ARC Review – Their Virgin Princess (Masters of Ménage #4) by Shayla Black and Lexi Blake

I love the fact that all of the main characters have demons to face and rely on each other to help overcome them. We are treated to the insecurities of the men as well as Alea, and learn how love and friendship can provide the confidence needed to keep going. ~ Guilty Pleasures

Description:
A broken woman…

Alea Binte al Mussad, Princess of Bezakistan, was abducted from her university, mentally tortured and forced to witness the worst of humanity. She was rescued, but not before fear and her shattered soul made her retreat into herself. Two years later, she’s living behind the palace’s locked gates and the walls she’s built surrounding her heart. Alea is comforted by the joyous family around her, but inside feels so alone—except when she’s with the steady trio of guards who relentlessly keep her safe. And tempt her with a passion she isn’t sure she’ll survive.

Three stalwart warriors determined to claim her…

Dane Mitchell, Cooper Evans, and Landon Nix wanted Alea from the moment they laid eyes on her. Held back by their duty and her fragility, they worship the Princess from afar, determined to claim her if the chance ever comes. When Alea learns that someone may still be hunting her, she plots to escape both danger and her guards’ simmering, overwhelming passion. Dane, Coop, and Lan aren’t about to let her go. When they find themselves in paradise and all boundaries are stripped away, the ice begins to melt around Alea’s heart. But when reality comes crashing in, will she learn to accept love before a killer strikes again?

Their Virgin Princess is everything you’ve come to expect from Shayla Black and Lexi Blake and then some.

Princess Alea was kidnapped and held for weeks in a South American brothel before being rescued. Back in her palace in Bezakistan, she is existing, but not living. She can’t bear to be touched by anyone and she pushes away anyone who tries to help. She still has flashbacks of her capture, where she was tortured and drugged-but not raped the way the other women were.

Her three bodyguards, Dane, Lan, and Cooper, are all agreed they want her. And it’s a plus that they are in Bezakistan, where the royal family is in the habit of sharing their women. But a year of treating Alea as a fragile blossom isn’t working, and, with the blessing of her cousin, the King, the three are ready to take the next step in claiming the woman they love.

But she decides instead to run and takes off to Australia. Her three guards find out and stow away on the plane with her. Alea has already learned the threat to her has not ended, and it comes very clear when the pilot drugs the passengers, kills the stewardess and commits suicide, but not before taking the plane miles off course and setting it up to crash.

While surviving on a deserted island would be a trial for some, Lea, trapped with three former SEALs, finds it a chance to be herself, away from the glare of the press. She learns to put most of her fears aside and lets her men claim her. They share an idyllic few weeks, but rescue brings new problems-and puts her back in the sites of the killer.

I love both these authors and thoroughly enjoyed this book. I love the fact that all of the main characters have demons to face and rely on each other to help overcome them. We are treated to the insecurities of the men as well as Alea, and learn how love and friendship can provide the confidence needed to keep going.

We meet some old friends and get a hint of what the next book will involve. Some of the questions remain unanswered-no one ever explains why Alea wasn’t raped at the brothel, but the overall book was excellent. Who wouldn’t love to have three yummy SEALs in love with you, taking charge in the bedroom, but doing things your way the rest of the time? And Alea is worthy of the devotion: once she finds a way past her fears, she finds a way to help others in the same predicament.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable read with lots of angst, action and some sex scenes as hot as the tropics where they take place, including some mild BDSM.