All she wants is her freedom… it.
He’ll do anything to get his revenge…
Luca has spent the last fifteen years waiting for vengeance. Now the plans are in motion, and there’s no going back. He couldn’t have anticipated Cami, though. She’s an innocent, a reminder of the life that was stolen from him. Something to be protected, not leveraged in this dangerous game.
Getting what they want might cost them everything…
This year the Wild Hunt has changed. For the first time since its inception, an outsider is named as the White Stag, the prey the rest of them hunt—Cami. She’s on the run and in danger, and Luca will do anything to keep her safe.
The person she needs the most protection from?
Him.
more
His Forbidden Desire is one of Katee Robert’s earlier works. I greatly enjoyed the premise: think sexy Hunger Games. Princess Camilla ends up being the White Stag, which is essentially the prey that everyone else in the Wild Hunt gets to…well for lack of a better word, hunt. Enter Luca or Famine as he’s called on the Island of Ys. After a brief meeting and a hot sunscreen rubdown, Luca enters himself into the Wild Hunt to make sure no harm comes to Camilla and also to make sure that a certain person wins. Why would he do that? To avoid spoilers, I’m just going to say read the book.
I enjoyed the characters but I found them to be kind of flat. I didn’t really connect with anyone which is a shame, but that didn’t interfere with my ability to enjoy the story. What did put a damper on my reading experience was the lack of chemistry. I think the author was going for enemies to lovers but it rode the line of insta love to me. The angst just wasn’t there for me to buy into this being an enemies to lovers romance. The smut scenes were ok but not at the level of which I’m used to from Katee. The Wicked Villains series and Your Dad Will Do were 100x hotter in my opinion.
The ending did set up the next book but it felt a little rushed. We are introduced to the Bookkeeper who is supposed to be this huge evil mastermind only for the four horsemen (Luca and his friends) to sneak up on them in the middle of the night with no conflict. A little anticlimactic that was.
I’m still interested in reading the other books in the series because I’m interested to see our other characters find their happily ever after. I think if i had read this before reading Katee’s newer books, I would have loved this. It is amazing to see how far she has come in her writing journey.
Overall rating 3 stars
Steaminess 2 stars
What a fantastic start to a new series. We get to see characters from three different series. We see Cami who is from the Thalamian Dynasty and Liam from the O’Malleys and Bellamy from the Kings. This story is specifically about Princess Camille from Thalania(Cami) and Luca who is one of the four horseman from the Island of Y who run the Wild Hunt. It’s such a suspenseful and sexy book. It’s so many stories at once. It’s Camis battle to establish her independence and the four horseman are looking for revenge for their childhood which are concurrently happening with such a crazy contest like the Wild Hunt. It is a thrilling ride with the most captivating characters and I can’t wait until Liam and Kenzie’s story.
I loved this book. I truly enjoyed it immensely. It was unique, and fun, and sexy, and sad, and heartbreaking, and inspirational. It was also suspenseful, and it had a host of fun character appearances from the author’s other series, which I always love.
Princess Camilla Fitzcharles is looking for a way out of her gilded cage of a life. She loves her oldest brother, Theo, the King of Thalania, but she can no longer do the crown’s bidding. She wants to be free of her sheltered life, her birthright, and all the heavy burdens they carry. She just wants a chance to make a real difference in the world. To be free to choose her own life, the way she would be if she were born a regular girl, instead of a princess. So, she finds herself on the Islands of Ys, where she enters a life or death contest called the Wild Hunt. She hopes the favor she would receive from one of the event’s powerful creators upon winning, a woman known only as Death, will give her the leverage she needs to leave her old world behind, without having to completely cut ties with her family. But, she doesn’t count on a link to her past mucking up her plans.
Luca has been Famine to most people for a quite while now. When he was taken as a young boy from his family in Thalania and forced into a horrible, hopeless situation, he and his 3 found siblings managed to stay alive, and then, to escape. Since then, they’ve worked hard amassing their fortune, and fixing up the island paradise where they now reside. They also each took on new identities, the same as the four horsemen of the apocalypse: War, Pestilence, Death, and Famine. The island is also where they’ve created an exclusive resort where the extremely wealthy come to see, and be seen. Additionally, it’s where they hold their annual Wild Hunt competition. But, this year, they’ve finally set a trap to find any links to the people who took them as children, and shut their monstrous operation down for good. But, there’s a kink in the works. When Cami shows up to compete in the Hunt, Luca is furious. How can this polished princess from his home country ever survive such a competition? Can he sacrifice her for his revenge?
Luca and Cami have strong chemistry from the start, and neither of them are very happy about it. It gets in the way of both their plans, but it’s too hard for them to ignore. At first, they both assume it can’t mean anything, but they figure out fairly quickly that they truly need each other in so many ways. The Hunt doesn’t end up going how either of them planned, and they are working at cross purposes the entire time, in secret. Neither of them are really willing to show their hand to the other, for fear of their trust being betrayed. They both have a lot at stake, and it would serve them both better if they could trust each other fully. But, Luca hasn’t trusted anyone but his 3 chosen siblings in so long, and he’s not sure if he can change. And Cami has never felt like anyone ever truly had her back, that didn’t also have ulterior motives.
The side characters here were very interesting, because they all had their own reasons for participating in the Hunt, and many of them we’ve seen in other series by the author. (Two of my faves I was especially glad to get a little peek of!) Plus Luca’s siblings were entirely fascinating as well. I’m HIGHLY anticipating the stories of the other horsemen, and seeing how our side characters from the past series fit in.
This story was a little bit Hunger Games, a little bit unexpected tropical paradise, a little bit tortured childhood origin story. There were moments where I laughed, got angry, cried, swooned, and cheered. Cami was able to prove all the ways in which people, including Luca, have underestimated her, usually to their detriment. Luca discovered there were still things he wasn’t willing to do, even for revenge, and that he still had the capacity to love someone, other than his found family. I really enjoyed each of their journeys, both separate, and together. They found stores of strength in each other, and in their connection, and I loved watching them realize what they might be giving up if they didn’t fight for each other.
I highly recommend this story, and I’m so looking forward to the rest of the series. I can’t wait to see where the information on their tormentors takes them.
Wow! This book sucked me in!!!! I love how Katee is tackling different genres! This was a nice fresh take on a semi fantasy/dystopian read. I love we got some pop ins from characters from Katee’s other series. Luca is one angry boy, loved it and I for one will be back to read the next one, bc Katee started giving the mysterious background of the next main couple in this book.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Holy Hotness this was such a steamy book. Katee Roberts has gone above and beyond with His Forbidden Desire. I loved every minute of this book. I was enthralled and consumed.