Reviewed by Taylin
This is a Series Review of Kings Of The Mountain Series (Books 1 – 2)
AUTHOR: Morgan Brice
PUBLISHER: Darkwind Press
SERIES REVIEW:
A story by Morgan Brice is always worth reading. Yes, I’m a fan. But with any literary work – some come across better than others.
The Kings Of The Mountain is a two-book series with loose ties to the Witchbane Series (which is awesome) and other paranormal works – albeit one wouldn’t know when reading.
The series is told in the third person from the viewpoints of the main protagonists, Grady and Dawson, and world-building was perfect for my tastes – enough to build a picture in my mind, but not overdone with minute detail.
However, the Star Wars icon Obi-Wan-Kenobi’s immortal words come to mind: ‘everything is true from a certain point of view’. Some events are repeated from alternate sides, creating repetition alongside insight. Similarly, the novels can be read as standalone’s as salient points are repeated in both books. I couldn’t help feeling that the two stories could do with being read the opposite way around. I found Sins Of The Fathers much more engaging and better flowing. It was self-contained and had everything I like to read in a paranormal story. It’s like – read Sin’s Of The Fathers and turn to Kings of the Mountain if you want to dig deeper.
Oh, and I must give Denny a shout-out – The man is a scene-stealer.
SERIES RATING: 
TITLE: Kings Of The Mountain
LENGTH: 212 Pages
RELEASE DATE: May 21. 2020
BLURB:
Fast cars. Outlaw country boys. Snarky werewolves, vengeful ghosts, and menacing monsters.
Dawson King’s family has been hunting things that go bump in the night in Transylvania County, North Carolina, since before the Revolutionary War.
Dawson was never happier than when he was racing his souped-up Mustang along winding mountain roads and hunting monsters with his best friend, Grady. Then Grady fell in love with him, which should have been perfect since Dawson had already fallen hard for Grady.
But Grady was only seventeen, and Dawson feared that sooner or later, Grady would realize his feelings were just a first crush, and then he’d be gone, leaving Dawson devastated. They both needed space to figure things out. So Dawson joined the army, while Grady stayed on the mountain.
Four years later, Dawson is coming home. He’s more sure than ever Grady is his forever love, and they’ve both agreed to begin this new aspect of their relationship as soon as Dawson gets back.
Then Grady’s father is killed in a werewolf hunt gone wrong. Grady is devastated, and he’s throwing mixed signals about moving forward. Dawson knows he needs to hold off on this new thing between them until Grady has time to grieve. But monsters never sleep, and one hunt after another throws Dawson and Grady into constant danger, while tension and unresolved feelings ripple between them.
Making it even harder, Dawson’s got a secret. He’s dreamed of death omens—which point to something stalking Grady. Can Dawson figure out who’s trying to kill Grady, save his life, and win back his heart?
Plenty of mutual pining, hurt/comfort, spooky chills, sexy thrills, and a very happy ending. The Kings of the Mountain is the first novel in the series. It is a MM romance intended for readers 18 years of age and older.
REVIEW:
Born from a sense of responsibility, Dawson separated himself from the flirting hero worship he believed his non-blood cousin Grady was demonstrating by joining the Army. Years later, Dawson returns home a changed man, realizing that Grady is the one he wants. But when he gets home, disaster has struck, and Grady isn’t, emotionally, in a good place. Friendship, support, comfort, and survival takes the place of romance. Events aren’t helped when Dawson dreams of Death Omens.
I appreciate how difficult it is to get a story out of the starting gates, let alone a series. Given the story begins when Dawson exits from the army, there are many backstories to weave into the tale while trying to progress events. Hence, a hefty portion of the novel is taken up with the family/couples’ history. Parts were a bit of an information dump, with a lot of swapping between past and present. Then again, certain aspects needed to be understood before the relationship between Dawson and Grady could focus on the present and move forward. Also, repetition is a bit of an issue, but it shows how the same event can be seen differently.
Dawson and Grady are lovely. Their devotion to each other, and their duty to rid the lands of vengeful paranormal beings, constantly putting their lives on the line, is admirable. They have the makings of one hell of a dynamic duo. The range of supernatural life was an element I greatly enjoyed, and I look forward to reading more. The battles were exciting. There was only one element where I understood its presence but found it disjointed – amid the depths of anguish, the characters find a way to have sexual thoughts of each other. I guess, each to his own, but I struggle to comprehend the ability to think of sex while overcoming major loss. This was an area I feel could have done with a bit more fluidity.
Overall, I found Kings of the Mountain to be a solid, albeit slightly disjointed, start to a series that has great potential.
RATING: 
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TITLE: Sins Of The Fathers
LENGTH: 213 Pages
RELEASE DATE: August 26, 2022
BLURB:
Three deadly accidents that might have been magical murder. A dark witch with a grudge against the King family. Federal agents with supernatural abilities. And, as usual, Dawson and Grady are smack dab in the crosshairs of trouble even they can’t outrun.
When Grady King’s brother Knox is targeted by shady characters, old secrets, coverups, and lies come to light. Grady and his boyfriend Dawson begin to question what really happened when Grady’s grandparents and Dawson’s parents died. Then agents with the Tennessee Bureau of Supernatural Investigation show up pursuing a different case, only to discover that the crimes appear to be connected, with a vengeful dark witch at the center of the plot. And since monsters never sleep, Grady and Dawson are still carrying out their duty to hunt dangerous paranormal creatures, restless spirits, nefarious faeries, Civil War ghosts, creepy cryptids, and things that go bump in the night. It’s all part of the centuries-old King family mandate to protect the people of Cunanoon Mountain and Transylvania County, a mission Grady and Dawson are sworn to fulfill.
But when it looks like something is hunting the people Grady loves, it’s time to dig into the family’s painful past, uncovering dangerous details of long-ago hunts against immortal creatures who never forget—or forgive.
Can they solve the mystery and figure out who’s behind the deaths, or will they bear the deadly consequences of their hidden history? Reckoning with the past just might destroy Grady and Dawson’s plans for the future and set loose a tide of malicious magic that could sweep them all away.
Sins of the Fathers is a thrill-packed MM romance adventure full of fast cars, outlaw country boys, snarky werewolves, vengeful ghosts, menacing monsters, and a love that can’t be denied.
REVIEW:
Solid in their love for one another, Grady and Dawson continue to fight monsters like a well-oiled machine. However, one day Grady’s brother Knox ends up in hospital under suspicious circumstances that lead Grady and Dawson to check their family history. After all, given their job, they were not overly popular among the paranormal community.
With a well-established cast, good action, and a few new characters to spice things up, Sin’s Of The Father was more my kind of book.
I loved the opening chapters. Indeed, my fav parts were Grady and Dawson’s interactions with the supernatural. The banter, teamwork, and overall makeup of the scenes were Brice’s writing at its best. I also found the intimate scenes in this book more fluid, appropriate, and natural. There was comfort in the face of anguish and intimacy as thanks for living through battle. In all, a lot more engaging. The underlying arc shows the best and worst of the wider cast, and it all made for super reading.
RATING: 
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