Review: The Chosen by Annettte Gisby

The neighbouring kingdoms of Oscia and Arcathia have been at a tentative peace for three years after centuries of warfare. Prince Severin of Arcathia has been brought up to put duty before all else and as the only son of the King and Queen, it is his duty to marry and produce an heir. His parents want him to marry an Oscian princess to cement that tentative peace. Unfortunately Severin isn't interested in princesses. Now, if he had his pick of princes that would be another matter.

Havyn has been a slave all his life. When his aptitude for wizardry is discovered, he finds himself purchased and freed by Prince Severin and apprenticed to the royal wizard, Ildar. His duty is to stay chaste to keep his powers strong, but his feelings for Severin sorely test his resolve.

With kingdoms at war, the throne hanging in the balance, magic in the air, and outside forces trying to keep them apart, can the two men find happiness together, or is duty more important than love?

 It makes me all giddy inside when a fantasy story ends up being such a sweet romance.

Prince Severin was so great. Yes, he's 'that prince' who goes against his parents wishes and marches to his own beat. But he also wasn't a soldier or super alpha, which was refreshing. It was nice to see the prince in a story like this take on a slightly different role than we're typically used to in romance.

The blurb is a little misleading, when Prince Severin went to buy and free Havyn it wasn't because Havyn had magic in him, it was Severin wanted to free all the slaves and Havyn happened to be the lucky one Severin decided to purchase.

"'You mean to set him free?'
'Of course, you know slavery is illegal in Arcathia. It's a pity we can't afford to free them all.'"

Right away I knew that Severin is just a good guy. I mean, c'mon, he's got a hot little slaveboy right there at his fingertips and he plans to set him free. Call me crazy, but maybe he could wait a couple hours? Days? Blowjobs? He's much nobler than I would have been. Actually... he did get a tad possessive at some points.

"'He's my responsibility,' protested Severin, his hands on his hips as he stared the wizard down. 'I bought him. He's mine!'"

*rawr*

Oh, Havyn. Sweet, loveable, I just want to wrap you in a blanket and hold you forever, Havyn. *sigh* He was treated horribly as a slave. Horribly! I loved how the author showed us this through Havyn's interactions after he was freed. There weren't really any flashbacks to tell about his past masters, but because of Havyn's actions and dialogue I was able to feel how traumatized he was by his previous owners. I liked what the author did here.

I loved each of the guys individually, now their romance wasn't quite as believable. I get that there was insta-attraction, that's understandable. But after just a couple of days, without much interaction, Severin is saying he's in love with Havyn. What?!? How? You've barely spoken! They do have a obstacle to overcome, Havyn is a wizard and his teacher doesn't want him in a romantic relationship, at all. So, it takes them a while to finally get past the barriers and really be together.  I would have preferred that the 'love' come towards the end when I really started to feel it between them.

Even so, they were just so sweet. Severin's determination despite his un-alpha-ness was what I loved the most about him. He's not a go-get-'em type, but he definitely was when it came to Havyn. Havyn was too adorable feeling pushed and pulled in two different directions. His internal conflict over disobeying his teacher or being with Severin made him a very real and endearing character.

I think this really is a 3.5 heart read for me, but because I was so invested in Severin and Havyn by the end, I bumped it up to 4. I really didn't want it to be over. I could have read about their sweet love for much longer.

I copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.