Fangirl Review: The King by Tiffany Reisz (The Original Sinners #6)

Cunning. Sex. Pure nerve. Only this unholy threesome can raise him to his rightful place as a rule of Manhattan's king kingdom.

Bouncing from bed to bed on the Upper East Side, Kingsley Edge is brilliant, beautiful and utterly debauched. No carnal act of chemical compound can relieve his self-destructive heartache—only Søren, the one person he loves without limit or regret. A man he can never have, but in whose hands Kingsley is reborn to attain even greater heights of sin.

Kingsley's plan to open the ultimate BDSM club—a dungeon playground for New York's A-list—becomes his obsession. His expertise in domination can't subdue the one man who wants to stop him. The enigmatic Reverend Fuller won't rest until King's dream is destroyed, and so the battle lines are set; it's one man's sacred mission against another's…

FIRST WARNING:  I'm about to fangirl the bejesus out of this book.

SECOND WARNING:  Girl parts ahead.

Let me clear two things up right quick. See that blogger name? That "King" isn't just any ole king. This is my King. Kingsley Edge as he's known throughout his kink empire or Kingsley Theophilé Boissonneault, his given name or King as he's commonly referred to. Mon Roi. I could list all the reasons why I love him but why? It should speak volumes that part of my blogger universe name includes him. Secondly, I know there will be some tempted to just read this one. That's a mistake. The backstory of how King, Søren and Nora came to be was built in books 1-5. Starting here will be out of context and won't resonate. Alright. Enough about that let's talk about this book!

This book! 

#Team King fans get ready. Ms. Reisz pulled out the big guns on us. The ongoing debate/feud/divide regarding Søren and King gets put front and center. I'll be the first to admit I've been part of that debate more than once and I had an epiphany of sorts while read this-it doesn't matter. Why? Because I'm always going to choose King. I'll always be on his side, so you see it doesn't matter if Søren's always loved him, or if Søren sacrificed his wants and his needs for King's safety or if he only used him. It matters not. Having said all that, I needed this book. I needed to know that Søren suffered. I needed to see this one on one relationship between them. I needed to see Søren's hunger. I needed to hear Søren say Jeg elsker dig to King.

The King bridges the gap between #Team King and #Team Søren by focusing on their relationship after Søren comes to King for his help with Nora. King is spinning out of control-drinking too much, having reckless sex with too many people and is on a fast track to an early grave. He has no focus, no goals, nothing. Søren helps him define his goals and facilitates his becoming the king of the kink that we all know and love. They've been each other's family, they've been lovers, here they become friends. I was delighted to see Søren's sense of humor. He's always struck me as stiff, aloof, distant, unemotional, and intimidating. He seemed less so here. We also got to know Sam. Sam and King make quite the odd couple, but they're endearing together. I never realized just how much he loved her. They form a largely business relationship built on trust with the mutual goal of bringing down Reverend Fuller and his evil empire.

The whole Original Sinners series marries kink and religion. It sounds like a marriage doomed to fail, I know, but it works. Normally, it's centered around Søren's priesthood, but in The King it's centered on Reverend Fuller's evangelical empire trying to secure a base of operations in New York City to rid it of it's debauchery. Fuller buys an old hotel, The Renaissance, that King decides is the perfect setting for his kink sanctuary. And so it begins… As events unfold, we learn that not only does Fuller's wife write bestseller after bestseller on Christian values to include how to "un-gay" your child through starvation and exorcism, but they run reorientation camps wherein queer kids are tortured. How very Christian of them. 

Really shouldn't underestimate King or his friends. They're all loyal and versed in chicanery. Thus, The 8th Circle was born. A place where all those who are kinky are welcome. Gay, straight or somewhere in between but, most importantly, for Søren. King built it to give Søren a place to… retain his sanity.

"Søren was Kingsley's king."

Was I disappointed that we didn't get La Legion King?
Yeah, for about thirty whole seconds.

Was I disappointed that we didn't get updated on the Nico/Nora situation?
Yes, actually. But I simply cannot complain after having been given this gift of an entire book about King from King's perspective.

Momma taught me not to look a gift horse in the mouth and I would like to thank Ms. Reisz for this gift.

Now, I often talk about writing style and world building. Sometimes plot is thin but characters are great. Sometimes the writing is good but it lacks emotionality or I don't connect with the characters. There are so many things that authors get tasked with, but this author has built a world and characters that aren't just three-dimensional, but real to a fairly large, and at times rabid, cult following, myself included. These characters are all flawed except for Michael who's a perfect angel. They're all capable of sending me through the emotional wringer. That's skill. Undeniable skill in my book. Every book in this series has surprised me and confused me and made me cry and made me think and made me want to re-read them. Some have even taught me a few things. No, not those things. Get your head out of the gutter. That's my spot.

They also bring the kink. Ms. Reisz knows her kink and all of her characters are kinky to some degree. Søren is THE sadist. King and Nora are switches in this bizarre love triangle, though Nora's not in this one. We get to meet a couple Dommes that have been mentioned a few times. We get flashbacks of King and Søren when they were kids and… mmmmmmmmhhhppppfffffff!!! King is a card carrying member of #teampain.

When he thought about it, it made no sense to him that he felt the freest and the strongest when on his knees and being hurt.

King hides his masochism. He's only ever submitted to Søren up until this point and won't to anyone else for fear of being judged weak. Heartbreaking but likely true. I respect what I think Ms. Reisz is trying to do by creating all these male submissives who are badasss motherfuckers you would not want to cross. And Michael. Sweet, precious Michael. I digress. There is an unexpected and delightful surprise here which I won't spoil, but it was very, VERY satisfying. I don't mind saying that it threw me for a loop. Naturally, there are submissives both male and female. The man is temptation personified and proud of it. He's French and vain as Narcissus himself. God, I love him. At any rate, King makes excellent use of all of them. Sexy beast that he is. AND what's more King put on a corset!!!!!

WAY!!!!

I might have reacted in an altogether embarrassing manner. Possibly. *side eyes*

I have one quibble which clearly isn't changing my rating, but it seems to me all the female characters are starting to sound alike. All witty and snarky and pithy and… like Nora.

Pish posh! Who cares? 

I GOT A WHOLE BOOK WITH NOTHING BUT MY MAN!!!!!!! 

Je t'aime, mon Roi. Je t'aime.

I would like to thank Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

Find out more on Goodreads.