Rating: 4.5 stars
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When Kingston Wilde’s lover left him tied to a radiator in the middle of an art theft for the cops to find, King knew their relationship was well and truly over. King managed to evade jail time for the theft of a priceless Van Gogh by convincing FBI agent Dirk Falcon that he was merely an innocent bystander who got caught in the middle of the heist. Falcon’s career has never fully recovered from the mistake and now, three years later, Falcon and his team are doing all they can to catch King and bring him to justice for a host of skillful art thefts around the world.
King has decided that the time has come to retire from his life of crime and is considering moving home to Hobie, Texas to reconnect with his family. But it turns out that Falcon has one more job for him. When a priceless crown is stolen from Hungary, the FBI needs to recover it quickly and quietly. The best person for the job is none other than the elusive art thief, Kingston Wilde — especially because it turns out the man who stole the crown is King’s ex. King knows just how to evade the security and to retrieve the crown and the FBI is offering him immunity for his past crimes if he helps them out.
This last job is a great opportunity for King to get some revenge on his ex, as he has never felt the closure he really needs. He also gets to know Falcon much better and, as the men spend time together, their relationship slowly moves from adversaries to friends and soon to more. The attraction between them is fierce and even though both know it is a big mistake, they can’t stay away from each other. But as much as King and Falcon are drawn to one another, neither can fully trust the other either. Both of them have motives that they aren’t sharing with the other, and after years of being on opposite sides of the law, it is hard for them to totally trust each other. But Falcon and King have fallen hard and now they must figure out a way to trust each other with their hearts and on the job if they will have a chance to find the crown and for King to keep his freedom when the job is done.
King Me is the seventh book in Lucy Lennox’s wonderful Forever Wilde series and this is one of my favorites so far. The story combines a really lovely, sexy romance with an engaging heist caper and Lennox does a great job balancing the two elements. This book works especially well coming on the heels of Wilde Love, a reader favorite and a big emotional story that really has its roots in Hobie and the Wilde family. So I think this story is a perfect transition book in that it takes us almost completely out of Texas and while we do get some time with Doc and Grandpa, as well as MJ and Neckie, the story mostly stands apart from the family in a way that I think works well.
I also love how the story plays with King by making him a criminal. The Wildes are just so GOOD. And I love that about them, don’t get me wrong. But I thought it was kind of fun that King, while not a bad guy, is at least one who has long walked on the wrong side of the law. Of course, we learn there is a lot more to his story and Lennox develops King’s character really well. But I did enjoy having King be a bad boy. I was especially entertained because up until this point, the Wilde’s (and the readers) assumed he was some CIA agent or other do-gooder and so I was kind of tickled to find out King is actually a criminal.
The book has a nice enemies to lovers vibe as King and Falcon have been adversaries for so long and are on opposite sides of the law. Falcon’s mistake at letting King go three years ago still haunts him and he has made it his mission to bring King to justice. Even as the men begin to work together and find a connection, and later a physical and emotional relationship, they are always struggling to fully trust each other, and for good reasons. Each man is holding something back and both have bigger motives than they share. I really enjoyed seeing these men struggle with their feelings as their hearts are getting involved, but their minds are telling them to be wary. It is really rewarding at the end of the book when we see both men take a leap of faith and be rewarded. I really enjoyed the connection between King and Falcon. There is a nice intensity and a lot of sexiness between them that works well for both characters.
The heist side of things is also really well done. I enjoyed the scenes where we watch King get past security or figure out how to break in somewhere. As the story continues, things get twisty as nothing is straightforward and there are layers to every action people take. The plot stays engaging and exciting and I loved the way things come together in really interesting ways at the end.
So I just loved this one and found it a wonderful installment in the Forever Wilde series. I really liked that this story is a bit different than most of the others in the series and found the heist elements to be a lot of fun. I really loved King and Falcon together and how it all turns out in the end. So be sure to check this one out and enjoy!
