☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ FOUR STARS

I ADORED the slow-burn love that happened in this story. The friendships between the fae, shifter and vampire princes immediately drew me in. Who can resist a bromance of that calibre? Certainly not me. Add in a lively, moral and considerate kick-ass female lead and I was highly enjoying the story from the beginning.

What really separated this book from many others in its genre, of which I would classify as reverse harem romance, was the slow nature of the relationships building between the characters. Especially the romantic relations. In a story that’s openly classified as a harem I was expecting insta-love, alpha males, jealousy and steamy scenes. A lot of steamy scenes. This book did not have that and I was unexpectedly pleased with it. The budding affection that each character had for each other was so sweet. It melted my heart and was the main reason for my rating.

I was conflicted when having to review this book. Partly because when you’re reviewing you have to keep in mind that not everyone loves the same things as you do. So, full disclaimer: this rating is purely concerning my personal enjoyment factor of the book and hasn’t taken in to account some of the issues that the book has, which weren’t too big of a deal for me but can be for others. I couldn’t help but feel the need to justify my rating, as I’m aware that a book that pulls on my sappy heart strings will always be rated higher

Things to note about this book: it’s relatively short, has multiple points of view and the steam level was much lower than expected.

Characters:

Lilya – A lively, kick-ass heroine that displayed a strong moral compass as well as the compassion for those in need. The contradiction between the strong and more vulnerable sides of her personality made her an interesting character to read. At times, her naivete was frustrating but she genuinely meant well which made up for a lot of my frustration at times. Considering her troubled past she was unexpectedly kind to people, yet this did not mean she was unable to stand up for herself. She wasn’t a hardened, cynical character that I had been expecting from the book blurb. Rather, she came across as genuine in her assessment of others and reactions to them.

Alexavier – Prince of the Fae. My second favourite character. Partly because so much about him is still unknown after reading the first book. He’s loyal, responsible, considerate and protective. His quiet support of Lilya and his friends in this story captured my heart. I can’t wait to learn more about him and his culture in the sequel!

Destino – Prince of the Vampires. A laid-back, witty guy Destino was a guy that could charm just about everyone. He was instantly likeable and his consideration of others gained my respect.

Salem – Prince of the Shifters. A contradiction between a strong, experienced warrior and an incredibly protective, shy man desperately in love. He was by far my favourite character. I can’t wait to see where the next story takes him!

On another note:

There were quite a few aspects of this book that would have decreased my rating considerably if I hadn’t caught all the FEELS for their slow-burn romance. These included the lack of action or events. This story was mainly character driven and slow. There was not a lot of action or plot to keep readers on the edge of their seats. If you’re more of an emotional reader though (like me) then this probably won’t bother you much. Also, there was not a lot of world-building despite the unique potential the author had in this book. There was a lot of potential there for this to be a focal point of the book. With the exception of stating the hatred between the races, there was no explanation of how this came to be or much interaction with each race.

Additionally, the reason this story wasn’t five stars is that I was expecting a misunderstanding (I’m trying to avoid spoilers as much as possible) between Prince Salem of the shifters and Lilya to be addressed before the ending. I kept getting closer to the end and was waiting and waiting for a scene between them. When none came I was disappointed. I’m sure it will be covered in the sequel but I would have liked it to be addressed even remotely in the ending of Vengeful Prince.

// which do you prefer: character-driven or action-filled reads? //

Jen