I am a fan of this author. However great I think his approach on a royal love story, I found it to not necessarily be fully fleshed out. Regardless, I enjoyed this book.

Meh. Everything of the book was a mess, characters meh. Story...messy. Just overall boring.
Munk turned king, was an interesting consept, but fell flat.

This was a yikes. I honestly could not fully make my way through it. It was equal parts boring and nearly nonsensical. I love a good silly romance, but the key word is "good."

3.5 Stars

This is a lovely story with a fairytale feel to it. It reminds me of Cinderella without the ugly stepsister but it also has echoes of the Ugly Duckling.

Brother Juniper is hidden away from society and he is very happy about this Cloistered away in his monastery he studies the skies and science, and actually has quite a few scientific breakthroughs although he remains hidden from society and public life. His life takes an unexpected and unwanted turn when he is told that the King of Bulvania has died and he is the next in line for the throne.

Brother Juniper didn't even realise the former King was a distant relative and now he must take up these new responsibilities and he really doesn't want to.

Meanwhile on the other side of the world in the US of A, Logan a successful photographer is suddenly told by his father that he is to accompany his father to his new posting as US Ambassador to Bulvania.

Logan is horrified. Bulvania is a European backwater country and he doesn't even think they will have gay night clubs.

In any case (as his father reminds him) Logan is never short of men and is able to find men and fun wherever he goes. He joins his father and goes off to Bulvania where he meets the king, meets lots of men, meets the King's enemies, manages to take lots of photos, manages to have lots of sex,

And when the ugly King duckling turns into a swan, Logan also falls in love.

It is a kind of simple story with lots of jokes and humour. It was a fun read!

Copy provide by publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

I'm confused what exactly the author was aiming for with this book. Was it supposed to be a romance? Because i'm sorry there was nothing romantic about it. Was it supposed to be erotica? Because honestly I don't see that either.

First off the romance was too unbelievable, undeveloped and barely there to make it a romance.

as for erotica ; sure it seemed like everyone was having sex constantly and it seemed like it's all people cared about, also lets not forget the random orgies that just started out of nowhere.. was it erotica though? I say no, because the sex scenes were a strange mix of telling and barely showing and behind closed doors. I personally never read an erotica that was the exact opposite of being erotic but maybe that's just me . The sex scenes were also not written well at all, but neither was the rest of the book so that's another problem.

The book was just not any good in my opinion and the only redeeming quality was the premise, but a good premise means nothing with poor execution.

Does that mean everyone will dislike it? Of course not.. different strokes for different folks. This book was just not for me plain and simple.

This book was weirdly paced and quite underdeveloped. There could have been so much more to the story but as it stands now it was just meh.

This is a quirky book, a sort of gay erotic farce maybe? It's billed as romance, though, and romance is generally an emotional genre. This book is written in an omniscient point of view, without really delving into the emotions of the characters. Which is appropriate for farce maybe, but not romance. Maybe it should be shelved under humor instead.

This book was a lot of fun! I requested it on a whim wanting to try out some more romance authors and I’m happy I did so. I finished this book, it flies by and at the end I even found myself wanting more from the characters! Is this book perfect? I did have some issues with it, but was it fun, quick, and very sexy? This book follows Logan and Raymond. Logan is the son of a millionaire from NYC and when his dad is asked to come to Bulvania to become the American Ambassador he is dreading every minute of it. Raymond is a distant cousin to the recent king who was murdered. Raymond is a monk and has never been around the royal family so stepping up as the new king will be completely different for him.
The Virgin king is a short story and a very cute one. I really liked the relationship and the interactions between Raymond and Logan, they are so sweet! The story is intriguing and I liked the way it was written, a fast and a good read

Raymond is a monk, but is soon to become the new king of Bulvania, when the old king dies under mysterious circumstances. Logan is photographer who has been pulled to Bulvania by his father to help him in his ambassador role. When they first meet, Raymond is immediately infatuated with Logan, while Logan sees a down trodden young man, who doesn't look very well kept. Once they start to spend time together, Logan learns that Raymond is intelligent and charming, also good looking, once Raymond makes an effort.

It was a good book, the story is pretty fast paced and there isn't alot of angst. You know who the bad guys are pretty quickly in the story, and they don't really do much to try and harm Raymond, its more a game of politics than intrigue.

Overall, I liked Logan, although it took awhile, since he was pretty obnoxious at the beginning and sex seemed to be all he thought about. Raymond was a sweet, innocent bird, who I wanted to protect from all the bad guys and Logan to begin with but he really spread his wings towards the end of the book. The ending seemed a bit fast, and the plot against the king seemed to be explained away.

In need of some revisions so I would rate this book 2/5 stars is for a number of reasons.

The category should be changed from romance to erotica since the book spends more time going over the orgies Logan attends and watches than any emotional connection in the book. As for Logan and Raymond's emotional connection is never introduced, much less developed. Logan views pre-makeover Raymond as looking something dirty from an alley with the exception of warm brown eyes. Raymond on the other is lust at first sight with Logan. Logan never gives Raymond the time of day until he is sex starved and desperate but then sees the "man of his dreams (post-makeover Raymond) and becomes obsessed with him.

The book is also chaotic from a perspective point of view, changing who's view point you're in and from too many characters. The story would also prove to be more interesting from Raymond's perspective since he had at least some of a character growth, similar to Sandy from Grease. Logan on the other hand stayed selfish throughout the book and only cared about getting off in as many orgies as possible until "the hottest guy he's ever seen" happens to be into him and he thinks it's love.

This book left me feeling more like a beta-reader than a reviewer since there were a number of errors throughout the book. One of the more frustrating ones that was reoccurring was when the author was messed up which characters were interacting in the scene.

Over all, with a good editor, some much needed work on characters and plot this could become a good book.

I was disappointed and wanted more from this plot. I was so excited by the premise, but the plot was haphazard and hard to follow.

Is this a gay sex, romantic fairy tale? Hard to really describe. Old world meets modern times as Logan meets Raymond the king. What is it they say about looking beyond the packaging?

I didn't hate this, but it was very quirky in both the plot and the writing style. Lots of repetitive phrases (within pages), that suggested to me that it really needed more careful editing.

Lots of sex in this book but it's not really- sexy. A lot of 'this happened, then that happened...' and then off to another part of the story. I couldn't decide if the author intended this to be erotica or something else.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Heat Factor: perfunctory and orgiastic
Character Chemistry: Logan is a superficial douchecanoe
Plot: What even is this?
Overall: This book was a hot mess, and I’m not even mad.

Well, folks, I read The Virgin King, and I would like to know what I just read. I started, then I stopped and looked up who the protagonists are supposed to be again, because the prologue set up one story and the first chapter set up a different one.

The whole book is, like, 150 pages, and:
- The King of Bulvania is a 19 year old monk who’s lived isolated on a mountain since he was 14.
- He makes friends with a 102 year old relative who was passed over for the throne because he was gay.
- His predecessor was (probably, definitely) murdered by the queen, her lover, and maybe also the Archbishop
- The Queen, her lover, and the Archbishop are holy wow homophobic.
- The Royal Guard is extremely important, primarily because they have loads of gay orgies.
- Washington, DC is the gayest city in America (??? Is this true? I have never heard this and I’m from there.), and the State Department is the gayest department in the government (again ???? What is even happening here?), which is relevant solely because Logan is being forced to leave what is apparently gay nirvana.
- Logan is primarily important because he has aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall the sex aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall the time with aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall the men.
- Logan’s dad is low-key homophobic, and he’s been tapped by the Republican administration to be the ambassador to Bulvania, so he forces Logan to go with him. Because if he’s going to be miserable, he also wants Logan to be miserable. Alternatively, he wants Logan to settle down and be happy. IDK.
- Logan makes friends with the Royal Guards. (You know what I’m saying.)
- The King wants to reform an isolated country, mired in tradition, with rampant homophobia, in, like, three months.
- The American Mission is probably the worst trained diplomatic corps in the history of diplomacy.

Okay, also, the latent homophobia in this book is bananas, from Logan’s dad to the King believing he’s “deviant” to the queen and her cronies being righteously vitriolic. And Curlovich uses “gay” as a catchall for everything queer, which, I didn’t realize until I started reading this book, I have not heard for years. Furthermore, it’s written in such a way as to imply that all gay men are pretty much always DTF in wild, public orgies, as debauched as possible. I probably wouldn’t have minded this if it felt like this was just how Logan enjoyed pleasure, and how he sought out other like-minded souls. But that was just so not what was happening. So. Way to boil down the gay experience to some problematic stereotypes.

Anyway.

This book would have benefitted from some pretty serious development editing, considering that it tries to do about 50,000,000 things, and therefore does none of them particularly well. And if the story had been better developed, I might have been able to overlook the other editing errors, but it wasn’t, so I couldn’t. We only get the briefest glimpse of the King in the prologue, and then don’t hear anything from him until 30% into the book. I mean, Logan and the King don’t even meet (I kid you not:) until almost 60% of the way through the book, and even then, Logan refuses to have anything to do with the King because the King isn’t hot enough for him. What. Even. Is. That.

I will summarize this book for you with this quote (and no, you don’t need additional background to understand it, this is just the essence of the whole book):

"Their white trousers showed the bulges in their crotches perfectly, even stunningly. Hanging at the top of his pole, Logan had a furious erection."

I read this. You don’t have to. You’re welcome.

3.5/5

A huge thank you to Riverdale Avenue Books and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a lot of fun! I requested it on a whim wanting to try out some more romance authors and I’m happy I did so. I sat down outside and did not leave until I finished this book, it flies by and at the end I even found myself wanting more from the characters! Is this book perfect? No I did have some issues with it, but was it fun, quick, and very sexy? Yes it was!

This book follows Logan and Raymond. Logan is the son of a millionaire from NYC and when his dad is asked to come to Bulvania to become the American Ambassador he is dreading every minute of it. Raymond is a distant cousin to the recent king who was murdered. Raymond is a monk and has never been around the royal family so stepping up as the new king will be completely different for him.

I didn’t think I would be as invested in the politics or world of this book but wow it was super entertaining! I mean the romance was my favourite part but the other plot lines were so interesting. The “evil queen” character who was trying to overthrow Raymond was so entertaining. I do wish some things were wrapped up a bit more, but going into a book that was less then 200 pages I knew what to expect.

Was this a fun and sexy book that is great to read in one sitting? Yes it was! Will I be checking out more work from this author in the future? For sure! The characters and plot was so much fun, and I’m so happy I was given the opportunity to read it!

Once again thank you to Riverdale Avenue Books and NetGalley for the arc!

Really cool, easy type of read. Movement was nice. It is a PG-13 reading because of mentions and some activities done (ex nude beach). Enjoyed.

I thought the premise of this story, a monk called to European royalty getting involved with the son of an American ambassador, is intriguing and interesting, I still think it is, but unfortunately the book didn't do it justice and I didn't really like this book.

For starters it is unclear what the story wanted it to be. It could've been a romance, but the protagonists only meet each other about 60% in and that is honestly too late for anything. It could've been an erotica, but none of the sex scenes were hot or memorable, or erotic even. Frankly, none of them actually talked about the sex, just "they screwed" and that was it. The world might've been solid, as there were several pages building it with history, politics and stuff, but I wasn't compelled to read through it.

I'm giving it 2 stars because it might be interesting for a different kind of reader, it just wasn't for me.
•
*The eARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley for free in exchange for an honest review. It doesn't affect my opinion of the book. Thank you.

The king of Bulvania has died in a tragic industrial accident. Though his widow wants to ascend to the head of state, but there is a distant cousin of the king that still lives–Brother Juniper is a sheltered monk in one of the remote mountain monateries. The Royal Guard, consisting of a cadre of extremely fit and sexually agile men, collect Juniper for his coronation as King Raymond XL. He’s about 20, and completely naive to court and it’s deadly intrigue.

Logan Bockwein is an unapologetic single gay man who’s always looking for his next good time. He’s an accomplished photographer, and has recently had an exhibition of erotic art at a renown D.C. gay art gallery. Then had some fun multipartner action including his ex, a State dept undersecretary. Logan’s dad is PT Bockwein, president and CEO of Zinc, Inc–a tin and zinc mining company. The Bockweins have some Bulvanian heritage–which is rather uncommon as Bulvania is a really small eastern European nation and nearly no one has heard of it. The biggest export of Bulvania is cuckoo clocks, but the country also has a large unmined resource of tin. And, PT Bockwein, as the only influential American with Bulvanian heritage, has just been named as the US Ambassador. He’s insisting Logan come along. And, Logan is NOT happy about it.

Logan is less than impressed with the monk-king, who still dons his shabby robe and hasn’t cut his beard or hair….ever. But Raymond/Juniper is captivated by the cultured, young, and sexy Logan. The king’s guards make for way better playmates, in Logan’s opinion, but Alex, the captain of the guard convinces Logan to become a friend to the king, who is in grave danger from the same folks who likely murdered his royal cousin.

This book is truly a romp into the erotic, with Logan literally having sex with virtually any and every man who is not the virgin king for the first 90% of the book. Alex sees that Raymond’s attraction is growing desperate, and he wants to facilitate a relationship that would benefit Raymond and Bulvania. The grand plan is an absence makes the heart grow fonder situation, with Logan in forced celibacy while the new king tours Europe. It’s really a funny bit that Logan–who has unparalleled powers of attracting bemates can’t get anyone to sleep with him for more than a month. And, when Raymond returns, well, Logan is more than fond of the made-over king.

If you are into kinky, gay erotica that has a strong sense of knowing its plot is silly and a little ludicrous, then you will smirk along like I did at Logan’s tale of love. I liked it, taking the humor and puns and outlandish situations in the style of Monty Python meets a gay bath house. There’s some plotting and evil folks, and lots of dudes getting it on. And, in the end, Raymond finds peace in his new roles as both King and lover.

I received this copy from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. The plot was okay but the story and characters were a bit of a mess. I didn’t care for anyone but the monk turned king. If that is such a thing.. Some subplots were never resolved. I feel bad but I didn’t care for the book. I’m sure others will enjoy the book.

This book sounds wonderful, but completely misses the mark. In the first 25% of the book there are two completely unnecessary - and completely unbelievable - orgies that have zero relevance on the story itself. I really wanted to love this story of a monk turned King of a small nation and a big city playboy, both lost in their own way. However, there were too many issues with the writing and story line that make reading even 30% of the book painful. Unfortunately I was unable to finish this story due to these issues.

This could have been something really interesting, with the premise of an unknown cousin taking the throne and having to navigate political sabotage from the old Queen, while also discovering his sexuality and falling in love with a foreign ambassador's son. However, I don't think this novel really knew what it wanted to be. It bounced between erotica, romance, political drama, etc. and just never really found its pace. It's a quick read, so it wasn't too much of a struggle to get through despite the awkwardness.

The main character, Logan, wasn't terribly likeable. He's the stereotypical promiscuous gay man, shallow and searching for nothing more than sex. He goes from not wanting anything to do with Raymond to falling in love with him incredibly quickly, simply because Raymond changes up his appearance and looks more attractive. His most interesting moment was almost getting roped up in an assassination plot, but that was put out there and then just falls away without any sort of resolution.

It's a short read, so I understand not everything can be fit in, but probably a good half of the sex scenes were unnecessary and could have been switched out for something to further develop the plot. With a little alteration of the main character and picking what road the plot/genre wants to go down, I think this could have been a really fun, niche read. Unfortunately, it just remains unpolished potential.