Reckless King by Maya Hughes: Did this one work?

I went into Reckless King by Maya Hughes mostly waiting for the next book, not going to lie. Heath and Kara were not the couple I was desperate for, but they did surprise me at first. Their setup has that whole Cinderella-runs off at midnight thing, plus hockey, school pressure, grief, and a romance that gets intense pretty fast. And somehow, even with insta-love involved, I was into them for a while.

I liked them as individual characters and I even didn’t mind some of the insta love they had going on in their relationship. ~ Under the Covers

I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. This post contains affiliate links. That means we receive a small commission at no cost to you from any purchases you make through these links.

What is Reckless King about?

Reckless King by Maya Hughes follows Heath and Kara after one random night turns into a much bigger problem. He thinks she disappeared for good, but then she shows up somewhere very inconvenient.

Reckless King by Maya Hughes Book Review

I’ll be honest here.  I wasn’t dying for this book in particular in this series.  What I want to get to is Emmett and Avery’s book.  That being said, when I started reading RECKLESS KING I was into Heath and Kara.  I liked them as individual characters and I even didn’t mind some of the insta love they had going on in their relationship.  That is rare for me, as I’m not a fan of insta love.

But then about halfway thru the story I found it started feeling a bit too forced for me.  The student/teacher angle felt forced and irrelevant.  Almost like it fit a checklist to make this more taboo when it didn’t develop as a taboo subject in the book and it all was easily resolved in the end.

This book also deals with grief and loss, as well as past abuse (more emotional than physical).  My heart went out to all the characters that had terrible things happen to them and they overcame.  At the same time, it didn’t feel like there was a good balance for me and it made some parts of this story drag.

One thing I still enjoy about this series is that the characters are young but quite a bit mature.  I’m very picky with new adult mostly because I have no patience for immature characters.  While this isn’t my favorite series and I think the author still has room to grow in her writing and getting comfortable with her style, I find I enjoy the overall stories and characters and that’s definitely what keeps me reading.

In the end, though, I still did enjoy the romance and I liked the little bit of E&A in the background.  Like I mentioned before, that’s who I’m really anxious to read about even from book 1 and they finally get their story in the next book.  Can’t wait!

About the Kings of Rittenhouse by Maya Hughes

The Kings of Rittenhouse series by Maya Hughes follows a group of college hockey players as they fall in love, make questionable choices, and drag a whole lot of emotional baggage onto the ice with them. Reckless King by Maya Hughes is book 2, Heath and Kara’s book.

Final Thoughts

This was a bit of a mixed bag. I liked Heath. I liked Kara. I even liked their instant connection more than I expected. Still, I cannot say I had a bad time. I read it quickly and I was very happy to get more Emmett and Avery crumbs in the background. Reckless King by Maya Hughes may not be my favorite of the series, but it kept me invested enough to roll right into the next one. Which, let’s be honest, is exactly where I wanted to be anyway.

Ready for the next one? Check out my review of Ruthless King by Maya Hughes. Or if you missed the previous one, Shameless King by Maya Hughes.

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