His King Enslaved: An MM Science Fantasy Romance

by Arden Lake

273 pages, Paperback

Published July 26, 2026

About the author

Queer romances featuring strong personalities and supernatural complications, with unique worldbuilding and steamy-and-sweet romances that shine a light in dark places.

Reviews

[YoBoi · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars!!

Idk if I'm blinded by too much recency bias right now, but I loved this author's take on regency omegaverse. Take note that I don't rate novels based on technical quality, but by how entertained I felt while reading it. It's one of those guilty pleasure novels for me, because as much as I think it's so ridiculous to the point of funny that Sindar would be so desperate for someone he just met, I like how down bad he is for Ardor.

All those years they were apart did put me off though. It pretty much happened off page, and low-key could've been handled better, so it wasn't all that impactful for me. Don't get me wrong, regency romance with that type of rule is something I enjoy, but I guess I wanted to feel more yearning in their letters.

Not just that, but I wish I got a clearer description of everything. Sure, "show, not tell," but I'm one of those readers that like to fully visualize each and every scene I'm reading. I've read many novels that manage to strike a great balance between letting the reader have some sort of spatial awareness and having the characters seamlessly interact without boring the reader with unnecessary explanations. (Something related to this that stood out to me: Sindar being shell-shocked after the birth was so baffling to me since I couldn't fully visualize what he saw aside from the fact that it was horrific. How alien did it seem? Was it just similar to a human birth, or was something freaky going in there? The foul stench description helped highlight the gravity of Ardor's repellent biology, but I need more details. Then again, maybe I shouldn't compare it with the amount of descriptive gore that I got from Lucien Burr... but why emphasize the gore if you're not willing to show it to me?)

That aside, I think this novel would heavily benefit from finding with the right balance between description and flow between the scenes and character interactions.

Definitely not a fan of all that exhibitionism, but that whole thing is rooted in their culture so I can't escape it... oh well.

And, yeesh, Flowers go through it! Very interesting concept, this whole genecraft subplot. The whole "Wraith" thing too. I wish we got to know more about that. Hecc, just flesh it all out more. This type of world-building can definitely dip its toes in more magic, which makes me so curious about what else the author can do once their true potential has been unleashed.

Dare I say I want a Part 2 of this couple! Keeping this as vague as I can... Technically, only one more and their revised contract is met, so I'm interested to read about what decision they chose. Also, I need to see if Patel would play a bigger role, both with the crown and with Sindar and Ardor's kids, or if he'll continue to be ruled by logic.

The little Xandar update was a great addition! I wonder how long he'll be kept in that limbo for...

I do think there's definitely room for improvement, but I really appreciate the fun, uncommon, and unique ideas that I read in this novel. I have my gripes, but as a novel that I picked up to purely rejuvenate my curiosity and whimsy, I had no regrets spending my time on reading it.


Edit:

4.25 stars!!

It's been 24 hours and I've reread some of my favorite regency romance novels after this novel reawakened my preference for the trope. I must admit, I must lower it a star since it doesn't feel right for me to give it the same stats as the novels I'll most likely keep rereading for years to come.

I still love this concept, though! With a bit more polishing, a novel within the same world as this would be part of my personal favorites.

[Rachel Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is a bit tough for me to rate honestly, because there were parts that I just loved and then others that just felt very lacking for me as a romance reader?

Let's start with the good - I love the world building in this! It's a unique world with a lot of political intrigue and royalty. I also love the premise of the twin bother having to return to the kingdom and take over ruling as his brother and how has to contend with his brother's consort.

There is also a very unique take on, I guess the closest I would call it, is omegas - Ardor's purpose as a "Flower" is to help bear children for royalty, although he views himself as "damaged" and has a lot of guilt and shame tied to how he looks. I'm always here for authors who can make mpreg/omegaverse type stories unique and different than what we've been reading. And this one - and the birth - is definitely unique!

I'm a huge fan of falling in love after marriage and what was a political/business/etc arrangement becoming more. However, this is where I feel like I was disappointed the most in the story. I feel like for the vast majority of this whole book, Sindar is separated from Ardor, at Ardor's insistence. They barely interact and a large chunk of time when they are communicating - through letters they send back and forth to each other - we only get to read a small handful of them. So the reader is more told things than rather getting to see it play out. I wish we had gotten to read many more letters and get to see the progression of Ardor softening to Sindar.

I also struggled with Ardor as a character and his insistence on being separate from Sindar. While I support him finding his own autonomy and being more than just a political royal pawn, he was oftentimes...cruel? To Sindar. And Sindar's besotted, himbo ass just wanted to be in the same room with Ardor LOL.

Very interesting premise and sci-fi/fantasy world created here. I wish the romance had been a bit more fleshed out and shown.

I received an arc in exchange for an honest review.

[Deb Kel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A captivating fantasy romance with plenty of political tension, complicated emotions and a marriage neither man expected. I really enjoyed watching Sindar and Ardor slowly find their way towards each other, especially as trust begins to replace resentment. The world and the dynamic between them made for an engaging read, with plenty of heart alongside the drama. A solid 4-star read for me.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Theresa · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disliked both MCs.