Summers Power, Danger City #1 by B.L. Jones

Max and Sam both grew up in criminal families, but now Max is a teacher and Sam is trying to avoid becoming the head of his family, all the while both men have experienced the loss their wives and are caring for their young children. Meeting again more than 15 years after their families tried to destroy each other Max and Sam still feel the old animosity, but also have so much in common now and their shared past which draws them together.

From the blurb for Summers Power:

The daylight between us, and the darkness we share.

Danger City has been ruled by the bloody iron fists of the Winters crime family for decades. 

When the Summers family waged war on the Winters in an attempt to take their power, violence reigned, taking no mercy on both sides of the conflict. The Summers were eventually defeated and as a result Max Summers lost everything.

Flash forward sixteen years, Max is a new man, no longer a gangster, but a simple primary school teacher still grieving the loss of his first love and trying his best to raise his children as a single father.

Cue his old rival Sam Winters re-entering his life when their oldest sons meet at school and become best friends.

During their time apart, Sam continued on the path laid out for him, climbing the organisation's ranks right to the top. He has become every inch the mighty and lethal crime boss he was born to be.

After their unplanned reunification, both men are forced to confront the nightmares of their joint past and the burgeoning desire which seems to be developing between them.

Can Max allow himself to fall in love with anyone again, let alone the man who was once his greatest enemy?

SNik's Review:

First in series (Danger City). Childhood adversaries/enemies to friends to lovers. Slow burn. Single fathers. World setting has paranormal superheroes but that doesn’t feature in this story. Dual POV. 

Barely surviving his former gangster life, Max is now a teacher and single father when his old nemesis reappears in his life and Sam is also a widower and single father. Sam is the heir apparent to the Winters crime family, but he doesn’t want that title, and when he meets Max again they begin a tentative friendship based on having grown up together and the new friendships between their children. 

There is plenty of adversarial bantering, a large and interesting cast of secondary characters that include their children, and some brief mentions of their past interactions which I would have loved to have read in flashback format instead of just conversed about. 

Summers Power is a build up of Max and Sam’s life experiences so far, how they have and have not changed from their teenage years, how they have moved forward in their grief, past hurts, friendships, family relationships, and with all the possibilities of a future in flux due to their pasts. 

Both Max and Sam are likable characters and caring fathers, I kept expecting more grittiness with the crime side but the story really revolved around relationships Max and Sam have. 

Intriguing start to this series with a HFN.

Rating: 4 Stars

Reedkaye's Review:

This is the first book in the series.  I found it funny how the author pitted Summer and Winter against each other, at least in the beginning.  

This story held my attention from the beginning.  Two kids growing up with a need to compete against each other even violently.  Both families try to mold each guy into who the families want them to be while maintaining a public front.  Yet, this isn’t what really shapes them.  Life events do and make their future.  While they are separated for over fifteen years, life events again enter what they are in the present.  When they interact again as fathers, widows, friends and career men they find both have changed.  I love this story and can’t wait for the next in the series.  I hope the author carries it way past where this left off.

Rating: 5 Stars

Summers Power is available to buy as an ebook, paperback, or to read with Kindle Unlimited subscription.