Thank you NetGalley and Hachette for this eARC.

If you’re looking for an easy, fast paced cozy romance with a sprinkle of spice this is the book for you.
I enjoyed reading Behooved, it was fun and flirty but I think it was a little too fast paced for me personally.

I didn't think I would enjoy this book but I did. It's a lighthearted romantasy that didn't take itself too seriously.
I really enjoyed the story and it made me laugh while still maintaining that element of suspense. It totally lulled me into a false sense of security by making me think I knew who was behind it all before pulling the rug out from under me. Read it in one day! Would 100% recommend

Behooved is a fresh take on a Fairytale based Cozy Fantasy full of laughs and one-liners from our main characters. Although predictable at times, the characters and their chemistry was what made this book for me. I do however, need to stop requesting Cozy Fantasy books as I think they're just not for me whatsoever.

My biggest gripe with this book and why I ended up skim-reading, is because I needed more World Building and Development. I found this to be lacking and without it, I kept skimming with hopes I would come across something more.

I really struggled with this book. I absolutely loved the concept, it’s giving Shrek vibes, if donkey was Fiona & a horse. Ride your husband has an entire new meaning and I loved this. Ultimately this book wasn’t for me, but congratulations to the author. Thank you for the opportunity.

Save a horse, ride your husband... who has turned into a horse? I think that's how the saying goes...

I had the best time reading Behooved, it has such a fun premise and kept that fun going the whole way through while also balancing a serious plot thread and conversations of growth and defying peoples expectations. This book follows Bianca and Aric, who are forced into going on the run after an assassination attempt on their wedding night leaves Bianca accused of murder and Aric cursed to turn into... a horse? It truly is as fun and weird as it sounds!

This book also has a lot of tropes that I love including the one bed trope, forced proximity and what I would consider a very very mild enemies to lovers plot line. This book also has chronic illness representation and recognising strength in people living with chronic conditions which is really awesome to see. I have read that the condition is inspired by coeliac disease which I haven't seen in a novel before, and it is great to see this being normalised through literature.

I also loved our main characters, with Bianca being an insecure, duty driven princess insistent on being useful after years of being looked down on due to her chronic illness, and Aric, a slightly awkward and reclusive bookworm who has spent his life in the shadows of others. I would protect them both with my life. I really appreciated their growth throughout the story but I LOVED their relationship so much, they had me kicking my feet and smiling so hard it was so cute!

If you are after a fun and quirky read full of magic and cute romance please pick this book up, you won't regret it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hatchette ANZ for providing me with an advanced copy of this book!

3.75 stars

From the first page I was entranced by Behooved’s premise with its whimsy and humour. I mean, a prince that turns into a horse? Hilarious. The story also had its tender moments, and I enjoyed the fresh take on romantasy. I’m so used to reading about grumpy, brooding men, it was nice to have a male lead with more depth and softness.

Earlier in the narrative, the characters felt flat, but I liked their development throughout the story. They still could’ve done with a bit more personality, but they blossomed in their own way. I also loved the chronic illness representation. It’s not something I’ve often encountered, particularly in fantasy and I’d love to see it more. It made the main character feel so human and raw.

There were a lot of horse-related shenanigans (as you can imagine) and sweet moments that made this book a heart-warming, yet silly read. It stands apart from other romantasy books, and tells a unique tale (which can be so hard to find). I’m very interested in seeing what M. Stevenson writes next.

If you’re looking for your next fantasy romance read and want something a little different, give this a try!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this e-book in exchange for an honest review.

A cozy fantasy that will have you giggling like a school girl with the funny jokes about an animal thrown in. An arrangement marriage involving to allies that don't like each other at first and turns into lovers. One bed ;) and also Bianca being a bad ass with chronic illness and being a Bi queen. I absolutely enjoyed reading this and wish for more.

Thank you netgalley and hachette for gifting me an earc.

Behooved is a cozy, low stakes fantasy romance involving an arranged marriage and a curse with a horse transformation. What follows is a cute little adventure with plenty of horse puns and an evolving relationship.

The main characters were cute and I enjoyed their banter, especially while one of the MC’s was in their horse-form. The plot was predictable, but there is comfort in knowing what's coming.

I would have personally liked a bit more detail from the world building. There were elements introduced that weren’t really expanded on, but saying this the romance was the main focus of the book.

Thankyou to Hachette and Netgalley for a review copy of this book.

Narration: single character, first person POV

Spice: 2/5

Tropes:
- Arranged marriage
- One bed
- Low stakes fantasy
- Stand-alone
- Political scheming
- Chronic illness rep
- Cinnamon roll MC

This book starts off slow but does pick up. I didn’t like all the same sex/bisexual stuff and almost DNF at 11% through. This needs to be marketed so readers know

There were moments where I laughed out loud at what happens to the mfc.

Her relationship with Aric the heir apparent did seem a bit forced and their pining / growth / love story wasn’t very believable for me. Also the constant ‘I’m not good enough, I’m weak’ from both mains was tiring.

I loved that aric is Horse by day and man by night, it’s very Swan Princess like. Also refreshing was the fact he wasn’t a sexy warrior prince, he is a blonde mmc and book nerd.

Riding your husband takes on a whole new meaning with this book!

I absolutely adored Behooved! It was such a cozy, charming romantacy that I couldn't put down, and I’m now fully obsessed. I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys light fantasy with a slow-burn romance and a touch of whimsy.

The story follows Duchess Bianca Liliana, who’s navigating life with a chronic illness and a strong sense of duty. When war threatens her kingdom, she agrees to a political marriage to Prince Aric of Gildenheim. But her new husband isn’t exactly Prince Charming—he’s cold, distant, and clearly wants nothing to do with her.

Then everything changes. On their wedding night, an assassination attempt goes horribly wrong, and Aric is cursed into the form of a horse by day. Cue an unexpected magical journey to uncover who’s behind the attack, clear Bianca’s name (who is being blamed), and break the curse—all while riding through forests, uncovering secrets, and slowly falling in love.

This book had the perfect balance of adventure, intrigue, and romance, all wrapped in a warm, fairytale-like atmosphere. The chronic illness representation was handled beautifully, adding depth to Bianca’s character without defining her entirely.

And Aric—oh, Aric! He’s not your usual romantacy hero. He’s quiet, intelligent, introverted, and would honestly rather spend his time in a library than on the battlefield. I loved that about him. He felt so real and refreshingly different, and I completely fell for him.

If you're after a magical, pun-filled story with heart, humor, and a romance that sneaks up on you, Behooved is the one.

✨ Slow-burn romantacy
✨ Cozy, low-stakes magic
✨ Chronic illness rep
✨ A horse by day, a bookish prince by night

Huge thanks to @NetGalley for the ARC—I loved every second of this read!

A rompy, classic enemies-to-lovers tale. This book was very fun!

It can be a tricky balancing act for writers of romantasy to juggle their worldbuilding with developing the chemistry of their characters, but happily, 'Behooved' does *not* suffer from this problem. It's been a hot minute since I had so much fun and was so immediately drawn into a narrative as this!

There's nothing hugely revolutionary about 'Behooved', but that doesn't stop it from being eminently engaging.

It's your classic tale of aristocrats forced together in a marriage of convenience, each of them coming to the union under duress and setting up a delicious slow burn, enemies-to-lovers narrative. Oh, and one of them is a part-time horse.

Overall, I really appreciated the worldbuilding and great chemistry between the romantic leads. The chonic illness representation was also sensitively handled and a very welcome inclusion and the prose is beautifully descriptive without being overblown.

This is a perfect tonic to help you handle your depression over the cancellation of Prime's 'Lady Jane'.

You should read this book.

This was a fun, fast paced and surprisingly sweet romantasy. Bianca was an interesting character to follow. She has a mysterious illness and no magic so she always felt small and less important to her Royal family until she is offered up as a deal to a neighboring King to stop a war. The curse with the horse was funny and the banter felt believable. I enjoyed the pacing and the diverse characters.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC all thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you're looking for the perfect blend of political and cosy fantasy, look no further!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Australia and New Zealand for providing me with an eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Bianca is the second-born daughter of the Liliana family, one of nine noble families in the kingdom of Damaria. When the neighbouring kingdom of Gildenheim threatens war, Bianca agrees to marry the Gildenheim prince Aric in order to ensure peace between the two kingdoms. Things quickly go awry on the pair's wedding night, when a failed assassination attempt leaves Aric magically transformed into a horse.

'Behooved' really surprised me. I went in intrigued by the premise, but was not expecting to be laughing out loud and growing attached to characters within a story that takes place across what is essentially just a single week. Bianca and Aric are a perfect example of grumpy x grumpy at the beginning of the book, leading to misunderstanding after misunderstanding. This book also contains some really well done chronic illness representation. Bianca is suffering from an unnamed condition that frequently leaves her in pain, revealed in the author's notes at the end of the book to be coeliac disease. Despite her condition, Bianca is a badass female lead, compensating with both physical and mental strength throughout the story. Something else that I found really refreshing was our leads' ages - they're both in their late 20s. The only thing stopping this one from being a 5-star read for me was how the mystery sub-plot was handled. I found it quite predictable as there was only really one suspect introduced, and the thread was tied up a little too quickly and neatly at the end of the book. I wanted to know a little more about the consequences for the two kingdoms with everything that happened.

If you've been looking to try something in the cosy fantasy genre, but still want a solid plot, look no further. 'Behooved' is releasing at the end of May.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5 stars!

Behooved is the perfect book for anyone looking for a grown up fairy tale!

This book was so surprising and I loved it way more than I expected to. Behooved is charming, magical and plays on some of the biggest tropes in Romantasy in a genuinely funny way.

What I loved in particular:
- only one bed at the inn is my least favourite book trope but somehow M Stevenson managed to make me love even that here by making it hilarious.
- inconvenient shapeshifting in general was one of the best parts of the book.
- the dreamy magical vibe

What could be better:
- Some of the biggest plot points resolved themselves a little too quickly. For example, Aric almost instantly figures out that the curse is triggered by daybreak.

This story is light and the ideal palette cleanser book, one to read and re-read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Australia and New Zealand for the opportunity to read this ARC.

*3.5 stars*

*Thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Australia & New Zealand for providing a digital copy to review*

If you loved My Lady Jane (RIP, you were taken from us too soon), then this will be up your alley. The MMC turns into a horse during a botched assassination attempt, and the FMC has to ride him away to safety. I know, right?

This starts as a kind of enemies-to-lovers with Bianca & Aric being forced into this arranged marriage. Neither are happy about it, but Bianca is so honour-bound and wants to please her parents, so she agrees to it. Her relationship with her parents really got me. She has a mysterious chronic illness that makes her ‘less than perfect’ in her parents' eyes, and she forces herself to try and be the obedient daughter to gain their love and approval.

Both Bianca & Aric start out pretending to be something they’re not to please the people around them. As their relationship grows, we see who they want to be and how much they have in common. I liked seeing their relationship grow and was relieved that the miscommunication between them didn’t drag on for the entirety of the book.

The book is entirely from Bianca’s POV. So while we really get to connect with her, the same can’t be said for Aric. He’s nice and sweet, but I wasn’t obsessed with him, which is what I really want with an MMC.

Overall, it’s a fun book, and I loved how Bianca & Aric were able to still communicate when he was a horse.

“‘A-Aric? Are you - a horse?’ What do you think I look like? A chicken?”

I absolutely loved this book. I went into it slightly unsure what I would think - I mean, husband turns into horse on wedding night? - but it was the exact right balance of light, fun and cosy, mixed with an intriguing magic system and plot. A five star read for me.

Bianca is the ever dutiful daughter, always doing what is expected of her by her parents, and acting in the best interests of her country. She’s sent to the neighbouring kingdom to enter into an arranged marriage with the prince, soon to be king. She does this believing the prince to be cold and unkind, and believing that he has demanded new trade agreements with her kingdom after threatening war.

There is definitely a miscommunication trope here, which is not always my favourite, but it worked in this instance. Other than that, this book contained many of my absolute favourite tropes; only one bed, mind connection/speaking, slow burn enemies to lovers and an arranged marriage. I also love a book with an FMC who has a chronic illness. Throughout the book, I actually couldn’t figure out what the chronic illness was, and that became part of the story. My only criticism of this book would be that that was left somewhat open-ended, and only made sense reading the authors note at the end.

I did love the magic system in this book, and felt that it was developed incredibly well and left room for, I hope, further books in this world. I particularly loved her. The same magic was used in very different ways between the two kingdoms, simply because of the different importance the two kingdoms put on different values.

A huge thank you to Hachette Australia & New Zealand, Hodderscape and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Behooved in exchange for my honest review.

A fun and romantic read with all the feels of cosiness and warmth. The banter amongst the characters was very entertaining and the adventure was delightful. The relationship between Bianca and Aric was sweet and refreshing, I adored them both so much. A fabulous read for anyone looking for a delightful romantasy.

5/5 stars, would recommend and will read over and over again!

I genuinely haven't laughed out loud reading a book for a long time. This is such an enjoyable, funny and sweet read, and I devoured it in less than 24 hours. Behooved is a cozy adventure fantasy with a sprinkling of sweet romance, and it packs a punch with the banter. It's an easy read that doesn't take itself too seriously.

Bianca is a noble daughter from Damaria, her parents on one of the seats as the ruling families of the Council that governs the kingdom. Their country believes in using their magic on things and not people, and have made great advancements in technology and weaponry via their Adept Guild of magical users who are trained for almost a decade. She is married off via a written agreement to the heir apparent of Gildenheim - Aric, after his mother, the Queen, suspiciously passes quite suddenly. Gildenheim use their magic (blood magic) on people, but not for nefarious purposes as Damaria would have their people believe. The story goes that Aric is making these demands under the threat of war, but not everything is as it seems.

Bianca is anxious upon her arrival, having heard many rumours of her husband-to-be, and not many of them positive. Her sister, Tatiana (an absolutely chaotic breath of fresh air who uses her magic for her own wild and fun purposes), gifts Bianca an amulet that has a protection spell inside. Naturally, Aric feeds into those rumours and we as readers don't know what to believe. On the night of their wedding, Aric is attacked. Bianca tries to intervene, and somewhere along the way, magic goes awry and Aric turns into a horse. Chaos and hilarity ensues, and suddenly Bianca and Aric are off on a journey to break the spell before the date of the coronation, and others with sinister motives decide to take the throne for themselves.

I loved this book. The characters are fun, and the writing is fantastic. The story is written more YA, but the writing itself is mature and intelligent, and the banter is witty and funny, and are things I would absolutely say myself if I found myself in that situation. The romance is slow burn in terms of how quickly it plays out in the book, but the timeline is quite accelerated. If you ignore the slight 'insta-love' aspect of the timeline, it's a very sweet romance that I fell in love with myself.

The chronic illness rep was one of my favourite aspects of this book. Though not mentioned in the book, the author hints in her acknowledgements that Bianca struggles with coeliac disease. I struggle with coeliac disease and other autoimmune conditions and some days I am so fatigued I struggle to get out of bed. It was so refreshing to see that we had a really cool FMC who was so capable, yet she still had her bad days and her struggles, and she admitted when she needed her rest. It felt so relatable, and I was so appreciative of this inclusion. I also really enjoyed the political machinations and intrigue trope - I love this element in fantasy novels, and I feel like it added a real gritty aspect to the story.

This story doesn't take itself too seriously and you shouldn't either. It is an easy read that doesn't need much investment, and it's a genuinely funny read. There were some plot holes and things missing, but not enough that it detracted from the story, and I actually loved that this was a standalone. I feel like everything I read lately is a series and sometimes I just want a fun standalone read that I don't have to commit to - and Behooved delivers exactly that.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Hachette ANZ for the eARC of this book.

This deeply funny and adventurous Romantasy book follows a duty-bound noblewoman with a chronic illness and the heir apparent who would rather be reading a book. Bianca knows that duty comes before anything else. So, when war looms, she agrees to marry the heir of the neighbouring kingdom to keep the peace. All she has to do is honour her family name, avoid ruining anything, and ensure they don’t learn about her condition, or at least not until she’s married and crowned, that is.

However, when she arrives, her soon-to-be husband is cold and aloof. He doesn’t even meet her upon her arrival and seems to hate her, which is strange considering he was the one who pushed for this marriage. To make matters worse, she accidentally turns him into a horse while trying to stop an assassin! She didn’t realise that the magical locket her sister gave her would do that.

This is an amazing book with romance, compelling relationships, hilarious hijinks, and plenty of comedy. I found myself laughing at 1 in the morning because I just couldn’t put it down; it was that good!

This book is perfect for those who enjoy horsey books, fairy tales, and a lot of romance.

Rating - ★★☆☆☆ (2/5)
Spice - ★☆☆☆☆ (1.5/5)

What to expect?
➼ Magical world building
➼ Shy MMC
➼ Animal transformations
➼ Chronic illness representation

⚝──⭒─⭑─⭒──⚝

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and Hachette Australia & New Zealand for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I think this book is a really easy read and can be fun if you go into it with the right mindset. That said, looking deeper, the plot was lacking which made it fall flat for me. It’s definitely a cute, cosy read, but it should be read as just that.

There were some likeable characters; I thought Aric and Bianca had a nice dynamic, and Tatiana was a standout. The romance tried to go for an enemies to lovers vibe, but honestly, it would have worked better without that initial tension it just didn’t quite fit the tone of the story or their characters.

Overall, the story felt a little underwhelming. It was quick and easy to get through, but I probably wouldn’t reach for it again.