Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Royally Screwed:  A Tale of Two Princes 

AUTHOR:  Lynn Van Dorn

NARRATOR:  Michael Ferraiuolo

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  8 hours and 21 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  August 31, 2020

BLURB:

Take one betrothal gone awry…

Prince Angelo is destined to marry Prince Yuri. Never mind that Angelo isn’t gay and didn’t choose to be saddled with a moony-eyed princeling who is determined to ruin Angelo’s life. Then one day Yuri goes too far and Angelo has to take matters into his own hands.

Add one doomed arranged marriage…

Prince Yuri is destined forever to pine after Prince Angelo. Arranged marriages are archaic and awful enough without being stuck for life with someone you want who will never, ever in a million years want you back. Still, for someone who claims to want nothing to do with Yuri, Angelo is surprisingly possessive.

And you just might get one unexpected romance.

Two men, thrown together by fate and scheming parents, shouldn’t have a prayer of finding a happy ever after. But fate can be fickle, and love can exist where you never thought it could.

Royally Screwed is a M/M romance novel featuring royalty, a poorly-thought-out betrothal, one prince in need of a firm hand, a second prince who isn’t as straight as he always thought, drunken texting, bickering, practice kissing, odious British nobility, and falling in love despite all the reasons why you shouldn’t.

REVIEW:

Prince Yuri and Prince Angelo have been promised to each other before they are even born.  Their parents have decided to use the impending births of their respective children to tie their neighboring countries together with a binding trade agreement and that their offspring shall marry by the time they are 30.  Prince Yuri was supposed to be a princes – but oh well.  Yuri has adored Angelo, but Angelo is mostly annoyed with the beautiful and perfect Yuri.  He’d much rather do his own thing and being saddled with the practically perfect princeling really sticks in his craw.

When they are away at boarding school, Yuri becomes increasingly upset at Angelo’s string of girlfriends.  He and his best friend Jackie (who is happy with her own girlfriend) try to make do – and Jackie tries to make Yuri see reason.  But Yuri continues to try to thwart Angelo’s relationships.  He finally make Angelo mad enough to do something about it.  And that punishment become the thing that Yuri craves.   On and off, Angelo is willing to do that for Yuri, but as they move on to university, things get stickier.

Then Yuri begins to get his needs met elsewhere.  And suddenly Angelo is not at all happy about it.  Yuri is HIS.  Where did that come from?  But in fact, it’s always been that way.  Promised before they were born, it’s a given.  But this possessiveness causes some problems for Yuri.  In fact, the problem becomes abuse and Angelo steps in.  He’s furious and only wants to protect Yuri – who really is his.

But Yuri is skeptical about Angelo’s seeming about face.  He’s always been angry about the forced betrothal and being tied to Yuri when he’s not gay.  However, something has definitely changed.  And it seems that maybe Angelo isn’t a straight as he always thought he was – at least not when it comes to Yuri.  As they explore their new relationship, there are those who are most unhappy about it – some expected and some unexpected.  But without any labels, it seems that Yuri and Angelo are destined to be together – with the help of  😀

Well I just love this audio book.  When I read the book after it originally came out, it took a while for the characters to grow on me.  But with the narration, I loved Yuri and Angelo immediately.  Michael Ferraiuolo’s voices for the young Yuri and Angelo were so perfect!  Their bickering and sparring were so much fun to listen to 🙂  As they grow up during the story, the voices age gracefully from children to young adults.  The accents were just lovely – including Lord Dickweed 😛 and the lovely Phillip, Yuri’s valet.  Both sets of parents, the security teams and Jackie’s voices were all perfect as well.  Speaking of Jackie and Phillip, they were fabulous supporting and supportive characters.  Jackie has Yuri’s back throughout the story.  Philip is a bit of an enigma, but he proves himself over and over.  Angelo and Yuri prove to be formidable “frenemies” as well as allies.  I loved how Angelo came to recognize his true feelings about Yuri.  Yuri in turn has to be brave and trust in Angelo – even though he’s not really given to trust Angelo over the years and certainly not with his heart and his feelings 🙂  Angelo is confused by his changing reaction to Yuri but he’s surprisingly Ok with it and not freaked out.  Their back and forth dance is very amusing 😀  In the end, despite the dangers and the obstacles they have to overcome, Yuri and Angelo make a formidable couple and it’s amazing and perfect how they manage to get what they want in the end.  If you’re looking for an entertaining and engaging story of unrequited love and enemies to lovers getting their HEA, then this is the story for you!  Highly recommended.

RATING: 

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