Review: Captive Prince

Captive Prince by C. S. Pacat
Series: Captive Prince #1
Rating: ★★★★☆

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…

I don’t read m/m fiction. It’s not because I’m homophobic in any way (julio would beat my ass down if I were), it’s just that it’s not a genre to which I gravitate.

For example, I don’t read new adult. I don’t read chick lit. I don’t read m/m. It’s simple as that. I prefer the romance in my books to be something that I can relate to, and I feel that for me, a romance would be more realistic if it’s m/f. A book has to be completely amazing to change my mind about an m/m romance, and this book, while not selling me on the genre, did a tremendous job of engaging my attention.

This is due to the fact that the character building is so amazing. Let’s make it clear, this book contains torture, sadism, rampant displays of sex – generally things that I don’t care for, because despite my rampant use of profanity, I am a prude at heart. *blushes* Despite those facts, I really liked this book. The characters are so well-written.

Damen is the Captive Prince. When his half-brother usurped the throne, he found himself a slave, shipped off to Vere. A prince, now a slave, he has to learn to completely change his personality, his will, his natural instincts, in order to be survive. He forces himself into submissiveness.

He knew what he had to do. Against every rebelling instinct, he forced himself forward, and dropped to his knees before Laurent.

‘I fight in your service, Your Highness.’ He searched his memory for Radel’s words, and found them. ‘I exist only to please my Prince. May my victory reflect on your glory.’

Laurent. Damn. What can I say about Laurent? Oh, how about the fact that he makes Jericho-fucking-Barrons look like Prince Charming?

‘You look like a whore.’ The soft words barely stirred the air by Damen’s ear, inaudible to anyone else. Laurent murmured: ‘Filthy painted slut. Did you spread for my uncle the way you did for Kastor?’

There are many words that can be used to describe Laurent. Words like raging asshole, ginormous douchebag, sadistic motherfucker, and other endearing phrases. The fact that I grew to like Laurent and sympathize with him is a testament to the author’s skills.

No, I will not be reading m/m all my days. No, I still do not enjoy rampant amounts of sex and debauchery, but I enjoyed this book, and that’s enough.