A Gaze So Longing

The Fall of Livenza Book 1

a historical servant x prince-overthrowing-the-monarchy romance

The cover is dominated by greens and beiges. It shows the two central characters of the book, Favian and Leonardo, looking at each other, on a nature-themed background with a beige brick castle in the back. The cover has a border with flowers and horses.

Leonardo has flowy brown curls that are a little longer than his shoulders. His eyes are amber, his skin a bronze brown, and he has freckles. He wears earrings and a ruffled blouse, and a golden crown with red gemstones.

Favian has beige skin, his hair is blonde, his eyes blue, he wears a beige tunic. He looks to the top right.

Blurb

Favian still thinks of the kiss he almost shared with Prince Leonardo five years ago. A servant in a palace ruled by an abusive king, Favian’s life is governed by monotony and desolation.When the prince returns to the palace after five years at war, Favian’s life is transformed, and he soon has to admit that the feelings his younger self developed for the prince never really went away. While Leonardo is eager to pretend that no hierarchies are keeping them apart, Favian tries to keep his distance, unable to get past the prince’s status and the dangerous position it puts him in.As the two inevitably grow closer, Favian has to grapple with his feelings for a prince he yearns for only in the secret confines of his bedroom, recognize his responsibilities for the people around him, and confront the realities of the oppressive system they inhabit.

Content Notes

A Gaze So Longing is intended for adult audiences and includes the following:- Abuse of power
- Physical, emotional, psychological, verbal, and sexual abuse of servants by their royal superiors (i.e., by the antagonists)
- Sexual violence, sexual assault, rape (no detailed on-page scenes, on-page PoV flashbacks to scenes involving non-consensual touching and forced oral by the antagonist, active verbal recollection of sexual violence inflicted by the antagonist, the actions being labeled as “rape” by a character who did not experience them, a character’s history of sexual violence being revealed to others without their consent)
- Discussions of war, including witnessing and inducing physical violence, watching people die, being shot at, and killing
- Imperialist notions, including the discussion of the decimation of other cultures and implied xenophobia
- PTSD relating to sexual assault and war (as a result of sexual violence: on-page PoV flashbacks but no on-page inciting incidents; as a result of war: on-page flashbacks but no inciting incidents)
- Panic attacks as a result of PTSD (two on-page panic attacks/flashbacks related to sexual violence, two on-page panic attacks/flashbacks related to war)
- Depression, depressive episode
- Behavior that can be read as self-harm but is not explicitly negotiated as such (digging nails into/scratching skin)
- Vague reference that can be read as suicidal ideation (in the context of a dream)
- Psychological, emotional, and physical parental abuse
- Power disparity in a romantic and sexual relationship (prince x servant) that is actively negotiated
- Sexual content between two people with penises (cis man protagonist x genderqueer love interest; masturbation, handjob, oral/blowjob, cum eating, light d/s powerplay including restriction of movement, hair pulling, and light choking; language used: crotch, erection, dick, cock)
- Mild dubious consent in a sexual context (one scene in which a character initiates physical contact without asking for consent and is pushed away; the behavior is reflected upon and apologized for)
- A touch-averse character continuously being touched without his consent (non-sexually)
- Complicated in-universe negotiations of queerness in a homophobia-adjacent way that judges actions rather than desires, no moral or religious judgments based on same-gender attraction or trans-adjacent identification
- Implied but barely negotiated cultural misogyny
- Deadnaming and misgendering of trans characters (the majority of instances of misgendering and deadnaming take place prior to coming-out or are done by people who do not know about the characters’ correct names/pronouns; internal PoV deadnaming/misgendering after the coming-out without harmful intent as part of a supportive learning journey)
- Discussions of gender dysphoria
- Equating physicality with gender identity, biological essentialism (a notion overcome as part of a trans-accepting story arc)
- Ableist and misogynist language used by the villain
- Alcohol consumption (not abusive)
- Bloody wounds (on-page in-depth descriptions)
- Scars
- Use of firearms/rifles (recollections of being shot, no on-page injuries, shots being fired on-page)
- Vomiting (only sounds described, no visuals)If you think any of these are incorrectly/misleadingly phrased or that anything else should be added, feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].

Tropes & Themes

cis male servant x genderqueer prince
forbidden romance
opposites attract (introvert x extrovert)
slow-ish burn
yearning
lots of gazing
couples that dismantle the monarchy together stay together
hurt/comfort
an entire bottle of angst
lots of queers
PTSD
trauma bonding
ace rep
neurodivergent rep
1st book in a duology
third-person single PoV (mostly)

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COMING SOON

Cutout from the cover's decorative border showing lilies of the valley on a beige background.

The cover is dominated by greens and beiges. It shows the two main characters of the book, Favian and Leonardo, on a nature-themed background with a beige brick castle in the back. The cover has a border with flowers and horses.

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