Kindle Price: $6.99

Save $8.00 (53%)

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs

Follow the author

Ashe Barker
Follow
Something went wrong. Please try your request again later.

Gideon (Order of the Black Knights Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Ashe Barker (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 18 ratings
See all formats and editions
Order of the Black Knights

Gideon Maybury enjoys a life of wealth and privilege, not to mention the advantages his position offers him in his career as a merchant banker and his less public life as a high-class, skilled, and very well-paid assassin for Her Majesty’s government. When his brother dies unexpectedly, he becomes the Duke of Westmoreland.

Michael Mathison has hated Gideon since they were at university together. He’s convinced Gideon had a hand in the death of Michael’s college lover, Christopher, and that he had something to do with the death of his own brother. So he gets a job as Gideon’s driver, enabling him to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death of the elder Maybury sibling. At first his suspicions seem to be confirmed, but clues emerge that suggest all is not as it appears at Maybury Hall.

As the mystery deepens, so does the attraction between the two implacable enemies, as does the feeling that they have met before—under dark and terrible circumstances. Each has reasons not to trust the other, but neither is averse to a bit of kinky play. Gideon and Michael end up owing each other their lives, and it results in consequences neither could have imagined.
Previous page
  1. Book 1 of 6
    Order of the Black Knights
  2. Print length
    199 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  5. Publication date
    October 5, 2016
  6. File size
    1957 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
Next page
Next 2 for you in this series See full series
Total Price: $13.98
By clicking on the above button, you agree to Amazon's Kindle Store Terms of Use

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ashe whiles away her time in the wilds of West Yorkshire in the north of England, writing smutty books and drinking Earl Grey tea. At the last count she had over thirty titles on general release, many featuring BDSM, always hot, with complex characters and compelling plots. Ashe writes M/M and M/f, contemporary and historical, with the occasional threesome thrown in. When not writing, Ashe enjoys messing around with digital photography, reading erotic stories, pole dancing (though not especially well), walking her dogs, and listening to Bon Jovi. Loud.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01LZ55592
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dreamspinner Press; 1st edition (October 5, 2016)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 5, 2016
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1957 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 199 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 18 ratings

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
Ashe Barker

Ashe Barker

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

USA Today best selling author Ashe Barker is multi-published and regularly hits the Amazon best seller lists in erotic romance, BDSM and historical. She has been an avid reader of fiction for many years, erotic and other genres. Ashe still loves reading, the hotter the better. But now she has a good excuse for her guilty pleasure - research.

To find out more about Ashe, visit her website, www.ashebarker.com

Or sign up for her newsletter on https://app.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/m9w1f5

Ashe tends to draw on her own experience to lend colour, detail and realism to her plots and characters. An incident here, a chance remark there, a bizarre event or quirky character, any of these can spark a story idea.

Ashe lives in the wilds of West Yorkshire where she enjoys drinking Earl Grey tea, walking the Bronte moors and listening to Bon Jovi - loud.

Ashe has over eighty titles on general release, with publishers on both sides of the Atlantic, and several more in the pipeline. Most of her books feature BDSM. She writes explicit stories, always hot, but they offer far more than just sizzling sex. Ashe likes to read about complex characters, and compelling plots, so that's what she writes too. Strong, demanding Doms are a given, often paired with new submissives who have a lot to learn.

Ashe has a pile of story ideas still to work through, and keeps thinking of new ones at the most unlikely moments, so you can expect to see a lot more from her.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
18 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Andy
4.0 out of 5 stars Enemies to lovers done well
Reviewed in the United States on January 7, 2017
Verified Purchase
I enjoyed this story. Enemies to lovers can be tricky to pull off and are often contrived and unbelievable. Ms Barker does well with 'Gideon'. The characters are well developed, and why not always likeable they are not meant to be. There are some loose ends with the plot (for example, how Gideon is recruited and a lack of information about the black knights) and I hope that future books in this series will address these. The book has no obvious grammar and spelling errors. An enjoyable read, highly recommended.

If you like enemies to lover plots, another good author is Anyta Sunday.
One person found this helpful
Helpful
 Report
Nicole
5.0 out of 5 stars Bk 1 Gideon and Michael
Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2018
Was not what i was expecting. Was expecting a series more like JR Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood, and it's not, but don't think as it's not like that fabulous series, it's not good, because it is.
Gideon has lived many lives, thanks to the pact he made with Moriel a wizard to become one of his Black Knights. To live, to kill, to die and to start the process all over again. The catch they must pardon the one enemy they first killed when they became a black knight and the cycle will be broken, however they have no knowledge of this detail until the end of every life, to know they had killed the one again, and the knowledge they just learnt will not go with them into the next life.
Gideon has just become the next Duke under mysterious circumstances of his brother's death. Michael doesn't trust that Gideon didn't have a hand in it. He becomes Gideon's driver hoping to be able to prove Gideon is a killer. Michael is the one enemy that Gideon must pardon to break the curse.
Enjoyable to read, Entertaining. Highly Recommend
Helpful
 Report
V. Rundell of V's Reads
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting murder mystery/ M/M romance thriller
Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2016
This review was written for Joyfully Jay Reviews and can be accessed here: [...]

Gideon is a man destined to repeat his mistakes. He will be reborn once a century to kill those put in his path. What Gideon doesn’t know is that he is a Black Knight, sworn emissary of Moriel, and an assassin/antihero of the first order. Gideon can only break his contract with Moriel if he pardons his mortal enemy; in his case, it’s always the Golden Boy, a fair-skinned, fair-haired younger man that stokes Gideon’s lust, even as he disrupts Gideon’s plans.

Michael Mathison is a man bent on revenge. His beloved, Christopher, was wooed away a decade ago to move in with young Gideon Marbury. Three weeks later, Christopher, a man deathly afraid of heights, leapt to his death from a five-story balcony. Recently, Michael was struck by the news of Gideon’s elder brother, Richard, the Duke of Marbury, who died suddenly of an allergic reaction while inspecting his land. Michael knew Richard as a conscientious and careful man when they attended Eton together. Gideon stood to inherit a fortune in land if Richard was out of the way. Coincidence? Michael thinks not.

Michael’s so determined to catch Gideon out that he engineers a car wreck that ultimately costs Gideon his license. Still incensed, Michael applies to be a driver for the new Duke, and that’s when it gets real. Michael is stupefied by Gideon’s good looks and suave demeanor. No matter how deep he digs, he can’t seem to unearth any dirt on Gideon. As his driver, however, he soon realizes that Gideon is not the upstanding member of the peerage he projects. No, this sociopath is a studied killer, but why? And for whom?

We get Gideon’s point of view, so we know whom he’s contracting with, but Michael doesn’t get it, at first. Soon, however, Michael’s life is on the line—is it Gideon plotting against him? Or, someone else? Also, Gideon’s mad attracted to his sexy driver. Their shenanigans soon escalate into physical intimacy. For me, this came pretty soon. Michael’s spent the last decade hating Gideon, but he’s able to rage sex the man after a few days? I had a little trouble with that, considering the short time frame of this liaison. Further, the flirtation was really overt. I’d expect a man of Gideon’s station and questionable activities to be a bit more circumspect.

That said, the unraveling mystery of Christopher’s tragic death and Richard’s actual murder becomes the biggest part of the story. Gideon and Michael become unwilling allies in the search for justice, and that strengthens their bond. This I did like, especially as I could see Gideon shifting from a cold-blooded killer to man who acknowledged his frailties and asked for help, for affection. It was a touch convenient for me, but I did enjoy the shift. It’s hard to enjoy a despicable character, and that word truly defines Gideon, in this incarnation. His homicidal tendencies arise early in childhood, and his systematic studies in death are chilling to say the least.

Regardless, it seems this tenuous connection with Michael may be the salvation of Gideon’s soul from the grips of Moriel. There are definite moments where the supernatural creeps into the script, but only in quiet ways. We don’t see any apparitions or visitations in the contemporary setting, though we understand it happens once Gideon blows his opportunity, yet again.

For Michael and Gideon the mysteries surrounding the new crop of deaths in and around the Marbury estate are problematic, and tragic. Michael is a detail-oriented man, and he determines the culprit quickly. That doesn’t mean the resolution is easy, however. There’s lots of conflict, and a bit of loving. The mystery is interesting, and its solution is compelling. Expect bloodshed, more than one attempt to kill Gideon, some really intense sexytimes, and family ties that bind people far too close for comfort. I liked the story, even if the premise wasn’t quite as clear from the blurb. There’s a *bit* of magic here, but it’s unobtrusive. The book is a set up for other Black Knights books, so I’m expecting more stories, though it’s not clear if there’s overlapping characters. The way this one ended, I just can’t imagine it to be that way.
Helpful
 Report
Sinfully
4.0 out of 5 stars I found the first couple of chapters hard going, but after that, the story settled and drew me in.
Reviewed in the United States on October 5, 2016
*Reviewed by Freya for Sinfully Gay Romance Book Reviews*

Gideon is another of a long line of excellent books to be released this month.

The story starts with a prologue, set in the trenches of the First World War. There is a poignant reminder that the enemy is human, when at Christmas, they unite to sing Silent Night. Upon instructions from people way above his pay grade, Gideon is charged with keeping both sides apart and apportioning punishment if necessary. He pays the price for following those orders. With death upon him, he remembers his initiation into the order of the Black Knights.

The story then Jumps to 2014 where Gideon is a merchant banker and through the death of his older brother inherits the family title. He becomes, (in the immortal words from Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge) – The Duke. Michael sees the announcement on TV and is immediately suspicious of the circumstances surrounding Richard’s passing. Michael knew Richard at school, and has personal experience of Gideon’s reputation, when at college, Gideon stole the love of his life. A love who died.

As far as reputation goes; Gideon is a solitary being, who incites speculation from others. Words that surround him are - cold, ruthless, cruel bastard. Gideon didn’t dispute those words. He had a talent for death. Thus, at her Majesties convenience, became an assassin. But where did that talent originate?

In an attempt to expose Gideon, Michael becomes his chauffeur. He knew he’d eventually be discovered, but Michael cared little for the prospect as long as he took Gideon down.

What starts as revenge, becomes a challenge in more ways than one. There are periods of cat and mouse, cocky mutual admiration and in the middle of it all, a web of lies exposing a more pressing mystery. Assassination isn’t restricted to one person able to end a life. The question is who would survive and who would die?

At first looks, it seems that Gideon is not a likeable character, with no redeeming features, but stick with him. Gideon is a multi-layered story with hot explicit scenes, handsome men in dress suits with ties and collars undone (lovely imagery that), and a healthy dose of intrigue. I found the first couple of chapters hard going, but after that, the story settled and drew me in. Oh, and it’s the first time that I’ve read the term, rosette of muscle, for the sphincter. I think it goes to the top of the list for alternatives.
Helpful
 Report
Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report