This book was incredibly disappointing. To use comp titles like Red White and Royal Blue and The Goblin Emperor is just setting this book up for failure because it is nothing like them and not nearly as good. It's also not fantasy. I know romantasy is all the rage right now but to be romantasy there has to be at least a little bit of a fantasy setting or tropes an they're just not there.

The characters are all painfully flat with no personality. The plot is... nonexistent, at least in the 30% that I managed to read. The author doesn't even bother to write full scenes, ending them abruptly with "they talked about many things" (paraphrased). The "relationship" is 100% instalove. There's no chemistry, and no opportunity for the characters to develop chemistry.

The first third of the book consists of: the prince is shy, likes history, and wants someone to like him for him rather than his title. He is set up with someone, falls for him, and then the guy is like "I don't think our personalities get along... but hey, that's ok because you're a prince." Then another guy arrives who is shy, likes history, and seems interested. And they faff about for a month before they finally admit they like each other. And that's literally all that happens.

Plus the writing is flat and bland and the narrator speaks in a bit of a monotone making it hard to distinguish characters.

*Thanks to Rising Action and Dreamscape Media for providing an advanced copy for review.

I received this ARC audiobook through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Prince’s Heart was advertised as a romantasy, but that advertisement is where the comparison ends. The book contains no fantastical elements. The romance, if you can call it that, is pure insta-love with no real build-up or emotional investment. Darian and Tag go from strangers to soulmates at lightning speed, but without any meaningful dialogue or chemistry to back it up. The characters feel more like caricatures than real people, flat, overdramatic, and frustratingly inconsistent.
The writing doesn’t do much to save the story. It’s lazy, with underdeveloped worldbuilding and prose that leans heavily on tropes instead of crafting anything fresh. Even the supposed “political intrigue” is barely a puzzle; it's predictable and surface-level, offering none of the depth or complexity you’d expect in a story set in a royal court.
Despite the mature age of the protagonist, in practice, Darian reads more like a whiny, impulsive teenager than a grown man raised as royalty. The tone and dialogue scream YA, without the charm that good YA can deliver. You’ll constantly be reminding yourself that this is supposed to be an adult fantasy. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t hold up.

I was expecting a bit more of a romantasy, but any fantasy elements were lacking in the story. It was more of an alternate history romance. This book was good but pretty standard for the genre. I give it 3/5 stars

3 Stars – Sweet and Sincere, but Predictable

The Prince’s Heart offers a charming take on royal romance, complete with heartfelt moments, courtly drama, and a gentle touch of fantasy. The emotional core of the story—centered on love, duty, and identity—is genuinely moving at times, and the relationship between the leads carries a tender sincerity that romance fans will appreciate.

However, the plot plays it a bit too safe. The twists are easy to see coming, and the worldbuilding, while serviceable, lacks the depth to truly elevate the stakes. Dialogue can occasionally feel a little stiff, and side characters fade in and out without much impact.

Still, there's a warm, fairytale-like quality that makes The Prince’s Heart a cozy read, especially for those who enjoy themes of self-discovery wrapped in royal intrigue.

Bottom line: A feel-good, if familiar, royal romance. Ideal for readers seeking comfort over complexity.

The book blurb promised something akin to Red Queen and Throne of Glass, but this did not have the same sort of stakes as those books. However, it was a nice low stakes MM romance. The fantasy was not too flushed out, but it was nonetheless an enjoyable easy read,

The story felt shallow and meaningless. I was so intrigued by the description just to be let down by the execution. The story that is said to be slow-burn has love confession in the first quarter of it. And unfortunately I couldn't finish it. Although I might be missing out something, I don't regret my decision.


Thank NetGalley, the publisher, the author, and the production team for giving me this opportunity

This was a great read and a great story. I thought that it was a little repetitive at times with the will they/won't they back and forth repeating a few times over the course of the book, but overall it flowed well despite that. I also thought that the narrator did a good job with the pacing of the story and the character's voices. I'd be happy to pick up another by this author.

The Prince's Heart has a great premise. I liked that it was set in a queernorm world and am so happy this is becoming more prominent in books. I also thought that the political drama was a fun premise as well. I think the main thing this book lacked was true depth. The characters did not feel fleshed out at all. The love story I thought would be front and center did not really build at all and I hoped to have more tension. In one chapter, the characters were just together but nothing happened on the page that made me feel it was warranted or realistic. The drama in the book felt very surface level and predictable because the world as a whole was not detailed at all. The twists were all very predictable and this left me feeling uninterested. At the end of the book, I still was not sure if this was supposed to be fantastical or more of a pseudo-historical romance. The audiobook was well-produced as all Dreamscape books have been and I did think that the narrator was great for the part. This book, in particular, just didn't stand out to me as anything different. I would love to see what the author does in the future as there was a very strong initial premise to this story!

A low stakes, emotional, mm romantasy. It sounded great and right up my alley. The focus here was on the romance, less fantasy. I could've done more with the world building and getting to know more about our setting. Instalove also - which I get it for a short book, but not my style.

The writing was very fluid, and fast paced. The plot was heavy in the political aspects of a monarchy, which I did enjoy reading about. I think this was a good book, just had some components that aren't my typical preferences.

The Prince's Heart by Ben Chalfin (audiobook narrated by Michael Crouch)
☀️🌤️

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for this ARC audiobook!

This 'romantasy' unfortunately fails at both fantasy and romance, lacking in any significant conflict or character development to truly justify its premise at all.

Firstly, the marketing of this book is a big flop. Comparing it to something like 'Red, White and Royal Blue' is frankly ridiculous, and the supposed slow-burn romance is anything but - insta-love is not my favourite and in this case it wasn't handled well at all. Pitching this as even partially a fantasy also works against it given how non-existent the fantasy elements actually are; making up new countries is not enough - the worldbuilding is lazy and unimaginative.

The whole thing is overwritten and has a sense of repetitiveness. All of the characters sound the same and the narrator doesn't make them distinctive either. Important conversations are constantly brushed over and summarised by "they talked about such and such" which is another example of how lazy the writing is. The chemistry between the couple wasn't believable and hinging the entire story on it was a mistake. The plot is predictable anyway but when written like this I was cringing at how obvious some of the 'hints' were.

I contemplated putting this down early several times, and it's honestly a surprise I did bother to complete it. The whole thing was a disappointment.

Soapy as hell but somehow also fairly boring. My ears perked up a little bit when the assassinations began but it’s ridiculous that there was any mystery about who was behind the whole plot. The end is so easy and airtight that I was genuinely wondering if they were all about to blow up or something. The love story is just a snore fest, absolutely zero reason to believe these characters are this dedicated to each other. Featuring many lines like, “He said he loved me, and I could tell he really meant it” and “I love him and I know I always will.” Not the worst but certainly glad this was so short.

I enjoyed the story overall, but I found the romance lacking in depth. There was little to no buildup, which made it hard to connect with the relationship—it felt flat and unexciting. While the story itself was fun, it leaned toward the predictable, which lessened the impact of certain moments. That being said, it was still an enjoyable read, just one that could have benefited from a stronger emotional foundation.

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

I’ll start with the positives: The representation in this book is great! There are many LGTBQ+ characters as well as characters from various kingdoms with unique customs. Additionally, the narrator for the audiobook is excellent and I’d definitely listen to books read by him again.

However, I didn’t love this book. The premise had all of the ingredients to be something that I would love! Courtly intrigue, family drama, forbidden love, maniacal plots - everything I want from a fantasy book. However, all of these elements fell flat. And this book is definitely not fantasy. While the kingdoms were fictional, there were no other fantastical elements. No magic. No creatures. Additionally, I just didn’t care about the characters. The romance was far too rushed, and I wasn’t invested in the stakes. The villain is predictable and transparent from the first scene, so I spent most of the book annoyed at the MC for taking so long to figure out the schemes.

That said, if you’re someone who wants a super light, straight forward romance, this could be a book you’d enjoy.

The Prince's Heart by Ben Chalfin

3/5 Stars & 1/5 Spice

It was a sweet MM romance, but not much fantasy as it was eluded. Where it was lacking for me was there was no build-up of tension or longing between the main characters. It was pretty much love at first sight which made it was sweet a cute quick-read romance. I did love the choices of the prince had to make in choosing true love while weighing the costs for his kingdom.

I feel bad DNF-ing this so fast but the intersection of clunky debut author writing, lightning fast insta-love and the audiobook narrator breathlessly trying to make the dialogue sound organic -- it was just too jarring. Romantasy is a hard sell for me in general but I was willing to make an exception for a queer one, but nope, the immediate undermining of the fantasy element and all of the above didn't convince me to bore myself through the rest of it.

I love queer books so much. I can never get enough of these books and will constantly come back for more.

The main thing this had going for it... a story that shows a world of acceptance. No one questions same sex love. It's refreshing to imagine a world like that, even though our world doesn't mirror that.

The pacing was off for me. The first few chapters felt like they were trying to prove they knew big words. So many junior year of high school vocabulary words. It came off pretentious. I almost DNFd it several times. I wanted to like it, but there was zero chemistry between the main characters. The main plot points were either spoiled in the burn or so predictable they weren't interesting.

DBF: time of death 20%

There is ZERO plot! It literally starts with the crown prince introducing his younger brother to a guy, in the hopes that they will hit it off. They do, but the guy is basically like "who cares if I like you. You're a prince! That's the only reason I'm courting you"... to which the prince is obviously offended. Then, he tells his brother what happened and his brother is like "well you are a prince... nobody is going to be interested in you for any other reason. Even my wife only dated me because I'm going to be king".... WHAT! lol

Then the next guy he meets is INSTANTLY the one. I can see where this story is going, and quite honestly I don't care. There's been no world building whatsoever. Like, I don't even think this can constitute as fantasy. It could be taking place in our world for all I know... or the moon... or anywhere. I know nothing about the politics of their court. Literally, the only thing I know, at TWENTY PERCENT INTO THE BOOK, is that the prince is lonely and having a hard time finding love.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape media for the opportunity to listen to the audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Ben Chalfin, Netgalley, and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Final rating: 2/5

I have to say, I hate that I'm writing this review because it's not often that I DNF something. I tried my absolute hardest to finish this book, however, I had to stop about 50% mark. My grips with this book are numerous, but mainly my dislike of it comes down to this: One, the writing style felt more like Young Adult than Adult. Don't get me wrong, there are some amazing Young Adult writers out there, but this story felt more like it was intended for a younger audience and the writing style reflected that. Quite frankly, I found it a little bland. Two, this hardly counts as a fantasy story. Other than a few made up names and lands, this hardly felt like it belonged in fantasy. The world building was practically non-existent, and what was there was quite generic. Finally, the insta-love in this booked killed it for me. I think insta-love can work if done right and the chemistry is there, but I just didn't feel it in this book. It felt like the characters were together for the sake of being together as opposed to actually liking each other. I wish that I had liked this book, I think it has all the elements of something I would have liked. Unfortunately, this one just didn't hit home for me.

I’ll start by saying the representation in this book is pretty great! You have lots of LGBT+ characters and multiple (fictional) nations involved.

However, I… didn’t love this. The premise was pretty on par with books I enjoy, so I picked it up thinking it was more fantasy than romance. It is not. Honestly, I’d be hard pressed to call this fantasy or sci fi, more of a historical fiction but based out of places that aren’t real. There’s no magic or fae or anything of the sort. Think like if Colleen Hoover wrote an LGBT+ friendly version of Cruel Prince. Also, I will say readers tend to notice repeated phrases a lot more when listening to a book, and I was just sick of deep kisses and proclamations of love by 3/4 of the way through. This may not be the case reading though. The main characters don’t have a lot of depth like others I’m used to reading, and the minor characters are pretty unremarkable as well. I say all of this with the caveat that I am a fantasy reader, not a big fan of straight romance. This book came off much more of a romance than any other genre. If you’re into cheesy romance books, this is probably more for you.


This book was okay, but I likely would not have picked it up had I realized how little fantasy was in it.