This is a good story if you're in need of something soothing and relatively peaceful. I found it a bit slow, which is why I gave it an average rating; I finished it, and I liked the themes and the pirate, and the world.

I might have given it more stars, but I'm still reading the author's The Sheltered City, which is vastly more entertaining, and very weird too boot. This book pales by comparison. ( )

Three stars from me.


POSSIBLE SPOILERS

I couldn't quite figure out what was wrong with the book even while rating it. I almost liked it. I am sure I liked it. It's nicely written and I loved the universe and the characters, except for Cel. What a bitch, honestly. Throwing her brother to the wolves, convinced in her mind, that these pirates are brutal vicious monsters. Nice move, sis. I suspect she held a grudge against Prince Whatshisname or some such.

But back to my rating. It all became clear when I started tagging the book:
Adventure - almost. There was this one cliff-walk and some (very smooth) sailing.
Cross dressing - almost. There was this one "costume prank" in the beginning and one sex scene in the end.
Enemies to lovers - almost. The Pirate was not as rough and monstrous, The Prince wasn't as unwilling.
Nautical - almost. Yep, they were on a boat and they sailed. But I didn't get to see or experience it enough through any of the characters.
Rainbows and lollipops - even that fell short (thanks to Cel. I really dislike her).
Fantasy/Historical - was it? Might as well be an AU or a futuristic setting, definitely a different planet. Sci-fi then?
Pirates - almost. I mean I heard about those things a lot, but once again - did I see them doing their arrrgh-arrrgh? What a disappointment :(

I also considered:
Prisoner/kidnapping/abduction/captive - nope. None of them worked. Even "hostage" didn't really quite fit.
Dark - nope. There was one little paragraph, but it did not spread on the rest of the story.
Dub-con - nope again (see "enemies to lovers"). ( )

The Adorned is one of my favorite books I read this year, so when I saw this, I had to pick it up. I was not disapointed - it is a lovely fantasy of pirates, kingdoms and true love.

This story appealed to the Princess Bride lover in me - highly recommended! ( )

A Hearts On Fire Review

3.75 STARS--John Tristan's "The Peacock Prince" is a fast paced romance featuring a pirate lord, Dagon Blackstone and cross-dressing prince Alessander of Ael. Twenty year old prince Alessander's twin sister was betrothed to the feared pirate lord, Blackstone. As a prank the twins switched clothing for the pirates first meeting with his betrothed but the twins' plans did not go as follows...a certain princess did not hold up her end of the bargain.

And Dagon did not seem to mind as much. The novella moves fairly quickly as Alessander and Dagon travel from island to island searching for his sister. As the two men and the rest of the pirates massive crew search, Dagon and Alessander fall for one another on the seas of insta-love.

The world building was interesting enough, the prose sort of flowery. The book really put me in the mind of a bodice ripper now britches-ripper. I kept picturing though cheesy pirate historical romance novel covers with Alessander in a torn dress with his fake bosom heaving, Dagon holding onto the prince oh-so-piratey and waves crashing in the background with dolphins high finning each other while the men gaze into each other's limpid eyes while standing on a poop deck with a lot of high winds. (Can you picture it? I can.)

The story was soft and rosy, the characters were interesting enough but not as deep as I'd like and the adventure was okay, closer to medium heat when I would have appreciated some action or heat. The passion was described but I was not as invested in either main character. The author told a good story. But I would have appreciated more tension between both men, it was so inevitable they were going to be together.

Also I think Alessander was too forgiving to his sister and best friend. Regardless of the situation, that was messed up. Also I would have liked to know more of Dagon's past slave background. He didn't share as much as I would have liked. And I love me pirates...a lot. Dagon seemed more like an exalted crew member than a pirate lord of anything. So on my scale of epic pirates, I did not find him as memorable. But he was a true gentleman to Alessander the whole time.

There are a few sex scenes. They were steamy good. Everything is tied up nicely with a HEA and a couple more cross dressing scenes. Quick time stealer with not much angst for fantasy lovers.

Would I read more from this author? *pauses* Mm...yes. I would. The flow worked. The author tells a good tale." ( )