Title: Grimdarke
Author: AK Nevermore
Genre: Dark Paranormal Erotica, Paranormal MC Romance
Book Blurb:
Out of options and on the run after her psychotic father’s released from jail, Kit Parson heads to the only place she might be safe from him, the Maw of Mayhem MC. The unexpected move buys her time, but also puts her at risk— Surrounded by shifters, her inner cat begs to be released, and after witnessing a brutal attack on her mother as a child, she refuses to let the monster out.
Totally doable, provided no bodily fluids are ever exchanged.
That means hooking up with the MC’s hot as hell VP, Grimdarke James, is off the table. Mourning the recent murder of the club’s alpha and struggling to control his inner cat, the tattooed Viking god is on thin ice. If he goes feral again, he’ll be put down. Which makes his cat’s insistence that Kit belongs to him problematic, upsetting the delicate balance of the MCs internal politics, and the woman blackmailing Grim.
But when Kit’s father catches up with her, Grim has no choice but to trust his cat, and Kit can’t deny their chemistry. Can they hold on to each other when everything is try to tear them apart? After a gruesome triple murder propels them deeper into the paranormal world, they find themselves with unlikely allies, and against mounting odds threatening to destroy everything they hold dear…
My Review:
Grimdarke by AK Nevermore is the first in their Maw of Mayhem MC paranormal romance series. This book combines two wildly popular romance subgenres, big cat shifter and motorcycle club romance. If you are a fan of Eva Chase’s The Blood Brotherhood, you will love the Maw of Mayhem. With vampires, witches, and cat shifters, Grimdarke will delight urban fantasy fans.
What I loved the most were the colorful characters in the motorcycle club. Each member of the cat-shifting club is vividly depicted with complex relationships and backstories. I loved Stitch’s fatherly nature, the banter between Wrench and Deuce, and the gullible prospects. The playful ribbing and camaraderie are my favorite parts of motorcycle club romances. Grimdarke shows the reader where the members stand in the club’s hierarchy through their interactions. It also shows the tension between the club bunnies and ol’ladies (also cat shifters). The tension comes from Grimdarke’s quasi-girlfriend Nikki who is the type of villain a reader loves to hate.
AK Nevermore’s shifters are full animal shifters. The characters are physically in cat form or human form. There isn’t partial shifting beyond the pupils of their eyes elongating. Mentally, the two personas share the shifter’s mind. While most of the shifters have a symbiosis with their inner cat and the two halves work together to survive, Grim’s cat, Darke, is at odds with his human counterpart. I loved their arguing and fighting for control of their physical body. I laughed out loud when Kit (the heroine) would call out Grim for arguing with Darke instead of paying attention to her. I’ve never read a character noticing the long pauses where a shifter mentally argues with themselves. As a longtime fan of shifter romance, I found this hilarious.
Kit’s an accountant by day and a stripper by night (a well-thought-out allegory to her shifter connection), living in the city as a human. She grew up adjacent to the shifter groups but is determined to live as a regular person. Kit is a down-to-earth heroine who I would want as a best friend. By the end of the book, you find that she has some connection to every paranormal sect, making her the hearthstone to the civil unrest. (No spoilers so you will have to figure out those relationships yourself.)
Overall, I highly recommend Grimdarke to urban fantasy fans or fans of motorcycle club romance who are looking for a spicy, gritty romance in a complex network of paranormal society. I would warn the reader of graphic language, blood violence, blazing hot spicy scenes, and an abrupt cliffhanger ending. I can’t wait for the next installment of this fantastic series.
My Rating: 5++ stars
Buy it Now:
All retailers: https://books2read.com/u/mV2qKr
As a special treat, the author has released Best Served Hot as a taste for readers. It’s a short story and pretty much all sex. Amazon is trying to charge people .99 for it, but my publisher should have that sorted by the end of the day (crosses fingers):
Free Prequel: The Maw of Mayhem:
Author Biography:
AK Nevermore enjoys operating heavy machinery, freebases coffee, and gives up sarcasm for Lent every year.
A Jane-of-all-trades, she’s a certified chef, restores antiques, and dabbles in beekeeping when she’s not reading voraciously or running down the dream in her beat-up camo Chucks.
Unable to ignore the voices in her head, and unwilling to become medicated, she writes Science Fiction and Fantasy full time.
AK pays the bills writing a copious amount of copy, along with a column on SFF. She belongs to the Authors Guild, is an RWA chapter board member, volunteers for far too many committees, teaches creative writing, and on the rare occasion, sleeps.
Social Media Links:
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AkNevermore
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/AkNevermore
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aknevermore/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ak.nevermore
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@aknevermore
Reviewed by: Patty