I hope you all had a great Christmas and New Year, whatever you were able to make of it this time around.
I’ll be back to my normal blogging schedule next week, starting with my analysis of the BookBub Featured Deal I had back at the start of December. If you’ve not had one of these, it makes for very interesting reading.
In addition to extra (and how!) sales, it also resulted in a surge of new ratings on Amazon, although plenty of people seem to be giving ratings these days without leaving a review.
No matter, people look at the numbers, and THE PRINCE’S MAN now has 127 ratings, with a 4.4* average, and several new reviews, which was the prompt for a short post today that I didn’t intend to write, but I just HAD to share!
So without further ado, Mae Clair, you made my week!
An enthralling epic fantasy novel
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2021
Verified Purchase
One of the best fantasy novels I have read in ages, The Prince’s Man combines court intrigue, nefarious plots, and dazzling realms. Rustam (Rusty) Chalice is a debonair dance master who lives a double life as a spy in the service of his prince, while also frequenting the beds of highborn ladies.
His life takes a turn when he is forced to team with Dart, the court’s royal assassin—a woman—with the goal of transporting a sickly elf across hostile, mountainous territory. Through the arduous journey, all three characters undergo brutal transformations and evolve as they are tested time and again, forced to rely on one another. At the same time, threats to the throne involve a traitorous noble, an illegitimate heir, and a diabolical torturer. There are layers upon layers of plot, all woven neatly together for a satisfying conclusion in this first book of what promises to be a stellar trilogy.
I was smitten with all three of the lead characters, especially Rustam who undergoes the most compelling transformation of all. You can’t read this book and not be caught up in the lives of Jay’s rakish spy, Risada, Elwaes and so many others. Even the secondary characters are fleshed out and vibrantly written. We meet so many along the journey, yet each leaves a distinctive mark.
The writing is exquisite, layered with beautifully detailed descriptions of enthralling realms, fantastical creatures, and breathless adventure. Every bit as riveting are the cloak-and-dagger machinations of several royal houses and the cruel manipulations of power-hungry men who seek the throne. From the moment I opened the first pages, I was sucked into the author’s expertly crafted world of intrigue and danger. A truly engaging story. Although book one delivers a wrap to the story as presented, I look forward to continuing for the full scope in books two and three. Highly recommended!
deborahjay 
Debbie, Happy New Year to you both. ❤ What a cracking review for The Princes Man. Xx
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Thanks Jane, it really made my week!
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I saw Mae’s wonderful review on Goodreads, Debby, and commented to her there that I agreed 100% with what she said. She’s going to LOVE Book 2, and then, hopefully, I’ll be reading Book 3 (finally) about the same time that she does, so she and I can have one of our book discussions via email on how much we loved the series and why. (We like to do that from time to time with books we agree on, hence our nicknames as fellow Dresdenphiles and Penderpals.)
She hit ALL the good points in this one, and I know she’s going to love the whole series. Wonderful to see it shared here! Passing it along, too. 🙂
Great way to start the new year, Debby! Here’s to happy days ahead! 🙂 ❤
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Cheers, Marcia, I don’t go to Goodreads all that much, so I hadn’t seen it before last night when I checked Amazon. Needless to say I was on a high after finding that!
I look forward to seeing what you think of Book #3 – it was originally supposed to be a part of #2, but then I realised it would be over 200K words, so I split the story line out to make a separate book. Of course, people are so used to fantasy being told in a trilogy (the original plan for this one), but now it’s a quartet, and the best part of lockdown is I’m writing much faster than usual. Looking forward to getting #4 out there to complete the story.
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Deb, congrats my friend! Rock on with reviews over 100 my friend! Another congrats for Mae’s review! And I always look forward to your discovery posts on Bookbub! Happy New Lockdown Year my friend, lol ❤
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New Lockdown year – love it! You know what I mean…
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Totally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😦 x
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What a wonderful review, Deb. I heartily concur. This was my favorite of the series and a great way to get to know the characters.
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They always say the middle book is the least well received, and my books 2 & 3 should have been a single middle book, but it would have been HUGE. I hope you’ll love the conclusion in #4 when I get it out – at least lockdown means it’s coming along faster than mine usually do!
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[…] The other bonus is that in a month, THE PRINCE’S MAN has gone from 83 ratings on Amazon, to 130, still maintaining its 4.5* rating, and with some lovely new reviews, one of which I shared last week. […]
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What a great review!! Woo hoo. Mae’s reviews are a treat. 🙂 Congrats.
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Thank you, I must admit I was totally thrilled ❤
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