Really enjoyed how this book explored themes such as political / international relations, arranged marriages, marriage for political reasons rather than romance, etc, while still having a solid story. The romance element was also amazing, I'm in love with that pairing omg!

Thanks to NetGalley and Right Action Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Please keep in mind the following content warning: Death, Death of a Parent, Emotional Abuse

I will start this review with the few positives this book had, which sadly were not many. I also want to make it very clear this is not an attack on the author in any shape or form.

Prince Darien was a compelling character and held so much potential. His mother, the queen was also a great character, and perhaps the smartest one in almost every situation. The book was also quite easy to read despite my frustrations toward the end. Lastly, as a history nerd, I was intrigued by the setting and the emphasis made on the rich history of this world. That was nice for sure.

Now the critiques start here... I'm not the biggest fan of the insta love trope and had I known this book had that, I would have avoided it. However, I wish that was where the problems started and ended. Sadly, there's more. Tag as a love interest was so uninteresting and weak. I felt like he was just there to look pretty and a motivation for Darien. When they finally confessed I literally felt nothing because I couldn't believe they knew each other, even less so loved each other.

The plot was the biggest issue, and for everyone who knows me, I care a lot more about the characters than the plot, so when I'm having problems with it it almost overrides my fondness for the characters, you know it's serious. Everything was so predictable that it was laughable. There's a difference between effective foreshadowing where you get a faint idea of where the plot is going and being able to tell everything that will happen in a third of the book. I was seriously hoping that there was something else I was missing, but it didn't take long to realise that wasn't the case.

Then there's the antagonist who was so cartoonish that I almost forgot this is supposed to be a book targeted to adults (and even then, I have read middle-grade books with way better antagonists than this). Even how they dealt with him was so ridiculous that I laughed in disbelief for almost 10 minutes after I finished the book. That might have been the only plot twist I didn't see coming.

It's seriously sad because I genuinely hoped to like this book. The writing had so much potential, especially in the beginning. But for now, I don't recommend this book to anyone I know.

This story didn't do it for me. I DNF-ed, so please consider that. But what I read had mediocre writing and very flat characters. There were a handful of places where words were used wrong. The story just needs another edit and some re-writes.

I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would. Historical romance is often stiff and blase. THE PRINCE’S HEART was far from it.

The writer created a castle full of complicated, three-dimensional characters. They made it clear who was whom, who wanted what, and what would happen if they didn’t get it. That made the book enjoyable and easy to follow.

The best part of the book is the fact that Prince Darien fought for his love (Tag) and did what he had to when he though he’d lost everything. The intimacy between them was sexy, sweet, and satisfying. The author had twists and turns that I didn’t see coming, which made the book more enjoyable.

The writing is easy to read, flows well, and is accessible to everyone. I found no confusing sections at all. There was an inconsistency in a scene as to the time Darien and Tag were supposed to meet at the stables, but I’m sure the author will catch it before it’s released.

Overall, this is a fantastic book. It’s a gem of an entry into adult gay romance.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Prince's Heart has a lot of promise in the summary as a queer romantasy with RW&RB vibes. I think if youre looking for a queer romantasy thats a quick and simple read this would be your go to. Its not a heavy fantasy by any means and it is a little predictable but if thats your style then its not a bad book to pick up!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing and eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

So where do I even start with this one... firstly this is not a fantasy book, making up some random realms does not make a book fantasy there isn't a single drop of any fantastical element in this book. Marketing please do better, while at it don't compare this book to Red, White and Royal blue you're just shooting yourself on the foot. I also hope the The Goblin Emperor comparison is just because of one element (that spoils the half mark of this book) because I want to read that book and I don't want it to be as bad as this.

As I was reading yesterday and throughout today I was thinking that maybe I was being to harsh in my thoughts about this book, but after finishing it I can't even come up with one thing that I liked about it, like I'm sorry I can't even make one thing up.

The worst thing about this book for sure is the horrible insta love that happens in the very first pages. There are literally two instances of it back to back (it's not a love triangle, our main character just falls in love with anyone he sees basically).
These people are confessing their undying love for each after what knowing each other for a month? And my absolute biggest gripe, the author literally doesn't write their conversations. The amount of times he just says 'they talked about this and that and everything in between' (I'm paraphrasing here, but that's literally what happened) made my blood boil, no chemistry whatsoever.

Now because our main characters are in love we have to deal with Darien being the most immature person in the history of the universe and literally pulling the but daddy I love him monologue. I haven't seen a single drop of chemistry between you too hell you don't even talk with each other and I am supposed to believe that. Please I wanted to gag everytime they were saying they loved each other.
All the characters were so horribly flat. No, and I mean absolutely no personality. I guess Tag had a personality, the personality of a flip flop with the way he was changing his mind about being with Darien every paragraph. The "villain" that you could see was the bad guy from the first mention, the absolute no reason the be like that besides just being a "villain", the whole monologue he did, so bad. I am not even going to mention any other character because they are not relevant for anything and I am incredibly frustrated.

The plot was so painfully predictable, being that the foreshadow was literally the author screaming in the most obvious way what was going to happen, there was no way to miss it. The pacing was also so bad. This book is not even 300 pages and the "real" plot only started at 50%, and it wasn't like the author lost any time setting characters and the world up, because as we can see there was nothing to set up. Let's also not even get me started on that stupid ending that ended with the most perfect bow I have ever seen, my eyes rolled so hard.

The writing was also so weird why is our prince that is in a seemingly historical realm where there is no assemble of a modern setting saying: 'you get the gist of it'. To not say that the author just cuts scenes so that he can move time forward, so messy.

Anyways this whole book was a dumpster fire of a mess, I should have dnef it I just stuck to it because it was short and I wanted to see if the ending was going to be as stupid as I thought it was going to be. I was proved right, but at what cost.

DNF at 25%

I wanted to love this, but unfortunately I felt the writing left much to be desired and the main character was incredibly dull.

This was also marketed as a slow burn but is very much insta-love which was another disappointment.

This was a story following a prince who struggles between his role as a royal and finding his happiness with love. It’s primarily focused on romance versus fantasy and with a limited cast of characters executes a story with a multitude of emotions.

The first half of this story was relatable and interesting. I liked how the characters were introduced, including their relationships and situations. Prince Darien’s quest for true love was relatable to me and I liked how the conversations were approached. There were different views on taking arranged marriage partners, especially when one was a royal. However near the end of the first half, tragedy strikes and the dynamics change.

The story does a good job connecting the readers to the characters in the first half. There isn’t really anything to dislike about anyone, so when I hit the halfway mark I cried. The writing was impactful and expressive but it’s also easy to read. Some of the characters were lovable, others were likeable and some were just there.

The focus of this story is on the romance between Darien and Tag. It’s love at first sight and what I enjoyed most is the communication between the two. They were clear on their feelings with each other and their romantic gestures were cute. Because of this, there was very little drama between these two although there were some outside influences trying to break them. Also, I liked how Tag’s character was built to support Darien emotionally, instead of Tag needing to prove himself by performing a huge feat. It was a refreshing take for me.

However, after the midway point the story starts to fall flat for me. The first half lacks world building which is understandable to a certain degree, however it doesn’t change in the second half. The world isn’t complex but exploring the politics and world the characters live in would have added some depth. This made the mystery, plot twists and events both predictable and uninteresting. Also, I felt like some events happened too conveniently but that’s probably just me looking for complexity.

Overall, this was a good story if you’re looking to read a romance forward story. I loved Darien’s relationship with his siblings, Tag and friends. I think they made a lovely group of supportive and kind folks that cared, listened and encouraged each other. This story has a happy ending and I would love to see a future version of our characters if possible.

Thank you NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing for the ARC of The Prince’s Heart.

I am disappointed that I didn’t like this book to the point I DNF at 25%. The description said this book was a slow burn, but I don’t think they know what that means. This is an ista-love story with a main character who is as dull as dishwater.

I felt the writing style was clunky and the pace was uneven.

Oof, this was a disappointment. As much as I love indie authors, I'm unable to give this one more than three stars.

The writing, other than being clunky at times, was fine. I had no problems reading the book.

The issue is that I expected a fantasy romance version of Red White and Royal Blue, but I can barely call this a fantasy or a romance. At the start, the book has some romance aspects, with Darien courting his love interest, but at some point, they get together and it's barely shown anymore. Darien's relationship is threatened and he fights for it, but mostly on his own. I wished there were more cutsie scenes of them being together. Show what me they are fighting for! Also, it felt quite istalove. I missed the part where they are figuring out their relationship while dealing with outside issues.

For the fantasy part, it's just an alternate world based on our history but queernormative — no magic, no dragons, nothing really interesting.

Thank you NetGalley and Rising Action for giving me access to an e-arc for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

As someone who loves a good royal romance, I had very high hopes for this book. I really, really wanted to like it.

Unfortunately, this one didn’t hit the nail on the head for me. The characterization was odd and felt like we were getting way too many unnecessary details up front. When we first are introduced to Ivy’s character, she’s described as a knife wielding badass (which I love), but we got so much information up front that it felt almost forced.

The romance also did not make a lot of sense to me. Darien’s character wanted to find some deeper connection, beyond his title, but the second he sees Tag it was love at first sight? And there wasn’t much built on the relationship from there. The two were just instantly devoted to one another, which didn’t make sense as a reader and made it impossible to root for them.

Overall, the novel pacing also tripped me up, and it was hard to get through the book. The synopsis talked about a 'sudden tragedy' but this did not even occur until 50% through the book. I wish I loved this book way more than I did, because the premise was very intriguing; unfortunately, this just wasn't the book for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!

Well, this was a letdown.

There are a lot of romance novels that explore both romance and politics, but this book fell short in both regards. The romance was lacklustre and boring. I expected more "will they won't they" stuff, but they experience love at first sight and get together pretty quickly after meeting. There is some conflict in Tag not wanting to be in the spotlight, and Darien being a prince, but I feel that wasn't really explored as much as I would have liked. The main conflict is that Darien has to marry a royal for political purposes, and most of the book is spent trying to find a way out of it. I love political intrigue, so this seemed right up my alley. Unfortunately, what ought to have been a huge source of tension and drama was just not. The plot was pretty straightforward without much twists.

I could see this working for someone interested in a more straightforward romance, but this just wasn't for me.

DNF at 54%. I wanted to love this book, but I was forcing myself to read it. I didn't really like Darien, I found him to be whiny and selfish, putting his own desires over the safety of his kingdom. I didn't feel like we got to know the love interest well enough to really care about him either way.

The description makes a comparison to Red, White & Royal Blue, I personally didn't really see much resemblence. I guess they both have a gay prince that has to keep his relationship a secret? I don't know, when I think RW&RB, I more think about the enemy/rival political figures forced to interact and falling in love aspect of the story.

Also the description calls it a slow burn. It is very much an instant-love story. Darien becomes obcessed with Tag after meeting him once, there's pretty much no build up or getting to know each other whatsoever. I know very little about Tag beyond that he's shy, likes to read, and likes Darien.

I think I might have enjoyed the story more if it wasn't described as a slow burn and compared to Red, White & Royal Blue, but I think the romance needed more background.

A fun, queer fantasy romp with loveable characters and low stakes. I think the pacing felt a little off (I would've like a bit more romantic buildup and tension, personally?) and the characterizations didn't quite deliver that "RW&RB meets Goblin Emperor" claim, but it was very sweet, and I would recommend to anyone looking for a low stakes queer fantasy romp.

3.5/5 stars

The Prince’s Heart is a low fantasy gay romance about a prince forced to choose between duty or his heart. Darien is the second son of the king who yearns to be loved for who he is rather than the title he holds. Just when he finds it in the foreign and low ranked nobleman Tag, tragedy strikes and he must give their romance up to save his kingdom.

I liked and enjoyed this book, but it does have issues. I liked the coziness of it and the smaller intimate setting. It may be a bit predictable, but I didn’t mind. It does read borderline YA when it shouldn’t have given the late 20s main characters and mature subject matter.

The romance between Darien and Tag was fun and understandable, but it happened way too fast (and I don’t mean physically which I wasn’t bothered by). I understand the author needed to get it done early so he could get going with the rest of the plot, but it could have been done without resorting to what is practically insta-love. I did appreciate the portrayal of Darien’s family dynamics which was complex and did make me cry when the inevitable happened.

My biggest issue with the writing though is that the author uses some rather awkward methods to progress the plot forward. There are several character actions and dialogue that are completely unnatural and unrealistic. And you can obviously tell it is there to steer the story towards where the author wants it to go, no matter how unsubtle or crude—that first man Darien interacts with (Petris) and the main villain’s complete evil about-face both come to mind.

While The Prince’s Heart is a sweet low fantasy MM romance, the writing itself still needs some more work.

*Thank you to Rising Action Publishing Co. for the eARC via NetGalley

3 stars rounded up from 2.5

While this book had a lor of potential to be something I enjoyed the structure of the book itself felt quiet weird... It was very episodical in a way that was just, problem - solution - problem - solution - problem - solution. We meet our love interest and with-in a couple of chapters they are already in love in what feels like it may have just been days but, honestly the time frame of this book is just so weird, like you'll start a new chapter and like half way through you find out its been like weeks since the last chapter, but nothing has really happened or changed in that time. The skips also just aren't consistent, like some chapters happen back to back, some days apart and some weeks apart in a way that just completely through me out of the story because I was so confused as to what was happening. There were so many spots where the book could have just ended and have it be a novella, but instead the author just decided to through in yet another problem, which was fine the first three times, but it does just get old, especially when some of the problems are resolved in the exact same way, a way that feels kind of cheap on the authors behalf.

The description for The Prince’s Heart calls the story “Red, White and Royal Blue meets The Goblin Emperor”. I honestly thinks this sets the book up for failed expectations.

I wanted to love The Prince’s Heart. I only ask to review books I think I will love. But this story fell short for me.

As a romance, the build up was very lacking. Once the main couple met, it was very much instalove between the two. I think the drama with the arranged marriage would have worked better if Darien and Tag were set up as a couple from the start.

Overall, this book just read very simple, with everything spelled out and no real tension or surprises. Maybe it’s more of a YA book, and I just didn’t realize it.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3 for this debut author. We need more queer stories in the world.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing for providing the ARC of this book. This review is my honest and voluntary opinion.

The Prince's Heart is a moving, queer romance set in a time of political divide in the land of Soeria.

Ben Chalfin writes so poignantly about the drive for true love but the dangerous consequences that could unfold within the palace. From the moment you are introduced with Darien you instantly are rooting for him not only to find his soulmate but also to become respected within Soeria. This book is one of those that breaks your heart builds it back up only to shatter it again. One aspect of the story I found a shortcoming stopping me from giving 5 stars was the rather instant love story between Tag and Darien. I much would’ve gathered we built up more of the story behind Soeria and the rulings whilst their relationship burned slowly in the background. This would allow the reader to feel as though they waited for this moment rather than started reading half way through. It also would give the high stakes of their relationship more urgency as it shows they worked for their love rather than a sort of whirlwind effect. On the other hand I was truly taken aback by the concept that being queer within a royal family was completely normalised and not even once questioned which is a shock in comparison to other novels eg Red White Royal Blue. I think what overall stands out to me is the message that love will conquer all pain especially grief in Dariens case. Although I found the relationship building a bit lacking and the world building rather clunky I’d definitely recommend this book to someone looking for a short queer romantasy story.

3/5. Releases 2/25/25.

The Vibes:

—duty versus heart

—queer joy

—slow burn

The Basics:

Prince Darien finds himself facing a harder choice between duty and love than he ever expected as the second son—there's what he must do and what he wants to do, with the charismatic Tag calling to his heart.

The Review:

I don't have a TON to say about this one, as it kind of falls into the "perfectly pleasant" category where I don't have too many quibbles, but I also don't find it super memorable. Which in itself is a quibble. It reads a bit YA, with the characters largely falling under the "nice" category that typically doesn't beckon to my personal sensibilities.

If you want a really heavy fantasy, this isn't going to be it. The fantasy setting really facilitates the story, rather than delving into heavy worldbuilding. It takes a while for true stakes to be introduced, and while that will satisfy the cozy fantasy lovers, I just wanted a bit more.

That being said, although the romance does read a bit insta-love.... I don't know, man. There's something really lovely about reading a fluffy queer romance in a fantasy setting. This plot read a lot to me as the kind that I would often find, with some tweaks, in a typical m/f cozy fantasy. Not to say that it doesn't pay close attention to the nuances of queer romance. I just kind of liked how straightforwardly cute it was, at times.

While I do wish we'd had more OOMPH, this is a nice read for when you want something a bit light, a bit low stakes, and a bit simply sweet.

Thanks to Rising Action and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing for the ARC.

👑MMC Prince
👑Political Intrigue
👑Courting
👑Insta-love
👑Caring Siblings

Based on the description this it is exactly what I love to read. However, I did not like this at all. This was suppose to be a mystical romantasy. There was no fantasy except for a made up kingdom and lands. The romance was insta-love, they admitted love at first sight within the first quarter of the book with no meaningful interactions, their time together was glossed over.

The “sudden tragedy” happened at the 50% mark and only then did the story start to take shape and unfortunately the “romance” took a backseat. The MMC acted very juvenile and was very emotional; constantly crying (not very monarch-like). The love interest flip-flopped so much with wanting to be with the MMC and not…that’s not actual love.

Finally, the bad guy didn’t have many interactions until his monologue near the end to tell us exactly what he had planned and how he did it. The climax lacked in execution and the MMC just lacked any backbone or depth.

I was hoping for something mystical or magical. Instead, there were unoriginal kingdom names and places (and no map!) I wished for some romantic tension and maybe some comedy as it is in Red, White and Royal Blue, but the insta-love made me actually hope that they didn’t end up together in the end.

I’m mostly upset that the description is nothing like the actual novel.