Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Concubine

Rate this book
The peaceful and prosperous kingdom of Shendar is about to be invaded by a nation of fierce warriors who have been displaced from their homeland by a natural disaster. Fearful of being overrun, Prince Cray, who is acting as regent for his fourteen-year-old sister, Queen Shian, appeals to their powerful neighbor, the kingdom of Veldi, for military aid. The Veldins agree, but on a condition that places Cray at the mercy of the handsome and charismatic Prince Reston. But is Cray’s sexual compliance the only demand the Veldins intend to place on Shendar?

253 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 24, 2013

8 people are currently reading
131 people want to read

About the author

MomsDarkSecret

22 books54 followers

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
56 (26%)
4 stars
77 (37%)
3 stars
59 (28%)
2 stars
12 (5%)
1 star
4 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
Profile Image for Tais.
169 reviews16 followers
Read
March 4, 2016
DNF at 30%.

Сил моих нет, еще один! Опять этот плод чересчур буйной фантазии - наивный девственник 21 года от роду! Не в курсе что, как и куда. Мастурбацией никогда не занимался. Оргазма до сего дня не испытывал. Про геев не слышал. Принц. В средневековом мире.
Клинический случай, короче.

Вышеперечисленное, однако, не спасает от скуки и не исключает глупостей в сюжете. Автору бы превратить роман в полноценную эротику, чтобы членами глаза замыливать, глядишь, и помогло бы.
7 reviews
September 19, 2020
Dnf

I got to around 40% and I just couldnt continue. This book has a bunch of 5 star reviews and it makes me wonder if we are reading the same book.
Prince Reston is a disgusting pos. He is perfectly content to force the marriage consummation on a 14 year old child. Lucky for her, she has an attractive older brother who allows himself to be raped in her place. Btw, just because you physically enjoy it, doesnt make it not coerced rape.
Now, I know what the premise of this book is. I like the forced marriage type of stories. But this story seems to want to pretend Reston is a good guy...but have him do nothing to support that.
He constantly ignores cray's protests. Cray says hes too sore to have sex again so soon. Reston says hell only do it once then. Cray says no multiple times about having sex in his office. Reston says dont resist.
He is constantly undermining the queen to cray. The queen is young yes, but she is the queen. She should definitely be apart of or at least privy to most of the stuff they are talking about but reston says cray should stop consulting her...what? When she is upset that a letter from the general of her army is not immediately brought to her attention, the author acts like shes being childish to be angry.
Cray appears to be falling in love with reston at this point but I have no idea why. I haven't seen any redeemable quality about him so far. Except that hes good at sex...which would be enough if this were purely erotica...which it isnt.
The final straw was when he threatened to rape Shian if she didnt start 'acting like his wife' and consult him about things she is doing...even though he literally consults her about nothing.
Maybe the book gets better after the halfway point and reston will reveal a good person from underneath the terrible one. but after that scene, I wont find out.
Profile Image for Niumi.
148 reviews4 followers
March 11, 2019
It was a very unexpectedly good read. The final condition that was drawn out for most than half the book turned out to be very anticlimactic but other than that the story and culture of the book were quite well written. There was no climax because there really wasn't any conflict since neither MC was in the actual war so it kind of lulled in places. Because they didn't even argue with eachother or hated eachother. They were a couple since day one so everything was right as rain between them.

There was a plotline of the queen rearing up to be an antagonist but it was dropped a few pages later and she suddenly became a reasonable person.

The brother losing his leg was random and was unnecessary and just there I guess as payback for him being a brat? Since he never actively hurt or sought out to hurt either MC.

Overall nice book. Might read more from this author.
Profile Image for Michael.
615 reviews
Read
February 18, 2017
5+ Stars. I absolutely loved this book. There is a fair amount of sex but it's well written and does not go on for pages and pages like some books do. Nor is there a lot of angst or political intrigue. Problems are resolved fairly quickly and easily because Prince Cray and Prince Reston are politically savvy and perfect for each other.

I don't give 5 Stars lightly. If you haven't read anything from MomsDarkSecret I encourage you to try her. So far there has been nothing I have read that I haven't given 4 or 5 Stars.
Profile Image for Seregil.
740 reviews4 followers
March 29, 2014
Very interesting dynamics between the characters. On one hand there is the deep relationship between the teenage Queen and her older brother that also served as Regent and on the other hand there are the two princes form another kingdom that dislike each other. We get to see how all these 4 characters interact with each other and how other people percieve them.
The ending was a HFN and there were hints of things to come. A sequel would definitely be interesting.
Profile Image for blub.
2,040 reviews
April 1, 2019
Twenty-one year old Cray Antima acts as regent to his fourteen year old sister the queen of Shendar, Shian Antima. Their fight against Kithki forces them to alliance themselves with Veldins. A volcanic eruption which devastated their northern neighbor, pushes those same neighbors, the Kithki to overtake farming land and continual to invasion into their land.

Crown Prince Reston Vashtok, Prince of Veldi (twenty-nine year old) goes to Shendar for negotiations and as an ambassador, and he's forced to take along his brother Prince Revi. Right away Prince Reston is taken with Cray. When negotiations start Prince Reston requires that the alliance is created via a marriage. So Prince Reston is married to Queen Shendar but because she is so young Cray and Shendar request Shendar not be forced to consummate the wedding night. Prince Reston however tells Cray any royal will do to consummate the wedding and so Cray does so in his sisters stead.

The story was fine but just felt very drawn out and what the Veldin's really want isn't discovered to close to the end and when readers do find out what their whole game plan was in return for their alliance with Shendar it turns out to be very mediocre. Also there wasn't anything that really rocked any boats in this book besides the relationships and even those were just minor splashes. The war between both Kithki and Shedar/Veldin didn't come off as bad as it could have been as well and I was expecting more tension and worse transgressions between Reston and Revi which just didn't happen.

The romantic relationships became complicated. In a way I felt awkward reading that while Cray sister was married to Prince Reston, Cray was sleeping with Prince Reston which than makes his fourteen/turned fifteen year old sister fall into bed with Prince Revi leading to it's own issue.

Profile Image for Jiji Jidapa.
407 reviews4 followers
May 17, 2025
It was a very boring read. The story dragged on and on. I didn't get what the story was heading. The ultimate secret alliance plan turned out to be nothing. I didn't feel any connection between Cray and Reston. Main characters weren't at all likeable. A very disappointing read for a 3.22 quids book!
Profile Image for Sabrina.
517 reviews
May 12, 2018
DNF at page 220 of 680.

I hate myself for reading this. I mean, for trying. The plot its ridiculous and boring, the sex was mind numbingly boring and repetitive as hell (seriously, the sex put me to sleep, very effective sleep aid). I can’t. I just can’t.

Please no sequel, I had enough.
Profile Image for Tessa.
97 reviews2 followers
June 12, 2015
The story is placed in medieval times in a conflict of three countries. Kithki has become inhabitable due to a volcanic eruption and invades Shendar to retrieve living space. Shendar, more oriented trade, turns to Veldi for help for the defence. The Veldi crown prince Reston arrives in Shendar and requests the hand of Queen Shian in marriage as a price for their help. The Queen, only 14 years old, is considered too young for the consumption of the marriage and her brother Cray, acting as regent, is taking her place. Then, the relationship between Reston and Cray evolves, where it is clear early on that Cray is playing the role of the woman.

The plot suffers form holes as big as Canada. The first one is that a volcanic eruption renders living impossible only for some years. Vegetation normally recovers and thus, only a temporary solution for the people of Kithki would be needed. The second is that in medieval times, age 14 was quite an accepted age for marriage and children. So, the plot was somewhat constructed.

However, I enjoyed the evolution of the plot and the relationship between Reston and Cray. Even though the Cray was acting as a doormat from the beginning, there was allusion to the fact that he might just only play his cards close to the chest and that he would grow a spine later. I was holding out for that and the negotiations with Kithki seemed to encourage me.
But then, during the last 10%, I was so disappointed that I had to subtract one star.
Also, I did not understand why Revi was constantly referenced to be evil. Being a pain in the ass is in the job description of younger brothers, and I have read nothing that made him particularly evil.
Profile Image for Riayl.
1,090 reviews44 followers
August 29, 2013
Strangely enough I enjoyed the romance of this second to the rest of the plot which is very much backwards for me especially when dealing with politics and such. But in this case I really enjoyed the whole setting of the story, the land and customs of Shendar and the negotiating. Probably my favorite part is near then end . Cray was my favorite character, though I really enjoyed all the characters, major and minor.
Profile Image for llv.
2,328 reviews14 followers
August 13, 2019
re-read: Sept. 2018

rating: 4 stars
I was going through my old books and realized that I hadn't left a review for this book. This is one of my favorites re-reads. I think it's because I really love Prince Cray. I love how he supports his 14 year old sister as the queen in their matriarcal society. I liked Prince Reston also, but he was definitely more self-serving and I'm not sure I liked how he treated his brother. All in all, a really good book and one I'll probable read again in the future.
Profile Image for Gardavson.
1,137 reviews12 followers
January 22, 2016
3.75 stars. Not bad. The story was interesting and enjoyable. The main fault was that the romance want romantic. The mc's fell in love but the business like approach to their relationship trumped any heartfelt aspect. I kept waiting for deviousness or twists but it was pretty straight forward.
Profile Image for Kashii.
584 reviews5 followers
February 7, 2021
i really loved this book it was so damn enjoyable. Not just the romance but even the actual plot with all the intrigue and politics. I'm definitely going to read more by her.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.