GAH! There was wave after wave after wave of bad guys and fresh, new challenges to overcome in this one, folks.

Since reading "Prince of Air and Darkness" around Christmas of 2018, I hadn't really thought much about Sebastian, thinking of him only as the fairly-quiet, outsider, college roommate of Finn and Roark, but oh boy, was I ever wrong on that account.

Seb's history with both the Summer and Winter Courts was much more involved than I ever could've imagined, and as those details were divulged, I found myself completely riveted and dying to discover more.

He’s so open, so honest in his emotions. He’ll never survive unless he learns to harden himself, to hide himself. I should be disgusted by his weakness. Instead, I’m drawn to him because of it.

Duine and Sláin, though? Wow, I didn't see that coming at all. That plot point blew me away and lef my jaw dropping, but I don't dare say anything else.

And then there was Aoife, High Princess of the Summer Court, Oberon and Tatiana's eldest daughter. OMMFG. What. A. Fucking. C-WORD. (And I only reserve that term for a very special, truly-awful few, but trust me, she earned it.)

Aoife's level of remorseless cruelty, the things she did to get what she wanted, all while hiding behind a glamor of innocent, caring beauty, I found it all extremely shocking that someone that vile could still inspire loyalty from her people.

I was thrilled to see that this story included more Finn and Roark, mostly toward the very beginning and the very end, with them still very happy, but also in extreme danger.

“He’s kind of protective of you.”

He growls and I wince when frost covers my hand. “So protective he’d rather die than make me choose between him and the Court.”

“And you would choose--?”

The look Roark gives me is pure confusion, as if my question is so stupid he can’t believe I asked. “Him.”

“Even if--”

“Every time.”

In an attempt to save Finn from certain-death, Roark requested that Sebastian go on an undercover mission that could possibly avert the coming war, which was how Seb found himself behind enemy lines and surrounded by danger on all sides.

This book had much more world building than book 1, which I thoroughly enjoyed, as we finally got a first-hand look at the beautiful, but highly-political inner workings of the Summer Court.

The pacing of the story was pretty spot-on, but my only real complaint was that, like a lot of fantasy stories, there were so many problems facing the MC's that there wasn't a lot of time for truly deep feels to be slowly and carefully worked through. There was always something around the next corner ready to slit their throats.

This story did have a bit of a separation for Duine and Seb, but unlike usual, I didn't mind it so much here. Their time apart actually added to the story, instead of coming across as part of a "do this when you write a novel" check list.

In regards to steam, the book only had one short scene, which wasn't overly-explicit, but I wasn't looking for sexy bits at all, so it was one more than I'd expected.

I'm not sure exactly why, but while reading this book, I kept having flashbacks to the "A Captive Prince" series, possibly due to all of the gruesome torture that Duine, as a prisoner of war, had to endure. Dunno, but it was "a thing" for me. I'm weird like that, I guess.

As the book ended, the war still wasn't over, but Seb and Duine had made their feelings and commitment to one another known, so I'm counting that as them being well on their way to an HEA -- surviving the war withstanding.

“I can’t offer you anything but a broken kingdom.”

“I’m a broken prince,” he counters. He swallows and offers me the shy smile I thought I’d never see again. “But whatever is left of me is yours.”

I'd rate this book at around 4.25 stars and recommend it for fans of M/M fantasy.

When I saw this was up on Netgalley I was so excited. Despite my frustrations with the ending of Roark and Finn's book, I loved it and I was eagerly awaiting this. I don't remember Sebastian much from the first book, I vaguely remember him as Finn's friend, but I absolutely adored him in this book.

From the beginning of this book, we found out a surprising fact. <spoiler>Slaine, Roark's older brother who apparently defected to the Summer Court was actually taken years ago by Aoife, the High Princess of the Seelie Court and put under a spell and a mask so no one could know who he is and he couldn't talk about who he is to anyone. For a good portion of this others, particularly Sebastian, know him as Duine, and I will refer to him as that in the rest of my review to keep that spoiler out of it if people didn't read the spoiler.</spoiler>

Sebastian is a kind, gentle, sweet man who has kept the secret that he's a Seelie prince and the nephew of King Oberon of the Seelie's, and even before that secret is out, Roark asks - more like orders him (after having manipulated him) - Sebastian to invade the Seelie Court to get his brother, Slaine back so they can lock him up, kill, what have you. If he does it, he'll grand Sebastian protection for the rest of his life. Roark does it all so Finn won't be killed, because Finn is the most important thing to him (oh and also they got the Seelie equivalent of married between books, so...wish we could have seen the handfasting ceremony for that :()

So Sebastian does it and while there he meets Duine, and they start to slowly fall for each other while political intrigue abounds and Sebastian has to try to keep his true purpose for being among the Seelie court a secret and Duine has his own secrets that he literally cannot tell anyone.

I personally felt the connection between these two was slow to take hold. I just didn't feel like they felt more than friendship at first, and the low steam and romance when they eventually do feel things didn't help. Even though the last book had low steam, I felt like the love between Roark and Finn was quite clear and quite passionate.

Sebastian and Duine never felt passionate enough for me, even though I grew to like them together by the second half. They were sweet together and hold a great love for each other. I just wish the book had taken some more time away from the politics and given us more scenes of these two just together, falling in love.

They were around each other, sure, but they rarely, in my opinion, talked about anything other than the politics and mind games they were surrounded with. It took a long while for me to really feel it between them.

But then of course just when I was really started to love these two together, they get separated. And that was part of why I took a star off of this because I don't remember exactly how long, but it was around 15% or so of this near the end where they're separated - and since this is a long book, that was a LOT of pages. It got so frustrating that I actually started shouting at my screen to just get the separation <i>over</i> with already.

I can handle separation, especially if it makes sense for the story - but it just felt like this continued to grad it out and drag it out for such a long time just for the sake of angst and making the readers and these two suffer and make the ending as dramatic as possible. It bothered me and affected my enjoyment of this novel. Because honestly? That last 20% or so before Seb and Duine are reunited was just a lot of <spoiler>"Duine goes into battle, comes home, talks to Aislinn, talks to Seb, rinse and repat and Seb keeps hearing a voice, he keeps helping out Duine, he wants to make it back but also he's just...not...for whatever reason and rinse and repeat.</spoiler> It got too repetitive and boring for me before long and I just wanted to the reunion to happen already. It was stretched out too long just for some angst and making us bite our nails and the ~drama of it all. It was too much for me to give this a full 5 stars because of that.

Also, again the ending didn't feel quite satisfying. I was happy for where Seb and Duine were (although I could have used a little more of them, just like I felt like with Roark and Finn) and for other circumstances concerning Roark and Slaine, but I wanted <i>more</i> so it didn't feel 100% satisfying for me.

I get that these three books have an overarching plot and that plot doesn't end with each book, but the stories end with a HFN/HEA for our couples, so <i>their</i> story is over, so I wanted just a little more to give Seb and Duine a more satisfying HFN, at least. I know they're together and happy and strong, after the horrible separation we barley get just them, alone, together, and that also bothered me.

So mainly my big problems with this were at the end, the last fourth or so of this book. It was of course still very well written and engaging, but that didn't mean I was enjoying it as fully as I should have been - or enjoying it at all at times. Everything before it was amazing and I loved it and was riveted, and although Seb and Duine could have used more passion, more chemistry, eventually that came after the slow build for me to feel it between them, so that didn't bother me as much as what happens in the last 25% or so.

So yes, I absolutely recommend this, and Seb and Duine did earn a special place in my heart by the end of this, even if it took me a while to connect with them, but there were also frustrations with this from me that didn't make me love it as I wanted to. I still enjoyed it overall, but that last 25% or so almost pissed me of in a way. Just too much filler that could have been skipped over with a little room left over to really give Seb and Duine a satisfying ending.

I would have been fine with the open ending plot wise, but it is frustrating to see the non-closure for the main couple, just like in book one. They deserve more than what the ending gave them after having a whole book dedicated to their romance.

So I would recommend this just for the great world Grant has given us, the exciting adventures, the rich and amazing writing, the amazing characters, this exciting and interesting plot, and a really good romance in this book. It was still a good book, it just wasn't great like I wanted it to be and wished it would be.

That ending could have just been a little less "drama for drama's sake" (or more angst for angst's sake) and more about giving this couple a much stronger HFN than we were given and more scenes to solidify it for the readers at the end.

Still very much worth a read though, despite my own personal frustrations with it.

"If you'll allow it, I would stand by your side until the end."

If you already didn't catch this from reading the first book in the series - Prince of Air and Darkness - then let me tell you something. This isn't Tinkerbell we're dealing with. The Marked Prince, broader in its scope and expansive on its worldbuilding and political intrigue, is more Brothers Grimm than Disney. If the Brothers Grimm ever wrote happy endings, that is.

I can't say much because there's so many things I might give away - and trust me, you'll get whiplash from the amount of revelations in this book. Even the prologue itself is one giant bag of spoilers. But I can say that through all the intrigue and the civil war happening all around, it was absolutely fantastic to read the romance develop. Seb and Sláine come together and grow into the people they're meant to be, with each other's help. In Seb's own words, he and Sláine would find each other in this world and the next.

There's less steam in this one than usual readers of the M/M romance genre have probably come to expect, but that's fine by me. There's intimacy and growing love and affection expressed through actions - and, eventually, words - and I found myself not really seeking out any of the steamy stuff. (Really, I just wanted more tender moments to cut through the pain. If I have any complaint about The Marked Prince, besides my usual playful complaints about how much pain Seb and Sláine go through before their happy ending, it would be that I really just wanted more domesticity. But we're in the middle of a war, so.)

Most of all, I just think it's so easy to get attached to the characters, either to Seb or Sláine or both, and it makes the experience of reading this book that more powerful. I myself have been attached to Sláine since the first book, intent in my belief that there's something beneath the surface. And there is. Remember that we only got half - or even less than that - the story about Sláine in Prince of Air and Darkness; it's easy to fall for Sláine here when the layers get peeled away to reveal who he truly is. And Seb. Seb is a wonder. I dare you to find anyone who wouldn't love Seb.

My advice is to read carefully, look between the lines, and don't rush (a hardship for me, since I find the author's narrative style to be so engaging that I just want to power through the book). If you're unfamiliar with the Celtic mythology woven into this book, it might take a while to understand a few things. (By the way, there's a pronunciation guide at the end of the book, if you're having trouble with the names!) Things aren't as they seem, and the only way to unravel the threads of this book is to keep your eyes sharp. But don't forget to enjoy the ride of this fantasy world too, no matter how painful it gets.

I'm so excited - and maybe a little impatient - for the final book in this trilogy. We get a happy ending for our two boys, but the situation with the war in the ending of The Marked Prince makes me itch. Is it April 2020 yet?

All in all, The Marked Prince hits it out of the ballpark for me, with both the fantasy and the romance aspects. Are there flaws? Yes, probably. And maybe this book won't work for others because it develops differently from Prince of Air and Darkness. But this one is perfect for me, and Seb and Sláine are probably among my favorite book couples ever now. They've carved a permanent place in my heart.

I'll be reading this one again after the official release in August!