King of Evanston (Kings of the Castle #3) by J.L. Campbell

King of Evanston (Kings of the Castle #3) Reviews

• 
  Kelsie Maxwell

  King of Evanston by award-winning Jamaican author, J. L. Campbell, is book three of the nine book Kings of the Castle series penned by various female authors. Book one, Kings of the Castle is an introduction to all of the Kings. Books two through nine are standalone with no cliffhangers and can be read in any order, though I’m reading them in sequence.
  
  Nine former students of Khalil Germaine, now Kings of The Castle, are recruited by their mentor to root out and eliminate the corruption that has infiltrated The Castle, initially a humanitarian endeavor. They vow to protect The Castle and each other from future attacks, while searching for the person or persons responsible for the attempted assassination of their mentor. Along the way they meet some extraordinary women. This is Shastra Bostwick’s story.
  
  Shastra “Shaz” Bostwick is an immigration lawyer of Jamaican descent. As a immigrant himself, he understands and sympathizes with his new client, Camilla Gibson. He’s working with his Castle brothers to protect Camilla’s daughter and shutdown the network that’s seizing children through illegal adoptions. Shaz knows he is jeopardizing his personal and business ethics by entertaining thoughts of a relationship with a client, but he wants Camilla fiercely.
  
  Camilla Gibson is a Jamaican mother fighting to retain custody of her daughter, Ayanna, who has a congenital heart condition and needs a procedure she can only get in the States. Derrick Porter, Camilla’s ex, has aligned himself with some unscrupulous politicians and businessmen who plan to gain custody of Ayanna through an illegal adoption. Camilla has sought help from lawyer, Shastra Bostwick, because she’s been told she can trust him. Camilla’s life is in turmoil and she shouldn’t be having thoughts of any man, but Shaz is working his way into her heart.
  
  King of Evanston is a delicious course in the multicultural literary feast served in book one and continued in book two. The author’s personal knowledge of Jamaican culture, traditions and colloquialisms adds interest and color. The character’s full backgrounds are integrated into the story, providing needed clarity. I was completely entrenched in the plot. This is another success for a bold and one-of-a-kind series.
  
  King of Evanston is a 5 out of 5 star read. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys multicultural romantic suspense or well-written contemporary romance. There is some sexual content that may not be suitable for sensitive readers.
  
  My thanks to Independent Publishers Group and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. However, the opinions expressed in this review are 100% mine and mine alone.
  
• 
  Jennifer

  ARC received for review
  
  Too much fighting and almost no romance. He was fighting with his family, her, the bad guy. She was fighting with him, the ex, almost everyone she spoke to it seemed like.
• 
  Lulu

  Shaz is perhaps my favorite King, but I wasn’t really feeling this book. I feel like we learned more about Camilla than we did Shaz. Also, their relationship and the situation they find themselves in seems a bit unrealistic.
• 
  Sandy S

  3.5 stars--
  
  
  ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 3, 2019
  
  
  Shaz Bostwick’s personal views and business ethics collide when Camilla Gibson walks into his office, seeking his help.The treatment her daughter needs is available in Chicago, but Camilla is almost out of time and has several issues working against her. Raised as an immigrant, Shaz knows the heartache of family separation firsthand. In a race against the clock and the authorities, he calls in favors but receives a disturbing offer. Let baby Ayanna slip through the cracks in exchange for a handsome reward. Fed up with politicians and businessmen with too much money and too little scruples, Shaz and his fellow Kings of the Castle band together to stem the flow of illegal adoptions, while they solve the mystery of who wants their mentor dead.
  
  Camilla Gibson has traveled the world in her capacity as an adventurer, sometime model, and blogging celebrity. In her eyes, the charming, but tough lawyer is her last resort before deportation. Shaz is smart and tenacious, with renowned negotiating skills and a reputation for making a way when there seems to be none. If she can get past the biggest crisis in her life, then maybe the spark of attraction that sizzles between them will develop into something magical.
  
  
  •••••••
  
  REVIEW: 3.5 stars--KING OF EVANSTON by J.L. Campbell is the third instalment in the multi-authored/ multi-cultural contemporary, adult KINGS OF THE CASTLE, erotic, romantic suspense series focusing on nine ‘brothers’ from the streets of Chicago (Vikkas, Reno, Shaz, Jai, Daron, Kaleb, Grant, Dro and Dwayne) mentored and taught by the mysterious Khalil Germaine at the exclusive Macro International Magnet School in Chicago. This is attorney Shastra ‘Shaz’ Bostwick, and single mother Camilla Gibson’s story line. KING OF EVANSTON can be read as a stand alone but I recommend reading book one KINGS OF THE CASTLE for backstory and history between Shaz and Camilla.
  
  SOME BACKGROUND: Nine men, all ‘brother’s in arms from the mean streets of Chicago, have been called together by their former mentor Khalil Germaine in an effort to re-make and reclaim the restrictive and exclusionary THE CASTLE, an institution now involved with illegal activities including drug trafficking, human sexual slavery and more.
  
  Told from third person perspective (Shaz Bostwick) KING OF EVANSTON focuses on the search for an illegal adoption and child slavery ring. Four years earlier, while on vacation in America, Jamaican born Camilla Gibson got pregnant by a man who wanted nothing to do with our story line heroine. Fast forward to present day wherein Camilla has returned to the States, along with her daughter Ayanna, who needs emergency surgery to correct a heart defect but all does not go according to plan when the child’s father offers up his estranged young daughter to the highest bidder. Enter attorney and King of Evanston Shastra ‘Shaz’ Bostwick, and the man with whom Camilla will fall in love. What ensues is the building relationship between Shaz and Camilla, and the potential fall-out as numerous attempts to abduct Ayanna place the child in dangerous and precarious position.
  
  KING OF EVANSTON focuses on the imprisonment of young women, and the illegal procurement and adoption of their newborn children. As the nine Kings of the Castle begin an investigation of their own, all clues lead back to The Castle, and the previous and current members who operated a series of illegal endeavors.
  
  The relationship between Shaz and Camilla begins as a business association that soon turns into something more. Shaz finds himself attracted to a woman whose time in the States is coming to an end, an end that places Ayanna between the two worlds of her mother and her nefarious father. Camilla Gibson is drawn to the enigmatic and powerful attorney Shastra Bostwick but Camilla’s first priority is the protection and safety of her ailing daughter. The $ex scenes are intmate, passionate and limited but saying that I did not feel any palpable sexual heat or attraction, in fact, I felt little to nothing in the way of love or romance, and in this, I struggled to enjoy the overall story.
  
  KING OF EVANSTON is a dramatic story of family, betrayal, illegal activities and tragic circumstances that fulfills another happily ever after for one of the Kings of the Castle.
  
  Copy supplied by Netgalley
  
  
  www.thereadingcafe.com
• 
  Brynette Turner

  As always, J.L. Campbell delivers! Shaz and Camilla have an intriguing story, but this novel does so much more than paint a beautiful romance woven through an expose about human trafficking and illegal adoptions. The reader gets a much clearer view of several of the Kings of the Castle. I finally found that deep desire to learn more about those men and will be giving several of the authors of these standalone novels a chance to entertain me, which wasn't my plan after reading the confusing attempt to introduce the series. If you were like me and less than impressed, PLEASE reconsider. At least The King of Evanston is worth your attention, so I'm sure others can be too. I'm certainly willing to find out.
  
  Let me tell you some of the things I most enjoyed. These men are fearless without being harsh; that's very attractive in an era where romantic heroes have been conflated with abrasive alpha men. These men are highly intelligent without being arrogant, rude, condescending, or elitist; they're compassionate and balanced in ways that make them admirable and made me want more of them. These women they fall in love with are no fragile damsels incapable of fighting their own battles, broken vessels waiting for someone to fix them, or naive women-children looking to be molded by some man's ideas of who she's capable of becoming; the author skillfully avoids falling into characterizations that subtly support misogynistic ideals and diminishes opportunities for female self-determination, even as the main female character accepts that she needs help. Personalities are complex and interesting even when the author only teases us with insight into characters who will be developed in the other books. This is true among the relationships in the supporting characters as well as the main attractions. To top all that off, the suspense and serious themes weren't minimized; the reader sees the ugly side that has burrowed beneath an organization intended for uplifting the often-invisible and struggling members of our society.
  
  This is the third book of this series. I skipped the second after reading the first because I fully intended to support Ms. Campbell -- because she's an author who has never disappointed me -- and then move on from this series.
  
  She made me pause.
  
  She made me reconsider and give the author of that second book a chance; I'll be downloading it in a few minutes because. J.L. Campbell made me care about what the men of The Castle are trying to do. To be fair, I'm not saying that the introduction book was awful. It wasn't poorly written, in need of editing, or disastrously plotted. It was simply overwhelming and a bit confusing because of the volume of characters and story lines it attempts to juggle. It didn't work for me. But now that I'm a bit emotionally invested in the premise of the brotherhood, I'm open to reading how the author of the introduction handles one of the standalone stories. Ms. Campbell deserves the credit for that in addition to the praise for compellingly telling Shaz's story.
  
  So, while I don't often give five stars even to books that are amazing, this one gets five without hesitation. You see, J.L. Campbell sold more than just Shaz's story by being so skilled in writing this novel; she sold me on giving a second chance to a whole group of authors. THAT is powerful writing. Congratulations on another excellent product!
• 
  Cherryl

  A heart wrenching story
  
  This story was full of suspense and drama. Shaz Bostwick was determined to keep Camilla Gibson and her toddler daughter Ayanna safe and out of the hands of a ruthless and crooked politician. His King brothers come in to give him a hand. What they discovered is some of the underhanded things going on there at the Castle tied to this case. He had all of this to deal with and family drama to deal with too. One of his blood brothers was holding on to a grudge that should have been done with years ago.
  
  Joy wrote a story that was heartbreaking to read. It touched on illegal adoption, illegal organ procurement, sex trafficking and immigrant issues. It just broke my heart to read this topic that is in top newslines today. I can not fathom how another human being can sell another person for their own needs or sexual perversion. It boggles my mine. Or how they can use the poor and under-privledged girls as baby factories. It's just thoroughly disgusting. Even though this story is fictitious, it takes its lead in real life headlines of today. I can not say that I enjoyed reading this topic but it was certainly well done and kept my attention wanting to know what would happen next.
• 
  Paula Phillips

  This particular series has been on my Kindle for a couple of years and finally, after reading Book #3, I have finished the series. It's taken me a while and yes, I did read it slightly out of order but the good thing with this series is as long as you read Book #1 first, the others can be read out of order or as standalones, though there are some parts the crossover into other books. Years ago, one of the main guys of the Castle - Khali found a group of boys from all over Chicago and he saw potential in them and mentored them. In a way, they all became his sons and formed a brotherhood. When Khali was shot, he called them back to have their seat at the Castle and return it to order and the legal way of business as some dodgy work had been happening. One of those members holds the area of Evanston. His name is Shaz and he is a lawyer that helps immigrants with whatever they need. In some cases, he takes on pro bono as he is all about helping those that people often discard. His current case is a favor to a family friend, her daughter was sick and so she came to the US from Jamaica to get the medical care she needs. What his client didn't learn was that the no-good father of the baby had struck a deal with the Alderman to adopt his daughter. The mother isn't giving up her baby without a fight and unfortunately, the Alderman isn't used to saying No and isn't afraid to play dirty including kidnapping and throwing his money around. With the help of his Brotherhood of Kings, can Shaz save Camilla and her daughter of course what's a romantic suspense book without a little sizzle as we see a relationship blooming between Shaz and the fiery Camilla?
  If you are looking for a good diverse #ownvoices romantic suspense, then check out King of Evanston and the rest of the Kings of the Castle series today.
  
• 
  Geri Evans

  Excellent Book...Excellent Series!! 🤗
  
  I am loving everything about this series and J.L. Campbell has done her thing with this book! This book grabs you from the beginning throughout the end! There are a lot of intriguing things happening: a sick child, immigration issues, a back door adoption, a trifling baby daddy, human trafficking...did I say drama?!? Then there is love, commitment, family...again, did I say drama?!? If you haven’t read this book, what are you waiting on? Excellent Reading!! Kudos, Joy!! 💜
• 
  Sylvia Hogan

  Deception in the Castle
  
  When a prominent Alderman has made a deal with a sick childs father to adopt her without her mother knowledge, she immediately confronts him even though she has retain an attorney Shasta "Shaz" Bostwick, to handle this. Shad knows that is illegal and plans to uncover the deceit. With the help of the other Kings they uncover an illegal adoption agency as well as trafficked young girls, all of this takes place in the Castle, literally right under their noses. I am really enjoying the Kings of the Castle series.
• 
  Sylvia

  I like this series; however, it truly annoys me with the damsel in distress theme. There is an attempt to make all the characters seem like strong willed people until it comes to the opposite sex who is in trouble. I find it hilarious that a knight has a straight up queen who did not need to be saved lol. Everyone else either the exception of Zuri does not seem like an equal, but someone who needed to be fixed. I think that is lame especially because the mission they seek to fulfill is powerful and I wish it was real.
• 
  Darryl Benally

  Was A Page Turner
  
  The book was beautifully written as I learned more about Shaz and his role in the castle. Each chapter is full of excitement wondering what's going to happen with Camilla and her baby. The book had me hooked and I enjoyed every page. I look forward to reading more books from J.L. Campbell!
• 
  Shelima Theresa Maynard

  Loved it
  
  I am just loving this series! These Kings of the Castle are sexy and so smart. I love how they come together to help each other out. I am so happy for Camilla and Shasta. The deserve each other.
• 
  Mahala

  I love love loved it
  
  This series is freaking awesome. It flowed nicely, transitioning was great. The story was very well written. I’m looking forward to what this author has to offer.
• 
  Rise

  Each book written by different authors with different stories, but all the kings connect within the stories. Now interested in reading the story Grudge by this author. Enjoyed the story and look forward to reading the next king story.
• 
  Marie McKenzie

  JLCampbell struck again
  
  Another fantastic, page turner. Great series. Can’t wait to start the next good. Hans been recommending b to friends and family.
• 
  Donna Scoggins

  Shaz
  
  He’s strong, loyal, caring and takes care of those important to him. Shaz and the other Kings right the wrongs of the Castle.
• 
  Kimberly List

  This is book 3 in the Kings of the Castle Series and they just keep getting better and better. Can we also all just acknowledge that each of these books is written by a different author which is amazing when you start to read them because the details cross over from book to book. You can tell not only that the authors have a great working relationship together but also care about the series enough to make sure they do not contradict each other.
  
  This story is about Shaz and Camilla. Shaz is a strong and independent youngest son who has no desire to take over the family business. He wants to continue helping in immigration law and helping young women who have come into his office seeking assistance. Camilla is one of those women. She is on a Visa to the states to get a medical procedure for her daughter that can not be done in Jamaica. Her ex is trying to force her into giving their daughter up for adoption to a very corrupt politician who will stop at nothing to give his wife the daughter she fell in love with at the hospital. This book had so many ups and downs. You could feel the love Camilla has for her daughter and this book gets inside you and makes you feel like you are on this fight with her to not only save her babies life but also save her from the men trying to kidnap/adopt her.
  
  This story also has a gut punch to it with human trafficking with minor women. J.L. Campbell did not shy away from detailing this world out in all of its ugliness and really brought light to a growing problem here in the states. The way she describes the cells and the torture these women went through made you feel not only a certain way for these women but made you feel for the 9 men that were determined to bring them justice. This book made me fall even more in love with each one of the Kings and their unique skill set..
  
  On a lighter note I love the families in this story. From Aunt Mabel to Shaz's mother Paula you can tell they do not take any lip from their children or their family.
  
  Thank you to netgalley, J.L. Campbell and Macro Publishing for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.
• 
  Shannan Harper

  What I really loved about this story is how the author tackles certain issues within the story that happens to be relevant to some issues in today's world. I also loved how she fused her homeland of Jamaica throughout the story. It is a standalone, but I recommend reading the book Kings of the Castle just to get a baseline of not only this story, but the entire series.
  
  I received a copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley for an honest review. All Thoughts and opinions are my own.
• 
  Love Africa Book Club

  Globe trotting model Camilla could be up for the adventure of a lifetime, if she can get over the biggest crisis of her life with the help of tough, tenacious lawyer Shaz. Something magical happens when these two get together.