A Royal Craving

Royal #1

by Elaine White

Poor and deaf, Spencer struggles to live in a new world. In search of hope, aged just thirteen, he defies the city and his parents, to visit the prophetess. After promises of a struggle between a path to death and a path to love, he's left with a token of the risk he took.
Five years later, Spencer chooses a path that leads him straight into Prosper's arms. Disfigured, the vampire King sees himself as nothing but a monster to haunt Spencer's nightmares.
Can a simple human bring Prosper out of the shadows and back into a world that desperately needs his guidance?

Genres: Vampires, M M Romance, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance, Disability, M M Paranormal

323 pages, ebook

First published January 9, 2016

About the author

Elaine White is the author of multi-genre MM romance, celebrating 'love is love' and offering diversity in both genre and character within her stories.
Growing up in a small town and fighting cancer in her early teens taught her that life is short and dreams should be pursued. She lives vicariously through her independent, and often hellion characters, exploring all possibilities within the romantic universe.
The Winner of two Watty Awards – Collector's Dream (An Unpredictable Life) and Hidden Gem (Faithfully) – and an Honourable Mention in 2016's Rainbow Awards (A Royal Craving) Elaine is a self-professed geek, reading addict, and a romantic at heart.

You can find Elaine on the following sites:
Wattpad - http://smarturl.it/ElleLainey
Pinterest - http://smarturl.it/ElainesPinterest
YouTube - http://smarturl.it/ElainesYouTube
Tumblr - http://smarturl.it/ElainesTumblr
Linkedin - http://smarturl.it/ElainesLinkedIn
Google - http://smarturl.it/ElainesGoogle

Reviews

[Katrina Passick Lumsden · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not even sure where to begin with this one. I read it today, so my rage is still pretty strong. Let's see if I can be coherent. And yeah, there will be spoilers.

My first complaint would have to be the comma abuse. Commas. Fucking everywhere.

"Spencer sighed, in delight."

"'At least I know he did not give me up, because of my condition.'"

"But he must suffer through the fatigue, if he wanted to give Spencer the family he desired."

"There was no middle ground, in a turning."

"Braddock fiddled with three dials and two cables, before advancing."

"Prosper offered a smile, as he wiped his companion's tears away."

"But Prosper knew the truth as well as he knew the love in his heart, for his brave boy."

"Prosper realized he had fallen asleep, only when a soft touch brush against his lips."

I don't think I need to highlight any more for you to get the point. White breaks up nearly every sentence with a comma, whether a comma is needed or not. But the fucking infuriating thing is, she also regularly missed very obvious comma placement. Like in a greeting. "Hello sweetheart". There should be a fucking comma there! Take one of the extraneous commas you've placed willy nilly and fucking put it there.

Not much drives me crazier than comma misuse, mostly because it's a pretty simple fucking thing to remedy. Just read about how to use commas. I'm assuming that someone writing a book knows how to read one.

Aside from grammarcide, which is, sadly, way too common these days, this story suffers from some serious plot holes. The reader is subjected to about fifty-three different POV's. Okay, that's an exaggeration, but seriously, I think there are five(?) different POV's in this book. And one of them is only visited for one very short chapter, so there really wasn't any point.

Spencer is deaf, and for the most part White did a fairly good job making sure other characters were looking at him so he could read their lips while they spoke. This does not, however, explain how Spencer would know when someone was whispering to him. Because he did somehow know...

Prosper and Parry can supposedly manipulate natural things. They can make clothes appear and disappear, and they can conjure lube out of thin air, which I imagine is a wonderful talent when you're a gay man. Hell, that would be a wonderful talent for anyone, really, but hey, being able to make clothes disappear and lube someone's ass with your mind....tits, right?

Why, then, did it take them three fucking hours to cut Spencer's baby out? This does not make sense to me.

Furthermore, when Spenser goes into labor, nobody is prepared. He's been pregnant for months, and they're all aware that none of them have any idea what to expect. Hell, they don't even know when he's going to go into labor. But they're so under-prepared that they have to resort to using a kitchen knife to cut Spenser open.



I suppose I shouldn't be surprised by that since they didn't even bother choosing a name before the little parasite was born. No, he's really referred to as a parasite...

None of the lore makes sense, and White regularly contradicts it.

Spenser can't be turned until after they've tried for a baby because he won't be able to get pregnant as a vampire, but it's unlikely he'll become pregnant as a human. They're going to wait until after the baby is born to turn Spenser because it could have disastrous effects otherwise. Then they're going to wait to get married until after Prosper has turned Spenser. Then they're going to get married while Spenser is still human. So they end up getting married while Spenser is human, then Prosper turns him the same night. While Spenser is still pregnant. Because the pregnancy is too much for his still-human body. But Spenser isn't human. He was born of two ancient vampires, yet never went through the change as a teenager. Why? No fucking idea, and White never explains it.

As "life mates", Spenser and Prosper can no longer feed from anyone but each other. However, during Spenser's spontaneous c-section (a la Kitchen Wars), Prosper drains himself to the point of exhaustion feeding Spenser to help keep his strength up...then accepts and drinks a glass of donor blood from Parry. Whose blood did he drink? Odds are it wasn't Spenser's since Spenser has been pretty weak during the pregnancy and preserving his strength would have been of utmost importance. I just don't see him donating bags of blood "just in case" during that time.

Spenser's adopted family dynamic made zero sense. His adoptive parents were loving and wonderful, but they were poor and neglectful, then they cast him off as being sold as a slave, then turned their backs on him, but oh, they're still wonderful, loving people....? Huh? They were turned by the money Prosper gave them to help them eat, but then they shun their adoptive son, thus rendering any further financial aid unlikely? How does that make sense?

Parry and Davian finally got together, but in the months that follow, there's not one word of them getting married, or of Parry turning Davian.

I mean, this book is just all over the place. The premise could be cool, if it made sense. Humanity has to go back to using older tech because the sun is dying? I don't know what the fuck new tech has to do with the sun dying...and even if it were a matter of our energy consumption somehow draining the sun (fuck me, but that's a stupid belief), older tech uses more energy than newer tech, so White's not gaining any points for her pseudo-science.

And then there's the other ignorance...

"'You handled yourself well and managed to diffuse what could have been a volatile situation.'"

dif·fuse
verb
dəˈfyo͞oz/
1.
spread or cause to spread over a wide area or among a large number of people.

"...he did not want to run foul of any of them."

"Once he had Spenser's interest peaked..."

"...hunched over his extended stomach..."

1. Defuse
2. Afoul
3. Piqued
4. Distended

My brain is starting to make really weird screeching noises now, so I think I need to be oiled or something. Would booze help soothe the mood this book put me in?

[Shin Mon Thway · Rating 3 out of 5]

So for once in quite a long time, I don’t know how to rate this book. 😁 But one thing for sure is that I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I wanted to although I still like it. Sorry, Lorraine. 😭 I think it’s because my expectation for this book was too high. 😐 This was a heavy read for me. It took me more than two weeks to finish just over 300 pages and I even thought about giving up at one point. I’m glad I didn’t though. 😌
 

The thing about this book is that the blurb pretty much explains everything. 😁 The story is set in a dystopian setting although I didn’t really get that vibe. So in this world, the sun is dying slowly and the vampires are coming out from hiding their existence and leading human world. Spencer is deaf, adopted and unemployed. In this time and era, homosexuality is frowned upon and the only job available to gay people are at male brothels. A prophetess once told him that he’d get his destiny of a loving man and a child of his blood. Prosper is the disfigured, scarred and lonely vampire king. So when these two met, it’s a match made in heaven as they both are love-starved.😌 You would think it’s going to be very interesting judging from the blurb and the prologue. However ….. nothing much happens after that. Insta-love, being lovers, eventually getting married and have a child and happily ever after. That’s it. Why 323 pages for just that? 😒 And the writing style of this book is very difficult for me to read. May be it’s just me because other readers seem to love it but it is flat for me. 😭 There is literally no plot twist. NONE! I keep thinking there’d at least be one conspiracy seeing that Sabina, Prosper’s sister, is very malicious. What an anticlimactic character! 😑 I think the story has a lot of potential since the world setting and the portrait of MCs are very interesting. 😌 But the lack of personality for the MCs and the fact that there’s no plot twist made this novel fell short. I would have loved this book much much more if it’s 200 pages shorter since they were literally everyday dialogues. I do feel like I achieved a huge accomplishment since I was able to finish this read though. And like I said, it was a decent read but I wish it was more. ~ *sigh* ~ 😌


Favorite excerpts from the novel: 💙💚💙

“I am here because I wish to be. Because it is my destiny,” he whispered.”

“Prosper realised that, beyond wanting to make love to this boy in his clutches, he wanted to protect and care for him. If cold, he would warm him. If he hungered, he would feed him. If unwell, he would care for him.”

“Now he knew why he took the risk of accepting the beauty beside him into his life. This boy was his life mate. Though rarely human, this boy was the one person in the world who understood and had the capability of loving him.”

“The knowledge was instinctive, when a soul spoke to another soul. No outward appearance mattered when it came to a life mate; only the nature of the soul. They completed each other, in a way that extended beyond the physical.”

“You are my home now… my true north… my compass. Without you I am nothing,”

“I need you, Prosper. Not my King, a vampire, nor a ruler. I need my man. The man who loves me. The man I love,”
 

3.5 I wanna love it more stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

[Arch Bala · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been reading a lot of MPREG books these past few months and I’ve to say this has one of the most unique premises so far and I just loved it! The story was told from multiple POVs where each character has unique voices throughout the book (so it doesn’t get confusing.) There are two main sub-plot involving royal twin vamps and two “human” companions but the story of Prosper (vampire king) and his human companion, Spencer is the focus of the story.

Spencer is deaf and has adoptive parents. When he was fourteen, he went to the prophetess to have his fate read. He was given two choices – a path to death and that of love. His dark and bleak world turned for the better when the vampire king Prosper took him as its companion. Prosper became horribly disfigured after his father’s failed experiments and lives in the shadow until he stumbled upon Spencer who became a beacon for change not only about himself but everything around them.

This one isn’t exactly a short novel – it is rather long but it reads fairly quick because everything in it happens so fast. It may sound a bit odd to say that it’s not historical but it does sound like one based on their speech but there’s a reason behind it and I think it’s a promising plot to explore if ever the author ventured more into this world. It was a bit dystopian-ish but not quite.

I loved all of the characters in it even the evil sister of the vampire twins. Sienna’s a great character but well underdeveloped if I may say. The only reason I’m docking a star off this book is because I was waiting for the big reveal, a twist or some major conflict that will stir shit up which I thought will be caused by Sienna. Alas, it didn’t happen. I mean, I liked that Elaine didn’t see the need to venture into that but I wished it wasn’t just all smooth flowing for our characters.

To finish this off, I’d just like to say (again) that the setting of this story is truly wonderful and I’d love to see more of these characters in the future. Again, wonderful writing from Elaine who gave us The Cellist (one of my favorite reads from last year) and this one will surely tickle the readers who loved their sexy-broody-bloodsuckers! Recommended!

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest and impartial review.

[Gerbera_Reads]

DNF at 16%

The book should have been great. I love the story where one character is scarred and the other accepts him and the scars don't matter. But, damn, second chapter and it's love, destiny and moonbeams? The writing was too flowery and my eyes kept rolling so much. There were things to like: vampires living out in the open, sort of post-apocalyptic world even though there was no indication where the events were happening, so the world-building was okay. But the narrative veered from fairy tale to insta love with an attempt on passion that will light everything on fire. The only thing on fire was my brain unfortunately. So not the book for me.

[jessica ☾ · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 20%. I did not like this at all, the characters were very confusing to keep straight and I had a very difficult time remembering who was who. Everything felt very sloppy and rushed. I’ve seen several glowing reviews about this book though, so I’m extremely confused as to what I’m missing out on.

[Riayl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have four pages of rambling notes - in lime ink, no promises on coherency.

I read this book yesterday and, in a move that is rare for me, wrote notes right afterwards.

This book has some big problems. Abuse of commas - not that I will say much about that here, because anyone who has read anything I've ever written knows that I abuse them horribly. Hopefully not quite as badly as in this book, but I won't hold my breath. Er, anyhow, more on that and probably a lot of stuff I will forget to mention despite the four pages of notes, can be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The world building doesn't make any sense, lacks continuity and there is a lot of tell and not show. You might wonder why I threw that last part in. It all winds together. The author tells us something at the beginning. Then a little later she shows us something. Then later she tells us something else. What we are shown almost never supports what the author has told us. I prefer for an author to show and not tell. But, if what you are telling supports what little you have been showing, or at least doesn't contradict it, I can fill in the blanks and still be pretty happy with a story. On the other hand, if everything you actually show seems to contradict everything you have told my brain refuses to go along with it.

Let the rambling begin.

At the start of the book Spencer goes to the see the prophetess when he is just 14. Generally she wouldn't see someone with no money, etc, but for some reason she decides to see Spencer. She tells him, paraphrased because I am lazy, that he will either die in the streets before reaching adulthood or he will die before his 20th birthday but live a long and happy life (vampires, folks, vampires). She also warns him to beware of the golden girl who will seek to harm him.

He goes on his way secure in the knowledge that he will have a man to love and a child of his own blood, as long as he doesn't fubar things. Now, it should be noted that being gay is not cool among the humans. No, wait, first I should say that I think this book is supposed to be in the future of our world? (But, like, don't quote me on that because I was often hella confused over stuff.) And something is going wrong with the sun? Er, it's dying? Or just dimming, or who the hell knows? So the vampires came out of secrecy years ago to tell the humans this, but you know us humans, we suck. So things go bad. And...so now most people live like it is Victorian times (carriages and such, y'know).

Right away I'm not understanding. If we are losing the sun then we are going to be losing plants and if we lose plants we are losing the herbivores and if we lose the herbivores we lose the omnivores and carnivores and once we lose all of that we starve to death...so it makes no sense that we are now relying on horses to pull carriages? Or...were there actually horses pulling the carriages? I have no idea now, I suppose I just assumed? *ponders* Well, either way, less sun means less plants means less animals means, eventually, the end of humans and the end of humans would mean the end of vampires. I is confused. *head tilt*

My thought at the time: You know what, I'm just gonna go with it and keep reading.

Our darling Spencer is gay. And deaf. But we don't find out he is deaf until a little later, I guess as a clever surprise since no one realized it before? *more head tilting* In this world, the human part of it, at least, being gay is a no-no. I don't actually remember there being any mention of lesbians, only gay men. There are no lesbians in this world? They don't matter because this is a m/m mpreg book? I just missed that part?

Those of his own persuasion often took up life as a brothel worker, because no gay man had ever been employed in another trade.

Again, my brain is wondering why? I've always wondered, when reading these apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic type stories why so many people choose to keep homophobia and discrimination intact. If you are looking at a world that is dying you don't want to strain the resources by adding a lot more people so wouldn't that make same sex pairings more desirable? Which is neither here, nor there, really, but it is something that boggles my mind. I suppose the idea in most books is that when things go to crap people flock to religion and so homophobia and discrimination, if not outright torture and murder of gay people, would soar? That is not the case in this book, though. As far as I can remember religion isn't really mentioned? (The amount of question marks should indicate the depth of my confusion.)

Where was I? (And are there even enough characters available for this mess of a review?) Right, so his only option of a job, should it become known that he is gay, is to work in a brothel. Later we find out that as a young, deaf, gay, poor, vulnerable boy/man who had a nasty brothel owner trying to grab him and forcibly employ him, he would secretly visit a friend in the brothel and watch the goings on and there was a brothel visitor? who fell in love with one of the workers? and taught both that young man and Spencer all there is to know about medical training, before he was nineteen!!!! *awe and inspired* Again question marks indicate my confusion, I read the text but was still in a bit of confusion over how it all worked and I am too lazy to dig through 300 pages to find that particular one. I did mention it to my husband and he said "what an amazing young man, to learn that medical knowledge in five years or less, all while scrounging for food, watching others have sex, minding his younger sister, AND avoiding scummy brothel owners."

To be clear, I am not saying a gay person, or a deaf person, or a deaf gay person couldn't do such a thing, I'm saying in this world as it is written it seems fairly impossible for anyone to manage all of that, gay, straight, hearing or deaf.

Spencer goes home with Prosper the vampire king, and they both immediately know they are meant to be. Okay, it IS a vampire mpreg story, I can roll with that. Out of concern for Spencer's family, because they are super poor, Prosper sends one of his servants to give them some money until everyone can be moved to Prosper's actual home, as right now he is staying at his sister's.

I'm jumping around a bit in when we acquire knowledge. Later in the book we find out that Spencer was adopted (his biological parents are both vampires, even though vampires haven't been able to have their own children for a while - I think). For nineteen years his adopted parents have loved him, protected him, sacrificed for him. They got him special teaching tools so that he would be able to speak "normally" or more accurately "as a hearing person speaks". Which, diverging for a moment (hopefully I'll remember to go back to the original topic) was another confusing thing. The author gave the impression, if not outright said that people with any disabilities or illness were "culled". So despite pressure from others, his adoptive parents kept him, and were somewhat well-off, not rich but not starving until they used most of their money to take care of Spencer and get the special study tools. Then the author says at another point that though folks with disabilities & illnesses used to be culled, that was frowned on now. Er, so were his parents really awesome for refusing to conform and have him killed or whatever, or was that actually not a thing they had to worry about?

Either way, they loved him, cared for him, sacrificed for him, for nineteen years and when they had a child of their own, they continued to love and care for him instead of throwing him out. Yet, when he goes to visit them after he has been with Prosper for a while (a week?), his little sister treats him coldly.

“Mamma. Papa. I am home,” Spencer called out, instantly catching April's attention.
She looked up and continued playing. He could not not help but frown; they had always been close. When had he left the house and not returned to a heart-warming hug from his sister?
Troubled, Spencer crossed and knelt beside her. “April…it is Spencer.” He smiled at the little girl, wondering if his appearance had changed so much that his own sister did not recognise him. But she looked at him, blankly.
“I know who you are. You were sold as a slave. You should not run from your Master,” April chastised him.
Spencer stared at this seven year old child who had read the situation incorrectly. Had he not told his parents, when he left, that he would become a companion to the King? He had never said slave and had not been sold to Prosper.

She's seven years old. *throws hands up* It makes no sense that she would treat him that way. When he goes in to kitchen to see his parents they don't look at him and basically brush him off. Throughout all of this Spencer is noting how nice the house looks now and how much new stuff is there and how nice his parents are dressed, etc.

Later, Prosper feels guilty, it is all because he gave them money that they were (obviously) kidnapped by aliens and replaced with pod people.

WTF? Nineteen years of loving and sacrificing and you give them some money and now they turn their backs? How does that even make sense?

Moving on. Prosper's siblings. Parry. The first few scenes with Parry I was absolutely sure he was a bad guy. He absolutely came across as creepy, entitled and into emotional torture. But no, he ends up being Prosper and Spencer's best friend and delivers their baby and it's all happy good times.

Sienna, the sister. She is spoiled and entitled and selfish. She also has blond hair. We are told about a past incident with a servant where she almost drained the girl. In the process of saving the girl, Prosper infected his sister. With what? Hell if I know. Prosper's vampire father (not his blood father - Sienna is not his blood sister, but Parry is his actual twin) toyed with alchemy and a potion of his did horrible things to Prosper. He has burns and scars that vampire healing can't fix and occasionally new ones crop up. (Yes, I'm condensing, running out of characters. lol) Sooo, he worries about what he can do to others but is sort of totally not caring that he has done something to his sister. She is healing though.

Other than the telling of that story about the servant, Sienna never does anything evil. At one point she thinks to herself that she needs to get rid of Spencer, but I'm not sure she even thinks kill, just get rid of. But no one else knows about it and she NEVER acts on it. Yet she is treated as evil. Later she apologizes to Prosper. And he refuses to forgive her and basically washes his hands of her. But all we've got to go on is her thoughts of not wanting to lose her brothers, granted they are all pretty selfish thoughts, and her one thought of getting rid of Spencer. Then we have what seems to be a genuine apology. Then we have Prosper not forgiving her, and thinking to himself that he knows it isn't genuine.

But it didn't read that way!!! *so much frustration*

Then Spencer's real parents come into things and his mom has blonde hair. And I think, wait! Maybe they author has done something really clever and all this time she has set Sienna up as the bad guy but it will end up being Spencer's blood mother and maybe she'll even give Sienna chance to somewhat redeem herself. That would be so cool!

Nope.

His parents are super special and super sweet and super lovey towards him and Sienna is the bad guy WHO NEVER DOES ANYTHING but whine and stomp off feeling sorry for herself.

The pregnancy. Spencer is sure he will be able to get pregnant. So they can't get married yet because to get married they have to turn Spencer and if they turn Spencer he can't get pregnant. Then he gets pregnant. Then they are going to get married anyway, or not, or I don't know. But they get married and then they are going to turn Spencer because he and the baby won't survive otherwise, except you know, for the whole we can't turn you or get married until after you have the baby because it isn't safe thing. So they turn Spencer. Only shouldn't that have turned the baby, too? If not then why the drama over not turning him, obviously it worked?

IDEK.

*so tired*



Here's the thing, I don't think it was terrible. I think this author has a wonderful imagination and some fun stories to tell. But I also think there needs to be some serious work on world building. It needs to be consistent and believable on the surface at the very least.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon today (1/8/2020)! 🎁

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book, it hooked me right from the very first pages. The story is intriguing and catching, you can't get enough of it and its amazing characters. Adorable Spencer, he will crawl under your Skin and right to your heart. First you think he will be get the worst fate ever, but meeting the Vampire King Prosper, phew, you can almost see the sparks fly. But will Spencer be strong enough to show and convince Prosper of his true feelings and love for him? And will Prosper find his inner strength to give in to sweet Spencer?
The whole story is amazing and just has it all. The MPreg part is great and logic, nothing too strange or awefully explained, I liked that really much. I will reread it some time soon, for sure!!

[Brittany Gale · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is different than what I normally read but I am in love with this story and this author. At first I didn't know if I liked when the story switched perspectives from different characters, but in the end it makes the most sense so that the reader gets all of the perspectives to understand what is going on in the minds of the major characters involved. This is such as an amazing story that I am so happy that Elaine decided to share this with us as she was unsure whether or not to share this as it is an Mpreg, and it is one of the best ones I have read. So I just want to say Thank You Elaine.

[Cheryl B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful love story

This is a wonderful story that is about love without the angst. Spencer is sweet and selfless and Prosper is a damaged hero who isn't afraid to love and show it. This book is really well written and doesn't let you down

[Tanisha Richards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spectacular

Multiple story lines that flowed together well. Just the right amount of angst to keep the story interesting. Can't wait for the next book.

[Tamika♥RBF MOOD♥]

DNF @ 37%

It's so me and the book not working together.

[Ashley D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spencer is struggling in the world. Being deaf means, he has no value to the world; that is what he has been told his whole life. When he is thirteen, he visits a prophetess against his parent's wishes. She sets him on his path, and five years later, his path leads him to Prosper. Prosper is the king of vampires, but he only sees himself as a monster because he was disfigured while still a human, so it carries over into his vampire form.

Spencer and Prosper have some issues with self-image, but they both have to learn to lean on each other. Spencer's family seems excellent at the start of the book, but as you see them later, you know more and realize that truly isn't the case. Prosper's twin brother was great, while his sister was a bit crazy throughout the book. I enjoyed the book and look forward to other books in the series.

[Kizmet · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't normally write reviews but I felt I had to with this one.

This book has so many contradictions that it hurts my brain trying to figure out what really is happening in this book. I hate, and I mean HATE when I have to re-read over paragraphs to make sense of a story. I even had to go back pages because the world, character or plot suddenly goes through a twilight zone and becomes something completely different.

I'll give several examples and then I will call it quits on this book.

The reason I'm focusing on these examples is they really made me scratch my head is dismay.

First, Parry who is a vampire; is talking to his sister about a new servant that recently came to work for them. She is amused by his interest in said servant. Parry tells her "You must curb your attraction to humans. They are such weak creatures." And he calls it a foolish talk about liking a human in such a way. Then on the next page he talks about his very strong feels about said servant: But if he required courting, then Parry would work hard to gain his love an loyalty. So.. in reality, (which is not kept a secret mind you) his interest in the servant has gone beyond mild curiosity but wanting a real relationship with him... Then why all this talk about how little he views humans? I just don't get it.

Another example I will share is when Prosper and Spencer the main characters, are overwhelmed by lust. Which is fairly normal in most romance type books but still... Here we have Prosper and his little monologue: Before he could rethink his decision, he kissed the boy deeply... He had never shared a kiss with someone before and did not know the proper etiquette on how long to wait before a simple brush of lips was not enough ... I have no words... How can you kiss deeply and only just barely be touching lips? Not only, just touching lips slightly but hoping said boy he is kissing will respond to him? That to me is that farthest from kissing deeply that I have ever heard of. Besides, the vampire is rather old. How can he not kissed before? I just find that... unlikely.

Continuing on, we are still in that little kissing scene where things have heated. Prosper forced his hands to still, refusing to let them wonder. He had no right. The lad had offered his blood freely, not his body... Prosper used his mind to disintegrate their clothing and allowed their naked bodies to touch. Okay, sure why not. Obviously, removing the persons clothes and allowing your naked bodies to touch is less sexual then allowing your hands to slide down a persons side when they are clothed. Huh... that a new one.

I just couldn't continue at that point. It makes no sense and the contradictions are horrible.

[Zane Kage · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a compelling story with the depth and detail I've come to look forward to from this author.Though Spencer and Prosper are the MCs and the story is largely about their romance, the other characters held my attention just as much. I'm not usually a fan of mpreg, but I'm glad I took a chance on this one. I felt it was done in a way that fit the story and its characters, and I enjoyed it. Spencer and Prosper were really sweet, and they worked their way into my heart! I look forward to reading the novellas to be released for the other characters' stories.

[MzBond · Rating 2 out of 5]

After an awkward start that made me throw up in my mouth a little bit, the story settled into itself. What it had that I didn't care for is completely unexplained phenomena. I could let it pass if this was set up as a complete alt world where these things are the background, but not when the anomalies are anomalies to even the characters in the book. Not when biology and physiology were such a part of the story itself. I found myself skimming through pages for dialogue in the last 3-4 chapters because I just wanted to be over already.

[Nic · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really cute story. Spencer was adorable and sweet and honestly throughout the story I kept forgetting that he was deaf and was only reading lips. Prosper was strong, protective, possessive while at the same time vulnerable. Spencer was good for Prosper. I enjoyed the supporting cast such as Prosper's brother Parry.

[David Wakeley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, with well paced character development

Creative, entertaining, inspiring and romantic!! Of course, sexy, loving mm passion, a spectacular love story in a paranormal environment which allows for opportunities to explore human emotions without constricting boundaries. I thoroughly enjoyed E. White's talented storytelling.

[Gabrielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet and simple, perfect when you just want to feel good.

[Violet Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book in The Royal Series. A fascinating book the writing was good. The plot was slightly confusing on what it was, but it was steady throughout the book. I found the story and characters intriguing. The characters were developed and thought out. Prosper a vampire and Spencer a human and they are the MC’s of this book. With secondary characters Parry, Davian, and Sienna, I think that some of the confusion was that it was a back and forth between Prosper & Spencer and then Parry & Davian with a little of Sienna thrown in. There wasn’t enough separation between the two couples. I felt a bit cheated like I didn’t get enough of either couple by themselves without the other taking up their time. I often find that trying to put two or more couples stories in one book doesn’t work that they need their own book. And this was the case for this one. I like the couples and the differences in them but just don’t feel like I got their individual stories just partials. There was humor, humans, vampire, family, deafness, scars, a king, life mate, new friends, Mpreg, missing parents, birth, sex and so much more in this book.

Here is a quote from the book, “When the Mistress took ill, Jael came here as she has training as a nurse. The silly woman wishes to return to him, as soon as the Mistress is well again.” Eamon disapproved. “She is not valued as you are by the Master. Her Master does not love her and never will’ his life mate died many decades ago and Jael is nothing more than a human replacement. When she is too old, he will cast her aside and find another,” he rambled on, clearly trying to make a point.”. There is more but you will need to read the book which I can recommend it is worth a read, you may not have the problems that I did. The story idea was good and likeable. I voluntarily read an advance copy of this book for an honest review.

[Becca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a sweet book. Full of romance and love. One of those feel good books that just make you smile. In a world full of crap, it is just so nice to sit down with a book that makes you want to glow with love.

With a great cast of characters in this book, my favorites are hard to pick. I love them all in different ways. Spencer, I think if I had to pick, would be the favorite though. Being poor and deaf, his world was a struggle. He felt so alone because people would ridicule him or make him feel worthless. But he hung on to hope. He had a hope that one day life would be better. To see if his hope was warranted, he visited a prophetess. She gives him two roads that he can take, but he has to choose. At thirteen and with not much hope for work, he sets out to get food for his family and crosses paths with a man who will change his life.

Spencer is my favorite because no matter what he's been through he still sees the good in people. Feeling worthless and alone himself, he knows life can be cruel but he still holds on to hope. And when he crosses paths with Prosper, he knows his hope is warranted. He just has to hold on. Five years later, fate has given him his dream. Prosper is affected by Spencer the moment he lays eyes on him. But being a disfigured vampire, he figures Spencer will want nothing to do with him. But oh does Spencer surprise him. Spencer doesn't see a monster. He doesn't see the disfigurement. He sees a lonely man who he feels is his destiny. I love that about Spencer. He sees the soul of a person. And it's beautiful how much his soul shines. Spencer brings out the best in everyone around him because of it. Everyone wants to warm themselves in his light.

It is beautiful to see how Spencer brings Prosper out of his shell. Prosper has been so lonely for so long. Because of his disfigurement, he's never known the touch of a loved one. He's always hid in the shadows where people won't cringe or hide away from him. But Prosper’s soul is beautiful. He just wants love and to be loved. He cares for so many being the King. He is compassionate and giving and always tries to do the right thing. Even if it means punishment. When he meets Spencer, he knows he has found his lifemate and you can’t help but be happy and over the moon for him.

This is a definite feel good book. Lots of love to spread around on those days when sometimes life just gets too much. Or even on good days. Happy reading!

[caroline wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 for me
enjoyed this book, this author was new to me. I liked the characters Spencer and Prosper. This was set in a world where vampires are in charge, prosper being the king. When he comes across a boy being propositioned by a seedy individual he saves him not realising until years later how important Spencer will become to him. Prosper is jaded and like a dark ship in the night due to his condition so is closed off from people, so Spencer is a ray of sunshine when he accepts him wholly for himself.
Spencer should of been culled at birth due to his deafness as in their society they are seen as worthless. After a traumatic uncovering of his past, I really felt for him when he finally knew that his parents were horrible and had virtually abandoned him for monetary value.
As I said I enjoyed this book and would re-read though there were a few little quibbles I had with the book and I felt at the beginning I was confused wondering what Spencer's condition was and why he was reviled, at first thinking maybe it was due to him being gay and that it wasn't accepted until much later on when it came out about him being deaf. Another issue was that we were led to believe that Spencer would have to beware of a golden girl who would seek to harm him but in fact there wasn't much of a baddie.
A good read with an interesting concept.

[Yvonne · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 32% Just a few rambling thoughts on this. I can read dub con and non con but when the story is supposed to be romantic some behaviour is just creepy. The king's brother has the hots for one of the servants who doesn't really want to have anything to do with him 'cause he's afraid of vampires. Servant enters room when king's brother is masturbating, he tells servant to sit on bed with him while he finishes. Honestly! Oh and the king constantly referring to Spencer as 'the child' really put me off. I figured I had wasted enough time when the king's driver, whom he valued highly, didn't have enough money to hire a midwife. It had been mentioned several times the king was wanting to improve the living conditions of his people and then he doesn't even pay his chauffeur a proper wage. This of course results in the king's new companion,Spencer who is 19 yrs old, to come to the rescue and assist in the birth because he apparently has extensive medical training. WTF!
Apart from this the story was a mess. I read a sample before buying and that was quite good but it deteriorated rapidly.

[Arkonyte · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC

I liked the dual love stories but the focus being mostly on the main couple of Prosper and Spencer. I love that our main characters have disabilities and they see past this in each other. although the first part of book happens over a few days I felt like it was happening over more time and so when later it jumps ahead months at a time it was a bit jarring. Over all I really enjoyed the love story, since both characters are somewhat innocent, especially how they even had a few awkward moments even amidst their passion very fun and pulls you in.

The world that was built up I definitely looking forward to learning more about in the future books it is interesting. I was hoping for a smoother birth but hopefully with all the research being done by the family it will be better for others.

Also I was a little disappointed in Sienna's character hopefully she becomes a redemptive character in the future, and she really didn't feel like much of antagonist.

[Complicated Contradiction · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved the romance between Prosper and Spencer. Their scenes were really well written. But the story felt incomplete. The constant POV change was a slight put off. The book didn't have much of a pace though.

It seemed like the entire story took place inside the house itself. A little humour here and there would have helped. The world they inhabited sounds interesting but the author didn't delve too much into it.

And the entire thing with Sienna seemed absurd. It's not like she caused harm or anything. The entire book book had very few characters. And the characters didn't have a lot to say preferred to think to themselves in long monologues. Interaction between them was too little for my liking.

But the love between the leads cannot be denied. And that was what made reading this book a pleasure.

[DJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I normally do reviews of LGBTQIA historical romances, and while I knew this wasn't technically in that genre, it checked off enough boxes for me to read and decide to review. I stopped and started on this novel quite a bit, because although I did like the two love stories, things got a bit too saccharine sweet for me at certain moments. The concept and some of the writing ideas were very original, but I felt like some of the possibly compelling story arcs went nowhere--tell me more about Spencer's parents and why they had him adopted, have the bitterness of Sienna actually go somewhere, and please explain to me how a non-human/but then made into a vampire male can get pregnant/stay that way, without a womb? This novel ended up being like a m/m pseudo-historical Twilight.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a bit difficult to rate, as I have read this author before, and absolutely adored her writing. This book, unfortunately, really did not have me hooked. With the grammar, punctuation errors and plot holes, I feel that maybe this book should go through a couple more rounds of beta readers. That would be my suggestion. There was just too much conflicting actions/words in the book that really confused me as a reader. The premise is a good one; it just hasn't reached its potential yet.

[Esther Alayeto · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good story concept with intriguing characters set in a future world where vampires rule. Prosper is the King and he believed no one would ever love him because of his disfigurement. Spencer, who was born deaf, is an amazing character who has always wanted a family of his own and who has always felt an attraction towards Prosper. When Prosper and Spencer get together, it truly changes Prosper's life. Can Spencer convince Prosper that his feelings are true so they have their HEA.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of THE best

series/book I've read. It constantly held my attention. So many facets. I kept wanting more!! This book had everything I was looking for. AND it was long but never lacking or boring.
My favorite part is while there was sex, it was *not* the main part. Sex is vital, but doesn't need to be consistent to make a good story.

I've gone on to read other books by this author. I hope there will be more in this series. I'm sorry it took so long to find her!!

[Kelli D · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF 2%

I wanted to like this book as the blurb wounded amazing. But when you tell me one of the MC's is deaf and then has conversations with people where there is no mention of lip reading and the other character has their arm around his shoulder so not even set up to lip read is off putting.