Dryads, Dragons, and Mages. Oh My! I devoured this book and cannot wait for the next one to come out.

While Max tries to escape the horrible prince Julien which begins our main character's journey to save his family, both "blood" and found. Will Max be able to free himself from his prison and learn who he truly is?

If you love magic and fantasy this book is for you.

Why I loved this book:
~Bonded mates
~Found Family
~Magic, Mages, and Dragons
~LGBTQ+ representation
~Different relationship norms
~Dragon Riders

Trigger Warnings:
~Abuse
~Death

Thank you Bookouture Audio and Second Skys Books for the opportunity to arc listen to this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this, despite some pacing issues.

This was a bit slow at first, but it started to pick up about halfway through and captured my attention more. Then it got a bit slow again, but then it picked up again near the end.

I liked the characters! Max was determined. To live, to save his parents, to stop the bad people, to save the good. I can’t blame him for struggling at times, for not being perfect, for wanting distractions, what with all the trauma he was going through. Camron (the husband) was fierce and immediately protective of Max, in the sense that he wanted him to be freed from his figurative chains. Simion (the spy) made Max feel seen and not alone when no one else did, but he was also quick-tempered and a bit of a mystery. Beatrice (the best friend) was supportive but secretive.

There were some pretty fast “I’d do anything for you” kinda feelings, but there was also definitely chemistry. And this was only the start of the romance, since this is a series.

The world had magic, dryads, dragons, and other fantastical creatures. Some lore. Not too much politics though, despite the whole thing about replacing a prince.

The audiobook narration by Ewan Goddard was great! He sounded natural, he suited the main character well, and every character sounded different enough to tell them apart.

This is a hard book to review because I feel like I’ll spoil things if I say too much. So I think I’ll leave it there and say, overall, despite some slowness, I enjoyed this, and I’d like to know what will happen next!

I thought the book had a really good start that really hooked in the reader, however it loses some if its paceing in the middle despite the tention that is being made between Max and Camron. I would have liked to get some more character depth. Overall it is a fun and inviting romantasy.

Heir to Thorn and Flame follows Maximus a servant to a Noble family. When the Prince attacks him Max finds out he has access to magic and uses it to defend himself. The King forces Max to take his sons place as heir and marry a handsome and ruthless Prince Cameron.
I enjoyed this story, the pacing and world building were great, I really enjoyed the magic system and how magical creatures are weaved into that. There were a lot of boxes that it ticked: hidden identity, enemies to lovers, magic, dragons and of course "I will burn them for you".
The audiobook was done really well the narrator gave great voices and feelings to the characters and really enhances the story.
If you're a fan of ACOTAR and fantasy mm romances pick this up and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

5 🌟s

Thank you for my advanced copy of Heir to Throne and Flame’s first book of the series!
@ NetGalley
Publisher: Second Sky / Bookouture Audio
Author: Ben Alderson
Narrator: Ewan Goddard

I could have used the warning, so here it is: the beginning is a S/A and mutilation seen, a “man” in power harming another man and a description of killing animals as well.

I received an ebook and audiobook arcs, so I read along with the narrator. If you listen to the audiobook, the narrator is very good at creepy. It reminded me of actors like Robert Carlyle (Once Upon a Time-Rumpelstilzchen) or Andy Serkis (LOTR-Gollum). Chilly…

This book is being pushed for a romance audience. I didn’t really view book one as romance. The potential is definitely there, but I hope that’s not going to be the main plot of the remaining series. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the characters, they keep you guessing on your toes. You will feel so much for each of the characters, hope, fear, joy… I laughed, I cried, and I think I even audibly gasped. The world building truly came to life. I have a full vision swirling in head through every door. 40% of the way into the book I was shouting is romance coming or dragons?! The answer, a little bit of a romance starts and dragons finally arrived in a big way. I was so excited. This book was fantastic and I can’t wait for the rest!

I am not a fantasy reader, but my #bookpusher Noelle told me how amazing it was, so I dipped my toe in... I then saw the audiobook was available and I snapped that up and I was done for. The narrator Ewan Goddard - what a dream to spend 15 hours with.

This book has a bit of everything in it, fighting, magic, dragons, misdirect, betrayal, and a little of good ole romance. I bloody loved it!

Max, oh sweet Max, he has a life that he never expected nor wanted, all because of a drunken fool. I was absorbed in the story, the narrative and completely invested in Max. I loved how everything just went go go go, I felt it didn't relent, which is kudos to the author, definitely with the number of pages in this book!

There are a lot of characters, to begin with, and it definitely gave me the Game of Thrones vibes. I missed one betrayal near the end because the mini-me distracted me, so when I heard characters discussing it, I was gutted, beyond gutted. I had loved said character. Grrrr, I feel betrayed!

The writing was so evocative and jammed packed. I loved the eloquent way everything was described with the random f-bombs dropped in! Did make me chuckle.

After the ending, and a bit of a shock with it, I can't wait for the next book!

Ben Alderson is becoming one of my favorite authors. Every book I’ve read by him has been enjoyable, but this might just be my favorite. So many times, I found myself on the edge of my seat. Every time I had to stop reading because life got in the way, I found myself dreading it because I was so engrossed in the story.

This book instantly became a favorite of mine, since it felt like something I had been searching for. It’s hard to put into words, but this book had everything I love - so many aspects and tropes that excite me, which is rare to find in books these days.

Although it contained a trope that I typically avoid, namely a love triangle, it was executed well and did not annoy me, which increased my admiration for Ben Alderson’s writing.

I admit there were moments in the book that left me feeling frustrated, and most of the time it was because of the main character, Max. So it's not a major complaint, since it occurs frequently when I'm stuck in certain characters' minds too much.

Overall, I loved this captivating fantasy with great characters and can’t wait for the next installment.

Overall a fun listen full of twists and turns and intrigue layered with magic. Max accidentally discovers his magic when he is attacked by the heir to the throne and is forced to assume his identity. This causes him to become bonded with Camron in an attempt to ally the southern kingdoms against the north. Simion, the brother of a friend, becomes entangled with Max in a rescue attempt to get Max away to the north where he can train his magic.
The love triangle tension between Max, Camron, and Simion fuels a lot of the plot and is nicely done by Alderson. The ambiguous ending after a major twist and reveal leaves space for further tension for Max to endure in the next book.
I really liked the magic system that Alderson has developed in this book. Max is a mage and channels his magic through an amplifier (a wand), but there also also dragons that shoot ice, phoenixes with deadly fire, and dryads.

This was my first time picking up a book by Ben Alderson, and I can see now why so many people like his books so much. Heir to Thorn and Flame is the first in the Court of Broken Bonds series, and what a kickoff it is.

Max has served the nobles for years, until now, after a twist of fate, he becomes one. After accidentally killing the prince, he is forced to take his place in the court. As the prince, he is forced to marry Prince Camron to strengthen alliances between kingdoms, and while Camron is charming and dangerously attractive, there's a darker side to him. Max can't trust his new husband, and he definitely can't trust Simion, a spy sent from the north to test his loyalty.

There's magic. There are dragons and spies. There is a love triangle and treachery. Did I mention dragons? This M/M fantasy series is off to a propulsive start--I can't wait to see what happens next. Ewan Goddard delivers a spectacular performance. The audiobook provided a great listening experience.

yeah…. can you tell i’m a bit disappointed??? i don’t know what i was expecting but this was definitely not it. it had so much potential but never pushed the story to it’s full capacity. we had some political intrigues that remained extremely surface level for me, when there was so much more that could be done. the whole romance was way too quick, i wished it would’ve taken a lot more time to develop their relationship. the arranged marriage makes no sense to me: i love queer accepting worlds where 2 guys getting married is just normal but 1) misogyny is a thing but not homophobia? both seem very interlinked to me and 2) from a political standpoint where you have 2 realms with royal families who need heirs for the succession having the only child of one of these family marry a cis guy (even if it’s an interesting alliance) is straight up stupid, ALSO when the other guy is the other kingdom’s biggest asset. it would be the stupidest political move ever seen because one realm is losing its heir to the other and no biological child can come out of this union (the point of an arrange marriage between 2 countries is that they’d be less likely to fight each other since the kids are a product of both royal families). it could’ve worked if cameron, the love interest had had a younger sibling capable of bearing children or if cameron hadn’t been the heir to his mom. other than that the characters were fine, the pacing was definitely very slow and took it’s sweet time, max’s powers only revealing themselves at the 40% mark which is a little too far along in the book in my opinion. oh, and his name: maximus, i’m sorry but i kept picturing the horse from tangles💀. overall, not bad but could’ve benefited from a LOT more editing (too many repetitions). 2.5⭐️

There were some things that worked for me in this book and some that didn’t. I really wanting to go in and devour this book because it gave me all of the feels but unfortunately this one didn’t quite give me the feels I was looking for. There are still good aspects about this book but unfortunately for me it didn’t work out the way I had hoped.

The Good:
Fantasy romance with openly gay characters in a world where it’s totally fine to be gay. I am loving finding these more inclusive types of books that gives people a voice to be authentically themselves. I’m so happy to read books where people don’t shy away from who they are, it’s always such a breath of fresh air.

The Bad:
Underdeveloped characters. Maximus could have been such a dynamic character but I struggled with him continuously using Julian’s mannerisms when he knows that he was a bad guy. Unfortunately to boot I never felt like I bonded with either of the love interests so that just felt doubly disappointing.


The Worst:
All the attempted rapes on our main character. How much suffering does Maximus truly have to go through? I hate when authors use any form of sexual assault as a way to motivate characters but in this case it isn’t necessary either time it’s used. It was just shoehorned in for a reason I’m not entirely sure of.

To my knowledge this book is marketed as an adult M/M fantasy romance. Unfortunately for me it didn’t feel that way at all. The writing tended to drift more towards juvenile and definitely felt more YA than anything else. I think it would be very popular among younger audiences if the author trimmed out some language and took out the sexual assault(s) on the main character. Teens need positive love romance interests just as much as adults do.

4.5 absolute choke hold stars! I was on the edge of my seat. We’ve got a bit of a love triangle, an enemies to lovers vibe, an enemies to lovers to enemies, and magic galore! What an absolute journey! I’m so torn as to who I want to love here. Poor Max and I don’t even know who to trust anymore! Chaos reigns supreme here. Mages, dragons, phoenix, secret identities, and hidden truths. I have no idea what to expect from the next books, but I can tell you I’ll be waiting with bated breath!!!

When I read the synopsis for this book, I had no choice but to give in and listen to the audiobook because it drew me in that quick. I had NEVER before in ADHD ridden, 30 years of living, have I been able to sit a LISTEN to someone else read a book. LET ME TELL YOU! This book kept me glued to my seat and anticipating what would happen next. The story, the pacing, the narration.. It was all so perfect and now I'm mad that I have to wait for its sequel even longer than I normally would have!

The premise of this book was so good, and I loved how queer the story was, but I just could not get into it at all. I honestly wish I DNF'd, but I kept hoping it would get better. I didn't like the characters at all - not even in a fun unlikeable type of way because I think we are supposed to like a few of them. But the main character often comes across as whiny, and there really weren't any side characters that redeemed it for me. It's the start of the series, but I felt like this book could've been broken into several itself - it kept dragging on every time I thought it would end soon. Unfortunately, it just did not work for me at all.

Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.

I was pleasantly surprised with how addicting this book was to finish. The world building is at a nice steady pace which makes it easy to grasp. I love that no one blinks an eye to any LGBTQ preferences. This story is filled with action, adventure and a journey of self discovery.

There are a few reasons why I’m deducting a star. As far I’m lead to believe, this story is not based in our modern times yet there is some modern slang. They talk about “smutty” books among other things that make it a little less believable. I’m addition to that, the main character is in a constant state of hating someone. I wish we got to see more self reflection and tender moments.

Overall, I think this book would be enjoyed by many!

Thank you Net Galley and Ben Alderson for this review copy of the audiobook.

When I first started the book I was really impressed. It felt very well thought out and the pacing initially seemed to be pretty spot on. I found myself feeling just as angry and frustrated as Max himself was at repeatedly finding himself in these absolutely horrible positions. Julian gave me the absolute heebie-jeebies and I give massive props to the author for making my skin crawl when reading about him.

However about 1/3rd the way through the book or so, the book started feeling like it was really dragging for me. Things were happening in the story but it really felt like we weren't seeing them- they were being told to us. Pretty much the definition of being told and not shown. And then the events that did happen, (like key deaths and what should have been epic fights), were over in what felt like a blink of an eye, and we were back to the exposition dumps.

Neither Cameron or Simion felt like fully developed characters and the love triangle between Max and them fell very flat.

It also felt like the narration had been slowed down after the narrated had recorded the audio. Listening at speed 1 was very hard to do because of it. It didn't sound like the narrator naturally spoke slowly either, it felt forced. I had to bring the speed up to 1.25 for it to sound like the narrator was speaking at a natural pace.

I think this book had fantastic potential, but ultimately it fell flat for me.

Thanks to the publisher for giving me this ARC to review!

This book was a roller coaster. It gripped me from the beginning. The details were gruesome and some of the characters actions were so twisted. The book was full of action and shocking revelations. I also loved the unique premise and intricate magic system.

Max was an awesome MC, I sympathised with him and could feel his confusion through the page about the whole situation.

This was an epic journey that I recommend if you want to read about witches and dragons.

Fantastic start to a series I will be sure to continue..

4 stars

What a whirlwind! This book placed me in a magical world and didn’t let me go! The magic system was unique, the world was interesting and vibrant, and the supporting characters made you want to learn more about them! This is a fantasy world that is just being tapped into and I’m looking forward to researching more!

I listened to this book on audiobook and the narration was clear, and the voices overall made sense for how the characters were described. Bravo to the narrator!

Definitely give this book a read/listen but be ready for fast changes in the story, a main character who is a bit on the whiny side, and a very mild spicy level.

I was lucky enough to be approved for an ARC of the audiobook as well as the digital copy of this book and it’s safe to say I enjoyed the audiobook more than the digital. Part of that is probably the fact that the second half of this book had much more action and was faster paced.

This was my first MLM fantasy book, and the romance element with the love triangle was great, but with this being marketed as adult fantasy, that side let me down. It reads more YA romantasy with fade to black/conveniently times door knocks.

The world building was clunky at times, but I did understand the world and magic system better towards the end of the book.

The storyline felt original, but the execution could have better. Having said that though, I’m intrigued to see where the rest of the series goes..

Thank you NetGalley and Ben Alderson for the ARC!

The audio was 90% good except both love interests had the voice actor sounding himbo, it really threw me off. 1.0 -2.0 speed it was the same weird pitch.
Just when you think the book is over it just kept going! I was so perplexed at 50% what else could happen. There was still plot but it was confusing~
This plot was a Rollercoaster, I could NOT predict what was going to happen next. Ultimate slow burn here also~.