Title: Promises: The Next Generation
Series: Bounty Hunters: Book Five
Author: A.E. Via
Publisher: Self-Published
Length: 262 Pages
Category: Contemporary
At a Glance: Promises: TNG is a no-go for me based on the characterizations and some of the attributes of the MCs, so no, I cannot recommend it because of that.
Reviewed By: Carrie
Blurb: Duke Webb has run the most successful bail recovery agency in Atlanta for over twenty years. That’s because he has a team of trained, competent hunters backing him up to keep his name feared on the streets. But Duke knows that nothing can go on forever. His hunters are in committed relationships and ready to settle down, and so is he. That’s what leads him to start his new training program.
“That’s the new vision for Dukes. Veterans operating and tracking behind the scenes with a new powerhouse apprehension team on the streets.”
Brian and Quick are the first to offer up two new recruits.
Kellam Knight has studied martial arts under his sensei, Quick, since he was eight years old. A tossed-out reject from high-society, Kell has a problem fighting on the right side of the law. If he sees an injustice, he has to correct it. He doesn’t have to run and cower from his enemies anymore, he’s a fighter who can protect himself and others. When Quick offers Kell the opportunity to join Duke’s training program, he’s all in. Except he’s not prepared for the straight, over-confident, extremely disciplined, sexy man Brian has recruited to be his partner.
Tyrell Jenkins’ world was flipped upside down when his father never returned home from his last deployment. He’d been Ty’s teacher, mentor, his guide to living a righteous life as a good man. His father didn’t raise him to be like every other young, stereotypical male in Atlanta. Instead, he’s been taught to be respectful, to speak the language of real men. When Brian King – his father’s most trusted comrade – finally comes to him with the truth, he doesn’t come alone. He comes with trained men hidden in the shadows… and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to join a brotherhood unlike any other.
Review: I am going to have to be honest with you. This book was a no-go for me, and there are several reasons why. If you are looking for this book to follow the same format, style of writing, plot points or overall vibe of the other Promises books, then be aware that this one is VERY different. To the point that it didn’t seem as though Via wrote it herself. Seriously, if it came out that someone else wrote it, that wouldn’t shock me at all. The sentence structure is different, the cadence of the voice changed. The MCs from the previous books don’t act or sound as they did in those stories, which was disconcerting for me as a reader and lover of the previous books. I have been and will remain a huge fan of the first four books in this series.
Duke has run his bail business for over twenty years now. He’s getting old and so are the men he employs. They have each found their significant others, and Duke is looking for a new generation of bounty hunter to take over and send his business in a new direction. All this backstory is covered in Promises Parts one – four, which are really fantastic books and I highly recommend them. They are full of fun, snarky, seriously sexy alpha males who love to work and play hard as well as love each other and their partners unconditionally.
Tyrell Jenkins, as a character, took some getting used to. He was written as a misogynistic, judgmental man, and he wasn’t very likable. He was a dichotomy in that he sports the latest and most expensive clothes and shoes, also wrapping his father’s dog tags in platinum, but he lives in the ghetto of Atlanta and delivers packages for a two-bit hood for money. Why? His mantra of ‘be in the hood, not of the hood’ just didn’t make sense to me, coming from his character as he was drawn and written. It wasn’t his background. He was not born there, neither did he grow up there, and he had no long-term plans to stay there. So why was he there in the first place, judging all those around him as less than him? Which he does, repeatedly, calling out the hood mentality in those around him. I would understand if he was overcoming the challenges of his childhood, or making something of himself despite the circumstances that he found himself in, but that’s not what is going on here. Tyrell idolized his father, who died in combat, in Brian’s arms (read book four for Brian’s story). When Brian shows up to get Ty to join the bounty hunters, Ty doesn’t trust him at first and runs the other way. But Brian is a tie to his father so in the end, Tyrell decides to talk to him. Ty has precious few people in his life who knew his father, and that is a link he doesn’t want to sever. Everything in Tyrell’s world centers around himself and his father’s teachings. His one redeeming factor is the care he takes of his mother. He is looking for his Queen, as his father found his, and only the purest female will fill the bill. And then he meets Kellam and suddenly, his Queen looks more like a Prince.
Kellam Knight was taken in by Quick (Promises, book two) when he was in high school. Rejected by his family for being gay, he has studied martial arts since he was eight years old. He now has a large, black master’s belt in martial arts, and has several disciplines at his command. He doesn’t make much as an instructor, but what he does is his and he’s proud of it. Kellam gets into a lot of trouble, living in his low-class neighborhood, because he cannot stand down if innocents are being victimized. There are numerous anecdotes of Kellam taking out the bad guy or protecting those he feels need it. But Kellam has a quirk. Everywhere he goes he wears his ninja clothing, complete with face and head scarf. He is completely covered. Kellam has long, flowing, beautiful blonde hair, and if he leaves it out, other people try to touch it. He’s a beautiful man, and he’d rather have the attention as a ninja than have people lusting over him. Kel has a fire and a need for justice, which makes him fit in with the bounty hunters quite well.
When Kel and Ty meet, the sparks fly both ways, immediately, and an insta-love story begins. Ty is an extremely jealous, domineering man. He won’t let Kel take his scarves off in public or allow anyone else to touch him, even to shake Kel’s hand, without Ty’s permission first. They marry after knowing each other for three weeks, and Kel’s character transforms from an avenger into someone who just wants to make his man happy. Ty pays for their meals when they go out, and, given the chance, Kel will not speak without looking to Ty first. Ty showers Kel with gifts of jewelry and a house, a palace fit for a Prince (Queen) to stand next to his King.
Both men join the bounty hunters and while the other books in the series held quite a bit of drama and action on the bounty front, this book doesn’t hold the same content. They go on a few runs with the old, familiar crew of hunters, but it is nothing serious and there really isn’t any plot surrounding that aspect of the story. This book was written as a tribute to Via’s brother, and it is essentially about the romance between Kel and Ty, exclusively. It’s a no-go for me based on the characterizations and some of the attributes of the MCs, so no, I cannot recommend it because of that.
You can buy Promises: The Next Generation here:
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I agree this book has been least favorite of this series. Could not relate to Ty’s character at all.
I completely agree with you. I loved this serie but i almost DNF this one, the main reason was Tyrell he is just not a very likeable person, he is very patronizing towards Kellam and is not treating him like an equal. It almost feels like a bad comic book with every stereotype thing Tyrell says/does. I finished this one because i wanted to see if things improve but sadly they didn’t. Hopefully the next one will be more like the rest of this serie.