Originally written as a serial, the book is sometimes very wordy. That said, I found the story to be very entertaining. Loaded with intrigue, magic giving man on man sex and a well developed main characters. I liked the world building and the magic aspect of the story. The book does end on a cliffhanger so have book two on hand even though the price is kind of steep for what is primarily porn. ( )

In a way, The Prince’s Boy by Cecilia Tan is an old fashioned novel… now people are thinking what the hack I’m saying, a BDSM fantasy gay romance couldn’t be “old fashioned”. Yes, you are right, but I was more referring to the plot development than the theme of the story; I still remember my literature classes, when I read about the Charles Dickens or Alexander Dumas’s novels, this books were serialized in weekly magazines, and readers were eagerly waiting for the next instalment since the author always left them hanging on some edge, often with the life of the main characters in danger. That was the main rule, maintaining the attention of the reader very high, and that is the reason why, to a today reader, who reads the story from beginning to the end, sometime it results in a rollercoast reading, from low to high every chapter, with your heart that is bumping up and down with the misadventures of the heroes.

Also the theme doesn’t help, the story of prince Kenet and his whipping boy Jorin; a whipping boy is basically the shadow of a child prince, chosen to take the punishment on behalf of the prince since no one can touch him. To Kenet, who at the beginning considers Jorin like his own property, like a dear puppy, seeing the young boy being punished is worse than taking the punishment himself. Kenet and Jorin will grew in a symbiotic way, sharing everything, including their bodies when they reach puberty. I like their relationship, but I feel like something has to change for them to be a real couple. I haven’t yet read the second part of this saga, so I actually don’t know what the epilogue will be, but at this moment, while I love both of them, Kenet and Jorin, I feel like they need a stronger hand, so, or one of the two will take this role, or they need someone else outside they tight bond.

Kenet and Jorin don’t have an easy development on their story, they will be separated, they will have various sexual partners, willingly and unwillingly, but I think that this is all part of their development, they are learning from each of these partners. Be aware, there is non-con sex, heavy BDSM not in a safe context and even if it serves them to grow up in a better man, not always I felt like Kenet, and above all Jorin, enjoyed their submissive role. So no, this is not a pretty story, even if the small solace was that I have never felt like there was no hope for Kenet and Jorin.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1613900090/?tag=elimyrevandra-20