Review of Collision (Portland Street Kings #1) by Evie Harper

When I was fourteen years old, I killed for the first time. That day I learned cruelty wasn’t only within the walls we had just escaped.

It hasn’t been easy growing up in the middle of a war. A struggle to find shelter. Fighting to protect our bodies against the corruption of the streets. Nobody cared about the street kids who had to beg and steal to eat.

We are the Portland Street Kings – A family forged through loyalty not blood. To get through this life of broken dreams alive, we’ve become hard, uncaring and merciless. We do what must be done to keep our family safe, we will harm those who stand against us.

We have it all, feared and respected by those on the streets. Then she collided into my world, and with her came demons from my past, back to haunt us all.

Overall Rating:  4.25 Rockin’ ★★★★

Evie Harper offers us the beginning of her new series Portland Street Kings in Collision.  This is about a hodgepodge group of characters that form a strong alliance that is more of a family than a gang.  At the head of the notoriously dangerous group is Slate, a mouth-watering dominating leader that will capture your heart with his efforts to nurture and protect his followers.  Piper is a newbie to the Portland area and stumbles across him at a bar, when a jerk starts making fun of her for stuttering. Slate puts an end to it with his fists.  This is the journey they take while searching for a happily ever after.

As the author develops each character, you learn their strengths and weaknesses.  Slate's upbringing turned him into a true thug.  He rules his territory with an iron hand and no tolerance for those that go against him.  His hatred of the system that had abandoned him and his siblings so many years ago to Phillip, a pedophile slowly destroys him.  The memory of his dead sister at the hands of Phillip haunts him daily.  Piper works for the system and believes she can place children in a safe and good home.  The delicate balance between her work and relationship with Slate is continually put to a test.

The beginning of the story is hot and heavy.  The secondary characters while not the main focus are still pulled to the forefront and their role complimented the main characters actions.  It is a testament to how excellent an author Evie Harper truly is.  She has the ability to pull the reader into her drama.  At times I felt horror and loss, happiness and sadness, hope and fulfillment.  The outcome left me stammering because I really had no idea what was going to happen and when it was revealed I was stunned and shocked at the amazingly twisted ride I was on.  I look forward to the next book in this series and what Ms. Harper will confer upon us.