Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Night Prince
AUTHOR: Felice Stevens
NARRATOR: Kale Williams
PUBLISHER: Self-publishes
LENGTH: 8 hours and 12 minutes
RELEASE DATE: December 22, 2021
BLURB:
From Lambda Literary Award-winning author Felice Stevens comes a sexy paranormal stand-alone romance.
A vampire who’s lost everything meets a man who has nothing to lose.
For centuries, Massimo D’Alba, banished prince of the Fold, has wandered through life frozen in darkness and pain. Betrayed by his younger, power-hungry brother, he’s existed for centuries but not lived. A rain-soaked night brings smart-mouthed New Yorker Damion Avery to his doorstep, and suddenly he’s riding spin bikes, shopping for yoga pants, eating ice cream…and falling in love.
Damion Avery can’t figure out why Prince Tall, Dark, and Incredibly Sexy wants him as his personal assistant, but he’s not going to second-guess his good luck. Even though he has to work all night and sleep during the day, the job is too good to be true. But where does Massimo sneak off to in the dead of night? Is he a spy, an assassin, or something else? And what’s with those glowing purple eyes? Damion knows he shouldn’t fall for his boss. But Damion was never one to follow the rules.
When duty calls him home, Massimo must return to save his kingdom, forcing a life-changing decision: leave Damion behind forever, or reveal his deepest, darkest secret to the man who has become his everything, who owns a part of Massimo he’d thought gone forever…his heart.
REVIEW:
Massimo is a vampire who was banished from his rightful place as the heir to his kingdom because of his evil and jealous brother. His father had been hardened after the murder of Massimo’s mother in the human realm. His rage has made him blind to his second son’s treachery and there is the fact that his firstborn son prefers men to women – which he’s no onboard with. Massimo is lucky that he survived his banishment as he could not tolerate the sun and was sent out just before dawn.
Fast forward a few centuries and he’s not a successful business man in New York City. He has managed to stay alive but he is lonely. He feeds on the worst of the worst and he’s able to cover his tracks so he’s relatively secure with his manservant Claudio. One day Claudio runs into a young human named Damion and the young man’s phone breaks so he brings him back to Massimo’s brownstone. Massimo is suspicious at first. But after hearing part of Damion’s story, he decided to trust him. He offers him a job and a place to stay. Damion’s bestie and his husband have recently left NYC for Bangkok and so Damion’s on his own. He’s had a lot of bad luck in his life – raised in the foster care system, ran away from homophobic and abusive foster family and small town, lived on the streets, bad decision with job/boss, etc. He just can’t seem to catch a break. So this offer from Massimo is a godsend. And it seems legit! Massimo really does need help with a bookkeeper/personal assistant without any “extracurricular” duties.
As time passes and Damion finds he enjoys his job and Massimo’s company, he gets the feeling that Massimo is hiding something from him. Massimo doesn’t go out during the day, rarely leaving the brownstone at all. He works the overnight hours with his far flung businesses, but Damion still feels like there is something he doesn’t know. Then he follows Massimo one night and things take a turn. Massimo has to decide if he really and truly trusts Damion with his secret. His attraction to Damion is becoming harder and harder to ignore. Then there is the little issue of Damion seeing something he shouldn’t after being harassed by an ex. But when Massimo shares, well things get a little off-track.
When Massimo is called back to take his rightful place, he can only do that by being truthful with Damion. Damion is torn between his growing love for Massimo and what it would mean to turn his back on the life he has now that the is finally happy with. If he can make this work with Massimo though, maybe he can have the best of both worlds?
This is a standalone novel of vampire lore that has some new twists and turns. I really liked the slow burn between Massimo and Damion. They start off more as friends and then things shift. Neither feels secure in the relationship. And of course Massimo is hiding a huge secret 🙂 Damion is anxious to belong but he’s not sure about the cost – so it’s up to Massimo and some other surprise helpers to convince Damion that his future is with Massimo. Both Massimo and Damion come into their own once they are together and that is the key to saving Massimo’s people.
I loved Kale Williams narration of this story. He’s always wonderful but the number of characters in this story had to be challenging. His voice choices and accents were perfectly pitched. In my opinion, he elevated what was already a solid story. Recommended.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
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