Days of darkness and punishment have proven who owns Liam's mind, body, and soul. He'll do anything to serve even if it means staying forever and having the touch he so desperately craves. Until Prince Briar expects something Liam doesn't know how to give to him.
Prince Briar
Now that Liam’s completely his, Prince Briar can continue his plot to get Father out of the way. All he has to do is keep his secrets a little longer, and get a few things from Liam. A couple are easy, and Liam doesn't even have to be aware. The last proves that Prince Briar might have messed this up from the start and cracked his future husband a little too much.
The series gets better. Its dark, so if that's not for you, look elsewhere.
I like the abundant male term. It's like omega, but its not using the same old omega term/trope. They're nothing wrong with omega books, I just liked something different.
This is not the first book I’ve read by Julie Mannino. I generally grab this author’s books when looking for something quick to read. Prince of Pain IV continues the story of a slave named Liam, who has become Prince Briar’s plaything. Unlike many other books by this author, where romance and love seem to be the dominant themes, the feeling I got from this outing is definitely more about control and ownership. I liked the book, although I would have enjoyed delving further into the catalyst that formed Prince Briar’s character. If you have triggers, you should be aware there are several you will encounter in the book, but the author does prewarn her readers about them. The only part of the book that completely threw me was the very abrupt ending. However, in all fairness to the author, this is an ongoing series, so I imagine the plan is to pick up where this one left off.
While I did like the story and thought the fairy, angel, demon, “abundant male” twists were interesting, the ending was so abrupt. By the end, you have just learned what happened to make the prince how he is. Then it’s over, in a flashback of all things. There’s no redemption, no fixing Liam. I really want to read another couple of books in this series that will turn it into something at least more romance-adjacent and give it an actual ending.
Reverse f0rced breeding Time in a dark room F0rced bondage T0rture of others S3lf-Pun!shment Mpr3g Mentally br3aking someone D3pression Dru.g use (not the MCs) Plotting since that's what Prince Briar does