I did not realize this was the second in a series, but that being said I enjoyed it as a stand alone even without the first book's background. Good build up of storyline and development of characters. Will be going back to read her other books and bringing them into the store for customers! Have already back ordered and pre ordered several books!

When family is divided, there is no end to the drama and the conflict. And there is no denying that Xander King and Poppy Valentine hate each other. But... what happes when Xander needs Holly to be his P.A? What happens when Holly needs a recommendation for her dream job? Will these two be able to tone down the animosity in order for each to meet their goal?

This is a wonderfully steamy twisted tale written in the fashion that only Jackie Ashenden can pull off. Xander King can be brass, obnoxious, and overbearing. Yet so incredibly sexy Poppy can't help but want him. Xander and Poppy, his one time step sister, may appear to hate each other but the fiery chemistry between them pulls them together. His dominance drives her wild and Poppy is soon wishing for more. Will she still feel that way when she discovers the secret Xander's been keeping about her father's death?

Fantastic read and one I highly recommend.

What I loved about the book is that it ended in a parallel way of how it began. I am a huge fan of that trope and it was one of the book's good parts. Overall though, the book was mediocre. I would have liked to see more conflict, especially on the "we were brother and sister even if we weren't blood-related" part of the plot. Xander is looking after Poppy and her mother as he promised his father that he would do, but other than that one could even forget that these two have shared some history with each other. The getting together part was easy and they fell into bed very quickly considering that Xander "hates" her and she doesn't want to be there. The thing that bugged me the most is that Xander's secret was not something that I would even consider that was his fault and that will make him guilty. I was expecting something with more impact. Poppy is also carrying a lot of guilt and she is not at fault here either, so that in my mind made them a suitable couple. King's rules is a hit or miss book in my opinion and you will have to pick it up and see for yourself if it's the book for you.

First Chapter: I hated Poppy Valentine
Epilogue: I loved Poppy Valentine

Between the first chapter and the Epilogue, two people with a strange family history work through their issues. EXTREME HEAT LEVEL.

3 Stars
The book was provided by NetGalley for an honest review

Xander hated Poppy Valentine who was his stepsister. They met when Poppy was ten and Xander 15. Xander’s father had chosen him to look after Poppy. Poppy was rude and snarky and very unimpressed with the King family and Xander in particular. But Poppy was also beautiful. Xander’s mother had died when he was small so he had no memory of her touch. His father was not one for affection at all. If anyone touched Xander it was because they wanted sex. Xander’s father had isolated him because he was easier to control he wasn’t even allowed to be around his brothers. Numbers were all xanders father allowed him as they made him money. Than Ajax came to Xander when he was twenty and told him those financial games were real and he needed Xanders help to take their father down. It had taken years but they took their father down. Xander needed a personal assistant and it looked like he’d have to hire Poppy as no temp agency wanted to work with a King. Augustus King-Xander’s father- had headed the biggest crime empire in the city before he arrest five years ago. It had taken years for Xander and his brother to drag their name out of the mud. Even running a totally legitimate property development company. Even when his brother Leon had married Vita Hamilton - the daughter of their favorite philanthropist hadn’t redeemed them. They had been getting rid of the remains of their fathers empire, sweeping away the last of his lies. They weren’t there quiet yet but they would be. The fact that Xander is known as a cold, ruthless, butthole maybe why noone wanted to work for him. So he didn’t want to hire Poppy but he needed someone he could trust and wasn’t in league with their enemies. Someone who wasn’t hoping for their father’s return and wanting to curry favor. One thing Xander knew Poppy had nothing to do with Augustus King’s empire. Xander also hated he wanted to have sex with Poppy. Badly. That enraged Xander. He wasn’t a man who let his emotions or his libado get in the way of good sense and logic but Poppy seemed to have a direct line to both and tweaked them at every opportunity she got. One of the last orders his father had given xander was to take care of Poppy and her mother Lily. xander was a man of his word Xander was the CFO of King Enterprises and only needed a PA for one month. He had a personal project to finish. Poppy wanted an internship desperately at a prestigious architectural firm in London called Jordan Architectural. Vander had went to school with the owner and she said she would give Poppy the internship in Poppy got a good reference from Xander as she had a soft spot for Xander. Poppy thought back to when she first met Xander. Xander had smiled at her the only other person that had smiled at her besides her dad. Something had pulled tight than strained toward him like an eager puppy to it’s master. She had understood the effect Xander had on her but it scared Poppy. She’d just lost her dad and was hurting and struggling with the dread somehow her father’s suicide had been her fault. She rejected the pull fighting it with everything she had. Yet the initial feeling of being drawn to Xander had never gone away. Poppy grabs Xanders tie and kisses him. His control snaps as he has wanted Poppy since he seen her skinny dipping in their pool when she was eighteen. They have sex right over his office desk. After ha acts like nothing had happened and told Poppy to finish thee list of things he had given her to do. For two days Poppy barely sees xander and she finally had enough and goes to his apartment. They have very hot sex and popy touches Xanders jaw as he carries her to the bathroom and they take a shower and he washed her. He said they could have this one night.
I loved this book. I read it in one setting as I didn’t want to put it down. I loved xander and Poppy together and how they interacted with each other. I loved how Xander had to let go of the past and did. This was a romantic read but had quite a bit of angst in it. Also it was pretty predictable but that didn’t bother me as i loved the book. I loved the characters and the ins and outs of this book and I highly recommend it.

While I'm glad they didn't act on their feelings until she was legal, there was also something about this book that I just didn't really like. Maybe it was the sudden control of the guy character and his need for trust yet him keeping a big secret from her.
Overall this was a meh story for me. Nothing awful, but also nothing I was really in love with either.

So-so enemies to lover's romance

Not sure why exactly but I had a really hard time getting into King's Rule. I do think in part it was because I just didn't like Poppy or Xander or their constant sniping.
I received an advance reader copy via Netgalley.

Poppy and Xander... hate to lovers like no others!

Years of fighting and bantering! Now is time for Poppy to grow up and learn to get along with Xander. Never mind they are stepsister and stepbrother. Never mind her mother married Xander's father for his money and influence. And never mind that both feel the animal attraction now that his father is in jail and her mother has moved on to other men with means. This is a battle to the end... of their anger or their lust.

We build walls around us to defend our feelings and avoid a broken heart. When those walls come down just watch out!

I am voluntarily reviewing this book. Thanks to the author for sharing a copy with me.

A tempestuous romance with a hint of taboo. King's Rule reminds just how bold Ashenden can be. There's danger in his eyes and lust in his heart. Xander is every woman's fantasy until he opens his mouth. He idles at brash, but looks hot while doing so. Poppy is the distraction, he doesn't want and the heartache, he knows he'll regret. Can he keep his distance before he loses more than his heart? The flaws are on constant display with Ashenden's band of alpha men. The scars run deep, but the passion never disappoints and neither do the stories.

As I usually do, l'll state at the outset that I am seriously addicted to Jackie Ashenden's books, her dominant heroes, her submissive heroines, her sizzling sex scenes and her smart, often snarky, and deeply felt romances. Having said that, and having been absolutely over the moon about the first book in her Kings of Sydney series, King's Price, I found this second book in the series didn't quite measure up to it, and am giving it a 4-star rating.

While I enjoy both the enemies-to-lovers trope, as well as the stepbrother/stepsister trope, and this novel includes both, plus a small slice of BDSM, this novel got off to a bit of a rocky start. Told in alternating narration, Xander King, starts by stating that he hates Poppy Valentine, his stepsister. They first met when Xander's was 15, and his father, now in prison for a multitude of criminal acts, brought home his new wife, Lily, and her 10-year-old daughter, Poppy. At first, Xander was eager to have to little sister, but her sullen, rude, sarcastic and snarky behavior didn't endear her to him, although he was certainly impressed by her beauty. His fascination with her only grew over the years, and his solution to wanting her desperately was to ignore her entirely.

Xander and his brothers have been trying to legitimize their father's corrupt business dealings, and, as the CFO of the corporation, Xander, who was unwittingly the reason his father was able to take other people's money, hide it where it couldn't be found, and keep his criminal dealings secret for so long, is now trying to undo the damage his father did, especially the damage done to Poppy's father, who committed suicide when his business went broke, and whose death weighs heavily on Xander's conscience. When Xander's personal assistant quits, he needs someone to fill in until he can find a suitable replacement, and, playing his cards very close to his vest, he manages to manipulate an unwilling Poppy into taking the job, and it doesn't take long for the sparks to fly, Xander's dominance to make itself known, and for Poppy to attempt her own brand of manipulation on Xander, but fall prey to his, and that's when the sparks burst into a wildfire that just might consume them both, and few authors out there accomplish this as well as Ms. Ashenden does. What we soon learn is that both main characters have been and still are hiding their vulnerabilities, and that their vulnerabilities aren't all as different as they seem to believe.

For every time I've reviewed a novel and complained of wishing for more drama and angst, King's Rule made up for it in spades. As usual, the only downside for me is the same one I always feel when I read a Harlequin Dare novel, I wanted more time for the story line, the romance between Xander and Poppy, as well as the expected HEA ending to fully develop. I always find that the endings in Dare novels are too abrupt, which is more of an issue I have with parameters of the Dare imprint (short, fast, hot, and sexy) than it is with the authors who write for it. Ms. Ashenden succeeds in making these characters deep, complex, and intriguing, and I just wish, as I always do, that the word limit of this imprint hadn't stifled her ability to fully allow the romance between these two characters to blossom in ways that took it outside the bedroom.

To fully understand the King family dynamic, I strongly suggest reading this series in the order written. I will also warn you that there is more than little graphic sex with BDSM overtones in this novel, making it definitely one for the mature reader. As for Ajax, the last of King brothers, I am eagerly awaiting his story, and will probably devour it as quickly as I did King's Price and King's Rule. I recommend both.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of the novel. The opinions expressed are my own.

An angsty hero with a side of ass – yes, sign me up. Ms. Ashenden has a knack for those types of heroes and this book started out like that. I loved Xander through the majority of the book and I really liked Poppy. Their parallel problems were very well portrayed. The issue I had with the book was the rushed ending. I would have liked more of a resolve to their issues and problems. Even with that being said, I love Ms. Ashenden’s books, she can write some doozies of heroes and heroines.

Xander always had a soft spot for Poppy, his stepsister, but she wanted no part of him or his family. Xander had promised his father (when he went to jail) that he would look after Poppy and her mother. Xander offered Poppy a temporary job and had to resort to bribery for her to take it.

Although this book had a good story and there was lots of steam, I just couldn’t get into it. There were no surprises and everything was very predictable.

I received an ARC courtesy of Harlequin through NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

Ms. Ashenden is a relatively new author to me but I am very much enjoying her steamy romances with the right mix of spice and sugar.
Xander King is a hard and driven man. It's not clear to me why only Poppy can play the role of his temporary assistant other than the obvious attraction he fights against but Poppy is most certainly interesting and definitely doth protest too much against what Xander brings to her life.
Both are dark anguished characters who quickly succumb to the lust between them. I like that the story takes some interesting twists and turns before the HEA.

I love the King brothers! There is more to the story than just a steamy romance. I really hope to get another story about this family. I was left wanting more

Poppy and Xander are step siblings with an attraction problem, a big big problem. Neither of them know the other feels the way they do but one dark erotic turn has them finding out rather quickly.

Xander and Poppy suffered years of misunderstanding and miscommunication but both ultimately suffer from a general sense of just being needed or wanted. Neither felt they received much in the way of a sense of family growing up. Xander feels a great responsibility toward Poppy growing up without a father, but was he actually to blame?

Xander and Poppy are both in a place of needing each other but absolutely hating the fact that they do. Can they work together, get along and fight their attraction?

Once again Jackie Ashenden writes a great story full of content, passion, feelings with a side of erotic pleasure. I received an advance copy without expectation for review, any and all opinion expressed are my own.

3.5 stars

Let me start by saying- stepbrother romances are like my own personal brand of heroin. My next favorite guilty pleasure is enemies to lovers. King's Rule is both!!! Cue dramatic music!!!!

Stepbrother, enemies to lovers....with some dominance. I've got the trifecta of panty melting orgasmic pleasure filled reading. Yes, this horny lady had a grand old time reading King's Rule.

I missed book one of the series. I saw the blurb for this and had to pounce on it. It's a delicious diversion. Being a bad girl was certainly not a problem...Naughty fun for all.

Jackie Ashenden always gives her readers well-written, steamy stories and King;s Rule is no exception. I love the enemies to lovers trope and the author did a great job with it. The story was not too long but still had everything I love in a romance novel: great characters, fantastic writing, angst, great chemistry, and no unnecessary drama. Poppy and Xander had had great connection and I loved the way they went back and forth with each other, especially at the beginning of the story. The conflict was resolved in a mature and meaningful way and I loved that none of the themes in the story were over the top. I'm a big fan of this author's work and look forward to reading more of this series.,

a spicy well-written story by Ms. Ashenden. Solid plot and unique storyline. Good overall writing. Thanks!

The initial bickering was childish and over-the-top, then settles into a more reasonable pace. I noticed a lot of old-school Harlequin language used to describe the male main character...hawkish features and sensual mouths. Not any way I'd describe a person, but it did ring nostalgia bells from romance novels gone by.