Title: The Knight
Author: Skye Warren
Publisher/Year:  Skye Warren 1/31/17
Length:  250 pages
Series: The Endgame #2

Overview

The power of pleasure…

Gabriel Miller took everything from me. My family. My innocence. My home. The only thing I have left is the determination to get back what’s mine.

He thinks he’s beaten me. He thinks he’s won. What he doesn’t realize is that every pawn has the chance to become a queen.

And the game has only just begun.

My Thoughts

So many lies in such a short amount of time. When the relationship between Avery and Gabriel started based on less than ‘legal’ means, we knew that things were going to get dicey, but of course as we saw what Gabriel was truly capable of, we really started to despise him.

The naiveté that Avery has is something powerful and throughout this second book, both she and her mother are likened to Helen of Troy – the historical woman who’s beauty brought down countries and empires. It seems as though Helen, Avery’s mother is that woman, she had a power over so many men (and women) that she likely saw her death as a result of that, and the power that Avery has in her youth and allure is just as strong.

We left off the first book with Gabriel throwing Avery away essentially and when Avery is out on the street, she learns that her father has a heart attack, yet another set back as well as learning that her house is now no longer hers and it’s up for auction. The path that this second installment is one of watching how this all plays out, knowing that holding company that has the deed to her house is one that’s owned by Gabriel.

There’s so much uncertainty driving the motivations, and throughout this story we realize that perhaps Gabriel isn’t as evil as we wanted to believe. He’s protective of Avery, even though it seems as though their relationship is doomed. He continues to provide the care for her father even though things are going awry.

Avery learns more and more about her mother’s past and as a result, there are questions that people keep telling her not to search for that she doesn’t listen to. She finds a diary from her mother in the attic and learns some of the sordid past that was just ahead of her parent’s wedding. She searches out her mother’s best friend who reveals unexpected secrets that I think we all should have expected.

Throughout this story as well, we watch Avery stand on her own two feet. She moves into a seedy motel since that’ what she’s able to afford, and we watch her survive. There’s a protector for her in the form of a homeless man named Will who makes an impact on her life in the motel. Harper, the friend from college who’s stuck around continues to provide support and we see what that means for Avery especially when she needs a friend the most.

All this helps her deal with the emotions and feelings that she continues to have for Gabriel. She has this connection with him that’s deeper than her sole physical and sexual experience, and she has a sense that it’s the same for him. How he behaves and what he says makes her wonder if there’s more than meets the eye.

Where this story nets us out is a fire, a lost house, and a future that’s unknown. We have a name, and an identity but this person has gone into hiding and we don’t know when they will strike next, and we have to be prepared. What we do know is that the relationship of ALL our characters and how they are intertwined has changed and we can only hope for the best in how it plays out. On that note, i’m off to find book 3 and see where they go! Enjoy!