Review: The Prince

The Prince by Tiffany Reisz

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



This is a must read book. Each book in this series is better than the previous one. The Prince is absolutely amazing! Nora is visiting Wes in all his royalty glory. As the Prince of Kentucky, his ancestral home is in a palace. He on the other hand, like any twenty year old male doesn't want to live at home with his parents. Instead, he stays in the guest house which is a converted slave quarters. How very fitting.

Nora believes it was her decision to come down to spend time with Wes. In actuality, Søren sends her to Wes to keep her safe. The past is coming to haunt Søren and he wants his most treasured possession to be protected. But who is his most prized possession? Nora or Kingsley?

This story is once again built in multiple layers. There is a plot within a plot. Or perhaps multiple threads which weave in and out into an absolutely fantastic picture. Ms. Reisz does an excellent job of bringing the reader along for a wild ride. The reader is treated to how Søren and Kingsley first met. It's a moving story and explains so very much. Kingsley's love for Søren and their dream trinity union when they were young is so perfect. Fast forward to current time and while all the players for the trinity are correct, it isn't fitting as they planned. This dark menage is lopsided because it's not exactly a triad. And for these three, Søren, Kingsley and Nora, the imbalance is what makes this triangle so weak. It's sad too, since each of theses characters are so strong in their own right. Yet when combined, it's not a beautiful harmony I hear. Instead, it's cacophony of sorrowful strings punctuated by shrill clashes of the cymbal and a lone trumpet.

The characters in this story are utterly endearing and engaging. Not a single person is fully good or bad. I've fallen more deeply in love with Søren. Every book about him reveals his powerful essence. Just reading about him makes me weak in the knees with desires of submission. It is not hard to imagine Kingsley giving Søren everything, including his life if Søren demanded it. Learning more about Kingsley and his background only impresses me more. Kingsley is the embodiment of unrequited love. He is quite the masochist just as Søren is the perfect sadist. Adding Nora's confused desires into the mix only creates more chaos. Why doesn't she realize Wesley is not for her?

My hope was for Nora to final come to her sense. Ms. Reisz writes the story in a manner where it leads me to think, Nora finally sees that this is not the life for her. Being with Wes is not right. Her rightful place is with Søren and Kingsley. But no, the book takes twists and turns, making my gut clenching in anxiety. I'm not a fan of Wes because he's trying to force Nora into something she is not. I find this abhorrent. If he truly loved her, he wouldn't be placing these conditions on her, yet he does. His lack of maturity (which is justified due to his lack of age and experience) drives me batty. Yet he is so bloody sweet and innocent. He's really quite a lovely young man. But he's so wrong for Nora and everyone but he sees this.

I feel for Wes' parents because they can see how badly this will end up yet they won't forbid it because it will only make Wes want it more. He's once again rather the spoiled child. He is only considering his needs and wants and forcing them upon Nora. It's depressing yet completely understandable. When Nora breaks him again, I fear Wes will need to go to therapy for years. Although his experience with Nora should be cherished.

I digress. I'm not going to touch upon the suspense part of this story because it would be too much of a spoiler. Instead, I'm going to jump right into the BDSM. The BDSM scenes in this story are once again masterfully done. Ms. Reisz is one of the best erotic sadist writers around. They way she describes the scenes, it feels as if the reader is there. It's vivid and makes me wish I was into impact pain. The amount of physical beating Kingsley and Nora pay as dues for the pleasures of Søren's lovemaking blows my mind. This is definitely not the light kinky stuff. It's the intense hard scenes which are actually more common in the BDSM subculture than one thinks. I'm not saying this happens every night and every week for those in the BDSM scene. I am saying that these depictions are pretty accurate. I've seen the marks after some intense caning, floggings and whippings. It's just as Ms. Reisz described. I've seen the after photos of blood play of acquaintance where the bathtub ran red with blood. While this can be frightening, Ms. Reisz did an amazing job of explaining the allure and showing how it can be erotic. I'm very impressed. This is a must read book. Don't wait. Buy it now and read it. I highly recommend this book to BDSM readers who want character development, plot and mind-blowing BDSM.

*Reviewed on www.netgalley.com*

View all my reviews