Review : His Consort by Mary Calmes

 

His Consort is a mm paranormal romance about a seemingly normal guy who meets vampires and finds out he is more special than anyone ever thought. It is book 1 in the House of Maedoc series, followed by book 2, His Prince.

Jason Thorpe is at loose ends since he left the military. Cabinetry is an occupation, but it isn't his everything, just something to do. He's just a simple, rather plain guy, who is a bit lonely since he's gotten older and has no one that he belongs with. When a friend wills him a shop and apartment in New Orleans Jason is questioning whether he should move there and start a new life. Then an encounter changes his life.

While staying at a small cabin on the property of rich and strange people who want him to build some bookshelves, Jason hears screams in the night. He grabs his gun and races through the snow to find that the strange people who live on the property have captured and attacked a young man. Unable to understand what is going on, he dismisses his questions until later and gets the young man loose to rush him to the hospital.

Jason doesn't know that he saved Tiago, the rajan or ambassador of the vampyr prince. He is rather charmingly completely unaware.

“Jason, I am as healed by your proximity as I have ever been by blood, and all I want now is to taste of you so I might know if you are human, as I suspect, or something else altogether.”

“I’m as human as you are, buddy.”

He laughed again, more shrill this time, and I was certain he was actually deep in shock. 

“Are you still cold?” I asked, pulling off the highway again, then taking off my coat once I’d put the truck into Park.

“No, I am not cold at all! Why on Earth would I be cold?”

But he had to be. I was, and he was tiny, with zero body fat. He had no natural insulation at all, and the karate gi thing wasn’t doing anything for him. His hands, when he touched me, were still icy. I had the heater going full blast, but apparently it wasn’t enough to warm him up. “Here, I wanna put this over you, all right?”

“Absolutely not. I have no need for your off-the-rack outerwear,” he protested, face scrunched up like he’d bitten into a lemon. “What is the origin of this garment?”

“It’s pleated corduroy, and would you just—here, lemme tuck it around you.”

“I am not—I cannot be observed in this jacket! I only wear couture and… I would be the laughingstock of court should anyone see me!”

“I’m not gonna take a picture of you in it. I just want you to stay warm and—no, not halfway down your chest, put it up under your chin,” I directed, using my coat to wrap him up like a burrito. “Now you just rest, all right? We’ll be there soon.”

“You are the most infuriating man! You are not listening to me at all,” he grumbled, pouting, the epitome of a pissed-off kitten. He really couldn’t have been any cuter. “I have slaughtered thousands.”

“I’m sure you have,” I said, brushing the golden waves of his hair out of his face before pulling the truck back out onto the road.

He growled, and I couldn’t stifle my chuckle.

“For your information, the reason they bled me was because they feared me.”

“Of course they did.”

“You placate me, and I will not have it!”

There's something niggling Jason about the entire episode, but he refuses to think about it. It must just be some cult or something. But after the vampyr prince's ambassador is safely passed on to the prince's guards, Jason decides it's definitely time to start over in New Orleans.

New Orleans is a revelation to Jason. He makes friends and new family, he starts up a store with his new best friend, and he feels like he's finally content. He pointedly doesn't think about his mysterious night in snowy Washington, but weird people who visit his store one night bring it all back and this time there's no hiding from the reality. Vampyrs are real. And Jason has some strange, yet subtle powers over them.

Learning more about the vampire world and having it become part of his day seems natural, and Jason simply slots it into his new life. But then word comes that the vampyr prince, Varic Maesoc, has come to visit the city and Jason's new normal is turned to chaos once again.

Strangely attracted to Varic, Jason doesn't know what to think, but with danger coming from every side he doesn't have time to dwell on the stunningly beautiful man who seems to want to get to know him.

But what a vampyr prince wants, he gets, and Varic wants Jason. Now he just has to convince Jason that all the danger is worth becoming his beloved consort.

House of Maedoc book 2, His Prince, takes over where book 1 leaves off and Jason learns what it means to be the consort of the most powerful prince in the world as they visit the vampyr court in Malta.

The House of Maedoc series is classic Mary Calmes with likable characters, interesting mindsets, and sweet moments. It differs a bit from stories like Frog as it is much longer, more in depth, and quite a bit darker (yet still retains that inherent sweetness). If you like Mary Calmes' other books, you'll probably like this one too even with the darker subject matter. It's one of my favorites of hers and I occasionally recall it in day to day life as it sticks with you.

Don't go into His Consort expecting sex on the first page. We don't even meet the vampire prince until halfway through. And even after they meet, Jason is hesitant to jump into anything because he doesn't understand Varic's feelings. But when they do come together it is fairly fast.

“I’m Varic Maedoc, the draugr, prince of the noreia. Who are you?”

I had a name, but it was stuck on the tip of my tongue.

“You’re not a vampyr,” he concluded, studying me. “I can smell your blood.”

“No, not a vampyr,” I agreed, barely able to speak, wanting so badly to lean into him that my muscles hurt.

“You smell so good,” he whispered. When his lips touched my neck, and then his teeth, I shuddered under his hands, a flush of heat rolling through me. “I want to taste you. Give me permission.”

I had thought I would never allow any vampyr to have my blood, but now I couldn’t remember anything I ever wanted more. He could have all of me, if that was what he wanted. Everything was his for the taking. “Yes, good, you have all the permission.”

His chuckle was filthy, seductive, and so fucking hot. He pressed against me, his cock hard inside his dress pants, and the urge to be under him overwhelmed me.

I would beg, if need be.

“Give me your name,” he murmured, no bite to the words, just a request.

“Jason Thorpe,” I answered breathlessly, and recognition and surprise flickered across his face. “You asked to see me.”

“Jason—” His voice faltered, then he inhaled and began again. “Yes, I did, and now I need to do so much more than merely see you,” he declared, slipping his hand around the side of my neck, easing me forward.

Just because sex doesn't happen right away doesn't mean the book is slow in other regards. There is a lot happening throughout, including quite a bit of learning about the vampire world and how it runs.

The world setting is equal parts great and obnoxious. I really like a well-thought out world, and this one fits perfectly into ours, adding to that secret underworld feel. There is quite a bit of background put into it and it makes for a very good, cohesive setting.

I'm not a huge fan of jargon though, and there are several titles that it's important to learn to understand the story better. The writer tries to make it simple with some slightly strange moments where Jason is learning from the vampires, but the words are too different to make them easy to recall and it's bothersome to try to remember which each one means. Making an effort in learning them is important for readability, and rereads go easier since the words are more familiar. But it just seems unnecessary.

The real life parts of the setting are really good too. New Orleans comes alive in the story, with the friendly people, interesting attitudes, and at home yet differing feeling of the city. It's almost like a character in and of itself.

Since this is a Mary Calmes story, it should surprise no one that Jason is a modest and sweet, incredibly likeable, friendly character. Likeable characters are one of my favorite parts of this writer's stories since who wants to read about someone awful? Most of the background characters are pretty likeable as well. Varic is a little too glossed over and his behavior is generally decent, but sometimes kinda jerky. We get to know Jason far more as it's from his POV.

There's a lot of drama in both of these books. They are primarily action and drama with scattered interflection and romance parts. I like the pacing, though it isn't consistently. It starts slow, then speeds up with people trying to kill one another, then slows back down. Then it does it again and again. It's like a good roller-coaster.

His Consort if fairly long, but one of those books that it's still not long enough because it is so engaging. When the sequel came out, His Prince, I was very happy to read more of the story. Hopefully there will be more books in the series.

The editing and proofreading was lacking quite a bit in the book. Running spellcheck doesn't find out if it's the right word to use for that situation, and sometimes it was easy to get a little lost trying to read certain sections of the story.

But other than a few quibbles, both books in the series are really good and filled with heart-pounding action. The little bits of silly and romance interspersed with so much going on really work. These books are both in my reread pile as they're ones I will come back to again and again. And since they are available in paperback, I might just pick up some paper copies as well to really enjoy the stories fully.