Crucify my Love: Gay Book Reviews: [102 - ENG] Review: Yours, Forever After

Series: -

Volume: 1/1
Publisher: -

Genre/s: MM fairytale / fantasy

Length: 95 000 words

Pages: 400

Read in: English
Review copy format: epub

Rate:✮✮✮✮✮✰

Prince Graham was just a child when he was forced to leave his family castle to save his life. Since then, fifteen years have passed, during which Graham, under the name of Gray, has lived in a magical place where he has been completely safe, and thanks to his hard work has had a roof over his head and food to eat. Unfortunately, everything changes dramatically when the attractive Prince Emory looks for shelter Gray provides. It turns out that the young Prince spent his childhood reading books, while his aunt has ruled his kingdom as a regent. However, she decided to get rid of Emory and she sets a trap for him. Thanks to Gray's help, the Prince manages to escape, but if he wants to get his kingdom back, he must fight for it.

"Yours, Forever After" by Beth Bolden is a truly fairy tale-like story that quickly conquers a reader's heart and becomes one of our favorite novels. As you may guess, this fairy tale vibe is one of the greatest advantages of this book. A reader enters this colorful but dangerous world in which magic can enslave people and destroy entire kingdoms. However, I must admit that although the author undoubtedly shows us this magical side of her universe, she doesn't base her story on it. This is somewhat surprising and undoubtedly admirable, as thanks to it we see that in "Yours, Forever After" the human factor is the most important. What's more, the said factor is something we understand and know really well, because in this case it doesn't matter if magic exists or not, as it is unchangeable. Thus, the story presented in this novel, although magical, is still a story about to some extent ordinary people. And that's the most beautiful thing in this book.

Another undoubted advantage of "Yours, Forever After" are the characters. I really like the fact that they are diverse, expressive and strong, as that's why they quickly win us over and are even more interesting. Their strong points also affect the dynamics of their relationships, which often make us smile and are really amusing. Proud, confident, bossy and convinced of his own infallibility unicorn versus lost alpha male Prince? Well, such a "clash" can't go unnoticed. However, the most important is the fact that our characters, Graham, Emory and Evrard (the said unicorn), don't remain the same from the beginning to the end of the novel. They change, learn, in a word, they evolve, which really deserves our attention, because it proves that the author planned and thought their creation through throughout the entire novel, so in a way their building had been planed on the timeline of the story Beth Bolden presents. It really makes us all the more interested in the novel, and we more eagerly follow the characters and their changes.

There's no doubt that reviewing "Yours, Forever After" we should also mention feelings. While in fairy tales love usually appears suddenly and can move mountains straight away, in Beth Bolden's novel it's ruled by completely different principles, much closer to reality. At the very beginning, the characters take notice of each other's physical appearance, and then, while they work together frequently, they get to know each other better, discover their mutual advantages and disadvantages, and it helps them form an opinion about the other person. As a result, their feelings have the opportunity to develop, change, evolve, and slowly the ordinary attraction turns into love. I must also add that the author really stressed the fact that Graham and Emory get to know each other and the bond between them become strong in a natural and believable way. In my opinion, it also seems equally important that the feeling that develops between the characters goes hand in hand with their building, because the advantages of each of them are real and proven in the story, so they have a solid base.

Finally, I would like to mention that "Yours, Forever After" is a novel we read quickly and with great pleasure, because it combines interesting story, sometimes surprising action, well-built characters and the element of drama that moves the reader. It's not a book full of action, adventure and fight, romance and sex, or a heartbreaking drama. Beth Bolden wrote a refined but expressive story in which we find each of the above-mentioned elements, which are combined in proportions that allow us to relax, forget about reality and they provide a really interesting entertainment. That is why we read "Yours, Forever After" with pleasure and eagerly come back to the world of this novel.

To sum up, "Yours, Forever After" is a really interesting and well-written novel with fairy tale elements that make it unique and thrilling. The story presented here is not only fascinating, but also full of reasonably built characters and their feelings. This book is really worth recommending to those who like fantasy novels with fairy tale vibe, thanks to which you can relax and at the same time they completely engross you.

Headcanon: On behalf of Rory, Graham deals with the country's economic and agricultural affairs.

Fanfiction idea: On his lover's birthday, Graham gives Rory a puppy that they later have a lot of trouble with.

AU idea: Real/Our world!AU

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Here's some more about:

Book Title: Yours, Forever After

Author: Beth Bolden

Cover Artist: Sarah Jo Chreene

Trope/s: Enemies to lovers, forced proximity

Themes: Expectations versus possibilities, good versus evil, subverting expectations

Heat Rating: 4 flames

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Blurb

Fifteen years ago, Prince Graham of Ardglass barely escaped from the ancestral castle with his young life. Rescued by a magical creature and spirited off to a faraway valley, he grew into a strong, capable man—never shirking his duties on the farm, but forever bitter over his father’s betrayal. But just when he has finally come to terms with being lost and staying lost, a visitor arrives in his valley and changes everything.
After a lifetime spent lost in his beloved books, Prince Emory awakens to find his villainous aunt working to usurp the throne of Fontaine. When she sends him on a dangerous quest, he’s certain the journey is a trap, but he’s not willing to accept defeat without a fight.
But a fight is something Rory is unprepared and untrained for, until he’s saved by a handsome, unassuming farmhand and his snooty, smug, and surprisingly talkative unicorn.

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Excerpt

“Hey, watch yourself,” a voice said, and Rory looked, and then kept looking as a very tall man, shirtless, his face and muscular chest smeared with dirt, rose from the middle of a patch of squash.
Marthe was instantly by his side, sword out of her belt, but the man simply looked at her, expression blank and bored. He spread his empty hands in front of him. “If you’re hungry,” he said, “take what you like. If you are lost, you may stay.”
The man’s hair was long and dark, nearly shaggy, but did not obscure the bright blue eyes that gazed out at him. A bead of sweat trickled down his bare and undeniably dirty pectoral muscle. Rory swallowed hard. He had never met anyone like this man before—someone rough and uncouth and utterly, completely compelling. Rory felt his blood sizzle, like a drop of water on a stove that had been stoked with firewood all day. He stared, mesmerized, by the man. Was he a bandit? He certainly did not seem like one, if his offer of food and shelter was any indication.
“Sir,” Rory said, trying to find his voice under Marthe’s accusing stare, “we are in search of some dangerous criminals who have been looting the supply wagons from Fontaine.”
The man gave him a disbelieving look. “Does it look like we’re harboring bandits here?”
Truthfully, it did not. It looked to Rory that all the man was harboring was an excellent crop of vegetables. As well as a physique that made Rory desperate to reach out and place a palm on that firm chest, even though it was smeared with dirt and sweat. Somehow, that made it even more attractive, though Rory did not think that thought could possibly be logical.
But Marthe was clearly not as distracted by such a fine chest as Rory was. Her glare was still fierce. “You will not mind if I do not take your word for it,” she said. “I would like to search the grounds and buildings of your farm.”
The man threw his head back and laughed. Rory did not know what was so amusing, but he discovered that he was desperate to know.
“There is nothing here but my farming implements, the animals I keep here, and the store of food to last us through the winter,” he admitted. “But feel free to search all you like.”
“Do you have any weapons here?” Marthe asked, her hard voice making it clear she did not believe the act. If it was even an act. Rory was strangely inclined to believe his words, but that might have been because of his beautiful eyes.
“A dagger or two,” the man said, leaning against his shovel. “We have no need of weapons here.”
Marthe sniffed. “We will be the judge of that.” After throwing Rory another reprimanding look, she marched away, clearly intending to find the rest of the guard and do a thorough search of the farm. Rory thought she must not have thought the man was a threat, or else she never would’ve left him alone.
The man stared at Rory, who stared back. “Do you always travel with a full complement of lady warriors?” he asked offhandedly.
Rory blushed. It was impossible to admit to this man, who looked eminently capable of dispatching any threat, weapons or no, that Rory had to, because he could not defend himself. “It was very rude of me not to introduce myself,” Rory said, extending a hand, “I am Prince Emory of the kingdom of Fontaine, but you may call me Rory.”
It was as if his words changed everything. The man’s eyes went blank, his face cold and hard, and he turned away, leaving Rory awkwardly standing with his hand out. “Gray,” he said shortly. “Welcome to the valley.”
One of the reasons Rory had always loved reading was that he felt an inescapable compulsion to know things. His curiosity was legendary, and faced with a man such as Gray, couldn’t have been more engaged even if he’d tried.
“How long have you lived here?” Rory asked, as Gray returned to his squash, carefully digging around a plant. “How did you come to be here? I have never seen this valley on a map before.”
Gray did not bother to meet his eyes as he responded, his tone short and hard. “I have been here many years. It’s a haven for those who are lost, a magical place not found on any maps.”
It did not make any sense at all for Sabrina to believe that the bandits stealing their supplies would hide in a magical valley for the lost. They might have little in the way of a moral compass, but they could hardly be lost.
“Are you lost then?” Rory asked.
Gray looked up then, eyes boring into Rory’s own. He said nothing for a long moment. “Aren’t we all lost?” he asked.

About the Author

A lifelong Oregonian, Beth Bolden has just recently moved to North Carolina with her supportive husband and their sweet kitten, Earl Grey. Beth still believes in Keeping Portland Weird, and intends to start a chapter of Keeping Durham Weird.

Beth has been writing practically since she learned the alphabet. Unfortunately, her first foray into novel writing, titled Big Bear with Sparkly Earrings, wasn’t a bestseller, but hope springs eternal. She’s published thirteen novels and five short stories. Yours, Forever After is her first fantasy/fairytale re-telling.

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