Review & Giveaway: IN A GILDED CAGE by Mia Kerick

In a Gilded Cage

Author: Mia Kerick

Release Date: October 21, 2016

Length: 56,000 words

Lucci Grimley is indeed alluring—crowned with a mane of long blond hair, and blessed with an enchanting musical talent that draws a brave rescuer to a high tower hidden in the forest.

However, this modern-day Rapunzel is a young man, sold as a child to the wealthy and childless Damien Gotham for the price of a fast car and a pile of cash. And Lucci’s heroic prince is William “Prin” Prinzing, a handsome college student and star soccer player, hired to care for the grounds of the lavish Tower Estate. Prin climbs an extension ladder rather than a long golden braid to gain access to Lucci’s second floor bedroom window, ultimately penetrating the secrecy surrounding the cloistered young man.

Friendship, and soon romance, blooms. The tower captive eagerly gives his loving innocence to his brave rescuer, which sends the strict and reclusive Gotham into a frenzy of jealous rage. With Prin, Lucci gets a taste of real life, and he wants more. Together, the young men must face Gotham’s ruthlessness and pay the price of liberating Lucci.

Amazon - ARe

Well, one thing this story did for sure-it broke my heart with how Lucci was treated.  Not by Prin, but by his so-called "Father".  It made me want to climb right into the pages and permanently rescue Lucci myself, while at the same time giving his father a lesson he'd never forget.

Kept sequestered away from the rest of the world for so many years, Lucci's level of innocence is startlingly high.  It was hard though for me to reconcile Lucci as the young boy we see in the opening scene with Lucci the young man in the present day of the story.  The two personalities are oceans apart-but this just further testifies to the lengths his father went through to try and mold Lucci into who and what he wanted.  Prin is well-meaning, though a bit wrapped up in his life and schooling at the start.  I thought his character went through the most growth during the story as he discovers just what is truly important in life the closer he grows to Lucci.

The story is both horrifying and yet hopeful at the same time, and the sweet relationship that develops between Prin and Lucci is one I found myself fervently wishing would come out in the end.  Watching the two of them as they explored their friendship (emotionally and physically) was the bright spot in a truly disturbing existence for Lucci.  The ending I got felt a bit anti-climactic considering the lengths Lucci's father was willing to go through to keep Lucci exactly as he wanted him, but it was still a satisfying end to the story.

3.5 stars for In A Gilded Cage, and I'd recommend this story for M/M romance fans in the new adult range.  The story is meant for readers 18+ for adult language and M/M sexual content.

Mia Kerick is the mother of four exceptional children—one in law school, another in dance school, a third at school at Mia’s alma mater, Boston College, and her lone son still in high school.  She writes LGBTQ romance when not editing National Honor Society essays, offering opinions on college and law school applications, helping to create dance bios, and reviewing English papers. Her husband of twenty-three years has been told by many that he has the patience of Job, but don’t ask Mia about this, as it is a sensitive subject.

Mia focuses her stories on the emotional growth of troubled young people and their relationships. She has a great affinity for the tortured hero. There is, at a minimum, one in each book. As a teen, Mia filled spiral-bound notebooks with tales of said tortured heroes (most of whom happened to strongly resemble lead vocalists of 1980s big-hair bands) and stuffed them under her mattress for safekeeping. She is thankful to Evernight Publishing, Dreamspinner Press, Harmony Ink Press, and CoolDudes Publishing for providing her with alternate places to stash her stories.

A social liberal, Mia cheers for each and every victory made in the name of human rights. Her only major regret: never having taken typing or computer class in school, destining her to a life consumed with two-fingered pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of Technology.

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