DNF at 40 pages. As a NetGalley reader, I understand that the books I am given to read are usually not final drafts and to expect a few grammatical, spelling, or sentence structure errors. However, this book felt like a first draft. The quality of writing and mistakes ruined the reading experience for me. I was having to reread sentences and break them down to figure out what was trying to be said. Too much time was spent discussing things that don’t matter and important things were brushed over leaving me confused.

This was a good read but I didn't keep me so engaged. It was sweet and had good elements to it but lacked some refinement. It would be great intro to fantasy but since I've been deeply entrenched for a long time it didn't stand out to me personally

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for sending me a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I'm going to start with what really worked for this book. There was an exceptionally cosy element that is perfect for the transitional months between summer and autumn. The FMC was a baker and discussed many different foods and sweet treats throughout the book. I loved this - especially the whole setting up a bakery with her best friend story line.

However, and this is quite an important one - having cosy elements that work in the story is not the same as having a story that works. This felt very rushed, there was a prologue that set a great deal of intrigue and then, when it came to the actual bulk of the story, it just fell flat. I found the world-building very one-dimensional and the instant love between the two main characters very cringey. I understand what the author was trying to do with mixing the fae 'fated mates' with the normal every day world that we experience but it just didn't quite work the way it needed to in order for the relationship to add anything to the story. Combine that with a format riddled with grammatical errors and a writing style that just felt rushed and unplanned and I ended up really struggling to get to the end of this book. There were elements of political intrigue between fae and humans but again, this wasn't fleshed out the way it needed to be.

2.5 stars

I was so excited to read this book and still think the plot is very interesting, but unfortunately the writing just fell a bit flat for me. If you enjoy guilty-pleasure, cheesy, hallmark style romance - then this may be a book you would enjoy. I usually do not like insta-love, but given the fantasy/mate aspect of the story it makes sense. When I want a quick light hearted, kick your feet and giggle, kind of story then this fits that well. However, there were some things I could not look past - for example, in one line saying “she grumbled and moaned” but the very next line saying “she dared not complain” as if that’s not the same thing? Or later in the book mentioning her tanned complexion making it difficult to see her blush, however the first chapter was non stop mentioning her blushing and being embarrassed being in front of him. Misalignments like this frustrate me and distract from the story. I was still intrigued by the plot and finished the book (especially since it was such a short novella) but I am not sure if I will continue the series.

This was a quick read. I really felt like this book could be longer to allow for better world building, character building, and relationship building. It felt rushed unfortunately. I did enjoy the premise and hope that the subsequent books have more attention paid to their development so as to get a full feel for the world and its characters.

It’s was a nice read. I do enjoyed it. I liked the different points of view and all the details the author added in order to give more understanding to the reader.

Disclosure: I received this novella from NetGalley. I was quite surprised by this novella! Given the excellent content warning I chose to skip the prologue. I quickly was sucked into the romance of this novel and stayed for the fantasy. The plot and action were thrilling and the love story was perfect. And the cliffhanger! I’m really hoping for a sequel soon!

Minus 1 star for some unrealistic reactions from the characters and multiple spelling and grammar errors.

I loved the prologue of this book, and was intrigued to see where the story would go. The prologue and the rest of the story don’t quite match up, and while it’s clear how the main story connects with the prologue, the sudden change in the story wasn’t a change I was fond of. While I originally thought the book was going to be quite action and fantasy based, from what I’ve read it seems to be mainly a romance.

I found the rest of the book difficult to get into, as I didn’t connect with the characters and found the storytelling quite repetitive, with unnecessary details being overexplained. I try to finish every book I read, especially novellas as they’re quite short, but I couldn’t finish this one. I feel with some more editing to fix the grammatical errors and repetition, the book will be easier to read when it’s officially published.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a quick read and super fun. I am curious how the story continues given the ending our main couple doesn’t seem to be our true couple no matter how much I like Ryn and Anya and cute. The pull bêtween Ryn and Anya seems has switched to Theo and Anya and Ryn and Nate but time will tell. The story has tried and true premised but was kid of hard to fall into given the switch of romantic pulls

— 1.5 ⭐️. I don’t know what to say in literal meaning about this book. The prologue and the very few first chapters were good enough and entertaining. However, as the story goes by and how it wrapped up, it just doesn’t make any sense and too much missing pieces. As a reader of fantasy and liking the “Fae realm”, I kinda disappointed with this book

The story began after Anya (the no one and suddenly pop up character) found her like with the person who comes to her bakery repeatedly. She suddenly felt attracted to the man named Aleryn without any cause, then, they exchange few words and suddenly fucking already. On the next day, she was kidnapped because this Fae people wanted Aleryn and classic strategy appeared. That’s where the story “should be interesting”.

The characters are a so-so, I was liking Theo because of his appearance and his silver white hair in the first place but then, he seems stupid in a horrible way. Anya and Nat, they were loving but not on my categories. Even the main Male Lead — Aleryn was supposed to be “the cold hearted male lead” but the author failed to describe his characteristics in the meantime.

Too many questions and things needed to be revised to be honest, rather than analyzing the book. If I have more time to re-read the book, I might be able to point out several things to be analyzed later.

The Questions:
💭 Why does one of the villager sacrifice their son on behalf of the King. WHY?
💭 Why the wings were cut off (Berin, Theo, and Aleryn) plus what crimes that made them being punished?
💭 When was Aleryn and Anya become couples anyway? How come Anya suddenly say that he is the boyfriend?
💭 When was we introduced to Theo personally? We’re not talking about the little Theo, but we talking about the adult version Theo
💭 Has Aleryn ever mentioned about his uncle to Nat and Anya? Nope, I don’t think so, and how come Nat able to point out that Aleryn has uncle?
💭 When was Anya asked Aleryn about the scars (the cut off wings he had) on his back? Never. Then how come she could describe his expression???
💭 Anya able to hold Theo’s body as a human being compared to Fae strength? Nonsense, how come? Please do enlighten me somehow
💭 Theo as a Fae and the one who has responsibility to protect Anya is kinda stupid, don’t you think?
💭 Why does this particular Fae who help Anya and Theo kind enough to help them, why??

Analyzing:
🥯 Trying and be disappointed is better than wondering what the result would be without any progress
🥯 Creators, having your final creation admired by people give you tremendous joys
🥯 Great team work give the best result
🥯 Take precious things from your target and they will crawl on their knees

Assumptions:
🌳 Nat is Berin’s fated mate
🌳 Ryn’s crime was because either he is illegitimate son or his mother doesn’t want the son to be on Kingdom’s politics

This book is good in the beginning but getting more worse as the storyline goes by. Nothing was make sense and many missing pieces on the storyline. Even analyzing this book isn’t much and there aren’t much to be analyzed. I don’t know if this book is good enough to be categorized as fantasy. This failed miserably. Kinda disappointed. I don’t think I would recommend this book to anyone and continue the series, even though the end was giving us the cliffhanger and we have too many questions to be answered

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6528697982

Thank you to the publisher, author & NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I loved the prologue idea where you get to see Ryn's backstory and his mother before we jump to current time. I was shocked to see hair gel, vans, documentaries, phones, tv's etc and set in a modern world, where is started out in the fae realm not set in modern. It confused the heck out of me so there was lack of world building there. I think the author was potentially trying to go for a City of Bones kind of feel?

There are quite a few grammar & spelling mistakes throughout and a lot of repetatory words (ex - use of baby over and over again in the 1st chapter). I felt as though I was BETA reading a first draft so I was quite surprised by this rather than reading a finished product.

Because it was novella we didn't really get to see much of Anya & Ryn's love story and getting to know each other along with a whole lot of character development unfortunately. But I did really enjoy their banter and humor between them.

Great story concept and you can tell the author has creative ideas with potential, but it really needs tidying/ buttoning up in terms of editing. I will likely not be continuing the series because of this.

A fae mother sacrifices herself so her son can be free in the mortal world. There, he feels an instant connection with a baker. After months together, Anya is taken and Ryn has to return to the fae world he was never supposed to return to.

Tropes: hidden identity, soulmates

This book is a solid 3/5. The plot was captivating, the pacing was perfect, and the world building was gradual. However, I wish the relationship between Anya and Ryn was given more detail and importance to the story. Anya talks about how much time they spent together and how close they got, but we don't get to se any of that happening. I'd love to see them slowly fall in love as they learn more about each other. There's also a four month time jump where they are all of a sudden an official couple. If felt like the author wanted the relationship established to then add the plot, rather than letting the plot develop alongside the relationship. The fantasy elements were done well, but I wish the reveals were more gradual rather than info dumped. For examples, Anya could've noticed little nuances about Ryn and Theo that weren't exactly human, then it could've been revealed. Same goes for the Fae world; when Anya is taken there with Theo, she's not concerned that she's in a mythical world at all.

Overall, the book was enjoyable, but I wish there was more detail.

Thanks NetGalley for the free ARC. This was a quick and easy Novella. It was just enough to make me interested in more. I’d definitely read a full length book based on this!

Thank you for sending an ARC of the book, the forgotten prince. This is my honest review.

As a fan of fantasy novellas, i thought this was well executed. I also thought this could potentially be considered "cozy" fantasy for those who like a lower stakes vibe. This did follow some pretty popular storyline tropes, but it honestly didn't detract from my enjoyment. I felt like there was enough original aspects to really make this worth the read. I also very much enjoyed the characters, especially Aleryn.

Appreciation to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for access to this digital ARC in return for an honest review.

So pretend that this book doesn't feel like a middle school rough draft with endless grammatical mistakes, misspellings, and weird phrasing. The prologue is an emotional, dramatic start that then becomes a tired romance between a baker and a perfect, blue collar "man". Neither main character is particularly unique or giving main character energy. When the action starts, we finally see hints of Anya having a personality, but her best friend Nat is honestly the only character with any oomph. From there, the world building and entanglement of the mortal and fae realms is underdeveloped. The ending was unsurprising, cliched, and left me with the feeling very little had happened in the story itself. I don't see myself picking up the sequel.

thank you to the author + netgalley for the chance to read and review!

This book was definitely a cozy atmosphere and I loved the concept - a runaway, “forgotten” prince living in the mortal world and finding his mate, an average human who runs a bakery with her best friend.

The concept was very good, I just think it felt a bit rushed and repetitive throughout the story. This was definitely an “insta-love” type of connection and randomly fast forwarded 4 months into the relationship and I felt like I missed any sort of actual connection/progression being built.

I am intrigued by the storyline and what will happen in the next book as it does leave on a bit of a cliffhanger!

The prologue really got my attention. You have a mom running for her life with her infant son. You have fae and magic too…, then it becomes mundane and cozy in the mortal realm. The infant from the prologue is a forgotten fae prince living in the mortal realm doing mundane mortal things. He falls for a girl and she’s inevitably used as bait. The general plot ideas are good but the execution is lacking. The book is full of grammatical errors, repetition, and even continuity errors. It felt more like an unrevised first draft.

I honestly did not like this at all. In a world of Cruel Princes and any other faerie romance book, it seems very easy to repeat plots, characters, and world building in just a different font.

thank you for this opportunity!
i want to read the next book right now because i need to know more about the story.
i feel like the whole book was too simple; it was a very quick read but simple at the same time.
you can read the full review on my Goodreads!

This book was okay. The writing was not that great and it definitely needed more editing. And I was not a huge fan of the main characters.