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graculus's review
slow-paced
3.0
I know, 3 stars out of 5 seems a bit harsh, but let me explain...
The basic premise of Only Love is Deathless is that our two protagonists meet in a small wayside inn, that much-used venue for fantasy novels, where one suggests to the other that they make a deal. Košmar is living hand-to-mouth, so when Prince Sreka suggests that he get involved in a fake marriage so that Sreka's little brother can get married to the woman he loves, he figures he has nothing to lose. Sreka's plan is to fake a meeting, then a whirlwind romance, followed by a quiet divorce after 12 months of marriage. So far, so good and hitting all the buttons that made me request the book in the first place.
One complicating factor, which Košmar has failed to mention early on, is that he's the son of both a local hero and a supernatural creature - in this case, a nightmare, which basically works the same way as an incubus but without the sexual element. As a result, after their attempted meet-cute involving what was supposed to be a fictional dragon turns horribly real, he suggests to Sreka that he's better off on the couch and that Sreka ought to take out some magical protection against him.
Where things started to go wrong for me with this book were when the marriage of convenience plot-line fell by the wayside alarmingly early on through the book. One of the attracting qualities of this kind of plot is sexual tension and suddenly there was none, just lots of sex scenes which were all pretty similar to one another. That must be a very spacious couch and hopefully also easy to clean for the poor servants!
Since the book is also set in faux-Eastern Europe (complete with pysanki, babka and who knows what else), there's a generous mining of the folklore of that area to have Koschei the Deathless as the big bad of the story, suddenly kidnapping said much-loved younger prince. Even though he's now king, Sreka and Košmar set off to the rescue, making time of course for more sex as they go.
So, two problems for me: I felt like I got hit with a bait-and-switch as the promised plot-line got resolved way too early on and with zero consequences/impact. Then there's the whole lack of character development for both Košmar and Sreka - I'm very much a believer that everything going on should help the reader see the character more clearly, sex scenes included, and I found myself fast forwarding through those in search of more plot. Overall, it's a pleasant enough story but nothing outstanding - there could have been so much more done with many of the elements concerned if the author hadn't been so focussed on how often they could bone.
I received a free copy of this book from the publishers via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
The basic premise of Only Love is Deathless is that our two protagonists meet in a small wayside inn, that much-used venue for fantasy novels, where one suggests to the other that they make a deal. Košmar is living hand-to-mouth, so when Prince Sreka suggests that he get involved in a fake marriage so that Sreka's little brother can get married to the woman he loves, he figures he has nothing to lose. Sreka's plan is to fake a meeting, then a whirlwind romance, followed by a quiet divorce after 12 months of marriage. So far, so good and hitting all the buttons that made me request the book in the first place.
One complicating factor, which Košmar has failed to mention early on, is that he's the son of both a local hero and a supernatural creature - in this case, a nightmare, which basically works the same way as an incubus but without the sexual element. As a result, after their attempted meet-cute involving what was supposed to be a fictional dragon turns horribly real, he suggests to Sreka that he's better off on the couch and that Sreka ought to take out some magical protection against him.
Where things started to go wrong for me with this book were when the marriage of convenience plot-line fell by the wayside alarmingly early on through the book. One of the attracting qualities of this kind of plot is sexual tension and suddenly there was none, just lots of sex scenes which were all pretty similar to one another. That must be a very spacious couch and hopefully also easy to clean for the poor servants!
Since the book is also set in faux-Eastern Europe (complete with pysanki, babka and who knows what else), there's a generous mining of the folklore of that area to have Koschei the Deathless as the big bad of the story, suddenly kidnapping said much-loved younger prince. Even though he's now king, Sreka and Košmar set off to the rescue, making time of course for more sex as they go.
So, two problems for me: I felt like I got hit with a bait-and-switch as the promised plot-line got resolved way too early on and with zero consequences/impact. Then there's the whole lack of character development for both Košmar and Sreka - I'm very much a believer that everything going on should help the reader see the character more clearly, sex scenes included, and I found myself fast forwarding through those in search of more plot. Overall, it's a pleasant enough story but nothing outstanding - there could have been so much more done with many of the elements concerned if the author hadn't been so focussed on how often they could bone.
I received a free copy of this book from the publishers via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.
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