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The Comforts
A future world that behaves hauntingly like the past, an island ruled by a wicked king, a forbidden love between a prince and his Comfort – this story will have you falling in love in the opening chapters. The Comforts is the story of Talia, a young woman brought up to be a courtesan for those of noble birth. When Prince Bryce chooses Talia to be his Comfort, she can only hope he’s not as vile as his father. But she’ll soon find out what sort of man he is … one she can’t help but fall in love with. When the prince attends the annual Harvest Ball, it’s only to appease his father. He has no intention of bidding on a virgin Comfort. He finds the ceremony antiquated and in poor taste. But when he sees Talia on stage, he’s drawn to her beauty – to her fire. He finds himself choosing her. Offering to protect her. He has but one request … things can’t get too complicated.
221 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 28, 2018
2 people want to read
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May 28, 2020
Call me weird, but I love reading and writing stories about human societies with a power imbalance. How do people handle it when they have power (as Prince Bryce does in this book)? Or when they're trapped in a rigidly described societal role that gives them none (like Talia is as a Comfort)? How does navigating that power imbalance change your life and relationships, and what happens when someone shakes up your worldview?
The Comforts are part Margaret Atwood's Handmaids and part Companions from Firefly. I was expecting a story that was a bit more “thoughtful examination of human society with a romance at it's heart” and a little less “I fell in love with a handsome prince against the backdrop of a flawed, monarchical society.” I'd classify this as a romance novel first and foremost with a medium-high level of heat. That's more of an observation than a complaint, though, since I ended up really liking the relationship between Talia and Bryce. I did skim over a few of the sex scenes because there were quite a few of them and they were a bit spicier than I felt like reading.
My reason for giving this book 4 stars instead of 5 was the writing style. I don't like it when authors switch between two characters' points of view in the same scene, especially when it's to tell us information (e.g. we're in Talia's head and then suddenly the narrator's voice drops in to say, “Bryce felt like this because he was keeping a secret from her”). I'd much rather get each scene from just one characters' perspective and learn about them as we see how they react to things and what they worry about rather than having a narrator step in and just tell us what they're feeling. It bugged me enough to pull me out of the story a few times. Overall, though, this is an enjoyable read with a happy ending.
The Comforts are part Margaret Atwood's Handmaids and part Companions from Firefly. I was expecting a story that was a bit more “thoughtful examination of human society with a romance at it's heart” and a little less “I fell in love with a handsome prince against the backdrop of a flawed, monarchical society.” I'd classify this as a romance novel first and foremost with a medium-high level of heat. That's more of an observation than a complaint, though, since I ended up really liking the relationship between Talia and Bryce. I did skim over a few of the sex scenes because there were quite a few of them and they were a bit spicier than I felt like reading.
My reason for giving this book 4 stars instead of 5 was the writing style. I don't like it when authors switch between two characters' points of view in the same scene, especially when it's to tell us information (e.g. we're in Talia's head and then suddenly the narrator's voice drops in to say, “Bryce felt like this because he was keeping a secret from her”). I'd much rather get each scene from just one characters' perspective and learn about them as we see how they react to things and what they worry about rather than having a narrator step in and just tell us what they're feeling. It bugged me enough to pull me out of the story a few times. Overall, though, this is an enjoyable read with a happy ending.
Displaying 1 of 1 review