A Kings Rival by Xander Tracy

A Kings Rival Reviews

• 
  Martin

  I started this over again after having abandoned it sometime last year.
  
  For some reason, it did work for me this time.
  
  Rygar and Vash are one hot, albeit extremely unlikely couple.
  
  Vash is the King of Astor, an expanding kingdom. Rygar is the chieftain of a tribe of nomads. Due to some crazy circumstance, Rygar and his men are imprisoned by King Vash. Vash is a hot, muscled warrior king who feels drawn towards the handsome chieftain, so he makes him his personal slave and gives him the option to free his men one by one. One man for every night spent in the King's bed.
  
  It's a totally crazy fantasy romance in a medieval setting, but funny enough it worked well for me. I've been reading this simultaneously with GRR Martin's Fire & Blood, which might have influenced my interest in kings and their sexual escapades, but in any case, I found myself wonderfully entertained by this fairy tale like fantasy story!
  
  3.5 stars!
• 
  Ariana (mostly offline)

  *2,5 stars*
  
  The blurb seemed promising and some parts of this book were quite enjoyable, but ...
  
  .) There was't enough character depth and detail.
  .) This was insta-lust which is okay, but insta-love followed foot shortly thereafter.
  .) The plot was too simplistic and not enough is made from the sex slave idea.
  .) There is no angst despite the promising scenario.
  .) Everything is resolved at the snap of a finger, practically out of nowhere.
  .) The writing style isn't for me, and the world building is hugely patchy.
  
  This could have been so much more. If you have ever read the
  Captive Prince series, you know what I mean.
• 
  JenMcJ

  2.5 stars.
  
  Looks like this was a debut novel. As far as writing goes, it was a pretty solid effort. The author can build a world, create engaging characters and write a decent sex scene. Editing was ok - not as good as expected for Etopia press, but above average.
  
  The story though. Well, based on the blurb and the publisher I was expecting something grittier. Something with more psychological nuance to the trauma of battle, capture, submission and resolve. What it really ends up as was a short instaloveish novella with a too easy resolution and an absurdly convoluted plot and incomprehensible motivations. The premise that props this up, the unacknowledged envoy is ridiculous. Add in the inexplicable reason for the affected barbarian for not saying anything about his connection to the city and the warrior prior to the raid along with the reason the warrior never mentioned the envoy to the king and well, you can't call it anything but a mess. Thankfully they didn't have a language barrier but that was also unbelievable.
  
  I think that if any one had asked any logical questions when confronted with this tangle of motivations prior to publishing perhaps the end result would have really been a compelling tale.
  
  But also...FABULOUS COVER.
• 
  Daesy

  **grm**
  
  Well, this book was rushed. The story really needed more pages, all happened almost in the last chapter and some of these things didn't make sense at all. The Chief barbarian was a captive 2 pages before, but then he was walking freely and he could even enter the King's chambers with the guards blessing. WTF? A lot of confusion and scenes that didn't make any sense. I'm rating this 3 stars, bcs it seems this book was the author's first story, but I think they should fix it.
• 
  ⚣Michaelle⚣

  3.5 Stars
  
  Not bad for a first time author...although, given that summary I expected a much grittier, darker read, but that captive, coercive, barbarian-like aspect of the tale (that drew me to this book in the first place) pretty much fizzled out after about the 2/3 mark and it got a whole lot more sappy. Well, I mean, the romance developed a bit as well because of the softening of the MC, but I expected it would take longer for that kind of character growth. I really need to pay attention to the page length of the books I'm choosing so that I am not repeatedly disappointed like that.
• 
  Kyuteepie

  2.5 stars
• 
  Amy

  I’ll definitely be following this author, what a great debut novel!
• 
  Nic

  Okay
  
  This would have been a stronger story if it was longer. It was a good story with a strong plot and the main characters were being developed nicely, but it was rushed at the end unnecessarily. The author could have build on the the dynamics between the two leaders more. But I liked the story.
• 
  Fernanda Bomtempo-Marzo

  2.5 Stars
• 
  Chancey Knowles

  Rating =
  2.5 rounded up because author's 1sr book.
  
  Blurb = (Scale 1-5)
  2: blurb reads as a much darker book than it actually is.
  
  My Genre Scale = (Scale 1-5)
  3.5
  
  Odds if not your genre = (Scale 1-5)
  2
  
  Development of: = (Scale 1-5)
  *World = 4
  *Plot = 2.5
  *Characters (scratch below the surface?) =
  3
  
  What stood out =
  Nothing really
  
  Mood Type / Appeal to those looking for =
  Easy read to just pass the time.
  
  Warnings =
  None
  
  Series Notes = 1st (Author's 1st too)
  *Reading on? Actually read the 2nd 1st
  *Reading back to back? Yes
  *Can be easily read without the previous?
  Yes. They read as stand-alones.
  
  Rating Notes = (SubPlots & HEA)
  Definitely has a HFN. It is not bad at all especially for an author's 1st book. I'm glad I read the 2nd one first. To me, it seemed considerably better in most areas especially flow and details. There were multiple areas that served vague and / or muddled etc...mostly as in how or why certain events came to pass. I didn't find it terribly hard to fill in the blanks, but...
  
  **************
  Below are my explanations or thoughts on reviewing!
  ***************
  1.Obviously no review can take into account all the various personal pet peeves of readers. But, I do try to take into account the common ones often bemoaned by other reviewers
  2. If used in this review, the term Brain candy is not necessarily negative. It has its uses and at times it is my preference when I just want to pass some time; so it does not carry a negative connotation for me - unless I'm expecting the next great novel. (What falls under brain candy? The book is meant for pure entertainment to pass time. It may be formulaic, from an author published quickly like monthly, things escalate fast, and are often solved easily etc.. Publishing industries version of pop music. Beach type reads etc... ).
  3. Blurb rating purpose:
  Like many readers, I do not like to think I'm reading one kind of story; just to end up with another type. But...I also don't think a book should be docked stars for being as stated. If I don't like stories about "_________", and I choose to read one. I shouldn't give it 2 stars based JUST on my preferences. Unless... it wasn't clear in the blurb.
  4. Other Factors that effect my perspective when reviewing:
  Since 2009, I have exclusively read m/m. My 1st was in 2007. I am a Kindle diehard, and I never do audio for m/m. I read at least 100+ books a year - with an average length of 220± pages; but the total number of books is usually much higher. My Goodreads lifetime rating (at the start of 2020) was a 3.72 average for 1390 books. Which considering, you should be better at picking out books the more you read, I feel is a accurate average. I have over 700 reviews within the m/m genre here on Goodreads.
• 
  Roxy K

  2.5* Stars - This was pretty good but it really needed to be longer. Once I finished this, all I could think was...more. I needed so much more, this was too short and the potential for a fantastic novel was there. The relationship between Rygar and Vash needed more time and more development. The way conclusion to this novel had played out would have been so much better if all of Rygar’s men and envoy except Endron and one other had been released. Had the deal been fulfilled to near completion, there would’ve been more substance to the changes in Vash and the development of the relationship.
  An enjoyable read but not enough.
• 
  John-Torleif Harris

  3.5 stars
  
  I wanted a bit more angst and soul-searching than what this book delivered. It wasn't bad, but it just didn't quite meet my expectations.
  
  Vash was too cavalier and impossibly controlled. I didn't buy the whole assassination scene being "no big deal" for him when dealing with Rygar. If he was truly that overwhelmingly strong, Rygar would have had the awareness of it and would have tried to compensate for the difference.
• 
  K.B. Rainwater

  Meh
  
  If it hadn't been so short, I would have DNF'd it. Neither character was terribly compelling. While the author tells the reader what the characters are feeling, he doesn't really show it. He doesn't make us feel it. There was nothing particularly objectionable about the story, and it did entertain, but I won't be buying the sequel.
• 
  Karen

  loved it!
  
  I just love enemies to lovers stories and this one was amazing. Their attraction was intense and I liked the setting as well, this is the first time I read a MM story in this era. I’ll check other books from this author, I like their writing style.
• 
  Anne Michalove

  is it bad that I found the lack of sex disturbing? unless I read it wrong there was like only 1 sex scene
• 
  Susan A

  3.5 stars rounded up. I enjoyed the story overall. I felt like the ending was too rushed. This is a debut novel I believe. I would try this author again.
• 
  T-Bone

  This book was good. I did enjoy it, although it isn't a favorite. I thought A King's Vow a better read.
• 
  年上 控

  还可以，Vash这个人物设定的很好很喜欢。其他人物也都可以的，但是这个故事还是太单薄了一些没有支撑起来。
• 
  Michael Joseph

  You can read my review of “A King's Rival” at my
  web site.
• 
  Angie

  Some reviews indicate this is a first time author, so great trial run.
• 
  Norma Banzi

  Enemies to lovers story.
• 
  Ameraude

  Az alaptörténet nagyon tetszett, és a könyv közepéig egészen jól alakultak a dolgok, amikor hirtelen vége lett. Sajnálom, lehetett volna belőle egy igazán emlékezetes sztori is.
• 
  Ioana

  Nope.