STEEL KING (Clifton Forge #1) by DEVNEY PERRY

‘I’d been waiting for my Gypsy King.’

Gypsy King is the first book in Devney Perry’s new biker romance series, Tin Gypsy. This Author is always recognisable from the way in which she writes and she has shown over and over again that she can write an addictive, sweet and sexy story with wonderful characters. Gypsy King definitely had us turning the pages as Devney Perry created a whodunit with exciting suspense and revelations that would shock.

‘As a gang, the Gypsies had power and money in spades. So why had they given it up? No one knew. And if they did, they weren’t talking.’

Bryce is a woman with an overwhelming sense of who she is and what she wants which is powered by a self-assured inner determination. She’s one of the feistier of Devney Perry’s female characters which we’ve met and seems to hold no real vulnerability, rather she cloaks it with stubbornness and admirable strength. Bryce had a dream career all planned out in journalism, however, she never quite managed to catch that big break, instead she returns home and buys in to her Dad’s local newspaper. Bryce believes that exposing the now disbanded Tin Gypsy MC is where she’ll achieve just that. She certainly isn’t counting on finding her dream of romance, marriage and kids in her home town with the cocky ex prez of the Tin Gypsy MC.

‘She dared me, called me out on my bullshit. She shared her heart, her loyalty, her honesty – all things I’d had with the club, with my brothers.’

Dash the MC ‘Gypsy King’ has gone legit. Him and his closest ‘MC brothers’ are now running a thriving auto repair shop on the straight and narrow. The town has accepted them back amongst the fold and whilst everyone knows of their past, they no longer shy away in fear when passing them in the street. When Dash’s dad is arrested for the gruesome murder of a woman in the local motel, all hell breaks loose. Not only is the stunning new reporter in town hot on his heels to condemn his dad in print, he also faces revelations that’ll shock him to his core. Secrets from the past stay secret no more. Whilst we didn’t get the MC vibe off of Dash we loved him nonetheless. Cocky, funny and wickedly sexy he certainly made an impression. The push- pull ‘enemies to lovers’ relationship between Bryce and Dash was brilliantly written and the sizzling ‘opposites attract’ was utterly delicious! We loved how they tried so hard not to fall for each other, when really, their romance felt completely true to their characters. Each brought the other what they clearly craved; excitement, passion, love and ultimately a home.

‘We were fearless. Intimidating. Didn’t care much about the law. And we had money.’

Whilst we absolutely enjoyed this story, in our opinion, we felt the MC theme was only skimmed upon, insofar as it was definitely there albeit very tame. We were told about it, yet never got the chance to truly experience it. In a way this resulted in us never quite feeling that raw and gritty MC connection with our main hero, Dash who came across as a bit of a ‘softie’. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just not what we’re used to in a MC hero. Also, after a brilliantly written gripping and suspenseful storyline, there were quite a few loose ends which weren’t fully tied up, the best way we can describe it is that it felt unfinished. Sure, it had an ending for Dash & Bryce but as far as the suspenseful storyline went, it didn’t really come to a conclusion rather it was a type of ‘swept under the carpet’ resolution. We know this is a series so perhaps we find out what actually happened in Riven Knight which we are so excited about after reading a snippet of what’s to come.

“God, you’re fucking amazing. Too bad you don’t like me.”
“That’s right. I don’t like you.” Not at all.