A. Alex Logan

Great fun read!

Gerald does not want to marry, nor bed (have sex with), anyone. His proclamation is met with the usual incomprehension, disbelief, and, in the case of his parents, general derision. He's told to grow up and accept his responsibilities to get married and have children. When he refuses to participate in the traditional marriage game, taken straight out of fairy tale*, he's drugged and magicked into a tower in the middle of the desert to await his rescurer.

Gerald won't accept his fate though, and after discovering that his guardian, a dragon enslaved by the Council of Mages, is not only sentient but sympathetic, decides to escape. With the help of his cousin, Erick, Gerald works out a way to destroy the dragon's slave collar and, together, they escape. Along the way he and the dragon find an ill young man named Omar. Once Omar's better, he's delighted to help Gerald and his cousin start scheming to overturn the system, free all of the guardians from their bondage, and to give young royals from every where a chance to truly shine and get to know each other.

There is a lot of angst on Gerald's part as his frustration over what others seem to expect everyone to want - sex, marriage, romance, etc. - isn't what he wants and cannot seem to get anyone to understand. He would very much like to go his own way, forge his own path, and find acceptance for who and what he is at the end. It's a hard fought battle in the end, but one which is well worth the effort.

*Think Rapunzel/Sleeping Beauty.… (meer)