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Bad Slave
When the king commands former war hero Captain Jay Ghair to find him the perfect royal slave, Jay’s quiet new life as a librarian is shattered. Jay discovers the boy he’s looking for in Alix, a lowly miner and wannabe court scientist, whom Jay can’t help but secretly adore. However, teaching the rebellious Alix to be a docile slave is difficult. Alix will behave for just one man, and it isn’t the king. It’s Jay. Standing by while the king’s treatment of Alix becomes cruel is torturous for Jay. He longs to return to his library, yet he can’t bear to leave Alix, or his people, unprotected. To rescue Alix--and save the realm from the increasingly tyrannical king--Jay must confront the demons of his military past and take up the sword again. But his most important battle must be won through returning Alix’s love and learning to master this bad slave who submits only for him.
207 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 27, 2014
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114 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 3, 2019
the conflict at the end with the whole political situation was resolved almost absurdly quickly, but this is first and foremost an erotic romance book so i could totally overlook that. the rest of it - the development of the relationship between alix and jay, and that slight steampunk/industrial-revolution thread of the plot, was written really well.
February 14, 2014
The blurb for this one sounded great but ultimately the story and the characters didn't work for me.
It's sort of a fantasy with a touch of pre-industrial revolution with a smattering of BDSM. Jay is a librarian and war hero forced by his debauched king to find him a new sex slave. He saves Alix from being lynched and the young man chooses the life of a slave over being thrown in jail for a scientific experiment gone wrong.
Although Alix, who is a former miner, is the King's sex slave I didn't really feel that. Neither did it feel like Jay was a war hero and the BDSM "training" just felt more like a series of disconnected scenes. The story didn't end up being something that held my attention and the characters had moments where I felt they worked together but I finished this feeling like I didn't really know either one of them any better. I wanted to like this because I love a good fantasy story but I can't recommend it.
It's sort of a fantasy with a touch of pre-industrial revolution with a smattering of BDSM. Jay is a librarian and war hero forced by his debauched king to find him a new sex slave. He saves Alix from being lynched and the young man chooses the life of a slave over being thrown in jail for a scientific experiment gone wrong.
Although Alix, who is a former miner, is the King's sex slave I didn't really feel that. Neither did it feel like Jay was a war hero and the BDSM "training" just felt more like a series of disconnected scenes. The story didn't end up being something that held my attention and the characters had moments where I felt they worked together but I finished this feeling like I didn't really know either one of them any better. I wanted to like this because I love a good fantasy story but I can't recommend it.
August 12, 2016
2.5 stars
Just a miss for me. The premise was interesting, but I just didn't gel with it. I liked the characters, but some of the moments approached slapstick while others seemed a meld of dub con humiliation and S&M that the dissonance between the two just meant my mind couldn't find a place to settle while reading it. In the end, I think too many things were going on and expressed in different ways that it just pulled me out of the story.
Just a miss for me. The premise was interesting, but I just didn't gel with it. I liked the characters, but some of the moments approached slapstick while others seemed a meld of dub con humiliation and S&M that the dissonance between the two just meant my mind couldn't find a place to settle while reading it. In the end, I think too many things were going on and expressed in different ways that it just pulled me out of the story.
February 9, 2014
Reviewed for Prism Book Alliance
2.5 Stars
I love slavefic and fantasy, so Bad Slave seemed like a slam dunk. Also, I'm a huge fan of Game of Thrones and I'd be willing to bet Ms. Berrisford is as well since the former seemed derivative of the latter.
I've given some serious consideration to Bad Slave and why it didn't work for me. Let me just go ahead and say this review is purely subjective, just my opinion and I'm certain it will work for others. I'm going to attempt this review without being to spoilery, but I'm not sure how successful I'll be.
There were some overall problems mainly there was no hook, nothing that engaged me and made me want to know what's in store for the characters. Like I said, I think Ms. Berrisford is a fan of Game of Thrones and maybe tried to pay homage to it. The problem is there are what, 90 volumes of Game of Thrones? All at 1500+ pages a pop, so Mr. Martin has ample time to evolve characters, explore alliances, vie for thrones, introduce new kingdoms, creatures, etc. and world build. Bad Slave isn't long enough to introduce all that. Quite simply, it's too ambitious.
Additionally, there were several events that didn't get explained well if at all. Jay has been retired from military service for the past 10 years, yet the king asks him to find him a new sex slave. Not only that but (a) he wants a slave like Jay's former consort, Druis, and (b) he already has a harem. So, my questions then became why Jay specifically? Why did the slave have to be like Druis? Is it some sort of vendetta? Personal grudge? Druis was notorious for his infidelity, so did he and the king have an affair that 10 years later the king wants to flaunt? Which leads me to my next issue.
Jay never questions any of this he just goes out and finds Alix. Alix actually has a choice as to whether or not he wants to become the king's slave. He's made his living as a miner and is poor, so I can see the motivation to jump at the opportunity for a new life. But he's signed on to be a sex slave, right? Less an a week into his stay at the palace he starts talking about being a scientist, wanting to make an impact on the king so the king will allow him to work on his inventions most of which involve some sort of propulsion system involving kalamite. None of this seemed very slave-like. I'm guessing this was the "bad" part of the slave equation.
The kalamite also turned into part of another sub-plot in that Alix believes the lunarstone is made of hard kalamite which is explosive and apparently used to fuel the propulsion system. The lunarstone is what gives the king his divine right to rule, but Alix contends it's just a rock which throws Jay into an existential quandary since he went to war and lost several friends as well as Druis in an effort to regain the lunarstone for the king and his divinity. I can see questioning past actions, reflecting, etc. but the fly in the ointment is he fought for King Raeli not King Lyam. King Lyam is quite young and overall unfit to rule. Then again Lyam was a conundrum throughout.
Lyam wants a new sex slave, right? So, one would assume he would want to use said slave. Like I said, he had a harem which apparently he's sent to the dungeon in a fit of rage or caprice; so, reducing down to just one you would think… No. Not only does he seemingly have no desire for Alix other than to "see it suffer", he wants him to stay with Jay? Just didn't make any sense. He was actually using the harem and then all the sudden-Poof-not interested anymore? Did he suddenly turn heterosexual? Alix has a theory that the king's actually submissive and wants all the things done to Alix done to himself. Possible. I don't know. I think he's supposed to be mad à la Joffrey and therefore irrational, but giving it a week to evolve is asking a lot of a reader.
Lyam is driving the kingdom into the ground with excessive taxes and general bad management, so he must be overthrown which actually made sense and you can never go wrong with a battle sequence. What didn't make sense was how this occurred. Duke Jamed comes to visit with his entourage then a few days later a new set of his soldiers take up residence as well. No one thinks to question why the Jamed has an army in the palace? Then the coup seems to happen purely by accident which makes no sense for a coup d'état. Then again Jamed in no way seems capable of planning and/or executing a coup d'état considering he's a simpering sycophant.
The relationship development between Jay and Alix is filled with sexual tension and was enjoyable. Their relationship should've been more of the centerpiece of the book, in my opinion. Most of the sub-plots detracted from rather than enhanced their story. There really isn't any kink. Alix gets humiliated a bit for the king's pleasure which I wouldn't constitute as kink and other than that he gets spanked once.
The prose is good. There weren't any glaring errors. I will say Ms. Berrisford has an extensive vocabulary which, I believe, was put to good use for the sake of authenticity. There were a couple of… flights of fancy about spiders and webs that that I couldn't make heads or tails out of, but I'm just going to label as symbolic and move on.
Bad Slave has good components that weren't given enough time to come together. There are too many sub-plots happening that muddled the picture, detracted from the overall experience and prevented me from becoming engaged with these two protagonists.
An ARC was provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
2.5 Stars
I love slavefic and fantasy, so Bad Slave seemed like a slam dunk. Also, I'm a huge fan of Game of Thrones and I'd be willing to bet Ms. Berrisford is as well since the former seemed derivative of the latter.
I've given some serious consideration to Bad Slave and why it didn't work for me. Let me just go ahead and say this review is purely subjective, just my opinion and I'm certain it will work for others. I'm going to attempt this review without being to spoilery, but I'm not sure how successful I'll be.
There were some overall problems mainly there was no hook, nothing that engaged me and made me want to know what's in store for the characters. Like I said, I think Ms. Berrisford is a fan of Game of Thrones and maybe tried to pay homage to it. The problem is there are what, 90 volumes of Game of Thrones? All at 1500+ pages a pop, so Mr. Martin has ample time to evolve characters, explore alliances, vie for thrones, introduce new kingdoms, creatures, etc. and world build. Bad Slave isn't long enough to introduce all that. Quite simply, it's too ambitious.
Additionally, there were several events that didn't get explained well if at all. Jay has been retired from military service for the past 10 years, yet the king asks him to find him a new sex slave. Not only that but (a) he wants a slave like Jay's former consort, Druis, and (b) he already has a harem. So, my questions then became why Jay specifically? Why did the slave have to be like Druis? Is it some sort of vendetta? Personal grudge? Druis was notorious for his infidelity, so did he and the king have an affair that 10 years later the king wants to flaunt? Which leads me to my next issue.
Jay never questions any of this he just goes out and finds Alix. Alix actually has a choice as to whether or not he wants to become the king's slave. He's made his living as a miner and is poor, so I can see the motivation to jump at the opportunity for a new life. But he's signed on to be a sex slave, right? Less an a week into his stay at the palace he starts talking about being a scientist, wanting to make an impact on the king so the king will allow him to work on his inventions most of which involve some sort of propulsion system involving kalamite. None of this seemed very slave-like. I'm guessing this was the "bad" part of the slave equation.
The kalamite also turned into part of another sub-plot in that Alix believes the lunarstone is made of hard kalamite which is explosive and apparently used to fuel the propulsion system. The lunarstone is what gives the king his divine right to rule, but Alix contends it's just a rock which throws Jay into an existential quandary since he went to war and lost several friends as well as Druis in an effort to regain the lunarstone for the king and his divinity. I can see questioning past actions, reflecting, etc. but the fly in the ointment is he fought for King Raeli not King Lyam. King Lyam is quite young and overall unfit to rule. Then again Lyam was a conundrum throughout.
Lyam wants a new sex slave, right? So, one would assume he would want to use said slave. Like I said, he had a harem which apparently he's sent to the dungeon in a fit of rage or caprice; so, reducing down to just one you would think… No. Not only does he seemingly have no desire for Alix other than to "see it suffer", he wants him to stay with Jay? Just didn't make any sense. He was actually using the harem and then all the sudden-Poof-not interested anymore? Did he suddenly turn heterosexual? Alix has a theory that the king's actually submissive and wants all the things done to Alix done to himself. Possible. I don't know. I think he's supposed to be mad à la Joffrey and therefore irrational, but giving it a week to evolve is asking a lot of a reader.
Lyam is driving the kingdom into the ground with excessive taxes and general bad management, so he must be overthrown which actually made sense and you can never go wrong with a battle sequence. What didn't make sense was how this occurred. Duke Jamed comes to visit with his entourage then a few days later a new set of his soldiers take up residence as well. No one thinks to question why the Jamed has an army in the palace? Then the coup seems to happen purely by accident which makes no sense for a coup d'état. Then again Jamed in no way seems capable of planning and/or executing a coup d'état considering he's a simpering sycophant.
The relationship development between Jay and Alix is filled with sexual tension and was enjoyable. Their relationship should've been more of the centerpiece of the book, in my opinion. Most of the sub-plots detracted from rather than enhanced their story. There really isn't any kink. Alix gets humiliated a bit for the king's pleasure which I wouldn't constitute as kink and other than that he gets spanked once.
The prose is good. There weren't any glaring errors. I will say Ms. Berrisford has an extensive vocabulary which, I believe, was put to good use for the sake of authenticity. There were a couple of… flights of fancy about spiders and webs that that I couldn't make heads or tails out of, but I'm just going to label as symbolic and move on.
Bad Slave has good components that weren't given enough time to come together. There are too many sub-plots happening that muddled the picture, detracted from the overall experience and prevented me from becoming engaged with these two protagonists.
An ARC was provided from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
February 27, 2014
I actually liked this one and I think I almost have to rate it two different ways. It didn't really work so much for me as a romance. There just wasn't enough to make it be a true romance. Lots of potential and Alix was a great character, Jay was just too closed off for me to connect with. I understood his reservations, etc. but he had to give me a little more of himself.
It definitely worked more as a historical, political adventure story. If you know that going in I think you'll appreciate it more. The setting and the premise are great. The political dealings and unrest were interesting but the emphasis was in that direction over the romance between Jay and Alix.
It definitely worked more as a historical, political adventure story. If you know that going in I think you'll appreciate it more. The setting and the premise are great. The political dealings and unrest were interesting but the emphasis was in that direction over the romance between Jay and Alix.
Read
April 2, 2014Half-baked, at times, like it needed more room to really sprawl out, and for a story with such heavy subject matter there was very little genuine tension. This story needed to be darker and more gripping to really work.
October 31, 2014
This book is just "disjointed." The elements (historical, fantasy, almost steampunk, political intrigue, BDSM, etc) in the story do not work together. I believe that without the BDSM this story could have been better OR if not, the BDSM needed to be center-stage with more sensual and emotional content.
January 31, 2017
There is actually quite a bit I liked about this story and I'm actually leaning towards 3.5 stars. I liked Jay, he's a good man in a bad situation; the king is a royal ass and wants Jay to find him a new sex slave. Jay rescues Alix from a Very Bad Situation punishable by death, and realizes he can save Alix and at the same time hopefully get the king off his back. The problem is he finds himself growing attracted to Alix, the irrepressible and endearing minor slash inventor. The writing is pretty good but there are a few niggles that prevent this story from being 'more', though I certainly did enjoy it. The point when the king 'punishes' Jay by making him take Alix in front of everyone was a bit unbelievable but otherwise I could overlook a lot, including a bit of BDSM that was a little out of place in the story. The king was a great villain, I certainly hated the guy, but in the end Alix thinks he just needs the right man to take him, since as the king he can’t be the 'conqueror' as he would be looked down on. Actually, I think there's another story in that somewhere! Liked the ending, got a nice HEA-overall I enjoyed this!
October 18, 2014
A quaint little novel that is very much hit-or-miss in its individual aspects. While I liked it enough as a whole, and really enjoyed the characters, romance, setting, etc., I also had my problems with it. The writing bounced between being modern and historical, there were a few big plot holes that I didn't necessarily find explained well, and there were some cliches that were better left out of the book entirely.
That being said, I might read something by Kay Berrisford again, as this novel gave me enough interest in her as an author that I might be interested in her other books.
You can read my full review of "Bad Slave" on my blog.
That being said, I might read something by Kay Berrisford again, as this novel gave me enough interest in her as an author that I might be interested in her other books.
You can read my full review of "Bad Slave" on my blog.
November 20, 2016
There are some interesting components here in the world building: a mixture of medi-fantasy and the sort of startling potential new technology you might find in steampunk. And both MCs are sweet and easy enough to root for.
The slave-fic aspects of this story, however, didn't work for me. (Granted, I'm particular about the kind I like to read and the problematic themes I like it to explore.) And I would have liked more explanation at the end for what seemed to me a massive change in the politics of the society--but that was, in fairness, beyond the scope of this book.
The slave-fic aspects of this story, however, didn't work for me. (Granted, I'm particular about the kind I like to read and the problematic themes I like it to explore.) And I would have liked more explanation at the end for what seemed to me a massive change in the politics of the society--but that was, in fairness, beyond the scope of this book.
to-read-maybe
January 30, 2014that cover is gorgeous....and is probably going to convince me to just buy this :)
January 9, 2018
Good writing but the story didn't work as well as the blurb. I expected dark and angsty, something I would really feel, but that's not what I got.
Read
December 9, 2021DNF @ 63%
February 27, 2014
Review copy from author
Ten years ago, Captain Jay Ghair lost a lot of friends and his unfaithful lover in a battle that still haunts him to this day. He gives up the sword for a quiet life as a country librarian and thinks his days of serving King and Country are long behind him.
That all changes when the King Lyam commands him to find him a new sex slave - he's bored with all the old ones and sends them to his dungeon. Jay hasn't been to court for over ten years, and is appalled at the things he sees. He has no wish to find someone else to place in the role of the king's sex slave, but knows that if he disobeys he might well end up executed.
He finds the new slave in a young man, Alix, who he saves from a lynching. Alix is eager to live and agrees readily to become one of King Lyam's sex slaves, which disconcerts Jay. How could someone agree to be a sex slave?
Alix is a miner and rather than a life of drudgery mining the karmite stones, he thinks he's in for a new life of luxury and decadence. King Lyam soon disillusions him and Alix becomes nothing more than someone the king hurts and tortures just because he can.
The populace think that Lyam has divine right to rule because of something called the Lunarstone, which everyone believes was bestowed on the royal line by their gods, the Starlords. Anyone who disagrees with Lyam is either executed or left to rot in his dungeons.
I liked this book, there isn't enough Male/Male fantasy out there so I was pleased to get this one for review.
Jay and Alix were wonderful characters, both well-rounded and believable. Lyam however didn't seem to have any redeemable features whatsoever. He was a tyrant and a bully, a spoilt brat who wants everything his own way and ignored his advisers when they warned the unfair taxes and king's luxurious excesses were making the populace want his blood. From what we gleaned of the previous king through Jay's reminisces, I couldn't imagine him spoiling Lyam, but as the book progressed you realise that King Raile had spent most of his time in battle defending his kingdom and so didn't really have a hand in his son's upbringing.
Alix wants to be a scientist and tries to get the king interested in his inventions, but the king doesn't want anything to do with science. He just wants to cause Alix pain in the most excruciating ways possible. Some of the torture scenes with Alix and Lyam were a bit uncomfortable for me to read, but they contrasted well with Jay's loving discipline and you could tell the difference. Jay's scenes were loving and consensual BDSM, Lyam's scenes were torture of an unwilling slave.
Jay and Alix start off a bit in lust with each other but Jay is wary of opening his heart again after his lover's betrayals and death. Getting to know Alix as the book progresses, Jay and Alix both find themselves in love.
Bad Slave is very well written, it almost has a poetic or lyrical feel to it and the style of the language used steeps it in the realm of fantasy rather than the mundane world. I would have liked to have seen a bit more of the world of Galataan and its religion, the Starlords. It's only mentioned very briefly and I was eager to learn more. We get brief glimpses of the palace, the city and the mines, but I would have liked more.
It is above all things a love story and you will be rooting for Jay and Alix to get their happy ending, despite the angst to get there.
Ten years ago, Captain Jay Ghair lost a lot of friends and his unfaithful lover in a battle that still haunts him to this day. He gives up the sword for a quiet life as a country librarian and thinks his days of serving King and Country are long behind him.
That all changes when the King Lyam commands him to find him a new sex slave - he's bored with all the old ones and sends them to his dungeon. Jay hasn't been to court for over ten years, and is appalled at the things he sees. He has no wish to find someone else to place in the role of the king's sex slave, but knows that if he disobeys he might well end up executed.
He finds the new slave in a young man, Alix, who he saves from a lynching. Alix is eager to live and agrees readily to become one of King Lyam's sex slaves, which disconcerts Jay. How could someone agree to be a sex slave?
Alix is a miner and rather than a life of drudgery mining the karmite stones, he thinks he's in for a new life of luxury and decadence. King Lyam soon disillusions him and Alix becomes nothing more than someone the king hurts and tortures just because he can.
The populace think that Lyam has divine right to rule because of something called the Lunarstone, which everyone believes was bestowed on the royal line by their gods, the Starlords. Anyone who disagrees with Lyam is either executed or left to rot in his dungeons.
I liked this book, there isn't enough Male/Male fantasy out there so I was pleased to get this one for review.
Jay and Alix were wonderful characters, both well-rounded and believable. Lyam however didn't seem to have any redeemable features whatsoever. He was a tyrant and a bully, a spoilt brat who wants everything his own way and ignored his advisers when they warned the unfair taxes and king's luxurious excesses were making the populace want his blood. From what we gleaned of the previous king through Jay's reminisces, I couldn't imagine him spoiling Lyam, but as the book progressed you realise that King Raile had spent most of his time in battle defending his kingdom and so didn't really have a hand in his son's upbringing.
Alix wants to be a scientist and tries to get the king interested in his inventions, but the king doesn't want anything to do with science. He just wants to cause Alix pain in the most excruciating ways possible. Some of the torture scenes with Alix and Lyam were a bit uncomfortable for me to read, but they contrasted well with Jay's loving discipline and you could tell the difference. Jay's scenes were loving and consensual BDSM, Lyam's scenes were torture of an unwilling slave.
Jay and Alix start off a bit in lust with each other but Jay is wary of opening his heart again after his lover's betrayals and death. Getting to know Alix as the book progresses, Jay and Alix both find themselves in love.
Bad Slave is very well written, it almost has a poetic or lyrical feel to it and the style of the language used steeps it in the realm of fantasy rather than the mundane world. I would have liked to have seen a bit more of the world of Galataan and its religion, the Starlords. It's only mentioned very briefly and I was eager to learn more. We get brief glimpses of the palace, the city and the mines, but I would have liked more.
It is above all things a love story and you will be rooting for Jay and Alix to get their happy ending, despite the angst to get there.
April 9, 2016
Very sweet characters and a catching story. It was a real page turner for me. Maybe if the book hadn't been that short, I would have grown even more fond of these two boys and there would have been more possibilities to develop the romance and give the story more depth. I would have loved to learn more about Alix's background, how he grew up or an insight in his past, like there were insights in Jay's past. Those war flash backs really helped to understand the character of Jay and how he was struggling to let himself love again. Also in the two or three last chapters there was a lot of war going on, a lot of fighting mainly and it was difficult at times to follow the plot. Compared to how short this story actually is, the war scene was too long. It wasn't necessary to find out so much about the events of war. But as a rather short slave-love story it's still a enjoyable read and you get still quite attached to the book and the two main characters. I also loved the conversations between Alix and Jay, it was something I could relate to. Basically I give it 4 stars coz I fell a little in love with their relationship. The bratty submissive boy with a lot of spirit and creativity who's not wealthy at all or educated and feels safe when he gets rescued in more than one way but the former soldier Jay who lost his loved ones in war and lives a lonely life, rarely leaving his library. I loved the fact that in the end they both end up again in Jay's library and Jay is basically back to his quiet little life but he's not so alone anymore and he's got someone to care for. Also this book contained one of the best spanking scene I've read so far. Bad Slave wasn't so much about the sex scenes it was about the intimate little moments Alix and Jay shared and the boy who submits to the man he trusts even after they discovered true love for each other. They can really give each other what they need and the author really did a good job choosing those characters.
Def. not the highest of quality reads but I would recommend it to anyone who loves reading bout sub/dom relationships and who enjoys the romance more after some physical and mental struggles.
Def. not the highest of quality reads but I would recommend it to anyone who loves reading bout sub/dom relationships and who enjoys the romance more after some physical and mental struggles.
September 6, 2015
I read the blurb for this book and it sounded like an interesting story. I started the book with hopes of a good BDSM read with maybe some hurt/comfort throw in. It wasn’t quite what I thought it would be.
The author does a good job with writing the story. I can’t really fault the writing. The plot is fairly simple and straight forward. There really isn’t a surprise in the book and the ending was satisfying.
I think my disappointment mostly lays in expectations for the book. I was expecting something completely different than I got. The blurb is correct and does describe the story as it goes. I think though the wording is shaded to make the reader expect something this book is not.
This isn’t a “dark” read. This is actually a light comfort type read. A little more intense at times than some but still a comfort read. It comes down to this being a lighter, “romantic” tale. I enjoyed it once I realized this. The characters are interesting and Alix really gives a lightness to the tale that could have been a lot darker than it was. Jay turned his life around and became something he should have been all along. The author does a good job in creating a cute tale out of experiences that would have otherwise been rather dark.
In the end once I realized what the read was, I did enjoy it. It isn’t the highest of quality reads but it is a solid one and one I would have no problem recommending to others.
The author does a good job with writing the story. I can’t really fault the writing. The plot is fairly simple and straight forward. There really isn’t a surprise in the book and the ending was satisfying.
I think my disappointment mostly lays in expectations for the book. I was expecting something completely different than I got. The blurb is correct and does describe the story as it goes. I think though the wording is shaded to make the reader expect something this book is not.
This isn’t a “dark” read. This is actually a light comfort type read. A little more intense at times than some but still a comfort read. It comes down to this being a lighter, “romantic” tale. I enjoyed it once I realized this. The characters are interesting and Alix really gives a lightness to the tale that could have been a lot darker than it was. Jay turned his life around and became something he should have been all along. The author does a good job in creating a cute tale out of experiences that would have otherwise been rather dark.
In the end once I realized what the read was, I did enjoy it. It isn’t the highest of quality reads but it is a solid one and one I would have no problem recommending to others.
February 14, 2014
A Joyfully Jay review.
4 stars
Bad Slave is an interesting take on the master/slave genre with a lot of neat angles that I really liked. First off, I enjoyed the setup with the unique backgrounds for Jay and Alix. Jay is a former war hero, revered for saving the honor of his country. But after seeing such mass destruction, he couldn’t bear to fight any more and has become basically a recluse. He has heard word of Lyam’s poor leadership and indulgent behavior, but he has not wanted to be involved, preferring his quiet life. When Jay is thrust into the middle of things, his first instinct is to do the job and get back to his life in the library. But as he sees first hand what the king is capable of, and begins to fall harder for Alix, Jay slowly begins to realize he just can not sit back and let others deal with the problem. Things are complicated by the fact that Jay has always believed whole heartedly in the divine right of the royal family to rule and the legend of the lunarstone. It is what inspired him to fight, and to think it is nothing but a bit of rock just shakes up everything he has believed and fought for. So not only is Jay conflicted by getting back involved in a battle, but also by the complete shakeup of his beliefs.
Read Jay's review in its entirety here.
4 stars
Bad Slave is an interesting take on the master/slave genre with a lot of neat angles that I really liked. First off, I enjoyed the setup with the unique backgrounds for Jay and Alix. Jay is a former war hero, revered for saving the honor of his country. But after seeing such mass destruction, he couldn’t bear to fight any more and has become basically a recluse. He has heard word of Lyam’s poor leadership and indulgent behavior, but he has not wanted to be involved, preferring his quiet life. When Jay is thrust into the middle of things, his first instinct is to do the job and get back to his life in the library. But as he sees first hand what the king is capable of, and begins to fall harder for Alix, Jay slowly begins to realize he just can not sit back and let others deal with the problem. Things are complicated by the fact that Jay has always believed whole heartedly in the divine right of the royal family to rule and the legend of the lunarstone. It is what inspired him to fight, and to think it is nothing but a bit of rock just shakes up everything he has believed and fought for. So not only is Jay conflicted by getting back involved in a battle, but also by the complete shakeup of his beliefs.
Read Jay's review in its entirety here.
March 27, 2014
I won this book and Kay Berrisford is an author to me, so I was pretty curious when I started reading.
I was not let down. The book is a good blend of fantasy, medieval time, sex, love and slaves.
The king wants a new toy, a new sex slave that he can hurt and make suffer just because he can.
Jay, a former soldier, is chosen to find one.
He find the young miner Alix, that agrees to go with him, because he is poor and on his way to being hanged.
Alix get trained as a slave, but as he develops feelings for Jay, he has trouble being obedient to the king.
Jay feels something for Alix too, and as their relationship unfolds, Jay realises that he has to stand up to the king to save Alix, himself and the kingdom.
I was not let down. The book is a good blend of fantasy, medieval time, sex, love and slaves.
The king wants a new toy, a new sex slave that he can hurt and make suffer just because he can.
Jay, a former soldier, is chosen to find one.
He find the young miner Alix, that agrees to go with him, because he is poor and on his way to being hanged.
Alix get trained as a slave, but as he develops feelings for Jay, he has trouble being obedient to the king.
Jay feels something for Alix too, and as their relationship unfolds, Jay realises that he has to stand up to the king to save Alix, himself and the kingdom.
July 24, 2016
I haven’t read anything by this author before, and since I’m on a “new author” kick, I was really excited to start reading this book.
I did enjoy this book quite a bit more than I thought I would once I started it. I was unsure how I was going to feel with the way the story was going, but I am glad that I did continue to keep reading it. I do think that the author did an amazing job with the characters, all of them. No matter how minor of a role the character had, the author thought to describe them in a way that they stood out from each other.
This was a really good read for me and I will be sure to see what other books the author has released!
Reviewed by Crystal Marie for Crystal's Many Reviewers
*Copy provided for honest review!*
I did enjoy this book quite a bit more than I thought I would once I started it. I was unsure how I was going to feel with the way the story was going, but I am glad that I did continue to keep reading it. I do think that the author did an amazing job with the characters, all of them. No matter how minor of a role the character had, the author thought to describe them in a way that they stood out from each other.
This was a really good read for me and I will be sure to see what other books the author has released!
Reviewed by Crystal Marie for Crystal's Many Reviewers
*Copy provided for honest review!*
March 27, 2015
2.5 ... maybe I should round it up to 3 but only because of Alix. Can't help it, I have this soft side for bratty, vulnerable characters and he fills that bill - mostly. Unfortunately the rest is more or less standard. Maybe it could have worked as a trashy BDSM story but obviously that wasn't the intention.
probably-not
May 26, 2014(NTS) Reviews don't seem promising, haven't had exciting experiences with author in past. 'tis a shame about the premise, then...
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