#j.m.rose

Usurper by J.M. Rose

I would like to thank the author for this gifted eARC.

This story was absolutely fantastic, and I would give it 10 stars if I could. It begins with a terribly tragic event as Dmitry, the crown prince, is being initiated as the future king by his father, the king, but it all goes terribly wrong when Dmitry bites his father because, well, they are vampires.

Of course, he is dragged off by the king's guard, whom Dmitry believed to be a mentor, while he is desperately trying to tell anyone who will listen that he wasn’t trying to kill his father. But the king’s guard, Yuri, is determined to make Dmitry into a villain who means the king harm. Yuri rushes Dmitry off to the dungeon for interrogation, where Dmitry’s father comes to tell him that he is no longer the crown prince and will be a servant; he is not to have contact with his siblings, and he is not to leave the palace grounds.

I love how this book shows how Dmitry grows and changes through his tragic fall from a privileged crown prince to a servant and how he copes with what that means. Not only had he been stripped of his titles, but now his brother has them.

He was sent away with only the clothes on his back. He had to make his own way among the people who served him only hours before, many of whom had known him since infancy. They gave him a room, shared meals with him, embraced him, and loved him.