A banished prince and a fugitive prisoner strike an unusual deal. Sylvan needs power to return to the elven Nocturne Court and Hawk is a human willing to follow his attraction to escape.
From The Shadow Prince's Ruin blurb:
“Give me your shadow, and my body is yours.”
An elven prince shouldn’t be working at Best Burgers Bonanza. Yet here I am, banished to the human realm for a lifetime of toil and misery. I guess that’s what I get for being a traitor and the shortest elf at the Nocturne Court, with a shadow no darker than a tea stain.
I’m stuck with no scheme up my sleeve when destiny brings me face to face with the answer to all my troubles.
Hawk. A dangerous human on the run from prison, so tall my neck hurts when I meet his gaze. His shadow is dark as death and it will be mine if only I can force him to marry me.
What I don’t expect though is the price for his exquisite power.
He wants my body.
I’ve never been an object of anyone’s desire, but I will do whatever it takes to make him my Dark Companion.
When our illicit deal shatters the ice around my heart, keeping Hawk at arm's length becomes impossible.
Our bond is supposed to be one of convenience. He’s crude, violent, reckless, and wants to devour me in the filthiest ways. He’s everything I shouldn’t want.
I chose him to be my salvation, but he might just prove to be my downfall.
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“The Shadow Prince’s Ruin” is a standalone, scorching hot, dark M/M fantasy romance filled with dark humor, but also violence, peril, jealousy, and angst.
The book is a darkly romantic escape into the shadows where love and destiny collide. Find out if the beast of a human can melt the ice prince’s heart.
Themes: ugly duckling, marriage of convenience, illicit pact, size difference, dark humor, obsessive hero, isekai, fantasy world, elven prince, family trauma, shadow magic, monsters and fantastical creatures, fish-out-of-water, secrets, portal fantasy, forced proximity, road trip
Length: ~130,000 words (Standalone)
WARNING: This story contains scenes of violence, offensive language and morally gray characters unafraid to burn the world down for their beloved.
SNik's review:
Second in series (Dark Companions), can be read as a standalone but might be better if read in order. Paranormal fantasy. Size difference. Dual POV. Heed content warnings.
When Prince Sylvan sets eyes on Hawk, a human with one of the strongest shadows he has ever seen, he craves the power that it will give him and its possibilities to end his banishment from the royal Nocturne Court. Hawk is willing to bargain with Sylvan, but he doesn’t realize that what he believes to be delusion is actually true until he and Sylvan have become close and neither wants to back out of the deal.
This story surprised me with the amount of relationship building between Hawk and Sylvan given that it also had a large amount of world building and adventure. We learn a lot about both Hawk and Sylvan’s motivations, the depth of their feelings that grow well beyond lust, and eventually the devoted commitment that they have towards each other even early on that sometimes bends but never breaks. A really entertaining read with unexpected twists and turns and even though Hawk and Sylvan’s return to court was different than expected I thoroughly enjoyed their romance and HEA.
Jacqueleen the Reading Queen's review:
"πΈ πππππ πππ πππ πππ ππππππ , πππ πππππ πππ πΈ'π ππππ πππππ ππ’ππππ ππ πππ πππππππ ππππ ππ ππ ππππ'π ππππ πππ’ ππ πππ."
Wow! This was so different from book 1 and did not turn out like I'd expect! It starts off with poor Sylvan serving his sentence in the human world. As you might expect, living with Luke's mother and working Luke's old dead-end job has left Sylvan miserable and utterly alone. When a man named Hawk shows up at Sylvan's work with a shadow unlike any he's ever seen before, Sylvan jumps at the chance to make it his.
"πΌπ’ πππ’ πππππ ππ π πππ ππππ£π’, ππ π πππ πππ ππππππππ ππ π³πππππππ πππ π³ππππππ, πππ πΈ ππππ ππππππππππ ππ πππ."
I found it absolutely hilarious that Hawk spent so much of the book humoring Sylvan when he discussed how he was an Elven Prince making a deal for Hawk's shadow. Hawk just readily agrees and plays into the delusion he is certain Sylvan is living in. I couldn't wait until it came to a point where it was right in Hawk's face that Sylvan was telling the truth all along. It didn't disappoint.
"πΌπ’ ππππ ππππππ ππππ πππ ππππ, πππ ππ πππ πππππππ ππππ. πΈπ'π πππππππ π πππ ππππππ ππ πππ πππππ'π πππππ. πΌπ’ ππππππ’ ππππππ πππππππ."
I felt like this one was more focused on the romance than book 1. Hawk is completely obsessed with Sylvan from the start and Sylvan is not unaffected himself. These two genuinely cared for one another and it wasn't long before being with Hawk was more important to Sylvan than having Hawk's shadow. Their love was put to the test more than once and I was pleasantly surprised by how fiercely Sylvan protected his man. Though the priorities and wants of the MCs changed as the story progressed, I think the way things turned out in the end were exactly what the two needed for their HEA.
The Shadow Prince's Ruin is currently available as an e-book and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription
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