CAPTIVE PRINCE
C.S. PACAT (Captive Prince #1)
Berkley Books
$15.00 trade paper, available now
Rating: 3.5* of five
The Publisher Says: 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…
My Review: Initially this trilogy of hatred-to-love, enemies-to-lovers tales were self-published by Aussie phenom Pacat. They're a global sensation now, and it's a sign of great intelligence that she signed up with a major publisher to build on her existing success. This is what Big Publishing does best, market/print/distribute bestsellers.
Court intrigue and sibling rivalry and crazy-hot DubCon BDSM! Consent be dubious and be damned, this really scorches the pages with (largely off-page) sexual blast furnace-hot fantasies. Hey Nick Jonas! Want a legion of rabid fans to do your bidding forever? Make this series into a pay-TV legend by playing Prince Damianos/Damen the sex slave!
There are a lot of things not to love about DubCon (dubious consent for the uninitiated) romances. No one can deny or minimize the existence of the fantasy in legions of private little skulls. And Pacat, yet another lady M/M romance/fuckbook writer in what appears to be a neverending gusher of same, has the touch down pat. She knows what to say and when and then shut up when even one more word would take the page from scorching to squicky. This is a giant gift.
Yes, there is underaged character sex abuse in the book. There is no way at all to interpret its presentation as positive, though. It is clearly meant to be an index of the perp's vile, disgusting, horrifying evilness. I'm not exactly okay with its presence, but I'm not howling for Pacat's blood because of the way she shows the subject.
MOST DEFINITELY NOT RECOMMENDED for those bereft of sexual desire triggered by gay men, whatever their own plumbing and relationship to same.
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