Kellam Knight has studied martial arts under his sensei, Quick, since he was eight years old. A tossed-out reject from high-society, Kell has a problem fighting on the right side of the law. If he sees an injustice, he has to correct it. He doesn’t have to run and cower from his enemies anymore, he’s a fighter who can protect himself and others. When Quick offers Kell the opportunity to join Duke’s training program, he’s all in. Except he’s not prepared for the straight, over-confident, extremely disciplined, sexy man Brian has recruited to be his partner.
Tyrell Jenkins’ world was flipped upside down when his father never returned home from his last deployment. He’d been Ty’s teacher, mentor, his guide to living a righteous life as a good man. His father didn’t raise him to be like every other young, stereotypical male in Atlanta. Instead, he’s been taught to be respectful, to speak the language of real men. When Brian King – his father’s most trusted comrade – finally comes to him with the truth, he doesn’t come alone. He comes with trained men hidden in the shadows… and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join a brotherhood unlike any other.
I’ve started and deleted about ten sentences trying to start this review. I’m feeling conflicted but here go my thoughts. It might get long, and slightly spoilerish. Sorry.
This is the fifth book in the Promises Series, and I guess it’s meant as a reset and introduction to a new generation of hunters for Duke’s Bail Bonds. That makes sense as the original guys are aging out and settling down with their honeys. I’m down for that. Between A.E. Via’s relentless (in a good way) romanticism and Aiden Snow’s top notch delivery this series has grown on me, sometimes despite myself, and I’ve been generally happy. I’m not sure about the new guys.
The new recruits to DBB are Tyrell “Ty” Jenkins and Kellam “Kell” Knight brought in by Brian and Quick respectively. They’ve both gotten to 27 or 28 still flailing in the pond of life searching for …? I’m not quite sure what, but when they meet they fit the mold of insta-lust/insta-lust/fated-mates, a given in shifter books, which doesn’t overly bother me, but this isn’t a shifter story.
Kell is a poor little rich boy who was abandoned to his own devices when he came out to his rich politician father. We never see said parent or other family again. He’d been a student in Quick’s dojo and was, to some extent, taken under Quick’s wing and has become a martial arts master. Meanwhile Ty’s father was Brian’s commander and fellow cave dweller during his captivity in Afghanistan. Since his father’s death, when he was sixteen, Ty has spent his life trying to care for his mother as his father would have, she was evidently so sheltered by his brand of love that she found it impossible to buckle up and care for her son after her husband's death. (*major side eye*) This has translated into Ty living in the ‘hood so that his mother can live in comfort. He’s also looking for his own queen befitting a king like himself. Yep. When Ty and Kell meet that’s it. In the course of a month or two we get a forever love story with wedding bells included.
My problems with this story are many but the main one is the character of Ty. It pains me and I’m conflicted because in a note at the beginning of the book the author states that he’s based on her recently deceased brother. How can I find fault with him? I’m so sorry but ....
We’re introduced to Ty as he goes about his job of delivering ‘goods’ for Cheddar. As you can imagine Cheddar is not exactly a businessman who’s on the up & up and that’s fine except that Ty is more than a bit sanctimonious. He’s been celibate for the last two years and has dedicated a fair amount of that time to finding his Queen. Ty has a running inner monologue of his father’s teachings, mostly based on Muslim beliefs (his father was a Kenyan so I don’t know where the surname Jenkins comes from) and his own cobbled together life dictums. They mostly amount to being judgemental of women who dress skimpily, have sexual agency, and men who don’t conform to Ty’s notions of manhood. I won’t say I disagree with some of his assessments, but IMO he’s far from being without sin. He works for Cheddar! This search for a woman who conforms to a Muslim or conservative Christian ethos of modesty is fine, I guess, to each their own, but Ty should be doing something else too. He went to prep school and two years of college but somehow his job is delivering stuff for Cheddar? I don’t buy it.
Kell is cut from the same cloth as Ty. He went to prep school too but since graduating HS has been subsisting on teaching a few classes in Quick’s Dojo and that’s it. Why? To my knowledge there are quite a few things one can work at, particularly being a white, prep school educated man. This notion of Kell scraping by in a bad neighborhood seems more like a plot device to make Kell fit fully in the ‘damsel-in-distress’ mold, ripe to be rescued by Ty. I know that Kell says he’s competent to care for himself and we get scenes of him whipping out his martial arts expertise to the detriment of bigger, brawnier guys but he falls like limp noodles to Ty’s every request.
I’m reluctant to criticize relationships for the roles each partner chooses to take or the ones they’re comfortable in. We love what we love. I cut my romance teeth on what are now considered “problematic rapey bodice rippers” and I still love them, but this gave me niggles.
Kell has long blond tresses but is otherwise hairless on his body. He walks around covered, almost cloaked, dressed in black because he’s a ninja and to avoid problems with neighborhood thugs who taunt him for looking like a girl, for being pretty. Sure. Actually, it read as Kell physically representing the type of woman Ty wants. Pure. Modest. Demure. No wonder that despite not previously identifying as gay or even curious Ty jumps right in. Kell is everything he wants, and willing to follow him two steps behind if necessary. He’s even a virgin. Again, though not being my jam, to each their own: follow your own moral code that doesn’t harm others, follow your God without denying others the dignity, rights, and choice to not believe, pair up in (dated) heteronormative roles of male & female behaviour, or D/s without the BDSM component. I’m peachy fine with all of it. But Ty’s Holier-Than-Thou attitude, even with the DBB guys, was off putting to say the least. Sadly I’ve found this to be the case with most True Believers in anything. Moral certainty (save the obvious things) is dangerous territory and one I prefer to visit seldomly.
For the rest, aside from being kind-of smart young men, I didn’t see the wow factor in these two for Duke and the others to be so impressed by them. I’m sure they’ll grow into their jobs but two months in? They were okay. Clever but not reinventing the wheel or anything close. Also one nice, decent person in Ty and Kell’s respective ‘hoods wouldn’t have come amiss. Poverty isn’t equal to meanness. As for the romance it rested on Kell allowing Ty to be THE MAN in ALL things: Ty will provide a home, protection, and food. Kell will remain covered in the presence of others, follow Ty’slead, and cook. They even wait for marriage to fully consummate their union so don’t expect much smex. That’s fine. We all pick our paths but I’m pretty sure this is the type of relationship now widely pilloried in the MF romancelandia world of empowered women. I don’t care. Just saying.
Anyway that’s enough rambling to say that this didn’t work for me due to the MCs and we got very little of the previous guys which would’ve been a balm for me. As usual YMMV but I think even Aiden Snow couldn’t inject excitement into this. I’ll read more from this author but this was just not a good fit for me.
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