The Prince's Tawse (Saga of the Eastern Crown, Book 2)

LAUREN KESS

Publisher's Synopsis: In the Court of the Empress Regina in London, the child of Princess Consort Daniella and Imperial Prince Nikolai has been born, and Daniella's long-time servant Kiana is the child's beloved nursemaid. Dark forces, however, are at work and tragedy strikes: Kiana's father is killed saving Daniella from an assassin, leaving Kiana alone at the Court, at the mercy of the dark rulers. Worse, Kiana's brother Galen is alone, still in Persia, in the clutches of evil Queen Anca.

Kiana realizes she must save her brother, no matter what the cost, but her attempts at leaving the court are ill-fated; she is caught both trying to steal jewels to finance the escape, and then caught in the escape attempt itself. Yet, against all expectation, the Prince helps Kiana. He could have turned her over to the dark discipline of the priests of the Order Sangre, or even have had her executed; instead, he leaves all behind to make her a devil's bargain: submit to him in every way, and he himself will take her back to Persia himself.

Kiana has no choice but to agree, even though it means putting herself at the mercy of Imperial Prince Andrew. And soon, Kiana finds herself no different than her mistress: an agonie aperitiv - an "appetizer" of pain - to a dark vampire Prince.

But unlike her mistress, she could never learn to love one such as he. Could she?

Publisher's note: The Prince's Tawse is an erotic romance of love and loss in a future world gone mad, a world in which vampires and humans co-exist. It contains erotic BDSM themes, including spanking and anal punishment.

Stats for my copy: E-book, Blushing Books, 2013.

How acquired: Bought.

First line: I knew the dead man hanging in the square: Liam was his name.

My thoughts: The story picks up right where THE PRINCE'S LASH ended, but now we're following Kiana's story rather than Daniella's. Kiana is Daniella's servant, and now that her father is dead, she is determined to travel to Persia to get her younger brother away from Queen Anca. But Kiana has caught the eye of the vampire Prince Andrew, and when she steals a horse and escapes from the Empress Regina's court, he quickly catches up with her. Branded not only a thief, but a horse thief, Kiana has no doubt the Empress will have her hung. But Andrew offers her a bargain: he'll accompany her to Perth to find her brother. In exchange, she must give him complete obedience.

Unlike Daniella, Kiana is not an “agonie apertiv” - she does not enjoy and crave being whipped. She has no desire to be spanked, but Prince Andrew spanks her just about every time she turns around. In other words, there is a LOT of punishment spanking. Which is preferable to whipping, but that too is eventually introduced to Kiana (hence the title of the book).

I had anticipated enjoying this story more than Daniella's, but as I turns out I never really connected with Kiana or Prince Andrew. I could understand Kiana's single-mindedness in getting to her younger brother, and I didn't find any fault with her or her character, so I'm not sure why she didn't appeal to me more. My issue with Andrew was a little clearer. It didn't bother me that he constantly wanted to spank Kiana, but it did bother me that he constantly told her he wanted her to cry, he wanted to make her cry. I get that breaking through her barriers and making her sob her heart out once was good for her, cathartic. But I can't believe it's cathartic over and over.

The story is narrated by Kiana, so we never know what's actually going on in Andrew's head. He purports to love Kiana, but he must still obey the Empress, which means he often abandons Kiana when she needs him. If some of the story had been told from his point of view, he might have been a more sympathetic character and easier to like.

The ending surprised me. Mere pages from being over I couldn't see how things were possibly going to work out for Kiana. And while they did, they also didn't.

I didn't love it, I didn't hate it. And I do like the author's writing style, so I would like to read more of her work. 

The Prince's Lash (Saga of the Eastern Crown, Book I)

LAUREN KESS

Synopsis: Purchased by a dangerous, blood-thirsty Queen before she is even in her teens, Daniella joins the ranks of Queen Anca's "servantettes," charming and pampered young ladies-in-waiting. She uses her enchanting ways and cunning intellect to gain the Queen's favor and survive in a world gone mad.

But when she comes of age, Daniella must face the ceremony required of all new adults in the Court of the Queen of Persia: initiation at the hands of the Priest of Discipline into the Order Sangre. She prays she can prove herself well enough to survive the dark and erotic ritual.

But Daniella has a secret: her family still follows the Old Religion, and in a weak moment, she is unable to shield her mind from the probings of the Queen. Her worship at the Mass of her beloved Old Religion is discovered -an act of heresy punishable by death.

From her childhood, Daniella has loved the Imperial Prince of the Eastern Crown, son of the Empress Regina. He is the one person Daniella has ever seen Queen Anca bow before, and the Queen's fear of Nikolai is the only thing staying her hand from requiring the ultimate penalty of Daniella, whom she now regards as a heretic. He has promised to return and claim her as his agonie aperitiv - his “appetizer” who derives pleasure from pain. He does return, but not before she experiences the greatest grief and loss in her short life. Worse, his rescue only delivers her to his mother, the Empress Regina, who insists she must birth an heir to the kingdom or be hanged.

In a world full of fear and horror and blood, love scalds her with arousal and longing but no relief. Is the Imperial Prince Nikolai her savior, or has he only delivered her to a hell filled with treachery, religious wars, and a kingdom ready to revolt? Will she ever know love and peace in her prince's arms?

Publisher's Note: Originally published as "The Vampire's Lash," by Nattie Jones, this darkly-erotic romantic adventure contains BDSM elements and some violence.

First line: I loved the queen as a puppy loves its master.

Stats for my copy: E-book, published by Blushing Books, 2013. I won this book from the author after participating in Ana'sAdvent Calendar. 

My thoughts: I LOVE that opening line.

I've kind of drifted away from vampire romance lately, having gotten a little burned out I guess. And the world of royalty and court has never been one of my favorite genres. But this is not your typical vampire romance. It's a strange world, where vampires rule. Daniella has been a favorite of the Queen of Persia since she was a child. Queen Anca is an evil ruler, and in Persia there is no freedom of religion. Everyone must worship in the Order Sangre, the vampire religion.

When Daniella is 12, Prince Nikolai comes to visit Queen Anca. His mother, the Empress of the Eastern Crown, wants heirs one day, and it is decided that he will come back to fetch Daniella when she is of age.

There's a lot of court and church intrigue, oppression of humans, and whipping. Each court has a disciplinarian, who's job is to administer punishment. At Empress Regina's court it's Lord Vali, the Court Chastiser. Charming, often respectful, I found him to be very intriguing and was more interested in him than in Prince Nikolai. Daniella is also drawn to him, or rather to his crops and paddles. She dreads punishment yet yearns for it at the same time. Prince Nikolai spanks her, and she constantly hopes for him to do so again.

It took me a little while to get into the overall story, but somewhere about halfway through I realized I didn't want to put it down. It would be late, I'd be sleepy, but I would think “just one more chapter”. Then when I reached the end of a chapter and glimpsed the next one I would find myself continuing on. Daniella is not a heroine I can relate to, I can't imagine actually wanting to be on the receiving end of a crop. But I was certainly rooting for her to get a happy ending.

And I've already purchased the second book, which just from reading the blurb I think I'm going to like even more. 

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In the Court of the Empress Regina in London, the child of Princess Consort Daniella and Imperial Prince Nikolai has been born, and Daniella's long-time servant Kiana is the child's beloved nursemaid. Dark forces, however, are at work and tragedy strikes: Kiana's father is killed saving Daniella from an assassin, leaving Kiana friendless at the Court, at the mercy of the dark rulers. Worse, Kiana's brother Galen is alone, still in Persia, in the clutches of evil Queen Anca.

Kiana realizes she must save her brother, no matter what the cost, but her attempts at leaving the court are ill-fated; she is caught both trying to steal jewels to finance the escape, and then caught in the escape attempt itself. Yet, against all expectation, the Prince helps Kiana. He could have turned her over to the dark discipline of the priests of the Order Sangre, or even have had her executed; instead, he leaves all behind and make her a devil's bargain: submit to him in every way, and he himself will take her back to Persia himself.

Kiana has no choice but to agree, even though it means putting herself at the mercy of Imperial Prince Andrew. And soon, Kiana finds herself no different than her mistress: an agonie aperitiv - an "appetizer" of pain - to a dark vampire Prince.
But unlike her mistress, she could never learn to love one such as he. Could she?

Publisher's note: The Prince's Tawse is an erotic romance of love and loss in a future world gone mad, a world in which vampires and humans co-exist. It contains erotic BDSM themes, including spanking and anal punishment.

Checkmate (Noughts and Crosses, Book 4)

MALORIE BLACKMAN

Synopsis: Callie Rose has a Cross mother and a nought father in a society where the pale-skinned noughts are treated as inferiors and those with dual heritage face a life-long battle against deep-rooted prejudices.

Sephy, her mother, has told Rose virtually nothing about her father, but when Rose unexpectedly discovers the truth about her parentage, she finds herself drawn into a dangerous, deadly game – a game of very high stakes than can have only one winner.

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Corgi Books, Random House Children's Books, 2007; 511 pages; purchased from Amazon.

My thoughts: This is the fourth book in a series of six, and before you read this book, you must start with the first book and read them in order. I read the first book, NOUGHTS AND CROSSES, in October 2006, long before I began this blog. It was a gripping and mesmerizing book, which should be required reading for all students. Then I read AN EYE FOR AN EYE, a much shorter novella, and KNIFE EDGE, both in May 2011. As I started the second book, I had to look up a synopsis of the first book to familiarize myself with the story. As with the first book, I loved the second and third books.

I definitely should not have waited so long to read CHECKMATE. I often had to pause and remember what had happened in previous books in order to not be confused. And while I liked the book, I did not love it as much as the previous books, but I think if I'd read it while the others were still fresh in my mind I would have gotten a lot more out of it.

This books takes us through Callie Rose's life from age seven to age sixteen. As in the previous books, the short chapters are all told in first person, alternating between characters – Callie Rose, her mother, Sephy, her grandmothers, Jasmine and Meggie, and her father's brother, Jude. In the early years, all Callie Rose knows about her father is that he was a gardener and died in a car accident while her mum was pregnant with her. But as she grows older, and particularly after Jude first makes contact with her, she begins to learn more about who her father really was, and finds herself drawn into the Liberation Militia and training to be a soldier under her uncle's command.

I think my biggest issue was that I found Sephy to now be a very unsympathetic character. She loves her daughter, but she cannot bring herself to show her daughter real affection. For example:

I was about to give Callie a hug, but I caught myself in time. I gave her a pat on the head and a kiss on the forehead instead.

'Mum, I'm not a dog who just retrieved a bone, thank you very much,” Callie complained. (pg 237)

And she constantly thinks to herself that now is the time to tell her daughter the truth about her father, and then she lets the moment pass and doesn't do so. Of course, she has her reasons for both of these issues, misguided though they may be, but for most of the book I was angry and disappointed at her.

The last third of the book took me back into that mesmerized didn’t want to put it down state, but for a 500 page book it took a while to get that drawn in.