“This was Vere, voluptuous and decadent, country of honeyed poison”
Damen is a warrior hero to his people, and the rightful heir to the throne of Akielos. But when his half brother seizes power, Damen is captured, stripped of his identity, and sent to serve the prince of an enemy nation as a pleasure slave.
Beautiful, manipulative, and deadly, his new master, Prince Laurent, epitomizes the worst of the court at Vere. But in the lethal political web of the Veretian court, nothing is as it seems, and when Damen finds himself caught up in a play for the throne, he must work together with Laurent to survive and save his country.
For Damen, there is just one rule: never, ever reveal his true identity. Because the one man Damen needs is the one man who has more reason to hate him than anyone else…
During my annual birthday book buying, I have to follow a certain set of rules:
- It must be a book that I have read before,*
- It must be a book that is a reasonable price for what I am getting,
- And I must like this book.
*With exception: if the book is one I have been anticipating and actively searching for, and I am invested in the author/the subject, I can. Example: I picked up Cultish, and I also picked up the books by Chuck Tingle without previewing them.
I happened to pause briefly while perusing the romance shelves, seeing this:
I wrote it down for borrowing from the library. I got the book by the next week and then I was in.
There’s a lot I wouldn’t recommend for sensitive readers— I think Booktok would call it a “dark romance” or some shit, but to heed the trigger warnings.
Since I read the whole series at once, I’m having a little trouble getting my shit together, but honestly: I fucking love the terror of venomous court politics. Veiled words and intellects playing 5D chess while I’m going, holy fuck, a rape show? They have a rape show? What the fuck? What the fuck?
The intense feelings already between Laurent and Damen before they even meet are fantastic. Seething anger. Hatred. Guilt! And Damen, jesus christ, the dude has a type and is horny as fuck at the worst times.
One of my favorite things? Gender and sexuality is played entirely different here. Homosexuality is just something that is done. Vere prefers homosexual extracurricular sex among nobility to prevent bastards running about and Akielos just does Gay. Laurent leans hardcore demi throughout the entire series as well.
Book one of the series builds a mutual expectation between Laurent and Damen. It’s fascinating to watch and I deeply encourage anyone who is into period-adjacent fiction. I’m going to save my BIGGEST shit for when I write the review for the final book in the series.
