vigilant valet coverRating: 3.75 stars
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Length: Novel


Jean has spent thousands of years as the valet and close companion to Alarick, the King of All Shifters. Jean has loved Alarick for a long time, but he has never shared his feelings with Alarick. Jean has a complicated past and now he is content just to be there to support and guide Alarick when needed. However, when a danger from Jean’s past comes back and threatens both Alarick and the kingdom, Jean may not be able to keep his secrets hidden.

When his life is on the line, there is no one Alarick would rather have at his side than Jean. The men learn that an ancient weapon, the Scythe of Kronos, is the only thing that can kill the creature that is threatening the kingdom. But finding it is not easy, and Jean and Alarick must travel far and wide to track it down. Even once they have the weapon, killing the beast will not be easy. With Jean and Alarick just beginning to explore a relationship, and Jean’s secret past threatening to come back to haunt him, it will be all the men can do to stop the attack and make it out alive.

The King and His Vigilant Valet is the third (and final) book in the Paranormal Princes series. While you could probably catch on here without reading the earlier books, we do meet Jean and Alarick in both the earlier stories and this book does end up tying in with some aspects of The Prince and the Captivating Carpenter. So I think you will get more enjoyment here if you have read the other stories as well.

As I said, we have met Jean and Alarick before and I enjoy their relationship. There is a playfulness between them that I really like. Alarick may be the king, but it is pretty clear that Jean runs things, especially since Alarick can be kind of socially clueless and bumbling at times. There is a sweetness here as Alarick realizes that his feelings for Jean are much more than friendship and the tight bond the men have developed over the years allows them to smoothly move from friends to lovers.

The men go on a quest to find the weapon that will kill the enemy threatening Alarick, so there is some nice turnabout here after Alarick has sent his shifter prince and princesses on similar quests. I enjoyed seeing the men catch up with some of the other characters we have met and watching their romance bloom as they worked together to find the scythe. However, at times the journey felt repetitive as the men would travel through a portal, interact with some folks, get some guidance, and then leave to go somewhere else. Not much happened in each place, so I just felt like we were watching them travel from one location to the other. The big bad guy doesn’t show up until the end, so for a lot of the story the guys are fighting against various minions, which took a little of the threat away for me as the ultimate danger was unclear.

However, in the end, this story ties up nicely all around. The relationship between the men is great, the story comes to an exciting climax with a big battle, and the series closes out nicely. If you are a fan of shifters and like a light, playful take on the genre, definitely check these books out.