Synopsis:
A puppet, a prince, and a playboy. One arranged marriage. Three men I must keep at arm’s length.
Atticus Dupont has been watching me from a distance, controlling my life like he controls the seedy criminal underground. He longs to own my mind, body, and soul.
Leo Winthrop is willing to do whatever it takes to protect me from the horrors of this castle, even if it means being cruel and pushing me away.
and Prince Augustus? He’s a reluctant royal that would rather sleep his way through court than be forced into an arranged marriage with me.
I fled the kingdom four years ago, planning to never return.
But the king is dead.
The kingdom is in chaos.
My duty makes it impossible to walk away.
One thing I know for sure: I have to open my cracked heart, because this crown is too heavy for one lover to bear.
Review:
4 Stars
TW/CW: drug and alcohol addiction, rape and sexual assault (in the past, somewhat detailed), death, emotional trauma
Let me just preface my review with the fact that I really didn’t read the synopsis when I had read the book, so I was going into this book with very little to no knowledge about what it was about.
The story is told during the present time with some flashbacks to the past and alternating POV between Christine and August.
No Such King is a darker romance book with royalty. August is the Crown Prince, soon to be king after his father had passed away. His kingdom is loosing faith in the current monarch, and they honestly aren’t sure if August is the best choice given his partying history and use of women.
On the day of his father’s funeral, August feels like he has been punched when he sees his childhood best friend and the love of his life, Christine. But, she left in the middle of the night three years ago without ever returning or speaking to him. He’s angry and frustrated that she left on such quick notice and without an explanation wanting for her to leave again, but can’t forget the past that they had and could have had if things were different.
Christine is no longer the young lady who left three years ago. That last night at the castle that caused her to leave had forever changed her and she was determined to never be the weaker person in a situation and has trained to be able to protect herself. What she doesn’t expect is to return for the king’s funeral and find everyone to be so different. August is the wild so to be king who wants nothing to do with her and is irresponsible while her former guard, Leo, is frustrated that she is sticking around despite wanting her to leave again for her safety, and well, Atticus is the same as he was before, always pinning for Christine’s love and attention.
When it’s time for Christine to leave and go back to her life that she built for herself, the former queen calls her into a meeting where she blackmails Christine into agreeing to marry August, or the queen while tell the public of what she did three years ago.
She agrees to marry him, but she struggles as she is no longer the same woman she used to be and their relationship has evolved. August realizes that he still loves her and is willing to be the man that she deserves by accepting his role as king, but he as struggles with handling the truth about why Christine left, and finally accepts that she also needs Atticus and Leo in her life as they are able to care for the other aspects in her life that he isn’t able to provide.
Now knowing that this is a reverse harem series, everything makes a little more sense with the direction of the relationship with Christine and August, Leo, and Atticus as they all have different relationships that helps her.
I love Atticus who is the king of sorts of the mafia/darker parts of the kingdom because he doesn’t make Christine feel embarrassed about this new part of her life and her abilities and helps her cope with the aftermath.
I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about August. I’ll give him props because he is trying although he has a lot of catching up to do with learning how to rule a kingdom and getting his people to trust the monarch again. He still has a long way to go with fixing his relationship with Christine as he still has some jealous streaks and doesn’t necessarily handle situations the best given his background.
I am definitely interested to see where the story goes especially after that major cliffhanger!
Happy reading until next time,
Lala's Book Reviews 