Iron Breakers: Stag's Run

I read about a third of the book, then I had to stop: it was not going to get better and there was no point in further exasperation.The more I learned about the protagonist, Ren, the more I hated him. There wasn't a single redeemable quality in him to me, apart from his love for his brother. He was not sincere or genuine, he routinely sought to fool others, and didn't seem to think very much of anyone that wasn't his immediate family. His sole purpose in life at the beginning of the book seems to be a brother and a generally admired good-looking guy that many from the cream of the society are lusting after. I couldn't tolerate him, he was stupid and arrogant. The only reason he could come up with for why the king seemed cross with him was that he'd done something wrong, despite being the bastard child and a neighboring king was coming to visit.There were also many things that made it very difficult to fend off disbelief. The crown prince is allowed to hunt for wild boar without a single guard accompanying him, on his birthday? Don't think so. The known enemy king is allowed to march in the castle completely unchecked, and bring enough of his own guards with him for the visit to practically take over the castle? Just how incompetent is this king and his court? There are lions in the presumably North-ish location? Not even mountain lions? The lions have just eaten, but are disturbed by anyone walking by? Don't think so... Why is Ren so afraid of lions that have never done anything to him?The enemy king and his advisor or whatever seem to be evil people for no reason, with no depth. (Of course, there might be more on them later on in the book.)Ren is the queen's bastard, from before she married the king-to-be, from a slave..? If she was of royal blood, she screwed up good. If they have slaves and she wanted to have sex, could she not have arranged to not get pregnant? How careless of her. If she was to be the reigning monarch, that's an excellent way to introduce instability to the kingdom. And the king married her anyway, around Ren's birth? Seems highly unlikely, unless he had less than good intentions. Apparently the queen also died, but it's not mentioned how or why.Apparently it's possible to commit murder in the castle without killing or fighting any guards. Rampant incompetency or what?It's also mentioned multiple times that Ren was treated as an equal to the princes, but then the book contradicts itself. If he's equal to the youngest prince, how can he twist Ren's arm with his status? Why don't they get along?The captain of the guard can ride off for several hours, and no one notices he's missing? Highly unlikely.The place called Lowlands exists on the map right next to what appears to be mountains. Really? If it's not literally low land, why is it called Lowlands? The lowlander man walks around barefoot and bare chested, and he's easily distinguishable from the local folk, but no one notices or pays any attention to him and Ren when they arrive. I don't think so. He's also persuaded to further follow an arrogant prick by a single sentence, when it's basically a choice between freedom and revenge-attempt that has a high likelihood of resulting in his death.It just seems to me that the plot isn't thought through. Perhaps the plot was invented first, and the characters later, and that is why there is a disconnect with the characters and what they end up doing. However there wasn't many typoes or anything like that, so it was a clean and easy read. The problem was with the content.

Ren Frayne is the bastard prince, a title that allows him less responsibility and the luxuries of an easy life. But when the king and Crown Prince are murdered, Ren is framed and forced to flee with someone he isn’t sure he can trust.This is a light, easy read. When I first started, there wasn’t much to make me like the main character. But throughout the course of the book, we get to see him grow so much and I expect he’ll continue to grow in the rest of the series. I loved the slow burn aspect. A lot of novels like this tend to push the romance too quickly and it ends up forced. But in this book, Ren and Anik’s relationship doesn’t develop passed the “i think we might be friends now?” stage and I loved that. And of course, I loved all the stag aesthetics. There’s just something about stags and swords and fantasies that I can’t pass up lol.But there are a few problems with this book that need to be pointed out.1. the slavesSo, there are slaves. They’re very common and sometimes abused. This is never really addressed in the book. There is a scene were the main character rescues a slave from an abusive owner but owning slaves as a whole is never addressed and it’s never explicitly condemed.2. biphobiaRen, canonically bisexual, goes on and on about how he beds just about everyone he meets. Not only is it irritating to read about, but it also portrays bisexuals as these people who’ll sleep with anyone. I understand how it was used to set up Ren’s character arc, but it’s still kinda iffy.3. dubious consentRen- again- sleeps with his slaves. I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty damn like sexual assault to me. Not only can the slaves not refuse Ren because he’s a prince, he also literally owns them. So there’s that.I did end up liking the journey Ren’s character took and how much he grew. He isn’t very likable at the beginning but I actually liked him a lot by the end of the book. I hope to see more of his growth in the next books.Anik doesn’t do a lot of talking this book but he still had a surprisingly strong character. I loved how he softened up to Ren and how much he’s willing to put up with to get his revenge. I can’t wait to see how their relationship grows.I never trusted Niklas and I was right. I’m not very good at guessing plot twists so either I’m getting better or this was a bad plot twist. Either way, I’m happy lol.So, yeah. This book is free on Amazon. If you’re interested, it’s definitely worth a try.

I don't understand the poor reviews. With some, it may be a matter of having no sex scenes. I'm sick of the obigatory several sex scenes. I prefer a well written, well plotted story that gives the lead couple time to learn regard, friendship and love. My only quibble is with the modern colloquialisms; not comfortable with that in this setting. I'll live with it though for the wonderful adventure and action scenes. The second book is at least as good if not better. Again, the way the relationship between the leads progresses is perfect as far as I'm concerned.--Romance novels, per se, bore me any more. A good, grownup and growing love/friendship within the context of great storytelling is my favorite kind of read.

Stag's Run is a fast-paced story that kept me on the edge of my seat. Ren, the queen's bastard son, is accused of murdering the king and his heir Hellic, Ren's brother. With the help of his few friends, Ren's off to run, trying to find any allies he can to fight the enemy who sits on his family's throne.Ren is adorable, clueless and precious. He's also bisexual which I rarely see but absolutely love because representation! The life in royal palace and capital of the kingdom is all he has ever known so being on the run with a former slave, Anik, from another nation is full of difficulties. While Ren is an open book, Anik is mostly a puzzle, a mystery. He and Ren are the opposite and they don't particularly get on well but they need each other to escape the capital. I can't wait to see both of their character arcs - how Ren will grow to be the man he can be, because he certainly has a heart in a right place even if he's spoiled royal child; and I just want to know more about Anik.For a first book in series, Stag's Run was solid. However, it could have been longer which would have made it more than solid. While there was introduction to the world and characters, some character development and plenty of plots going around, I wished a bit more intense feelings; the dawning relationships could have used a bit more deepening. I guess that's going to happen in the sequel but I would have loved to get more deeper feelings.I do recommend this to those who enjoy royal/medieval/fantasy/adventure books.

I'm not really sure how to review this book. I enjoyed reading it but it felt very much like an introduction to the series. I loved the setting and the characters and will definitely be checking out the rest of the books when they come out so in that sense it's a big hit. If you loved Captive Prince then this is a great similar style read. A few negatives for me were the plot lines seem a little far fetched (I know it's a fantasy but they felt a bit flimsy and not properly explained), some of the actions of the characters were questionable and never really explained why they couldn't have done XYZ instead. Maybe that will be further spoken about in the next book but that's a big difference for me with the captive prince books where the events and reactions of people around those events felt realistic to that world. Another thing that jarred me a few times was the language, just little bits here and there (I think "No kidding" was one of them) where it felt very modern and threw me out of the world for a second.So in short if you've read the description and that sounds like your cup of tea then definitely pick it up, however don't expect to be instantly wow'd so much as just teased for the next books.

Tensions are high, arena is set, and intrigue is being spun. A life of a spoilt prince is turned upside down in a series of unforeseen events as he is forced to flee his home with a complete stranger who hates his guts. They have to cooperate to survive, of course! What will come out of it? Will the disgraced prince ever return home? How will their relationship grow?A well-written, well-defined storyline, exciting and captivating.

There's a lot I could talk about with this book - the great characterisation, the growth, the well written world, the tense and exciting politics, the fast pace that kept me reading - but I just want to dwell on one particular plot point, and that's the fact that cows basically save the day. Cow soldiers. Cattle as secret weapons. This book is great - read it!

I was enticed to download this as it was free and seemed similar to The Captive Prince series, which I loved, and I was not disappointed! Feli has written an intriguing introduction to the series and, for a debut novel, it stands pretty firm. As Feli has admitted the pacing is at times a little fast, the detail somewhat brief, and as another reviewer mentioned it feels introductory. Nevertheless it is engaging, and Feli's self-examination and growth as a writer should mean the second instalment will work on the small issues this book does have.The main characters are engaging and their relationship is developing at a decent pace - and not fighting the plot for dominance. The book is driven primarily by the plot, which in turn drives the relationships between everyone.Overall I would (and have) recommended it - awaiting the next one now!