Book Review
Title: Captive Prince (Captive Prince Book 1) by C. S. Pacat
Genre: Fantasy, LGBT, Romance
Rating: 3.75 Stars
After reading Fence by the same author I was intrigued to learn she had a fantasy romance series out as well. Upon reading the reviews I noticed they were extremely divided and I wanted to know what I thought of it so I decided to pick it up. All I knew about this book was we are following Damen, the rightful heir to the throne of Akielos as he is sold to Prince Laurent from the Court at Vere after his half brother seizes power and sells him as a pleasure slave. The novel opens with us witnessing what lead to Damen being captured and sold as a slave and how his brother, Kastor has seized the throne upon the death of their father. Damen very quickly realises that fighting is pointless especially when he realises that he has been sent to the heart of enemy territory, the Court of Vere and that here it is safer to be a nameless slave rather than a Prince. However, Damen’s pride often shine through leading the situations where he is beaten and drugged but he resists fighting back because he knows it will only make it worse for him and he needs to be ready when an opportunity to escape arises. Laurent seems to be arrogant but Damen does notices something strange about his relationship with his uncle, the Regent.
The first time Damen truly realises how bad his situation is, is when he is taking the Ring. As he watches the fight he realises the goal isn’t to incapacitate your opponent but to rape them and then it is his turn. Mid-fight Damen realises he was drugged in the baths and that the whole fight has been rigged against him but somehow he manages to win but he refuses to rape the unconscious boy and even when he is offered another as a reward he refuses which intrigues Laurent but Damen is quickly taken back to the harem after that but another informs him he should have had fun with the boy as Laurent has a habit of leaving his slave unsatisfied. Damen spends the next couple of weeks trying to understand both the Court of Vere and its politics along with the relationship he is supposed to have with Laurent and he seems to be failing. Damen realises that in the battle of Marlas six years before he killed Laurent’s brother, Auguste and the King was also killed in the same battle. However, he was unaware that Laurent was also at the battle although not at the front lines so while he knows Prince Damianos killed his brother, he doesn’t know that Damen is the same person.
The situation begins to get worse for Damen when Laurent has him whipped to the point where his life was in danger despite his uncle’s orders to treat Damen with respect as he was a gift from King Kastor. Upon his uncle’s return he asks Damen what punishment a soldier would have received in the army but he knows he cannot publicly flog his nephew so he settles on taking away much of his land and privileges until he can prove to his uncle that he can perform his duties to the standard required of the next monarch. It is here that Damen realises he has made a mistake as the Vere court is divided between those that are loyal to Laurent and those that are loyal to his uncle. Damen has already made an enemy of Govart who he defeated in the ring and it seems that he has now got on the bad side of Laurent and is going to have to work hard to earn any sort of favour which will allow him the opportunity to escape. One night, Laurent forces Damen to publicly perform against his will but during this time he is beginning to understand how Laurent can detach his mind from his body to appear unaffected when he actually is and I am hoping that Damen will use this to his advantage later on.
Eventually after realising he can’t help the slaves from his country without help Damen turns to Laurent. Laurent agrees to help but only because Damen has offered complete obedience in exchange for him helping the slaves in a better situation but Nicaise is going to be an obstacle. Laurent gives Damen the task of getting information for Nicaise without arousing suspicions and to distract him during the negotiations. Between Damen and Laurent’s minds they come up with a plan that they manage to execute perfectly but it is during this meeting that Damen learns that Nicaise, the child pet is the pet of the Regent who sexual interests run in children as he has had Nicaise since he was ten, he is now only thirteen and Laurent warns him that his uncle won’t keep him for much longer making me wonder if the Regent has ever turned his interests towards Laurent which is why he doesn’t take slaves into his bed. However, several nights later Damen is summoned to the Prince’s bed and he knows that he is going to be the one leading that encounter and Laurent’s foul mood after the boar hunt makes Damen afraid of what he is going to be facing when he is taken to Laurent.
Soon after being summoned Damen and Laurent realise this is an attempt on Laurent’s life and it has been made to look like Damen and his people are to blame for it. Even after trying to escape Laurent protects him and makes sure Damen continues to be at his side even when he is being sent away for border duty. Damen realises that there is a plot within the Vere court to kill Laurent and use that as a means to start a war against Akielos which he knows Kastor can’t afford right now as he is dealing with infighting of his own. Laurent ensures that Damen is being sent with him on border duty in order to protect Laurent as there is more at stake than his life right now and he is even promoted to a station more fitting for his skills. Throughout this entire book we didn’t see one scene between Laurent and Damen but we can feel the tension building between the pair especially when Laurent is drugged and I am hoping to see a nice transition in their relationship in the next book. If you have read Anne Rice’s Sleeping Beauty series then this follows similar themes of sexual slavery and submission but with less of the BDSM elements and a pretty decent plot and characters. I honestly don’t know why people bash this book so much when compared to a lot of the smuttier books I have read this one is both pretty tame and quite an enjoyable read.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Comments