Well, no, not the actual Book 3 of the stunning M/M thriller-fantasy-erotic romance ‘Captive Prince’ series*. Because that’s coming out 02-26-2016.
Three magic words, after all these years: pre-order is live!
But my fellow fans, the writer Herself has a giveaway just for us. Go here to her livejournal page to learn more about how you might just win one of ten copies of the books.
*’WothehellisCaptivePrince?’ I almost hear some readers saying.
Oh, boy. What Cassandra Clare’s ‘Mortal Instruments’ series was to Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter’…that is sort of what ‘Captive Prince’ is to Dorothy Dunnett’s ‘Lymond’ series of historical fantasy-political thriller-magic realism books (with a whole bunch of Yaoi archetypes woven in). Both are highly revised fanfiction-inspired epics.
Except that the latter two examples involve far more writerly skill than the first two. (Sorry, JK & Clare, I like your writing but it doesn’t rock my world. Pacat and Dunnett still can after numerous re-reads. Pacat gave me the gumption not to dumb down Moro’s Price, back when I was plotting the damn thing.)
In Pacat’s case, the ‘Captive Prince‘ and ‘Prince’s Gambit‘ duology have been some of the most enduring and challenging examples of self-published M/M romance, or ‘original slash’. Enduring, because their sheer quality snagged a reputable agent, then Penguin-Berkley’s interest. They’ve helped build legitimacy for M/M romance outside niche e-publishers and fanfiction communities. Challenging, because the slow-burn relationship between the two male main characters is framed in a political thriller as deep and believable as Jacqueline Carey’s ‘Kushiel’ alternate-history fantasy series.
Is there sex, you ask? Well, duh, yeah. Some of it tender, some brutal – but it’s very much a part of the storyline. Readers with a tendency to skip everything but the naughty bits might as well stay at home, and read simpler books.
Believe me, Book 3 is very good news to those of us who like our slash as complex as it is incandescently hot.
Added 2-8-2016: the final book launched last week. I have both Kindle and paperback copies. I have read the last lines of Book 3…and wow, that was worth the wait. Only, now I need to re-read the series, because there are some sneaky sneaky tricks happening in #1 and #2.