With adult scenes from the start, this medieval fantasy presents a powerful love between a prince and his bondsman. Prince Tanish has been disappointing the primped ladies at court since his presentation as a youth, though he doesn't make public the fact of his love for Feyar. But at twenty- three, his ageing father tells him to choose a suitable consort - male or female, but not one of the palace servants.

A BOND OF THREE continues as a state visit of neighbouring rulers is invited; there are eligible princesses and Tanish will need an heir. He can't bear to think of leaving his lover who is also his guard. However, another land called Kandor is preparing for war on Tanish's home of Teruna. Maybe this will have to take priority over weddings. Tanish isn't prepared to find that a similarly eligible young prince, Sorran, arrives in the royal retinue, and Sorran has an eye for a handsome man. He's also got a gift for seeing colourful auras around a person, in a land where magic has been put to good use such as healing but is fading fast.

The fantasy tale of course has roots in the custom of using royal offspring to secure alliances. But it's very difficult to imagine two princes being allowed to wed, when a kingdom not secured by heirs will produce a civil war over inheritance. I just had to accept that there must be first cousins who could eventually produce a ruler, or that maybe a second marriage to a woman would be allowed in this world. Given these terms, I could get on with feeling the angst and loneliness of the three young men who are subject to kingly whims. Sorran is sensibly determined not to marry anyone who loves someone else. Can they resolve the issue?

I had been hoping for a more developed fantasy, but there isn't much world-building and all the action occurs in or around the palace. K C Wells, has created a detail-laden erotic story; she says that reading a male romance opened her eyes to the notion that these romances were incredibly hot. Certainly, taking female issues out of the equation gives more space to focus on issues like servitude, status, royal command and the nature of love in marriage. We also get to read about well- developed male bodies and gay threesomes. Plenty to keep us interested in this fiery romance about A BOND OF THREE.

Book Summary

n the kingdom of Teruna, the red-cloaked Seruani teach the Terunans the art of love. Taken from their homes at seventeen to be trained, they are shunned as outcasts by society and considered the lowest of the low. So when Prince Tanish falls in love with the Seruan Feyar, the man who took his virginity and the only one to share his bed, he is not about to declare that love. No one can ever know, because the consequences would be too painful to consider for both of them.

When the king of Vancor visits Teruna, he promises that his son, Prince Sorran, will marry Prince Tanish to solidify the alliance between the two kingdoms, with the proviso that the virginal Sorran is instructed in the art of pleasing his husband-to-be. When Tanish’s father chooses Feyar to be this instructor, the lovers decide Prince Sorran must be taught that this is to be a marriage in name only….

A resentful prince, unwilling to share his lover.

A resentful Seruan, unwilling to share his prince.

And the shy prince whose very nature sparks changes in the lives of all those around them.

Teruna is about to change forever.

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