Valentin has earned the title of vampire prince. But status and age haven’t brought him love. When his blood craving grows too demanding to be ignored, he goes to the blood house and finds himself entranced by the spirited Sebastian.
Their passion is strong, their connection to each other undeniable. Sebastian wants to be Valentin’s, and Valentin wants to keep Sebastian—forever. The danger of giving the blood slave his freedom is high and the price might be both their lives.
"Everyone needs some brain candy once in a while."
What do you get when you mix the Vampire Diaries (minus the whiny teens--on second thought these vampires in the book were on the melodramatic/ cutesy side for being so old), the Care Bears (there must be a Sugar Gumdrop Care Bear that can also drop fang) and Benny Hill-like antics from paranormal folk?
Why, "Vampire Prince" by S.J. Frost, of course.
Twenty year old blood & forced sex slave Sebastian has not see daylight in three years. He's a kidnapped runaway forced to service vampires any way they want on threat of death in a blood slave whore-house type of establishment. The bricked walls, rape and harsh life is getting to him and he longs for death to end his hellish life. His life went from crap (his parents are homophobic bigots who kicked teen Sebastian out for being gay) to crappier (abuse from vampire patrons and evil housemaster Wesley and cronies). One night changes his life when a vampire British prince, Valentin Wyndham, comes into the shabby establishment because he was too hungry to resist paying for a meal. Valentin is dazzled by Sebastian and can't help but show Sebastian a bit of kindness. He seduces, treats Sebastian like a human and listens.
And whoo boy did they have hot sex too. The two start this sexy little vampire protector/ slave relationship that amps up hot sex and possessive feelings within a few days. In paranormal romances, I'm not picky about insta-love as much. And I let some sweetened practices slide sometimes too.
And this book is filled with sugar.
Lots.
Tons.
Heaps.
 |
| These vampires and other supernatural folk were basically paranormal versions of the Care Bears. See even the Bears agree with me. |
Also with a cast of characters, there's Valentin's vampire cousin and housemate, Basil who's memorable characteristic is giving Sebastian sex advice on screwing his cousin and being nice, Sal, the smack talking demon of love and other housemate, Beezle, Sal's supernatural reptilian spirit animal, a witch named Calvin, tons of jerk vampires, evil vampire cronies...tons of characters.
The plot weakened in the second half, the cast of characters adding to it. A lot of TSTL choices were made by nearly all. What saved this book? The sex and Sal.
Sal! *breathy sigh*
What a breath of much needed snarky, fresh air. He's funny, he's a ginger and a demon. Sometimes he got caught up into the cutesy, diabetic vibe of the Paranormal Care Bears crew...I mean, he's a member. But he's not as sugar laden as the other two. Plus, he has a cool pet, Beezle, creature from the other side.
My favorite Sal quote:
"He's a stiff old vamp, that's for damn sure. But maybe you're just what he needs to loosen him up. But as Baz said, it'll take a lot of patience. And lube. Lots of lube. I think that might be more important than patience."
I read there with be a sequel to this book. I plan on reading it and hope Sal is a MC. I hope he won't be injected with too much sugar and lose his sense of coolness. I'll be sad if he turns mushy like his mushy friends regardless of his demon powers.
But this story could not be carried on Sal's shoulders, sadly. It lost its steam and replaced it with sweetened mush. *pouts*
Now my issues:
- the weaker second half - once love was on the table so did the main character's common sense. Seriously, the melodramatic declarations of not living if the other one died, or a human playing martyr to save paranormal beings that could level crowds with their powers and weapons or sugar diarrhea that splattered all over with no end in sight...what happened to the strong sexy first half? That was great! The second half...eh, not so much. Plus, I start looking at Valentin, Basil and Sal as the Paranormal Care Bears because they laid their friendship-love-family shtick pretty heavy. I was okay for the first couple of mushy cheesy lines because it was kinda cute. But after the tenth time...cut it out. Even Sal commented on the mushiness. Gag me with a spoon.
- the paranormal Care Bears way of handling things - What the hell man? Valentin hinted at being this super mega bad ass with a temper. (I'll admit he did a few moves in the beginning) But he let the bad guys go and just drew out the inevitable. And then the bad guys were weak too, plotting and pushing out their chest to see who could be the lamest of the lame. (newsflash: Both Wesley and Caden were tied) But it was like reading a Benny Hill-esque version of badassery. They're just running around, breathing hot air, puffing out their chests and not getting anything done. Ugh, wimps. *rolls eyes* They talked everything to death, feelings and emotions instead of just killing anyone who messed with Sebastian. Hello, did you guys forget, you are supernatural beings, not humans?
- the mush - Yep, I'm still gagging.
- the cliches - Sweet Cheesus, I didn't put the cutesy name of Valentin and his birthday together (one guess what famous lovey-dovey holiday?) until 3/4 of the way in. C'mon! *giggles*
Despite my issues and cavities, there is a plot. Strong? I guess. And I plan on reading the sequel. And I love the Vampire Diaries (television show) and even when the gang on the show talks their way to death and make the same sweeping declarations and dedications...I still watch. And I finished this book with a smile on my face (jury's out if it was from laughing at the book or smiling at the characters). So maybe I do agree with my opening quote and the book, a little "brain candy" never hurts sometimes. The characters were decent enough, some more than others *cough*Sal*cough*. I liked the unexpected twist with Malcolm (Valentin's scorned lover). I have feeling Calvin an d Malcolm might return in future book(s). I'd also like to see this.
The story is HEA (could you expect any less from mush?), heavy on the romance, likable (sometimes eye roll worthy) characters and decent paranormal world. I do like the hierarchy of vampires and the tie British nobility rankings to age as well.
Story's readable but might be appreciated more by readers who like to mainline sugar and enjoy more humanized supernatural beings.
P.S. Being as this was a purchased book (at quite a steep price), I must comment about the poor editing. There were glaringly obvious typos that I'm shocked the editor did not pick up. This did not affect my rating but I felt it should be known.
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