I like urban fiction as much as the next person, but as I've stated in previous reviews, I have a hard time rooting for a HEA for the couples. While I thoroughly enjoyed Knasim, I can't be happy about the H&H being together in the end. I did like Knasim, he bought Promise a bunch of expensive stuff, was loyal to her, and showed tremendous character growth, but he also threatened her, her father, her sister etc.
The reason I picked up this book in the first place was because of the arranged marriage angle. I LOVE arranged marriage stories, and it's difficult to find this trope with AA characters. Again, I want to reiterate that I really liked the story, but Knasim was the kind of thug who would kill *anybody* who told him to do something he did not want to do, so I just didn't buy the whole forced marriage thing as Promise's father had no real power. So I don't see how marrying Promise was ever necessary. Nor did I see what the Richmond family gained from the arrangement that they could not have gotten through other means.
Also Promise was problematic. She doesn't mind being part of Knasim's crime family, but suddenly grows a conscience when she finds out about her father's illegal dealings.
I LOVED LOVED LOVED Knasim's other family members. Trig and Murda, who I kept getting mixed up. I loved Knight too. It was weird and funny how they were talking about sex and violence around their parents, who merely shushed them like wayward teens, not hoods out there putting hits on people. And there was never any threat that they might get caught and have to do time. No one was concerned, not even the mothers/wives of the thugs, who were all well aware of what was going on. While their children schemed, threatened, and cursed up a storm, the mothers were the same wholesome, loving characters you see portrayed in any contemporary romance novel. But it leaves me wondering how these angels survive in such an environment?
Anyway, overall, Knasim was a very engaging read. Once I finished this book, I immediately ran for the next book in the series, Knight's story.