Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: King’s Ex
SERIES: Royal Powers II #1
AUTHOR: E J Russell
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 154 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 26, 2021
BLURB:
To escape an arranged marriage, the king needs a fake fiancé. Stat.
King Bastien’s father locked him into an ironclad betrothal contract with Lady Helena Rey when the two of them were only seven years old. Bas and Helena have never been friends—and not only because she marked their first meeting by dropping a frog down his shirt. He’s been unsuccessfully petitioning Parliament to annul the damn contract ever since he took the throne nine years ago. But with the deadline for officially confirming the engagement rapidly approaching, Bas is getting desperate.
Enter commoner Nico Pereira, manager of the Royal Crest Vineyards, who nurses a secret crush on the king. He’s at the New Palace to unveil a wine that’s the first joint venture between North and South Abarra. No problem, right? Except Nico has a secret: He has a superpower. Not a very strong superpower, but because powers are a privilege reserved for Royals, it still puts him at risk for arrest and prosecution. Nico can usually mask his limited foresight gift under the guise of being an incredibly efficient administrator. But when King Bastien asks him to be his fake fiancé?
Well. Nico never saw that coming.
Nothing if not loyal, Nico accepts the faux-posal, although close proximity to Bastien makes him more than a little… uncomfortable, and the increased scrutiny of government officials threatens to expose his illegal ability. Good thing this engagement is temporary, because being the king’s ex will be a lot less onerous than prison or exile.
Or, if the attacks from a shadowy conspiracy continue, with being dead.
King’s Ex is a 52,000-word M/M superhero rom-com featuring a fake engagement, class differences, improbably pristine clothing, dueling secrets, a guaranteed HEA, and a kitten.
REVIEW:
As a child, pansexual Bastien’s ‘Mad King’ father, tied him into a contractual marriage to Lady Helena. Grown-up, the two hate each other. However, Helena contends that she was raised to be Queen, so tough luck. Looking for an out, Nico, an employee of Bastien’s cousin, notices a loophole and the men become fake fiancées. There is a mutual attraction between Bastien and Nico. But at the end of their contract, when Bastien is free to choose his consort, will they walk away?
The story is set in a fictitious country, of the modern-day, as it contains references to movies and tv series that many readers will have recently binge-watched. People within this universe also have wide-ranging superpowers. Legally, they are restricted to royals. However, some commoners are also blessed and must keep their gifts secret. Bastien and Nico are adorable, but I must give an early shout-out here to two scene-stealers – Tarik – Bastien’s blunt, potty-mouthed, cousin, and the kitten who is irresistible.
King’s Ex is told in the third person from the viewpoint of Bastien and Nico. There is some excellent imagery and is cleverly written. It is also a story that occasionally tied my brain in knots.
The opening scenes use dialogue between Bastien and Tarik to outline the monarch’s world. While many of the sentences heralded a tone of familiarity, there were areas that I had to read multiple times before I got my brain around the meaning. E.g. the below quote from the story, “My sister-in-law has a similar power, although hers isn’t restricted to non-mammals.” Similarly, I needed my dictionary to translate words like, invidious, and repudiation. It is one thing to highlight the language and intelligence of a character, but words like these alienated me and broke the flow of reading.
AND, carry on reading, I did – because I couldn’t stop. Once I fell for the characters and the storyline had me hooked, I had to know their fate.
I have given this story 3.5 hearts, which is a good book – better than average. Once I got over the initial onslaught of information and retrieved my dictionary, the story evened out, had some lovely characters, and a good plot.
RATING: 
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