A review by tashiareads13
The Sinful King by Claire Contreras

lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.5

A good story, to me, allow you to imagine and dream while you’re reading. When I read, I can see everything that’s going on across the page. I can see the color of the protagonists’ eyes and hair, I can see the house, the furniture all of it down to the clothes. This story didn’t do that for me. I struggled to understand or to see or to imagine this story. 
 
The story begins with a summer party that Adeline Bouchard is attending. At this party, she meets a man who turns out to be Prince Elias, the Crown Prince of France. This is the first time you have to suspend belief, but it won’t be the last. At this point in the story Adeline is an 18 year old girl who is going off to college, but decided to spend time at her family’s villa in Marbella. Now, what I didn’t know was where exactly Marbella was located. It’s a small town in Spain in the Andalusia region. What we find out in the first few pages is that Adeline grew up in Connecticut, where she also went to school. She lived with her aunt and uncle while her parents traveled back-and-forth between Marbella and France. Adeline is  attending this party with her friend, Etienne Bellerose and before the prologue is over, Elias takes Adeline’s virginity although this is never mentioned again in the story. 
 
We’re now 5 years later (in the first chapter) and Adeline has gone on to do exactly what she set out to do; she has an event planning company based in London. However, she’s back in Marbella in her family’s villa in order to escape to London because of a sex tape scandal. This is where the story begins. 
 
Prince Elias wasn’t a well developed character. Some of the dialect in this story is really off. Elias is half Spanish and half French and the dialect is distinctly American as it’s written. It disconnects you from the story. The Prince’s mother is from Spain, Barcelona in fact and his father is the king of France. Elias has no problem with his priviledge or at least that is what we’re led to believe. He’s also a playboy, but he doesn’t like parties and he doesn’t really go out, at least not in the book. We really don’t know what he thinks or feels until page 171. This is where we get the Prince’s point of view. You would think ¾ of the way in to a 276 page book isn’t the time to introduce Prince Elias’s point of view. If this book was going to be a full duet book, then his voice should’ve been introduced when Adeline‘s perspective was introduced. Prince Elias just didn’t come off as likeable. He seemed more like an annoying stalker, not the kind us dark romance girlies enjoy. And when Elias asks Adeline to serve drinks for a party it wasn’t because he wanted to be near her. It was because he was cock blocking. I think he heard through the door that Pierre the security guard wanted to date Adaline, the neighbor.
 
Adeline was just weak. Elias steamrolled her at every turn. She had no personality and no voice. Her character and development were poorly written. A few chapters in and Pierre was my favorite character in the story. 
 
Some other thoughts I had while reading this book. The descriptions of all of these things are inadequate including the characters. The ball is in Versailles yet they’re calling contacts in Montreal for acrobats to send over? Dear God, no one plans a ball, much less a royal ball in one weeks time at the palace of Versailles.  Again this book is so very confusing. Is her father a journalist who hates the Crown or is he apart of the cabinet? Apparently, he’s both. We are now at the gala in chapter 15 and it is a 18th century styled Gala at the palace of Versailles. Everyone is dressed in costume and somehow this author didn’t describe anything. There’s no description of the hair whether it was a wig or what. There’s really no description of the clothes. There was very little description of the decor of the party. Who is Jos? Why is she friends with Princess Pilar? How is she working for Adeline? And how is she dating Prince Aramis or sleeping with Prince Aramis? 
Earlier in the book, Adeline describes Elias‘s voice. At the gala while dancing with other women and Pierre standing next to her, she didn’t recognize Elias‘s voice? That makes absolutely no sense.
 
Another thing that doesn’t make sense to me is this. If the sex tape scandal between Adeline and Thomas had occurred in London, then how was the crown Prince of France able to get the sex tape taken down? Would the crown prince of France have that kind of power? 
 
I guess I don’t understand the point of this book. There seems to be no chemistry between the two main characters. I just don’t care about this book, I don’t care about the story. I don’t care about the characters. I just don’t care.