Title: Stolen by the Orc King
Author: Jasper Thorne
Published by: Independently Published
Publication date: 4th June 2022
Genre: Erotica/Orc-Smut
Pages: 132
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Series: Orc Obsession

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Blurb/Synposis

He’s huge, intimidating, and could snap me in half like a twig. So why can’t I take my eyes off of him?

Lost and alone in the wilderness after a hunting expedition gone wrong, things can’t be much worse…until I’m captured by a clan of savage, primal orc warriors.

The chieftain is huge, all-powerful, and determined to claim not only my curvy body — but my heart as well.

He’ll never stop, he says.

Whatever it takes, he says.

Challenge accepted.

Stolen by the Orc King is a spicy new monster romance for adults only. It includes a grumpy orc chieftain who’s total mush for his beloved, a curvy heroine thrust into an adventure, and a heaping helping of size difference. This book is part of a series and Rosa and Agonak’s story will continue into the next book.

Review

Stolen by the Orc King is, from what I can tell, the debut novel by author Jasper Thorne. It follows the story of human character, Rosa, who is out hunting and scavenging so that she and her family don’t starve during the winter. She steps into an Orc trap and is taken to their stronghold.  Agonak, the Orc King, is intrigued by her despite the fact that he is cautious of her and thinks her a spy. Rosa keeps up a tough exterior in the face of  Agonak and his Orcs, but that crumbles as things progress and the strange, love blossoms between them. 

The lead characters in this novel are pretty standard, they feel smushed together in a rather cliche manner and nothing really sets them apart from other novels of this type. Rosa herself is a bit feisty, and I appreciated this aspect of her character, but it doesn’t feel like it was acted on enough. She crumbles pretty easily as her situation gets worse. Her saving grace is the lust that  Agonak has for her.

 Agonak was a conflicting character, he wants Rosa but also wants to keep his clan safe and I enjoyed reading about his struggles with the two aspects of his character. I like seeing male-leads struggle with their emotions and it was well-written. 

The world in which the characters inhabited was a strength of the novel. I’d love to have read more about the background of the world-setting to really get a proper understanding of the how’s and why’s of it all, but what was presented was intriguing. The village that  Agonak lives in and the traits of the upper city aspect was captivating and felt like a unique presentation for what could be a standard, unimaginative novel.

The relationship between the two was a bit of a struggle. I didn’t feel much of a connection between the two characters and the peak of their romance felt dubious at best. Agonak read the signs of Rosa’s body rather than hearing voiced consent; telling her she wanted the relationship as much as he did. He takes her regardless of consent issues and there is a bit of a size-difference issue between them which is worked in rather nicely for the story and is where a large aspect of the kink comes from, that and the usual ‘Breeder’ kink that these books rely upon. Things get down and dirty. 

Normally these books end after the bumping-uglies part, but this one continued with Rosa pining over Agonak, who ignores her at an Orc gathering, despite her wanting him to notice her. She leaves, gets dizzy and the book ends on a cliffhanger with her going missing and… being pregnant.

This was my greatest gripe with this book. I didn’t sense a passage of time between them having sex one day and her being pregnant the very next – where she is collapsing, examined by a medic and they know she’s carrying his child. It felt far too fast and incredulous! Like, that’s not how it works…

I don’t know if the next book in this series continues the story of these characters or picks new ones up, but I do hope the cliffhanger gets resolved somehow as I felt a bit too left in the dark.

Summary

A captured woman develops Stockholm Syndrome over her Orc captive! An Orc King that’s intrigued by his captive and wants to breed her. You know, the usual things that happen in Orc-Smut! Moderately interesting characters that need don’t really get the chance to shine; Rosa’s feisty nature is quashed easily and Agonak’s inner struggle needed more time to bloom. Interesting world setting that needs a bit more development in further renditions.