Status Updates From Summers Power (Danger City #1)

really struggling with this one, not even gonna lie...

The banter is solid and comically British so far. Shane East would be the perfect narrator if this one went to audio.

The last chapter is all Max challenging Sam to be a Winters. And I am totally here for it.
Max refers to himself as the "banished knight of the round table". And just wow to that line alone.
😍 The last lines are perfect for the book. I know it is the first and I'm reading an ARC but now I want more.

You know that feeling you get when you know a book is part of a series but you don't know where the book is ending? I'm at that point. I've got three chapters left. Max and Sam are about to stop dancing around each other but what does HFN mean for B.L. Jones?
I'm guessing Jacob and his drama will be unresolved but Sam and Max will be trying for their happiness.

Sam's fingers tighten in my hair and he rasps against my cheek, "This is... I want this. I want... you."
Just when I'm about to press my mouth against Sam's, in a show of willingness to descend into this madness with him, Isabella starts shouting at the top of her lungs to be let down from the swing.

Love Isy so much. 😍 Her timing is impeccable for tension. This is just a Moment.

"You've had a thing for Max Summers since the first time he gave you a black eye and called you a "waste of any tree's good work", whatever the hell that means. Don't pretend this is new, brother. I'm not stupid."

Honestly surprised that the first one to make the subtext text is Will. And that is a fantastic, near cerebral insult to familial lineage from Max.

After a brief hesitation, Sam nods. He doesn't look pleased about it, in fact, he looks downright defiant in the face of it, but he still nods, backing down for once in his life on my say-so, which is another shock to the system all on its own.

And that is the meaning of Summer's Power. Well part of it. Max is oblivious to the power he has over Sam. I like it that way.

"Dare," I say, because, yeah, I'm really that drunk.
Sam thinks for a full minute before a wicked smirk splits his lips into a sharp curve. Fuck. I'm in trouble.

Sam and Max playing truth or dare in a queer bar is undeniably amusing. They do not pull punches, nor would I expect them to. I should have guessed it was going to be some kind of challenge that lead to their indulging their potential but alas...

"So, you admit that I'm still your enemy."
"I don't know what you are to me anymore."

These are twin lines consecutively spoken but over a page apart as time and tension swirls around Max and Sam. Sam's line is the second and oh that may as well be a bomb to Max. Even if he can't fully compute it in the moment.

I shrug. "Sam wanted some backup."
"Ah, so you were emotionally blackmailed into it. Nice." Zara nods along as if that makes actual sense.

Two seconds after meeting Zara and I already like her. She feels like Jade's opposite. Zara is Max's not-a-date. I'm guessing though that Zara will spend her evening with Charlotte, Sam's maybe-a-date, while Max and Sam spend it with each other.

Natalie Penelope Summers
Beloved Daughter, Mother, and Wife
"My soul is painted like the wings of butterflies"
-Queen

The whole section at the cemetery was just beautiful. The story behind the daisies was unexpected but lovely. Max owes Sadie more than she will likely even know.

😮 The thing I thought was going to be close to the end game just happened. Sam told dearest Granddad no. No to the kingdom. No to the drugs. No to the arms deal. No to the power.
Now I worry. I believe Max is capable if taking care of himself but Elijah, Aiden and Isabella or heaven forbid Rory and Cat? They are not. The kids are the weakest point here. The place both men can be hit for highest pain return.

But in that moment, I was not thinking of myself as The Summers Heir. I was thinking of myself as The Boy Who Wants To Stab That Pillock Stefan In The Face With His Own Fork.

🤣 I mean Max was an 8 year old mafia heir at this point. It is kinda funny. Stefan would have deserved it too. (This book is making me bloodthirsty, ooops)

So why, then, do I feel the desperate and frighteningly overwhelming need to drag Max back into our world and force him to admit he belongs here with me?

Sam is very close to having an epiphany. But at this point all Max and Sam can acknowledge even to themselves is that they make each other feel. For Max only one other person did that, his deceased wife Natalie.

"You, Sam Winters, are a nightmare of a man."
Sam sucks in a sharp breath and turns his head to look directly at me. Our faces are inches apart, and I can finally see the barely restrained devotion to anarchy in his eyes.
He moves further into my space, squeezes my wrist, and bumps his temple lightly against mine. He doesn't sound half as teasing as he should when he says, "It's ok to admit you missed me."

Ohhh... Will is Sam's bil through Sam's marriage. Ashley, his deceased wife, had the maiden name Flint, she was Will's sister. Effia was Will's wife. Now that mess makes sense, though I really wish we could have cleared that up sooner.
So no continuity error just interesting and maybe a more natural reveal style of writing.

For some in my family it represents a safe haven, a base of operations. For others, it is the perfect exemplifier of the Winters’ wealth and station in this world.
It is neither of those things to me. To me, the family mansion is a symbol of the hellscape to which I will one day be damned.

I'm so happy we get the occasional glimpse into the world as Sam sees it. I really like this idea though.

My son was humouring me about the existence of Santa Claus. I was more than a little bit tempted to buy a bag of coal just to see the look on Rory's face come Christmas morning. Penny reprimanded me for being petty with a ten-year-old child.
I was disappointed but took her point and removed the coal from our supermarket trolly.

Oh please someone do this. Buy presents but do this. Especially if there is young sibs

Early on and relationships are not made particularly clear. Importantly Effia's relationship to Sam. Effia is referred to as Sam's friend. Will as Sam's best friend and brother in law. Effia was Will's wife. Will is currently engaged but Charlotte is unrelated.

There are some serious continuity errors there. They feel like basic editing errors to me, things that should have been caught.

"Would you like some tea, Mr. Winters?"
Sam makes a sound that is a cross between a snort and a laugh. "Come on, Max, you're not really gonna keep calling me “Mr. Winters”, are you? I think we're a little past standing on ceremony with each other. You don’t have to be polite.”

This is a great way to find out Max's name. From Sam's mouth. After we get an idea of Max's history.