After seeing this duet recommended on a bunch of romance novel podcasts, I couldn’t wait to check it out. Bonus as of this writing both The Kingmaker and The Rebel King are available on Kindle Unlimited. This was my pick for reading an erotic romance this month for the She Reads Romance Books Reading Challenge. Kennedy Ryan is also a new author for me and an author of color, categories that are part of my 2021 reading goals.
The Rundown
These books are really difficult to discuss without spoilers but I’ll give it my best shot. The Kingmaker is a love story that spans 15 years. At seventeen, Lennix Moon Hunter, a proud member of the Yavapai-Apache Nation, is fighting to make her people seen and protesting oil pipe lines that are destroying tribal land.
Maxim Cade, a soon to be college graduate, has grown up in a world of privilege many can only imagine. Upon witnessing the harsh way his father deals with those trying to stop his pipe lines, he has to intervene. When the two meet and wind up thrown in jail, Lennix has no idea that Maxim is a Cade, the family name she’s come to hate.
Though drawn to one another immediately, they only spend a few hours together talking before heading in their opposite directions. Over the years, fate intervenes and these two find their paths crossing and weaving at different moments in their lives. They both are passionate and determined to make their worlds better and each one has a big destiny ahead of them.
All I will say about The Rebel King is to have it handy when you finish this first one. You’ll want to dive into it right away since The Kingmaker ends on a cliffhanger.
Rating and Review
Rating: 
5 stars
Steam Level: 4
This was my first 5 star read of the year! I was really in need of a new favorite!
Contemporary Political Suspense Romance
This duet reads like a romance but also a political suspense novel, which I really enjoyed. I was a little shocked by that because I hate politics. Also any negative reviews that I saw for these books seemed to focus on issues with the political viewpoints of the characters. I personally loved it and agreed with a lot of the points.
Lennix is the ultimate heroine
While I loved many of the characters in these books, Lennix felt so real and well developed. Plus she was such a badass! Kennedy Ryan shares an author’s note in the beginning explaining the research she did into Western Apache traditions and history while creating this story.
This story also brings attention to the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) in the United States. In some tribal communities native women are ten times more likely than the national average to be murdered. They are also at higher risks for facing violence or sexual assault. This part of the story made me think of the movie, Wind River, a powerful and devastating story also bringing awareness to this issue.
Kennedy Ryan’s writing is on another level
I really enjoyed the saga feel of this duet in the way that the story spans years. Their love story truly felt inevitable. The writing is beautiful, the characters are complex, and the sex is scorching!
I wavered between 4.5 or 5 stars for this story. Mainly because I don’t like cliffhanger endings. There’s also a major event in the second book that took me awhile to come around on but ultimately I was convinced. It’s definitely my favorite read so far this year.
I am so excited to check out more from Kennedy Ryan. These two books had me completely enthralled and it seems like her fans love her other series even more. I may read Grip next.
What romantic suspense novels do you recommend? Have you read The Kingmaker? Share your thoughts below.
