Book Review: “Prince of Fortune” by Lisa Tirreno

“Prince of Fortune” by Lisa Tirreno (2024)

Genre: Fantasy, YA, Fiction, LGBT

Page Length: 426 pages (hardcover edition)

Synopsis:

Shy Prince Edmund will be a great king one it has been Seen again and again. With rare magic giving him dominion over the nation’s plants and weather, Edmund feels a great deal of pressure to live up to his nation’s many expectations, including making a perfect diplomatic alliance through marriage. That is, until he meets Lord Aubrey Ainsley.

Charming, romantic, and politically insignificant, Aubrey is a Seer, but not even he could have predicted catching the eye of Edmund, the Prince of Fortune—nor that the anxious prince who talks to plants more than people could feel so right for him. Aubrey’s dream-visions have been full of battle, not love, but to say that Prince Edmund has captured his fancy would be a grand understatement.

As the two become more and more intertwined, the nation of Saben falls under attack. War and dark sorcery loom on the horizon. To save their homeland, Edmund and Aubrey must resist the outside forces seeking to drive them apart and find the power within themselves to create a future for Saben—and each other—they never could have imagined.

Review:

Let me start off by saying I really wanted to enjoy this book, but I didn’t. I am a big mood reader and that did affect my reading experience. All in all, I guess it just wasn’t the story I thought it would be. It was me, not the book! Now onto the actual review.

Prince of Fortune is a YA romance set during a terrible time of war, full of political intrigue and magic. The novel follows the the leads (and couple) Edmund and Aubrey of their journey of first meeting each other and navigating through the many obstacles that war brings. This novel can best be described as a royalty romance but has a bit darker tone. The plot weaves through the horrors of war and the mental and physically tolls it has on the people it is involved with. Edmund and Aubrey’s love story felt very grounded and realistic as we witness them struggle to stay together despite the real dangers that may keep them apart. There were many action packed scenes that were so visceral that it had me shook.

I appreciated Tirreno’s attention to detail in the world building was good, but the magic system was a bit all of over the place. I think some things were heavily focused on while other aspects such as the Seers were a bit glossed over which made the book a bit difficult to read. The inclusion of a map and characters at the beginning of the book, however, was helpful for readers. Overall I wanted more fantasy magic on the pages of the novel rather than being told some of what was happening. The fantasy concept was cool but its execution was a bit underwhelming as the focus was more on the politics of the world. Those elements made this novel hard for me to enjoy, but I think if you are a reader that loves heavy political dynamics and power in a romance novel I would recommend this.

Final Verdict: