Prince and Assassin - Review

Author: Tavia Lark

Genre: Fantasy / Romance

Format: e-Book

Pages: 283

Okay, so let's unpack this one. This right here is a hundred percent not my usual read. Romance books are normally not for me, especially ones that are more on the spicier side. I don't mind the cozy romances like Travis Baldree's books. Things like Tavia Lark writes, they just aren't of me. However. HOWEVER! I friend of mine was like listen, this was is spicey, but you'll love Julien and you'll really like the plot. So I was like what the hell. I just got KU for a free trial, if I don't like I'll just DNF and send it back to KU. As we can see, I did not send it back. I, in fact, did not, DNF it.

What I freaking did was start this after work on Friday and then finished it Friday night. Knowing full well I had a double shift the next day, but still would not have changed that. I enjoyed this so much for the actual plot that I then listened to the audiobook while I opened it the next day, and then any time I needed background noise.

Listen my friend wasn't wrong, I love Julien. He and I have many things in common. I too would not under any circumstances want to be King. Also, the perfect gift to me would be two fellcats. A hundred percent how you get on my good side, giving me not one, but two fellcats. Lastly, I also use the word fuck at any given chance. It's a solid word, my favorite curse word, and I use it way too much. I instantly fell in love with Julien, we would be friends, and we would be trouble together. I was hooked by his first chapter.

This is not to say I didn't enjoy Whispers either. I do love me a sad boy character who just needs a hug to heal all of the trauma, and he got way more than that from Julien. Still, he's a solid character, and just as three-dimensional as Julien. All of the characters in this book were great. Nadine was a rock who didn't get paid enough, and I absolutely hated Hemlock. Lark created an amazing case of characters for this book.

Not to mention the world-building. My personal pet peeve with fantasy novels is when there is a hundred pages building the world. A hundred percent the world building is important in a fantasy book because you have to creature a whole world, but my attention span is horrid and I cannot spend chapter after chapter on a history I will without a doubt forget. So I love it when authors, Lark included, build their world as the story unfolds. Do I know everything, but as the story unfolded I learned what I needed to, and hardly had to remember something for a hundred pages ago. So top points for that!

Yes, this book is spicy, I cannot rate how good those scenes are. I didn't linger on them. Like I said those moments are not for me. And it wouldn't be fair to the author for me to review those. They were there. They were in fact spicey. Top points for Julien being the King of Consent thought. Loved that.

The plot in this does exist, it's a well-used plot that Lark handled wonderfully. It kept me on my toes and honestly, this could have easily been a book that ended in tears. I loved that it was a Happy Ending kind of story. One where everything works out for Julien and Whispers. I knew that going in and that helped relieve that stress. In fact, I kept telling that to myself for the last couple of chapters because it got a bit hairy there for a second. Whispers seriously need to find some self-worth. Julien needs to work on that.

I also really loved that basically everyone in the world is queer to some degree. It's just how it is. That was a nice change. There was enough trauma elsewhere without adding more for other places. I say queer because we did get the spectrum in this book: a trans characters, lesbians, our mains were gay, and I think one, maybe two characters, were bi. It was great. I'd have loved to have seen an ace character, but I feel that way about a lot of books. 

Anyway, one more thing about this plot. I do like that this book sets up the next two books in the series about the Sandry brothers. The next book, Prince in Disguise, is about little Bellamy (I'm already about halfway through it), and I love that the littlest brother is next. There is a bigger plot in these three books, and I know it focuses on a mage named Cryil. But that is the sum total of what I know. So I like that not everything got solved in this book.

    HAPPY READING!!