I DNF’d this book at 50% I try so hard to not DNF even if I really dislike a book and have only ever DNF’d one other books in all of the books I’ve ever read in my lifetime.

I honestly had a pretty hard time getting through this book, the writing style felt like it was meant more for teen/YA which isn’t an issue at all, it’s just not what I was expecting going into this book.

I had a hard time grasping the concept of them instantly falling in love it was like they were talking one moment and then were completely madly in love with each other the next second not even 1/4 of the way into the book and they’re already kissing and confessing their love for each other? I thought it was supposed to be slow burn ?

I am not a fan of forced arranged marriages and honestly had I known that was going to be a big part of the plot I most likely wouldn’t have chosen to read this book.

This book is not for me, I am sure there are people out there who would absolutely adore this book but I found myself getting more and more frustrated with the book and the characters as I read on .

Thank you Netgalley and rising action Publishing for the arc

Thank you so much Netgallery for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I liked The Prince’s heart, but I can’t say I *loved* it, which i makes me a little sad because I really, really wanted to adore it! the story itself was interesting and the characters pleasant to follow, but it was definitely missing some depth overall. it took less than a hundred pages for our main couple to get together, and even less time for them to fall in (insta)-love. the building of the relationship was close to non-existent, and everything felt just….. easy, really, which is not a bad thing but not what i typically look for in a fantasy romance.

the writing was easy to read but maybe a little less developed than I would have liked, and I believe it would have benefited from having less “omniscient” italic questions on top of the characters’ struggle throughout the entire story. the way the character was written felt very “innocent” and inexperienced overall, which gives a YA vibe to the whole story—and the relationship.

the plot was predictable, and so was the villain of the story, but I still enjoyed reading through the political sides, even if it felt very easy and forthcoming. overall, I wish we’d gotten to see more of the characters and their development, because this story felt more like a coming of age than a romantasy story—since we knew so little about the two protagonists in the first place, there’s not much to get attached to when it comes to their relationship. I think this book would do much better advertised to a younger audience, but this is once again a personal and subjective review :)

3/5

the plot was very predictable, i never particularlly liked the characters, although they were all pleasant and generally fine, because their personalities were very wishy-washy. but i found it not that bad and definitely showing promise. 3.5 stars. tysm for the arc.

Overall I did think this was a sweet story and very easy to read through (I got through it in one evening), but I did have a few qualms:

Most importantly: Darien seems like he should be 18 instead of 25. He comes off very innocent and inexperienced with everything - his princely duties, relationships, friendships. Tag very much comes off the same way. In fact, this entire book feels like it’s written for YA, in the tone and in Darien's internal voice.

Second: This is a romantasy, but I feel like I don’t have a great grasp on Tag as a person. He’s timid and reserved and sweet, but we don’t see much of his personality. It’s kind of hard to root for a relationship when you don’t have a whole lot of feelings about the love interest. Really, this story is more about Darien coming-of-age, including a love interest, rather than a fantasy romance.

All in all, I did enjoy the book, and I was surprised some of the scheming towards the end, but I do not feel like this was marketed correctly. 3.5⭐️

The Prince's Heart was a light hearted, enjoyable read that at times tugged on the heart strings. I'm not used to reading instalove romances however, I quite liked it. I enjoyed the sweet dynamic and soft romance between the two love interests. The pace was easy to keep up with and the plot easy to follow. This book is filled with political intrigue, betrayals and longing.
Overall, I enjoyed this book!

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

DNF at 41%. I really wanted to enjoy this book because a) i love high fantasy!! it is definitely my thing and I have read so many high fantasy books in the past that i rated 3-5 stars and b) i love queer novels!! as a gay man myself it is always so nice and fun to see myself represented in genres i typically enjoy. this one simply didnt hit for me, i wanted to give the book the benefit of the doubt as anyone should which is why my DNF percent is so high, but it fell flat for me. the main character i felt didnt understand the gravity of his issues with his kingdom, his mothers kingdom and the kingdom of the man he was arranged to marry; it started to really bother me because he seemed so flippant about all these issues (not to mention the plague that in 14 chapters only was mentioned around 4 times, and the fact that the main characters sister isnt brought up after the second chapter...). it isnt an awful book, i liked how it was written and some parts were very funny! just not my cup of tea <3

I really had high hopes for this book. Romance thwarted by duty. Tragedy only making the desired romance that much harder to obtain. What else could you want? Unfortunately, I found the book to be lacking in depth. I found that it jumped from plot point to plot point. We didn’t get to see much actual on page development of any of the relationships. The climax was a bit lackluster and the resolution of the problem came about so quickly and easily that I was almost waiting for a secondary problem to arise to complicate things. The antagonist and their involvement in a multitude of issues throughout the book was also easily predicted. The concept of the book was interesting and had a lot of potential. I country believe had things been a bit more substantial and developed that I would have liked it more. If half values were available I’d be rating this 2.5 stars, but rounding up for ease.

“The Prince’s Heart,” by Ben Chalfin

This was a cute, slice of life sort of royalty M/M book. This book would be good for people who like cozy reading. I liked both main characters, they were adorable together. A few things didn’t make sense realistically, they were okay with him being gay even though they didn’t have enough males in the royal line in a worst case, but I just pretended like it made sense lol. In the blurb it said it’s like Red Queen or Throne of Glass, and I personally think this book isn’t close to any of those type of books, more like Red, White, and Royal Blue and Bridgerton vibes instead. 3 out of 5 stars.

-M/M
-Magic

Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley.

A great well rounded book. The pacing was good, the characters were fun to follow, and the story was well constructed along with the world building. Overall a fun read that I couldn't put down

This was a fast paced, sweet romance. There was more political intrigue than I expected but I felt that the plot twists were pretty predictable. I enjoyed the two main characters but I do wish we got to see a little more of their relationship. This was a short and sweet romance that I enjoyed overall.

I absolutely adored this story! Prince Darien has been yearning to meet the right man for him to share his life with. That’s when Tag Leara, the son of one of his mother’s oldest friends, enters the picture.

Unfortunately, Darien’s father, the king, and his council have decided the price must marry someone of their choosing. Someone to strengthen their relationship with another country. That’s when Prince Arbois enters the picture and things start to get interesting.

Overall, this was a cute book that left me with a smile on my face. I loved the characters, and despised Arbois. If you enjoy mm romance/romantasy books about royalty, I think you’d be happy to pick this one up.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher/author for this copy of the book.

This was such a good book. I loved the story and the writing so much. The characters were great and the story flowed smoothly. Will definitely read more books by this author in the future.

The description of this book sounds so good, and I wish the book itself lived up to that. It has a lot of potential, but between the insta-love (definitely not slow burn) and the predictable plot (with a few minor twists that could have been more interesting if their implications were focused on), it didn't deliver. The two MCs are pleasant enough, but I couldn't tell you a thing about either of their personalities.

This book didn't have the kinds of flaws that made me hate it (I'm looking at you, The Pairing), but nothing about it made me fall in love, either. I wish the author well and hope they'll do more developmental work on their next novel.

My thanks to the publisher/NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

The Prince's Heart by Ben Chalfin is a light-hearted, quick-and-easy LGBTQIA+ romantasy. My mind ran away from me, imagining this book as the love child of Red, White & Royal, and Tales of Verania (I think I partly disappointed myself!!). Those combined would be an utter romp. So, I thought I would be singing its praises. Alas, I was left underwhelmed. Maybe I was expecting more fantasy - à la, Tales of Verania. Or to be more invested in the actual romance. Describing The Prince's Heart as "slow burn" is a bit of a misnomer. Instead, it's an insta-love romance with absolutely no burn!! Of course, the preference is heavily subjective - some readers love insta-love storylines, but I'm not particularly fond of them. I love pining and angst and drama and yearning, but again, that's my subjective opinion. But the two leads had absolutely no chemistry. They simply both like each other and fall into a relationship without that beautiful euphoria of first love. I thought the third act break-up would liven things up a bit, but both MMCs lay down their swords way too easily when it came to their relationship being in jeopardy, which was frustrating.

The dialogue was clunky and had the tendency to pull me out of the story. There's no dichotomy between the dialogue and the characters' inner self, so every conversation was on-the-nose and uninspiring. All too often, the characters say something clearly only meant for plot purposes, which made the dialogue extremely stilted. Chalfin also made a habit of exposition dumping, stating the background of the fictional kingdom through conversations when it simply made no sense for royalty to constantly remind each other of their own history.

The political drama was interesting, though the reader could see the twist coming from a mile away. The conclusion felt somewhat rushed. The middle dragged a little. There's definitely a target audience who will absolutely love this novel, but for me, it just needed some more work.

👑 Insta-love romance
👑 Queernorm kingdom
👑 Arranged marriage
👑 Royalty
👑 MLM
👑 Political drama

Thank you, NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing, for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Prince's Heart by Ben Chalfin
Rating: 4/5 stars

First Impressions:
The Prince’s Heart is a sweet and charming story that delivers cozy vibes and heartfelt moments. It’s a quick, easy read with a light and comforting atmosphere, making it a good pick for when you’re in the mood for a romantic and uplifting tale.

Plot & Pacing:
The plot was fun to follow, with a few twists and turns that kept me engaged. While some of the twists were a tad predictable, others added a nice surprise to the story. The mix of love, heartbreak, tragedy, and sweet little moments worked beautifully to create a well-rounded narrative.

The pacing did feel a bit rushed at times, especially when it came to the romance. The insta-love aspect of the story felt a little too quick, and I found myself wishing for more time to let the relationship and emotions truly develop.

Worldbuilding
The fantasy elements, while present, were fairly light, and I would have loved to see them explored more deeply, same goes for the overal world.

Characters:
The characters were fun and relatable. I really felt for them, and their emotional journeys were engaging to follow. Darien was a great POV character, but I couldn’t help wishing for a dual POV to see more of Tag’s perspective. I think this would have added extra depth to both their romance and the story overall.

Romance:
The romantic pairing between Darien and Tag was absolutely adorable. Their relationship had a lot of sweetness and heart, though I do wish the insta-love aspect had been developed more gradually to allow for a stronger emotional connection.

Writing Style:
The writing style had a charming and cozy tone that fit the story well, but it was occasionally clunky, especially in some of the dialogue. There were moments where it leaned a bit too much on "telling" rather than "showing," which took away some of the emotional impact.

As a reader with dyslexia, I found the book overall to be a smooth read, though there were a few phrases that made me double-take, thinking I’d misread, only to realize it was just how they were written.

That said, I really appreciated the shorter chapters, which kept the pacing light.

Final Thoughts:
The Prince’s Heart is a sweet, cozy story with a lot to love—fun characters, an adorable romance, and an uplifting tone. While the pacing and fantasy elements felt rushed and the insta-love could have been fleshed out more, the heart of the story shines through. A few extra pages could have elevated the characters, world, and relationship even further, but this is an enjoyable read for fans of a quick, feel-good romance.

I also have to mention the cover—it’s absolutely gorgeous and perfectly fits the vibe of the story!

Overall, this was a delightful 4-star read, and I look forward to seeing more from Ben Chalfin in the future.

When I requested this novel I was expecting a fantasy novel with romance. This was a straight up romantasy (and even the fantasy part was very negligable). I don't feel like I can give an accurate review, because I'm just not a romantasy fan. The writing was good. If that's your genre you might enjoy this, but I hesitate to give it a rating, because it was just not the book for me,

Thank you to NetGalley, Ben Chalfin, and the publishers for allowing me access to the e-Arc.

3.25 stars

Overall, I enjoyed most of the story. I didn’t mind the “insta-love” to me it just felt like they were meant to be. Yes, it could have been drawn out a little more. I felt like Darien's character changed in the last 30% which made me not enjoy it as much. I also didn’t enjoy where the villain reveals all the parts. I thought it would go differently. It did give me RWRB vibes which I loved. I will pick up another book by this author.

<i>The Prince’s Heart</i> is a clumsy yet, at times, endearing story about a prince forced to choose between duty and desire. This book centers around Darien, the prince and second-in-line for the throne of a small kingdom. He meets Tag, a lower-status relative of a neighboring kingdom’s royal family, and the two fall desperately in love. However, Darien is forced to choose between a life with Tag and an arranged marriage which will help secure his kingdom’s safety after tragedy changes his life forever. This book is charming, yet overall fails to establish the tense atmosphere necessary to make the conflict in this book impactful.

The biggest positive thing about the book is that it is a sweet story. This book is relatively short for a romantasy, and this makes it a quick and fun read. The romantic pairing is sweet, and its easy to root for them throughout the novel. There’s also a really fun collection of side characters—Darien’s siblings have fun interactions with him, and are characterized well for being such a quick read.

The biggest shortcoming of this book for me was that the main romantic relationship was insta-love. It was the kind of romance where the point-of-view character sets eyes on the future love interest for the first time and is instantly smitten. It only takes a few conversations for the pair to get together. As someone who enjoys reading about the yearning in a romance plot, this wasn’t a satisfying romance story to me. Furthermore, it lowers the stakes of the novel as a whole—if the pair could fall head-over-heels in love after a few conversations, certainly the potential loss of this love isn’t a huge deal, as it doesn’t even feel like the pair know each other that well. Throughout the book, lip service is paid to the idea that the couple won’t work out for a variety of reasons, but even during these scenes it never really feels like the relationship is under threat. This may be less of a negative for readers who enjoy insta-love as a plot, but it didn’t work for me and this took away a lot from the conceit of the novel.

The dialogue in this book is also often very clunky. This problem is twofold: first, when it comes to exposition, characters just say things to serve the plot rather than because it makes sense. For example, there was an instance where Darien said to Samis, who is crown prince of the kingdom, a version of “You remember how the kingdom was founded by our great-great grandmother who found to free us of the empire, yes?” as a way of introducing the political history of the region. This is just clumsy, because yes, Samis should know this, and this happens repeatedly. There are a ton of facts dropped this way, and they all feel out of place. Given the novel is first-person POV from Darien’s perspective, I feel like a lot of this could be communicated with narration and not have the break the believability of the book (especially since Darien is a huge history nerd, and thus could be charactered by the way he gives narration if he goes out of his way to think about the impact of the nation’s history on current events). The second problem is that the narration often fails reflect much of a character’s emotional state. A lot of the dialogue is surface-level and somewhat repetitive and feels shallow as a result. For example, when Darien is dealing with major life tragedies, the start and end of what Tag has to say to him is “It’ll be okay.” It just feels like super shallow support to give to someone dealing with major life tragedies. A lot of the dialogue is on this level, and it makes the characters feel immature.

There’s also a major lack of logic in how things work. I can’t give any of the egregious examples without spoiling the ending, but a minor example will suffice. At one point, Samis and Darien need to talk in secret. They decide that, in order to be secret and avoid being overheard, they should leave the royal palace (where they have private rooms and the ability to tell servants to leave them alone) and instead go to a public tavern (which is described as being full of people). You know, so no one hears what they’re talking about. This sort of logic is pervasive throughout the book, including in how the major conflict is resolved. There are a ton of assumptions that just don’t make sense, or plans that hinge on very specific things happening that always just work out perfectly despite it. I understand that the point of the book is the conflict in Darien’s heart, not exactly how plans are executed, but becomes very distracting throughout the book.

In the end, while this book is overall sweet and charming, I just struggled to feel the weight of the relationship and found both dialogue and plot to be on the clumsy side. This together made the book a less-than-impactful read for me. I would recommend it to readers who like a short and satisfying romantasy, particularly to readers who like it when the couple gets together quickly and the tension instead revolves around them staying together.

A charming, low stakes queer romantasy, perfect for people who enjoy the thrill of an instalove story.

While the themes of The Prince's Heart did not quite grasp at my own heart, there's nothing in here that could persuade me to say anything negative about the book. Any, and all shortcomings are a matter of preference (I prefer a bit of thrill, and a heavy slow burn for romance), which is not at all author, or the novel's own fault..

The Prince's Heart is a quaint little trip out of our own world, and a chance to cozy up and fall in love.

The Prince's Heart is a queer romance set in the fantasy kingdom of Soeria. Our MMC, Darien, is the prince of Soeria. As second in line to the throne, he's content to let his older brother handle matters of court politics. What Darien most wants is to find someone who could love him for who he is and not for his title or position. When he meets Tag, he thinks he might have finally found this person, but when tragedy strikes will Darien have to choose between duty and love?

I loved the premise of this book. Darien is a great character and I was really rooting for him throughout this book. There were times, though, when I felt like I was rooting for Darien and Tag way harder than they were. I wish I had seen them, Tag especially, fight harder for what they wanted. The book started off strong, but it did drag a little in the last half, which is really when things should have been picking up. There were so many times when I wanted to shake these characters! I really felt for Darien throughout this book as he's put into some impossible situations and is trying to navigate them in a way that protects his country and the people that he loves. Overall, I thought this was a good debut novel and I'm excited to see what comes next from this author.

I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing. This is my honest review.