Never Hollowed By The Stare

The Triad: Alliance – Cari Z.

One wedding. Two grooms. Three lovers, preparing to fight for themselves, and their kingdoms.

Symon Parador is a prince in name only until the day he’s bartered away to the neighboring kingdom, to marry their queen’s brother, Petur. A mage in a nation full of shifters who distrust his magic is bad enough, but even worse is the fact that Petur is already as good as married—to an assassin from the north named Deyvid, who’s immune to all magic.

He doesn’t expect to love either of them, but Deyvid’s surprising kindness is too addictive to run from, and even Petur’s ferocity is lightened by his sly sense of humor. Sy could see himself falling for them…if any of them survive the sudden onslaught of attacks against the royal family.

Entwined in a dangerous game of survival, love, and loyalty, the cost of saving his lovers may be Sy’s own life.

Alliance is a polyamorous M/M/M fantasy with enemies to lovers, graphic violence, snarky humor, and explicit sexual content.

Alliance is the series opener of the polyamorous fantasy series, The Triad by Cari Z. It’s been a while since I read MMM romance so I grabbed this book immediately.

Prince Symon, one of the realm’s most powerful mages, is suddenly arranged to wed Prince Petur, a shifter from a neighboring kingdom. Everyone knows Petur already has a long-time lover, Deyvid, a magically immune assassin who doubles as his bodyguard.

Wedding day arrives and Symon and Petur already got off on the wrong foot. Alone in a foreign court, Sy finds unexpected friendship with Deyvid, who is determined to keep the marriage intact even as the royals become a target of an assassination plot.

Symon isn’t just a mage, he’s also a skilled herbalist from humble roots. His late mother was an herbalist, his father a city guard who married the queen. While only 22 years old. he entered his marriage with open eyes, but Petur almost dumping him on their wedding night was still a cruel blow. His easy companionship with Deyvid stands in sharp contrast to his antagonistic dynamic with Petur.

Deyvid, a 40-something high harrier from the Northern land of people immune to magic, is the sensible one in the relationship. Bleached of color, his skin is grey, his eyes silver and his hair salt and pepper. It was pretty obvious that he and Petur have a deep connection and their affection for each other leap off the page. His growing fondness for Sy was palpable from their first meeting.

Petur is a 37-year old shifter who can shift to four forms, a rare ability. I think every reader is frustrated with how he treated Sy, but he later came around. I was glad when the three men finally cemented their alliance, it’s just that Petur’s turn-around was too abrupt.

The story is from the POVs of the three man. The plot is mostly romance with an assassination subplot which was sadly not well-developed. There was palace intrigue that felt surface level. Even the world-building, which would have been fascinating, didn’t feel exciting which is the main issue with the book.

This has all the right ingredients for an epic fantasy series but sadly the execution was dull. I was audiobooking this and even the great Michael Ferraiuolo couldn’t keep my attention from wandering. I wanted so much to like this book more.

Alliance is a story of magic, marriage, and murder. Overall, the delivery was lack-luster yet the premise intrigued me enough to continue with Book 2.

Rating:
2.5 Stars – far from hate but not quite a like

Soundtrack: Allies
Artist: Stranded Mermaid
Album: Allies

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ALLIANCE: Amazon UK | Audiobook

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