Captive Prince Trilogy By C.S. Pacat [Review]

AUTHOR
 C.S. Pacat
GENRE
 Adult, Historical, Fantasy, GLBT, Romance.
SUMMARY
 Damen is a warrior hero to his people, and the truthful 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…

 

This series has caught my attention a long time ago but I never gave it much thought due to my huge TBR pile back then. I’m not much of a reader of glbt romance novels but so many of my blogger friends has adored this series and reading their tempting reviews has finally convinced me enough to give it a go and another reason would be the hate-love relationship in this which is my favorite trope. One thing I could say about this trilogy was that the story was so addicting that you’ll want to complete the whole trilogy in one shot and I’m glad that I had the whole trilogy with me before reading it otherwise I would’ve died with all of those suspenseful cliffhangers at the end. After finishing this trilogy, Laurent and Damen has now officially became my first favorite gay couple.

The characters, the setting and the plot in this book are pretty amazing and I absolutely loved it. The plot and the hate-love romance are definitely the strongest aspects of this trilogy. This is my first adult glbt romance novel and there are so many scenes in this series that’ll definitely make you blush. If you’re uncomfortable with elements like slavery, sex, rape, abuse and torture then this book isn’t for you.  The story was set in a world where slavery is a common thing. The first book was mostly focused on how slavery works in Vere which seemed a bit dark and horrifying but the second and third book are my most favorite books in this trilogy and they are focused on political intrigue, slow-burn romance and an epic uprising.

The story starts with Prince Damen of Akielos bound like a slave after being betrayed by his half brother who he trusted the most. He is the true heir to the throne of Akeilos and a war hero who is greatly respected by his people and he can’t believe that his own brother has stabbed him in the back. If being turned into a pleasure slave wasn’t enough, he was sent to his enemy nation as a personal gift to the prince of Vere. When he finally meets the prince of Vere named Laurent, he was surprised to find him so young, beautiful and arrogant. While being in Vere, he observes that Laurent may seem deadly and powerful but he doesn’t have the full control of his nation and it seems there’s an ongoing dangerous play for the throne between him and the other guy who I’m not going to reveal but it was pretty easy to guess. Damen knew if the other guy ascends the throne of Vere, it’ll make a greatest threat to his country, so, in order to save his country, Damen has no choice but to work together with Laurent even though how much he detests him. Laurent isn’t aware of Damen’s real identity as Damianos, the true prince of Akielos. To Take vengeance on  his traitorous half brother and get his rightful place back in his country, Damen must keep his identity a secret especially from Laurent  in order to make it out alive from Vere because he is the one who killed his beloved brother.

This book has a great characterization. All the characters are well-written and well developed that I liked every one of them. Damen and Laurent are pretty wonderful characters and I totally adore their relationship. They are both stubborn in their own ways and even though how much they detest each other they can’t help but needing each other’s help. Both Damen and Laurent has opposite personalities which are charming in their own way and I love them equally. Damen is physically strong, determined, stubborn and also a guy who’ll  give up his pride for the sake of his country and his people. Laurent is a character who looks beautiful with his blond hair and blue eyes. He is arrogant, deadly, clever and ruthless. He always has this hard and cold exterior that makes him pretty hard to understand. At the beginning, Laurent and Daemon don’t trust each other but when politics comes into play they unite together to help each other out. I loved the hate-love relationship between them and how it was slowly developed. As I already said it’s a slow burn romance and you won’t find anything in the first book cause it was mostly focused on building the trust first which is something I can agree with and the real attraction with lots of sexual tension starts from the second book which I immensely enjoyed. The supporting characters are also pretty good especially Ancel, Nicaise, Erasmus and Laurent’s Uncle.

The plot was the second best thing that I loved about this series. It was definitely exciting, thrilling, suspenseful and captivating. The story keeps on getting better with every turn of the page and I absolutely devoured it. It has great pacing and you won’t feel bored with the gripping plot that has lots twists and turns. It doesn’t have vast world building but I didn’t minded it much. The writing was quite descriptive and not bad for a debut author. The story was written in Damon’s POV[third person] and  I pretty much enjoyed as the plot slowly unfolds with every mystery revealed before his eyes.

Overall, it was fantastic and definitely lived up to all the hype. This book heavily deals with deceit, trust, betrayal, loyalty, sex, friendship and love. The slavery and the strong language might be a bit turn off to some readers but I have to say that I liked the characters and the story-line so much that I didn’t minded those things. It became my first favorite GLBT romance series and I’ll look forward to more books from C.S. Pacat.

Do I recommend it?
Hell Yeah!

Warning: This book contains mature content and not intended for young readers.

MY RATING:  [4/5 Stars]

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