ARC Review: A King In Wonderland by Nash Summers

Blurb:

Asher Williams is obsessed with love.

Or at least he was, until it all came crashing down.

He made a mistake. And even Asher himself, arranger of marriages and aider of lovesick hearts, doesn’t know how to fix it.

And like every heroic quest, there are a few bumps in the road and dragons to slay.

His inability to focus on love has turned his column into a disaster, his best friends are acting weirder than usual, Christopher turns out to be a man of many surprises, and Morgan, well...

Maybe this time it does matter. Because when Asher’s heart finally realizes what he’s been looking for all along, it may be too late.

And too broken.

But there might just be a shred of hope somewhere deep down in his heart. Maybe Asher can fix everything and have his prince charming.

Because love is always like a fairy tale…right?

Sandra's review:





OMG. OMG, OMG, OMG - could this have BEEN more perfect?

(The answer is, no, it could not)

This landed in my inbox today (6/27/19). It immediately went onto my Nook and then I dove in because I simply had to know what would happen after the delicious cliffhanger at the end of book 2.

The course of true love never runs smoothly, obviously, so for half of the book, there's moping and pining and longing and not realizing that what is right in front of you... and the great, big, huge misunderstanding, because Asher sometimes opens his mouth without thinking through what he's going to say, and out comes word vomit that is then overheard and causes heartache.

Ah, young love, when it's super difficult to just talk about feelings with honesty and openness, and pining and longing are so much better than pulling your head out of your rear end, yeah? I felt being transported back into my own youth, when similar issues loomed and were hard to discuss, because a) we didn't have the words, or b) we didn't really know our own feelings, or c) we didn't know how to bring something up. Who of us hasn't?


I laughed. A lot. Not so much at Asher's pain, but at what he does. How he responds to people writing into his column while he's pining and moping and heartbroken. "Get bent" is probably not quite the right answer to someone who writes in for advice on their love life. And how, even when moping, he still finds a way to lead someone else to their potential HEA.

But then... Asher finally has all the scales falling from his eyes (okay, he has help, a lot of help, but OMG, did he need it), and then Operation "Get Him Back" begins in earnest. Also, if he can combine another match-making endeavor into the Operation, all the better, amirite?

In the end, Asher gets his King In Wonderland, of course, because this is a love story, after all, but it was delightful to accompany him on his journey to true love, with all the little side trips, roadblocks, and obstacles. And the heartache and the realizations and the 'holy shit, I'm an idiot". And the big gesture and all the small things that he does because he sees not a King, but Morgan.

I simply adored Asher, loved Morgan, grunts and all, loved Randy and Red, especially Randy's snark, and felt sorry (a small wee bit) for Christopher. I thoroughly enjoyed the letters being sent in for Asher's column, including his responses, even though one of them made me tear up, because I knew who'd written it, even if Asher did not. And every single situation, every scene, was engaging, whether it was happy or sad. These books were written with love and heart, and it totally shows.

The author did a superb job creating these interesting, multi-faceted characters, giving them distinct personalities, making them vulnerable, making them lovable, and making them real. What a fantastic, engaging trilogy. Loved, loved, loved. LOVED! (in case you couldn't tell thus far)

I'd like to get a glimpse of these characters a few years down the road, when Morgan has graduated, Asher is in his final year, Randy and Red are doing whatever they're doing, Tim having found love, Christopher... nah, don't really care so much about him. His character is a catalyst, yes, but he too only saw a King for a King, and not Morgan. I'd like to know how Morgan deals with his father's expectations now that the cat is out of the bag, and how they deal with the inevitable fallout. I realize of course that this didn't fit into this story, and perhaps I'm meant to simply imagine how they'll fare going forward. I think I'm good with that too.

These books must be read in order. And read them, you must. Wait until book 3 is out (7/2/19) and then buy and read all three of them together. Chances are you'll swoon and melt into a puddle like I did. Because love may not always be like a fairy-tale, but even so, it's always utterly amazing.


** I received a free copy from the author in exchange for an honest review. **

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