Kiss of the Royal (2018)
Written By: Lindsey Duga
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Pages: 400 (Kindle)
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Why I Chose It: I believe I’ve said I’m a sucker for a good romance before. And I liked the idea of the partnership between a prince and a princess, especially on the battlefield.
The premise:
Princess Ivy has one goal — end the war against the Forces of Darkness.
Ivy’s magic is more powerful than any other Royal’s, but she needs a battle partner who can help her harness it. Prince Zach’s unparalleled skill with a sword should make them an unstoppable pair — if only they could agree on…well, just about anything.
But Ivy’s magic can only fully unlock with Zach’s help, and he’s not exactly cooperating.
Zach believes Ivy’s magic is dangerous. Ivy believes they’ll never win the war without it. Two warriors, one goal, and the fate of their world on the line. But the more they argue, the more they fall for each other. And only one of them can be right…
Spoiler Free!
Discussion: After a series of disappointing reads, I was a little worried to start this book. But Kiss of the Royal broke the string of bad luck. I was really impressed with this one and got sucked in pretty quickly. Actually, I don’t think the back cover copy does this book justice. I mean yeah, it got me to read it based on the idea of this partnership, but I think the real spark of this story was the magic system and the way it drove the characters.
This is a world where princesses can control powerful spells but only by kissing a prince, hence their bond on the battlefield. The thing is, the Legion believes their magic comes from their royal bloodline and emotions get in the way of their sacred calling. In fact, they don’t even believe Love is a thing. It’s just a fairytale. But there is another faction who believes the magic is actually a result of True Love’s Kiss. I know it sounds a little hokey but it actually ended up being this cool mishmash of Snow White and Dungeons and Dragons. Not hokey at all.
I loved the interplay between those who believed in love and those who didn’t. And I think it made a really interesting romance considering the main character didn’t just have to fall in love. She had to be convinced of love’s existence in the first place. That’s not usually an issue in most love stories.
And like I said, it was the magic system and its connection to romance that really sold the idea for me. I loved how magic required two pieces of one whole and how it played directly into what Ivy and Zack believed about themselves and their world. And how those two beliefs were so fundamentally different. Magic (and romance for that matter) requires two cooperative players. Ivy’s spells were useless without Zack and he couldn’t do his job properly without her trust and knowledge. It was incredibly interesting to have a main character who was so innately powerful and yet powerless without a partner.
And the tension between the two was significant, not something that could be resolved just by talking about it. All they did was talk (and argue) about it, but with two belief systems so mutually exclusive the only way you’re going to end up with a romance is to bring two strong moralistic people to a compromise or completely break one away from everything they know to be true and good. Both would have provided a unique and worthy story, and I’m not going to tell you which way this one went. I just really liked that this was a romantic conflict with no easy solution. Both of them had to work toward an understanding.
And Duga managed to do that without undermining either Ivy’s or Zack’s strength. I loved having two strong opinionated characters who were both trying to do the right thing and weren’t willing to compromise their deeply held beliefs. A delicate and well-done balance.
I did feel like the magic system — as cool as it was — could have used some more detail, since I still had some questions. How was it there were mages with elemental magic as well as the Royals whose Kisses were spells? And how was Ivy’s magic stronger than everyone else’s? In what way? We never really get to see her oh-so-powerful spells. We only know she’s the strongest because everyone tells us so.
In Conclusion: I pre-ordered the paperback. I liked this one so much I wanted the book on my shelf for later when I want to go back and read a sweet meaningful romance. It comes out today, and if you’re at all into goblins and dragons and kick-ass princesses or princes with hearts of gold, you should definitely pick this one up. I highly recommend it.
“it actually ended up being this cool mishmash of Snow White and Dungeons and Dragons.”
Aaaand I’m sold. This totally sounds like my type of book.