Chapel Orahamm

Saye – the main female character

Kainer the 9th prince – the main male character

Setting: Harem

Genre: Cis-Het Erotica

This made for a quick read of 15 chapters. There wasn’t much in the way of character development, but when it comes to short smut, there isn’t a lot of time or need for character development. The setting and color palette were gorgeously rendered. The facial expressions were consistent and decent.

It felt rather stereotypical – evil sultan, just about to have his way with a harem girl who’s never been with another man, runs away from the overly handsom main male – Kainer. The harem girl – Saye – is saved by Kainer just in the nick of time.

The story gives a taste of maybe he is tough, maybe he is gentle, and then he comes off as full on controlling and emotionally abusive by means of threatening everything she will ever interact with with death. He flip flops between caring and controlling when all the main female lead wants is freedom. He ends up misinterpreting her actions as she already having been used by the previous sultan, only to discover that she’s still a virgin in his embrace.

There’s a segment where she ends up remembering saving him from five years before and realizing that was the guy she saved.

Which is hard to fathom if you’re a girl who isn’t allowed to see much of any men ever and this one guy you sit and dress his wounds and spend hours with. It feels like she should recognize him. So, he ‘fell in love at first sight’ with the person who gave him an ounce of compassion. Then he treats her like a possession from that moment after. Do they have anything in common? Do they share interests? Has he actually gotten to know her? No. But let’s be real. We’re here for the smut. Everything else is just the lingerie.

It’s alright for a read if you get passed that manipulative possessive streak – “it’s just part of the setting”.

Seeing as it makes for a short read, it’s not something you have to commit too many emotions to or develop a lot of feelings for either character.