Title: Collision (Portland Street Kings #1)
Author: Evie Harper
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: March 24, 2015
Synopsis
When I was fourteen years old, I killed for the first time. That day I learned cruelty wasn’t only within the walls we had just escaped.
It hasn’t been easy growing up in the middle of a war. A struggle to find shelter. Fighting to protect our bodies against the corruption of the streets. Nobody cared about the street kids who had to beg and steal to eat.
We are the Portland Street Kings – A family forged through loyalty not blood. To get through this life of broken dreams alive, we’ve become hard, uncaring and merciless. We do what must be done to keep our family safe, we will harm those who stand against us.
We have it all, feared and respected by those on the streets. Then she collided into my world, and with her came demons from my past, back to haunt us all.
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Review
One thing about Evie Harper’s writing that I’ve learned through her You Loved Me series is that she creates complex characters who transform throughout the course of their text. The conversions the hero/heroine go through are never easy because they’re usually dealing with complicated situations that could quite possibly bring them to the depth of darkness, but, somehow, due to their strong willed nature and fighter instincts, they pull themselves out, and even though they do not remain unscathed, they do what they have to do to survive.
From the Prologue of Collision, readers easily ascertain that Slater epitomizes Harper’s hero characteristics. He’s had to fight since childhood to protect his family, and he’s done things that most definitely make him look like a street thug and a dangerous man, but he’s crossed those lines for his family because he protects what’s his – he always has and he always will regardless of the cost to him personally.
If there’s a woman out there who can handle the domineering leader of the Portland Street Kings is Piper, even if people think otherwise due to her speech impediment. Piper’s inner turmoil made me plagued with feelings of inadequacy and rejection, but on the outside, she’s a sassy, independent woman who wants to give kids a better chance at life, which is the main reason she became a social worker.
Slater and Piper may seem like they’re on opposite ends of the law, especially given Slater’s disdain for the CPS, but they’re more alike than either of them realize, which is why they have an instantaneous connection. But despite their sizzling attraction, Slater tries to distance himself from Piper, thinking she’s not made for his world or what he’s already lost. That perspective, though, doesn’t last too long when their worlds collide in a way that they nor readers saw coming but what that means for them is anyone’s guess with all of the twists and turns Evie Harper takes them on throughout the text.
Collision has everything that I’ve come to expect from Evie Harper. Slater and Piper are dynamic characters who grow throughout the story line, and there’s a great cast of supporting characters whose stories will need to be told because they will draw readers in from the start. The action and drama is interesting, and it fits the plotline and the back story of the text extremely well, and while some of it will be hard to wrap your head around, Slater and Piper’s story is definitely one readers will want to check out.
A complimentary copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.
4/4.5 poison apples
Excerpt
“What if I already have, brotha? What if she’s already dead?” Rex’s grin is devilish, one I know all too well. He got to her.
I push off him, hard, causing Rex to slump to the ground roughly. My chest explodes and my whole world falls apart. I look around me at the people staring, at the dust in the air, at the cars in the distance.
Piper.
I grab for my chest at the exact moment I know my heart plummets to my stomach, as if I thought I could catch it first.
My mind is screaming at me to get to Piper to try to save her, but my panic is holding me back. Laughing at me, taunting me, reminding me that I actually thought I could let her go when really I can’t even bear the thought of living in a world where she doesn’t exist.
In a blur, I hear Pace yelling that the home phone isn’t connecting. I look to see Rex on the ground, laughing, almost cackling.
In a split second, the harsh world comes back into focus and I see everything for what it is: a world where I never win, where I’ll always be the underdog.
I look to Rex and growl, “I told you why I did it! Why your father had to die. He was a rapist, and he deserved to die. Now you’ve gone after my girl? I can’t let you walk away from this.” I look down to him with what I’m sure are black eyes, murder running through my veins. I feel it pumping through my blood like worms sucking me dry. “If you’ve gone after her, if she’s hurt, you better run,” I growl. “You better run fucking fast, because I’m coming for you. I’m coming for you and your whole fucking crew. By the end of the day, I’m gonna to be washing your blood from my body and laughing. Laughing because your daddy still controls you even after his death. You won’t take off your fucking rose-colored glasses and see him for what he was, a fucking sadistic asshole!” I end on a roar.
About The Author
Evie is an Australian author whose passion for reading lead her into writing. Evie spends her days writing angsty, heartbreaking love stories and creating happily ever afters. When Evie isn’t writing you can find her reading or spending time with her husband and two children.
Evie released her debut novel You Loved Me At My Darkest in August 2014 and it was quickly followed by Book #2 You Loved Me At My Weakest which released in November 2014. Book #3 You Loved Me At My Ugliest will be releasing mid-2015.
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