The Prince's Heart by Ben Chalfin is a delightful LGBTQIA+ romantasy that expertly blends love and duty in the magical realm of Soeria. While Prince Darien’s chemistry with Tag is heartfelt, the pacing sometimes rushes their romance, leaving some character depth wanting. The writing is smooth and engaging, making it perfect for its young adult audience. Overall, it’s a charming story filled with political intrigue and a refreshing story.

I had huge hopes for this book: it's presented as a queer romantasy and what can be better than that? However, after reading maybe 50% of it, I felt like I am too old for this as the target audience for the book appears to be teens aged 14-16. As a young adult I found this book to be a bit lacking.

/Below will be some spoilers!/
We were promised slow-burn, but it's not: I was looking forward to seeing romance slowly blooming, however, we already got a fade-to-black scene at 26%. That's not a slow-burn... Also, I found the pacing of the story very questionable. Many time skips that ommited (possible) crutial relationship-building scenes. This issues connects with another one: the love / courting between Darien and Tag just.. came out of nowhere. They meet, they find each other beautiful, they talk (Tag is different from others just because he doesn't care for Darien's rank) and then after a couple of weeks of thinking about each other, they just decide to court each other? I really didn't find any signs of their love and how it came to be.

When it comes to relationships, I really found the one between Tag and Darien boring. Tag is one of those characters that gives up at first obstacle ("No, Darien, I can't be with you" was said maybe 5 times), cries and just overall appears to be absolutely useless, just waits for Darien to do something. As someone who was a Prince and then became King, Darien has no backbone. Evil fiance killed his dad & brother and he does nothing, but agree to a marriage? In what universe? I feel like my biggest issue is that I couldn't relate to the characters because they seemed so young and childish (15-16 y/o) but that might be wrong because even though it's not mentioned, you can figure they are 20+. The characters lacked passion, motivation, will-power. And the constant crying. Just no.

The only fantasy is that the story takes place in an immaginary world where same-sex marriage is normal & not something that people question (wish it was so!). I did expect a bit more, well, magic, but it was just an expectation I created in my head. And everything worked out so smoothly without a hint of stuggle really.

What I did enjoy was the writing style. It was easy to read, nicely flowing and overall good. I do feel like if this book reaches its teens' target audience (at least I assume that's who are the potential readers for this book), it will be well appreciated and loved!

The Prince's Heart is such a great story! I loved every single second of this amazing story. I recommend everyone to read this book as fast as they can because it's really good and the characters are fantastic.

This was a lovely LGBTQIA+ Romantasy. I really loved the setting of Soeria. Lots of politics come into play which is my favorite in books! Prince Darien Garros was a wonderful character. The poor guy having to make the impossible choice between love and duty. Tag Leara was so dreamy and sweet and perfect. I loved their story and reading about the choixe Darien has to make the consequences involved. This is my favorite type of fantasy. It was wonderful! I read this one FAST because it was addicting in the best way. Can’t wait to get my hands on a physical copy!

"The Prince’s Heart" by Ben Chalfin is a romantic fantasy novel that weaves themes of love and duty. The story revolves around Prince Darien, the second son of the royal family, who finds himself unexpectedly thrust into the spotlight following a sudden tragedy. This life-altering event challenges him to navigate the complexities of his newfound responsibilities. This slow-burn queer romance centers around the prince's royal obligations while he tries to follow his heart, which both inspires and complicates his life.

While I appreciated the action and romantic elements threaded throughout the book, I did long for more character development and backstory upfront. For me, even more exploration of the characters' histories and motivations would only enhance the novel. Overall, I think that "The Prince’s Heart" will appeal to fans of authors like Foz Meadows and Alexandra Rowland, who appreciate an action-filled romantasy.

I would like to express my gratitude to NetGalley and Rising Action for providing an advanced reader copy (ARC) of this novel.