The Traitor's Mercy cover art

The Traitor's Mercy

An M/M Dark Fantasy Romance (Starian Cycle, Book 1)

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The Traitor's Mercy

By: Iris Foxglove
Narrated by: Kris Antham
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About this listen

In the court of Staria, mercy is rarely a blessing....

Sabre de Valois is the last of his line. Saved from the gallows while his family hangs for treason, Sabre is given the chance to pay off their debt and clear his family name. To do so, he must serve as a courtesan in the pleasure district, but the only House willing to take him in and risk the disfavor of the king is the House of Onyx, which caters to the darker desires of the Starian noble elite. There, he finds his masochism is an asset, the courtesans are kinder than the nobles of the Starian court, and that he cannot help but be inexorably drawn to the owner of the House of Onyx, Laurent de Rue.

Lord Laurent de Rue knows that love is dangerous. Abandoned in the pleasure district with no memory of his past, Laurent clawed his way to notoriety and earned his title through cunning and skill. He has seen love ruin the lives and ambitions of those he passed on his way to the top, and he has no intention of letting himself fall prey to the same mistakes. Yet he can’t stop himself from growing closer to Sabre de Valois, who loves so earnestly and so completely that even Laurent’s steel will is starting to break.

But Sabre has secrets of his own, and when the machinations of the court threaten to put Sabre in danger, Laurent will have to decide whether he will risk it all for love, or let Sabre de Valois slip through his fingers.

Please note: The Traitor’s Mercy is an m/m dark fantasy novel, set in a fictional world where everyone is biologically either a dominant or a submissive, and compelled to satisfy those urges. As such, the biological imperative kink in this story is pure fantasy, and not intended as a representation of real-life BDSM practices or dynamics.

Please be advised that while this title features a happy ending, it contains darker elements that some listeners may find uncomfortable. It is intended for adult, mature listeners only.

©2021 Iris Foxglove (P)2021 Iris Foxglove
BDSM Fantasy Fiction Romance
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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What a treat

Story: 5 stars
Narration: 4 stars
Overall: 4 stars

Kris Antham is a new to me narrator and he was a revelation! A multitude of voices for the characters, accents, amazing pacing and sfx touches for things like when Laurent got glimpses of his lost memories and feelings coming through

What it was missing a bit though, and that might be a total ME problem, was the atmosphere, especially in the beginning of the story. Another thing is that as much as sfx was appreciated I could hardly understand what Laurent's mother was telling him together with the accent. Also I was completely flabbergasted with how de Valois was pronounced o_O.

As far as the story goes, this is a romance like no other I had read before. I love BDSM romances and this had all the things I enjoyed but it did push my boundaries, since I usually enjoy them between 2 exclusive partners. But the plot here is full of royal intrigue, betrayals, treason and secrets and it unfolded in such way that things needed to happen before the HFN/HEA was reached (I'm putting HFN because the 4th book is about the same couple).

Anyways, give this a try if you like things a bit on the dark side.

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Nothing new or novel is offered here.

The central romance was unconvincing: Laurent and Sabre’s relationship was never shown to develop beyond employer + employee and Laurent was repeatedly shown on-page to be Sabre’s pimp and voyeur. Then, the political machinations, world building and magic were contrived into the last 40 minutes of the book to provide a fairy-tale HEA. What really got my goat? TTM crucially failed to distinguish vice and brutality from the eroticism and pleasure of sadomasochism.

🎧 Kris Antham has a nice rich, resonant timbre and he kept the separation between his own voice and the character’s voices distinct. This mattered because Sabre’s dialogue was bitten off words or chopped up sentences with odd pausing. I cannot fault that Mr. Antham conveyed this with abrupt halts in dialogue and audible breaths or gasps mid-sentence but it was an unpleasant auditory experience. I also suspect the narrator used a voice mixer to modulate his voice to a higher register because most females either sounded off, mechanical or their words were garbled.

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