✨Im Literary Anxious✨

Estimated Reading Time🕒: 4 minutes

𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿: Jen Lynning✍🏻 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁: 263📖

Stars: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice: 🌶️.5

📚ARC Review📚

“I kissed you because I couldn’t resist. Because I had already figured out that I would think of you every time the charm tried to make me give up. But now that I have kissed you . . . well, magic doesn’t stand a chance compared to that.”

💛Mages and Charms
🌹Sweet MMC
💛”All I want is you. The rest is immaterial.”
🌹Evil Stepfather
💛Small Village
🌹“The Princess and The Pauper”
💛Mystery Solving MFC
🌹Muscles 😏

I don’t know if it’s possible to pick a favorite between this and “Deceiving the Cursed Beast” because I loved them both so much, but you guys… one word, two syllables: ✨Alan✨

My book boyfriends usually lean towards the morally grey, red-flag-toting anti-heroes, but for Alan Smythson, I will gladly make an exception.

Princess Charmina must wed a commoner by her 25th birthday. She’s spending one month in the small town of Skorsa, hoping to better understand her future consort before heading back to the palace to host her engagement ball, where she’ll meet and select a groom from all the eligible men. Alan Smythson is a disappointment, or so everyone in town says. When Mina sees irrefutable proof of his talent as a goldsmith, she realizes something fishy is going on. Alan’s stepfather is sketchy af, and Alan has lost all hope of turning his luck around. Mina is determined to find answers. And maybe, she won’t have to wait until the ball to make her decision after all.

I enjoyed the twist on the typical “has to wed, host a ball” plot. The detail that each generation rotates between noble, commoner, and foreigner for their royal consort is a unique and interesting twist. I love how down-to-earth Mina is (as well as her family, tbh!).

Mina and Alan were adorable, and I couldn’t get enough of them. I loved seeing Alan open up and fall for Mina. What can I say? The man is *swoon*.

Unlike “Deceiving the Cursed Beast,” we interacted with many more characters this time. All of them were enjoyable, and none fell flat. I do wonder if we’ll see any of them again; otherwise, we could have done without some.

Jeff and Kayla—other than Kayla helping confirm whether the charm was still active, she didn’t have any particular impact on Mina and Alan’s story. Jeff doesn’t add much to the story outside his pining for Kayla and the fact that Alan stayed at his uncle’s while in town (something that could have happened regardless). The scene where Mina, Kayla, and her mom were baking made me think there’s possibly more story to tell for these characters?

Ok, let’s take a moment to talk about Jacob. He was a “fly-by” character in the grand scheme of things. HOWEVER, I find myself deeply intrigued. Jen, please tell me there’s a story for him somewhere out there 🙏🏻👀

While we’re at it, I wouldn’t mind a story about Noel and Sam (and by this, I mean I would absolutely LOVE a story between Noel and Sam).

Forging Golden Slippers is out August 1st!