Review: Kings of Mayhem by Penny Dee

Title: Kings of Mayhem

Author: Penny Dee

Series: Kings of Mayhem MC #1

Publication date: January 28th, 2019

Pages: 301

Synopsis (according to Goodreads):

CADE

I've loved her since we were five years old.

We grew up side by side.

Two kids tied together by the Kings of Mayhem Motorcycle Club.

But I broke us.

So, she fled.

Now she's back after twelve long years.

And I'm going to show her all the reasons why we should be together and make her forget all the reasons why we shouldn't.

INDY

I'm back in town but only because I have to be.

I'm here to help my mom bury my father.

And the sooner we get it done, the better.

Because I want to see Cade as much as I want a hole in the head.

He broke me once--no, he broke my everything--and I'll be damned if I'll let him do it again.

Get in and get out. That is the plan.

But you know what they say about best-laid plans.

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Review:

Sometimes I forget how many books I have stashed on my various electronic devices. I have two Kindle Fires and an iPad and all of them have various ebooks I have bought and sent to their devices or received for review. This was one of those books I had stashed on my iPad that I had, unfortunately, forgotten about. But in my pursuit to tackle my vast TBR list, I picked this one out of the stack to delve in completely blind.

Cade has accepted and even embraced his life in the Kings of Mayhem MC. He has everything he could ever want except the one that got away. Or rather, the one he threw away carelessly. His mistake from the past has haunted him for 12 years, but when one of his MC brothers passes away, he knows the girl of his dreams would be coming home. He has been tormenting himself all this time for hurting her and now he can't help but wonder if after this time she could find a way to forgive him and maybe, just maybe, he can win her heart back too. 

Indy has avoided her hometown for years. She has isolated herself from all her family, old friends, and the biker club she grew up in. Her aim is to forget everyone and everything from her past. But when her father passes away and she must return to say goodbye to him, she knows the boy who tore her heart to pieces would be there to greet her the minute she sets foot into town. Indy must strengthen her resolve and avoid Cade at all chances. He has hurt her once, he would do it again. It was the biker way. She knew that first hand through both watching her father do it to her mother and having it done to her as well. But the allure of her first love is a hard thing to resist. Cade is still as heart-stopping as he was before. But Indy can't risk her heart again despite Cade's determination to win it back.

This book was almost exactly like Sons of Anarchy in a lot of parts. Jax was born into the MC life, so was Cade. Tara was a doctor, so was Indy. Just to name a few very pointed similarities. A lot of the situations that happened in the book were straight out of the TV show as well. I don't believe it was intentional but it did bring about a "been there, seen that" feeling during those times. Cade was a much more sensitive version of Jax however. I did feel like the book dragged on a bit with the relationship drama. Indy's resistance got tedious and I think the book would have flowed a little better if it wasn't solely focused on the romance. 

I didn't hate the book. But I didn't love it. It was very middle of the road. I didn't find myself desperately wanting to read the next book in the series which would mark my love for the world created. There were areas that could use some improving like distancing the story from the similarities with the popular TV show and putting in more drama than just the struggle of one girl to accept her feelings for a boy. I did like Cade as a character but Indy was very... meh. 

All in all, this was a mid-level read with high-level possibilities.