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Guest Review: The Prince and the Ice King (Gemstone Kingdoms #1) by Amanda Meuwissen

Every Winter Solstice, the Emerald Kingdom sends the dreaded Ice King a sacrifice—a corrupt soul, a criminal, a deviant, or someone touched by magic. Prince Reardon has always loathed this tradition, partly because he dreams of love with another man instead of a future queen.

Then Reardon’s best friend is discovered as a witch and sent to the Frozen Kingdom as tribute.

Reardon sets out to rescue him, willing to battle and kill the Ice King if that’s what it takes. But nothing could prepare him for what he finds in the Frozen Kingdom—a cursed land filled with magic… and a camaraderie Reardon has never known. Over this strange, warm community presides the enigmatic Ice King himself, a man his subjects call Jack. A man with skin made of ice, whose very touch can stop a beating heart.

A man Reardon finds himself inexplicably drawn to.

Jack doesn’t trust Reardon. But when Reardon begins spending long days with him, vowing to prove himself and break the curse, Jack begins to hope. Can love and forgiveness melt the ice around Jack’s heart?


Reviewer: Free Dreamer

There's two types of books that get a low rating from me: books that are just plain bad and books that just aren't for me. The Prince and the Ice King definitely belongs to the latter category. I can see its appeal and it wasn't badly written, but it had a lot of elements that I personally just don't care for.

The whole story is obviously inspired by Beauty and the Beast and while I usually love fairy tale retellings, that's one of the only fairy tales I don't like.

Reardon is your stereotypical naive, innocent virgin. He's a crown prince set to take over the kingdom in a few years. Yet he's incredibly trusting and believes pretty much everything he's told.

Jack is your stereotypical "beast". Brooding and callous with a frightening exterior, yet deeply troubled and so very full of guilt and shame. He pushes everybody away and doesn't trust strangers.

The love story fits the "opposites attract" trope. Not one of my favourites and it all felt a little insta-love to me. Okay, it does take a few weeks for the relationship to really start, but the attraction is immediate. And then they're are all in for a HEA for the rest of eternity. It lacked development, there was no slow getting to know each other, it just instantly went from 0 to 100.

There wasn't much plot to speak of outside of the love story. Sure, there's a quest to find out the truth about the death of Reardon's mother and toward the end there's betrayal and an epic battle, but the main focus was very clearly the romance. I was actually a little bored at times.

I would have liked a little more world building as well. Just how does magic work? Is it hereditary? Is there just random ambient magic and some people have it and some don't?

The ending was picture book perfect, everybody involved found their HEA, every side character gets their love interest and everything is perfect. There's one villain and he's purely evil, with no redeeming factors whatsoever. Again, not my cup of tea.

Long story short: If you're into "Beauty and the Beast" and want romance over Fantasy, then give it a shot. If you want a good Fantasy story with some romance and plenty of action, then don't bother. Like I said above, "The Prince and the Ice King" isn't badly written or anything, it just wasn't for me.

After the main story ended, there was a short preview for book two, which is set in a different kingdom with different protagonists. And while I didn't much care for "The Prince and the Ice King", I'm actually tempted to give the second part a try. I've read other books by Meuwissen and actually quite liked them. The next part seems to have more actual magic in it and an interesting setting.

I was given a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.



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