** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Reviewed for Divine Magazine

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Phoenix Prince, by T.J. Nichols
Brothers of Fire, 04
★★★★★

3rd person, dual character POV with a brief, third POV
Themes: LGBTQIA+, Romance, Royalty, Shifters, age gap, undercover
Triggers: mild violence, missing relative, betrayal, exploration of deteriorating mental health
Genre: MM, Romance, Shifter, PNR, Crime 

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Phoenix Mate is the fourth and penultimate book in the Brothers of Fire series, which continues the story of the Shadow Board and phoenixes, while finally exploring the full extent of Everest's behind-the-scenes machinations. 

Everest has always been an interesting character, but last book we finally discovered that he's been accessing memories of most of his previous lives, which have all led up to this moment. He's been plotting how to use the Shadow Board to find Olier, his missing brother, for many lifetimes, and now all his plans have come to fruition. The problem is that he never planned to live beyond those plans. 

Cadel is a relatively new bodyguard and he's about to ruin all of Everest's plans. While he suspected that his current paramour bodyguard would be loyal, that doesn't prove the case once it comes time to escape captivity within the castle and disobey the King. Instead, it's Cadel who goes with him and proves to be just the solution he needed...in more ways than one. 

The dynamic between Cadel and Everest was brilliantly executed, because Cadel is so by-the-book and Everest is such a rule breaker that they shouldn't fit together, on paper. However, they both offer something the other person is lacking. Cadel's background gives him great undercover capabilities, while Everest can see ten steps ahead. Cadel is the rational logic and reason, while Everest is the action and scheming master manipulator. However, Everest is also a victim of his own intelligence and past, while Cadel enjoys living in the moment and giving opportunities a chance to surprise him. 

The pacing of the book was quite slow, but that was necessary, as there were a lot of pieces being moved in the background and Everest had to play the hostage to get everyone into the right positioning for what he wanted. That gave Everest and Cadel time to explore a tentative romance, which fully blossomed near the end. 

At the end, we got to see Quentin again and the brothers, who all had a part to play. There was a chapter or so of Kaine's POV, which let us see how they all reacted to the eventual reveal of Everest's plans and the subsequent consequences. 

The book was a nice little snippet of how things had been planned and plotted and working in the background for the previous three books – and some of the Familiar Mates books. 

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Favourite Quote 

 “I have never lost a charge.” 

 “I was already lost.” 

Cadel cupped Everest's jaw and tilted his chin. “And I want to find you.” 

 “If this was a game of chess, Everest had built the board, carved the pieces, created the rules, and he was three moves from winning.”