has them both unraveling, and fundamental truths threaten everything they thought they knew.
King and Asher have layers of walls, both from traumatic events in their pasts and the pain they’ve caused each other, and it’s so fun to watch them all collapse. These two are deliciously stubborn and spend a great deal of this book in conflict with themselves and each other.
Asher was so irritating in Play with the Phantom, but in this book, there is no way to avoid feeling bad for him, and I loved getting to read about his later-in-life bi-awakening. King, on the other hand, is just incredible. He’s the bad boy of finance who escaped a religious cult, what’s not to love? I couldn’t get enough of this character.
The spice in this book is not necessarily plentiful, but what’s there is incredible, infused with a heady combination of chemistry and angst. There is some light BDSM with power play dynamics, and it’s the perfect level of kink for these characters and their dynamic.
Kneel with the King is tense in tone thanks to how much exists between these two characters: hurt, competition, and raw sexuality, and it makes for a read that feels very high-stakes, even though there is no real physical danger involved; the emotions are so sharp it feels like they’re at risk anyway.
This book is short and to the point. It tells the story efficiently, but my only complaint is that I wish there was so much more of this story. That’s not to say there’s anything lacking or missing from the story; I just could have read another two hundred pages of King and Asher.
I tore through Kneel with the King in a single sitting, absolutely enraptured. Amanda Richardson continues to impress with every new story she tells, and I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series, Run with the Reaper, when it comes out in December.
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