NR Walker tries her hand at a hitman novel. Harry and Asher meet when Asher is assigned to kill Harry ... he puts 2 and 2 together and realises that he'll be next ... so he rescues Harry (from other hitmen!) and they go on the run.

The MM romantic romp and hitman genre seem odd bedfellows, but good on NR Walker for giving it a go!

Of course, she writes such endearing, loveable charm into characters, that I fell for it despite my better judgement - on principle, I don't usually read novels about hitmen, mafia, underworld, thieves, scammers, conmen etc - I'm churlish enough to say those settings don't warrant the talents of a good writer, or my time!

I finished the novel still not clear what a kite is. I've been looking it up and finally found this is Merriam-Webster. It's listed as the third meaning (of 5): a person who preys on others. Is that the meaning that was intended? Harry hated it being applied to him. Or was it some other slang usage of kite?

In prison, it means a written request, as in a request for an internal prison service, such as to see a doctor. ( )

1.75 ( )

4 stars

Harry has been working for his government, taking out the bad guys, working alone. But when someone starts coming after him, he has to work with someone in his line of work who is also a target. Asher doesn't work for any specific government, and when he finds out that both he and Harry have been targeted, he decides to work with Harry to find out exactly what he knows. When it turns out that Harry may not have been quite the good guy he thought he was, he and Asher work together to figure out what exactly is going on.

I've mostly enjoyed this author in the past, although some of the more recent efforts haven't quite landed with me. This was different from what I've come to expect, but I did enjoy it. There wasn't as much overload of sweetness, and there was a little bit more story. I enjoyed watching Harry and Asher learn to trust one another and work together for a common goal. Even though Asher seemed to have less roots and allegiances than Harry did, he actually turned out to be more stable in a way, which was interesting. Although I seem like I have faint praise for this, looking at what I have to say about it, it kept me reading in a period when I feel kind of meh about them, as they are not my current obsession. ( )

This was one of those right book, right time moments. The Kite, written by an Aussie (YAY Aussie!) is about two hit men; Asher and Harry, who go on the run together when they find that someone has put a price on their heads.

I adored Asher and Harry. Asher was flirty and charming and Harry was all grumpy and snarky and together they had a crazy amount of chemistry. But it wasn't just chemistry, there was a growing friendship and trust and lots of sugary goodness and it was just perfect. And on top of that you had the violence and the action and an actual plot - even if it was a bit light and relatively simple (hey why mess with something that ain't broke) - and it all just worked for me. My only real complaint was to do with the last chapter before the epilogue. What the hell was with the whole Asher's seen a vision of this road before and felt loved? I didn't rate it - it was unnecessary and did nothing to make the book better and everything to make it worse. But it's one scene that annoyed me versus the rest of the entire book.

In all honesty it's probably not a 5 star read, closer to a 4 - but it kept me entertained, had me swooning and put a smile on my face, so 5 it is.

And the humour was not to be missed. Afterall, how can you go past a classic like this; “I’m going to meet the guy,” Harry added. “The least you can do is tell me his name.” “It’s Oh Yunho.” Harry was quiet before he sighed.
“For fuck’s sake, Asher. If I knew, I wouldn’t have to ask. After all we’ve said about sticking together and trusting one another, and you say, ‘oh you know,’ like I already know. Which I don’t. It’s why I’ve asked you a dozen times. But if you don’t wanna say, I’ll just ask him myself.”
Asher chuckled, almost asleep. “No. His name is Oh Yunho. Surname Oh, first name Yunho.”
“Oh.”

Walker, N.R.. The Kite (pp. 219-220). BlueHeart Press. Kindle Edition. 5 stars. ( )