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.

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.