Title: The Price
Author: Dominique Frost
Genre: Fantasy/Paranormal
Length: Novella (80 pages)
Publisher: Loose Id (September 10th, 2013)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥ 3 Hearts
Reviewer: Mandingo
Blurb: Cale is a serving-boy at a high-class brothel in the city of Havisham. He isn’t one of the courtesans, largely because he’s too clumsy to manage seducing anyone, but he does his best as a servant, keeping the wine-glasses filled and the guests happy.
Everything changes when the warlord Darren Kaine visits the establishment. Darren is the new ruler of Havisham and is a brusque, commanding man. Fresh from a war that’s lasted over six months, Darren is in no mood for frippery, and chooses Cale to accompany him for the night, rather than any of the courtesans on display.
Indeed, Darren so prefers Cale’s straightforwardness and simplicity that he decides to make Cale his concubine and to have Cale visit him at the palace, every night. Stunned by this new turn of events, Cale is further confused by his body’s reactions to Darren. Darren is darkly handsome, sexually demanding and absolutely committed to giving his partner pleasure – a fact that has Cale looking forward to his time with Darren, perhaps more than he ought to.
Darren, too, is in danger of forgetting that Cale is just a tool he uses to slake his lust. For a new ruler, every action comes with a price. Will this one be too steep to pay?
Purchase Link: http://www.loose-id.com/the-price.html
Review: This is Cale and Darren’s story. It is told in the third person and so it takes some of the connective intimacy (note not sex) out of the story. While the author jumped right into the plotline, which is good since this is a short story, use of first person might have allowed for a greater connection to the storyline. The story moves from both Cale and Darren’s viewpoint – but in the 3rd person and so it’s harder to connect with either character. Instead, the reader is always on the outside looking in. If that is the writer’s aim, then it was achieved.
It’s a great plotline complete with leader, concubine, and intrigue. Think coup d’ etat. All formulas for a great and riveting story – and while something so short doesn’t allow for much development, Ms. Frost does as well as she can in the 80 pages she uses.
It is unclear as to ‘when’ in time the story takes place. Based on the clothing and customs, it appears to be somewhere in the 17th century, since she references the use of ‘flagons.’ And this is where the reader will need to employ suspended disbelief, because while the story is set in what appears to be the 17th century, the language and ‘feel’ of the story is pure 21st century. However, because this is the ‘fantasy’ genre, I will not hold the story to historical or fantastical accuracy since the author is free to create her own world. If this were the case, then it would help to develop that world more clearly, so that the reader is clear about this – for there is an acceptance of man on man love in this story that doesn’t jive with the historical period. Also, it’s hard for the reader to picture the setting since there’s very little description of the world which Cale and Darren inhabit.
Okay, so now let’s talk about the actual plot line. Not bad! The relationship between Cale and Darren slowly grew on me until by the end of the book, I was rooting for them. What started out as a concubine and master relationship began to alter and within the short 80 pages, Ms Frost did a good job of allowing the reader to see how a sexual relationship eventually became an emotional one. There is a HEA, albeit an untraditional one, but the reader is left feeling that the two men are happy with their life.
So even while I had some issues with the book due to lack of setting and tone, I did like the relationship between the men. Moreover, I liked reading how they both evolved. This could be a great read if you are waiting for a plane in an airport and need a quick pick me up … BUT I would suggest to Ms. Frost that she go back and add some key factors and take the page count up by a few pages to add some elements and then it would be a solid short story.