Ace & ember
Kate Crew
The Mavericks #2
A Brother’s best friend Romance
Cover and Synopsis
Ace & Ember Cover & Blurb
A forbidden desire. A game of cat and mouse. A love that could ruin everything.
Evie Emberson is trouble. Smart-mouthed, fearless, and relentless—especially when she’s looking for answers. She’s a hacker with a past that just won’t stay buried, so laying low isn’t exactly her strong suit. Especially when he’s around.
Aiden “Ace” Callahan is her brother’s best friend—brooding, loyal, and a walking contradiction. He spends half his time at the motorcycle garage and half deep in Valeport’s underground, and he lives by a code. Rule number one? Don’t touch Evie.
But she’s not a kid anymore. She’s fire and chaos and everything he shouldn’t want. He knows getting involved would blow up the only family he’s ever had—but walking away is getting harder every damn day.
What starts as snark and stolen glances spirals into something darker, hotter, and way past the point of no return. And the more they try to hide it, the more it threatens to consume them.
Now, with enemies circling and Evie’s secrets putting a target on her back, Aiden will do whatever it takes to protect her—even if it means betraying the brother who made him family.
Loyalties will be tested. Rules will be broken.
And hearts? They’re about to burn.
Book Information
Ace & Ember
Published July 2026 by Avon.
Genre : Dark Romance
Pages : 432 pages, Paperback
Ace & Ember Trigger Warnings
Contains talk of parental death, home fires with death mentioned, knife violence, torture (some on page scenes), mention of tongue torture, stalking, and general violence.
Ace & Ember Tropes
Brother’s Best Friend
Hacker FMC & Biker MMC
Forbidden Romance
Forced Proximity
Review
Ace & Ember by Kate Crew
Minor Spoilers
Huge thank you to Avon & Harper Voyager for providing me with an advanced copy for review.
As always babes, these are my honest thoughts and opinions.
Ace & Ember by Kate Crew is the second book in her dark biker romance series, The Mavericks. This is an interconnected series, with an over arching plot, characters and theme. You don’t have to have read book one, Rook & Rebel, to enjoy Ace & Ember. That said, in my opinion, Rook & Rebel is the better book. Simply by preference. At the end of the day, Kate’s writing is consistent and neither book is written better than the other. I wanted to love Ace & Ember. I was ready to love it. Turns out, I did not like the fmc, Evie.
Aiden was my brother’s best friend. Off-limits. Untouchable. The one I couldn’t have, which only made me want him more.
There’s a rule at Maverick Garage, do not touch Evie. As Rook’s baby sister, she is off limits. Problem is, Evie wants her brother’s best friend bad and is willing to blackmail & manipulate him into getting what she wants. Often in dark romance this type of behaviour comes from the male lead. In Ace & Ember, Evie is the toxic one. There’s a reason Aiden calls her Psycho. Unfortunately, Evie is also reckless & immature with no regard for anyone but herself and what she wants. She would walk the streets naked if it meant she would get a rise out of Aiden. Constantly pushing his boundaries and putting him in positions that jeopardize his relationship with Rook.
I generally liked Rook in the first book and yet, as a side character in Ace & Ember, I hated him. I get it, no one is good enough for his baby sister. Typical older brother behaviour. He’s ranted and raved about it. Hell, he’s even thrown punches about it. And it aggravated me to no end. Even when everything was finally all out in the open, this man is still moaning and groaning about it like a fucking baby. I don’t remember the last time I was this frustrated with a group of characters.
Now I was stuck—torn between loyalty to Rook and feelings for Evie, knowing one wrong move could cost me both.
I felt bad for Aiden. Here he is, in love with his best friends sister and getting punched in the face for it. The hands off my sister rule is invoked and he’s given the role of bodyguard. I understand Rook’s desire to keep Evie protected but putting Aiden in that position is unfair. The man is terrified of losing his best friend, his job, his family and Rook has told him loving Evie will leave him with nothing. Then here comes Evie a few years later with total disregard for his boundaries and Rook’s ridiculous rules.
Sitting down and having a conversation like adults would have went a long way.
What bothered me the most about Ace & Ember was the lack of communication between all parties involved. Particularly with Evie. Rook is her overbearing protective brother and she knew the postilion she was putting Aiden in and yet she failed to have an adult conversation about her feelings with either of them. Instead she’s out here stabbing the gas tank to Aiden’s bike with a knife. I told you, there’s a reason Aiden calls her Psycho.
“Let go and come all over the knife and my bike.”
Despite not liking Ace & Ember, I will be continuing the series. Like I said, the writing is consistent with Rook & Rebel. My gripes are with the characters and their actions, not the writing. I enjoyed the overall plot of Evie digging into her parents death more and the spice was great. I’m looking forward to reading book three, Joker & Jinx, next year.
Quotes
Ace & ember Quotes
Every moment of the day, I was either fighting with her, laughing with her, or imagining what it would be like to be hers.
My body answered before my brain caught up, leaning in, drawn to her like I didn’t have a choice.
The memory of the first time he looked at me like I was someone worth protecting was burned into my mind, and I wanted that look again and again, more than anything.
She wasn’t just under my skin—she was woven into every part of me.
I was completely undone, drowning in the fire he stoked so effortlessly and I was going to let myself fall right into those feelings.
Spice
Ace & ember Spicy Chapters
14, 22, 32, 33, 36, 37 & 39
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