Review: American King by Sierra Simone

Regular readers will recall that many of us were blown away by Sierra Simone's Priest, which led me to her fabulous romp, P*rn Star (review here), and the first installment in what would become her New Camelot series, American Queen (review here). American Queen so thoroughly captivated me that I devoured the second book, American Prince (review here) and had to wait impatiently for the final installment, American King, which finally released on Halloween, and I read as quickly as I could.

Come with me through the jump and I'll tell you why you should definitely pick up the New Camelot trilogy now that it's wrapped up with a strong, dominant, triangle-shaped bow. I'll keep King spoilers to a minimum, but I assume you've read Queen and Prince. 




This entire trilogy was gorgeous, filthy, and riveting like every Sierra Simone book I've read. This final installment had a very heavy focus on character development and emotional growth, making it was light on action. Which I loved, but I know some readers won't, so this is probably not for your reader who needs an adrenaline fix with her literature. 

The Arthurian touches that were mostly subtle in the first two books became bold, unequivocal strokes in this one, more front-and-center than subtle touches. In fact, our Merlin brought the connection firmly into the narrative, which I found an interesting plot choice. And the political intrigue was delicious, from Embry leaving his office because he didn't think Ash was keeping Greer safe, to Ash's covert operation to deal with Melwas, to Abilene's quest to cause as much pain and chaos as possible in the name of obsessive love. 

As one would expect the sex was ample, intimate, and very, very kinky. There are always things to learn from Sierra Simone's incredibly creative sex scenes, but the sex in American King had an even more intimate and almost desperate feel to them. The covert menage scenes were heartbreaking in the pure need they all expressed but couldn't bridge. But the most powerful, intimate, anguished, yet gorgeous sex scene was just Ash and Greer (as much as any liaison could be just two of them) right after Embry left. Look for an art gallery, and then let's talk about it. 


Now, I would have given this book, and this entire trilogy five stars easily, but I did not enjoy the last plot twist. I felt that everything was going perfectly, the pace and development just felt right until the twist after the climax (no spoilers and no pun intended). Without giving too much away, I thought it was unnecessary and too unbelievable for even my ready suspension of disbelief. I would have over-the-moon loved this book if it had ended before the final twist. Because happy endings sometimes are bittersweet and a little melancholy. That said, this was still a fantastic trilogy, beautifully written, with layers upon layers of character development and plot depth. Sierra Simone never fails to give us a story with heart and filth, that keeps me thinking long after I've turned the last page. 

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