Once upon a time, in an alleyway in the slums of the City Of Lockes, a young and somewhat lonely boy named Sam Haversford turns a group of teenage douchebags into stone completely by accident. Of course, this catches the attention of a higher power, and Sam’s pulled from the only world he knows to become an apprentice to the King’s Wizard, Morgan of Shadows. When Sam’s fourteen, he enters the … he enters the Dark Woods and returns with Gary, the hornless gay unicorn, and a half-giant named Tiggy, earning the moniker Sam of Wilds.
At fifteen, Sam learns what love truly is when a new knight arrives at the castle–Knight Ryan Foxheart, the dreamiest dream to have ever been dreamed.
Naturally, it all goes to hell when Ryan dates the reprehensible Prince Justin, Sam can’t control his magic, a sexually aggressive dragon kidnaps the prince, and the King sends them on an epic quest to save Ryan’s boyfriend, all while Sam falls more in love with someone he can never have.
Or so he thinks.
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For those who know my taste you will know this has many things I like. Adorable snarky gay boy main character. Lots of awesome magic. Really fun fantasy setting. But honestly…
It’s hilarious.
No seriously, I was reading it last night and actually crying with laughter. I haven’t laughed this hard since Ridiculous!. Possibly not even then.
The Lightning-Struck Heart is really that funny.
This is my ideal beach read.
I loved this book so hard! I read it, and then I got the audio book. I listen to it every few months because its incredibly entertaining and when I go for walks its great to listen too. It amuses me when I crack up laughing and people aeound me look at me like I’m crazy for doing so. If only they too had this book. Their loss.
Best book ever. Haven’t laughed so much, sides hurting guffaws! Fell in love with Sam’s non- stop chatter with no filter whatsoever. Gary the non- horned unicorn that snorts glitter of different colors, his love for scarves, his beautiful sass, complete love and support of Sam and Tiggy. Then there is Tiggy, who will smash anything or anyone that would hurt or threat his friends Sam and Gary. Loved watching the dynamic trio. Can’t forget Kevin, Sam’ s mom and dad, the king, Morgan and Randall. Extraordinary side characers. And to Ryan whom finally got his head out of his ass. I hope there is someone for Prince Justin. Looking forward to reading more in the series and laughing my ass off.
Absolutely adorable fluff fantasy with lots of tropes and laughs. Highly recommended. I even bought a second copy of this one in paperback. Fun, charming, laugh-inducing, and just an all-around fantastic read.
Hilarious and so freaking good! I couldn’t put it down and it had me laughing the whole time. Can’t wait to read the rest of the series!
I was laughing from page one. And then couldn’t stop reading as the romance blossomed. Amazing world building and characters.
Funny… memorable characters, rapid-fire banter, and a dash of magic combine to make this a great read. Gary the snarky hornless unicorn was the best!
Imagine if the Moonlighting writers wrote the (gay!) Princess Bride. Side-splitting! Oh, so wonderful… the ‘repartee’ only gets better and better, but please, where is the (much needed) sequel!? And more hornless gay unicorn action! lol. Rare a book just makes you smile while reading. I wish there had been wonderful gay fairy tales like this as a kid….
My go-to re-read when I want to laugh out loud at the absurdity, feel all the feelz, and be awed by how an author can intertwine humor, emotion, and the absurd to create a book/series that rips your heart out and puts it back together in the most amazing way!
This is my all-time-favourite book. It’s the book I go back to again and again when I need a smile. LOVE it!
Brilliant! Just brilliant! Such a clever, well written book. And Michael Lesley’s narration was amazing! I loved the characterization and now when I hear Michael’s voice I can absolutley picture Gary, the gay unicorn who reminds me of Donkey from Shrek! and Ryan, the dreamiest knight ever seen, and Sam the apprentice wizard who just can’t keep his mouth shut. Just when you think things are going right, they all go wrong, and if you need a masterclass on presenting obstacles in front of your characters then this is it!
This story is so gay, but don’t expect your typical romance. You’ll love Gary’s rainbow and sugar sweet centre, and his sparklingly, glittery unicorn fury, and it is so worth it, as each character is so richly described and plays their part. Sam is an apprentice wizard, who seems to be a magnet for trouble, but he has a heart of gold and manages to achieve the unexpected and collect a menagerie of wonderful friends around him. He falls for the dreamy Ryan Foxheart but so has the Prince, and Ryan always seems just out of his reach, even though Ryan makes Sam feel so good! Expect to be drawn into a dreamy love story interrupted by cringingly embarrasing episodes. You’ll run the gamut of emotions whilst also laughing out loud!
I listened to the audio book, and Michael Lesley’s narration was fantastic.
If you need a bit of a chuckle, or outright guffaw (that word is so weird) then this is the book for you. T J Klune is fast becoming one of my all time fav writers, he is so versatile (now I sound like an infommercial) he can have you pissing yourself laughing one minute, then crying your eyes out the next. And this is no exception. This is bat-shit crazy at its best.
T.J. Klune’s The Lightning-Struck Heart is literally the funniest shit I’ve read in a loooooong time. This was kind of like reading crack fic?? Or if you took a relatively normal queer fantasy romance adventure story, but while writing there was some kind of gas leak or maybe lingering anesthesia??? And the author added a lot of profanity, zaniness and giggles, a smoking hot knight, a gay unicorn, a giant, a super sassy dragon, openly gay royalty, royally sanctioned fan clubs (think Hattie and Olive in Ella Enchanted), and penis jokes up the whazoo. Super over-the-top, but hey, I’m a maximalist!
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First of all, in this house we totally stan a main character who has no filter and also happens to be ridiculously creative in his internal-and-often-external monologue, resulting in colorful outbursts that usually either stun those around him, or inspire a round of rolling eyes and heavy groans. Also, for having a virginal main character, this book was pretty downright dirty. T.J. Klune also had a remarkably good grasp on the younger voice, and this pretty much feels like a very accurate inner voice of confused, horny gay teen – if he were a wizard and tasked with the protection of the kingdom and the irritating crown prince who also happens to be his romantic rival.
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It’s hard to describe this book other than that I truly laughed until I cried, and that it’s just utterly ridiculous and you should read it immediately. Really, the tagline for the book sums it up best – “A romantic comedy of stupidly epic proportions. (Or quite possibly just epically stupid.)”
OMG I love this book. I laughed out loud. The characters are perfect in all of their flawed glory. I even got my husband to read it and he never reads anything. He bought the rest of the series and read them before me.
It would have been nice if BookBub had made it clearer that this was a gay fantasy book. It was too long and too repetative.
This book is fantastic! So funny, I couldn’t stop laughing if I had tried!. The narrator is phenomenal! He can do so many different accents making all the characters sound different. Just an amazing read. On to book 2.
Just finished this hidden gem, The Lightning-Struck Heart by Tj Klune, based on a recommendation from Courtney Pinelli and I’m in serious book-hangover mode today. I could not put it down, and I’m over the moon there’s more in the series.
As Courtney said, ignore the cover. That is NOT what this book is! Instead, it’s a rollercoaster ride of epic fantasy awesomesauce that had me laughing and crying and sometimes laughing while crying.
There’s a wizard, a knight, a hornless gay unicorn (who will gut you if you call him a horse), and a half-giant on a quest to save a kidnapped prince who’s basically a dick and no one should really save except that he’s the prince.
There’s a fairy with a size kink (as in the six inch being loves humans), evil wizards who really can’t be taken seriously, and so much snarky commentary I feared I’d wake my husband up because I was laughing so much at 4am this morning!
Oh, and love. There’s so much love. Family love, friend love, mutual pining love because the main characters fail to see what’s clearly in front of them, love of country, love of drama, just all the love.
I can’t recommend this book enough. Based on The Lightning-Struck Heart, Tj Klune is now on my insta-buy list.
Best book ever
This is by far one of the best and most funny book I have ever read. It’s so ridiculous i could barely stop laughing long enough to finish the book. I just fell in love with the characters, so much so I think my mom and sister will hit me if I mention Gary the Unicorn one more time. All in all I would read it again and again (I’ve already read it 4 times) and I hope you will feel the same.
Audible Review:
Overall 5 out of 5 stars
Performance 5 out of 5 stars
Story 5 out of 5 stars
Brillliant
What can I say that hasn’t already been said about this audiobook? This has to be the best production I have ever listened to. I know my library of audiobooks is limited compared to some, but I still feel confident in saying this is one of the best out there. It was truly brilliant.
I’m kind of blown away by the mind of TJ Klune. This was hands down one of the funniest, if not the funniest, books I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading (listening). I can’t tell you the number of times I found myself laughing out loud with this book. I want to live in the land of Lockes and be friends with Sam, Gary, Tiggy, Ryan, Morgan- all of them. To say I loved this book is putting it mildly.
Michael Lesley is beyond incredible. Every character was unique and perfect.
I don’t know what else to say, brilliant is really the only word that comes to mind to describe The Lightning-Struck Heart. I want to start it all over again, but I’ve moved on to A Destiny of Dragons because I can’t wait to see what this gang gets into next!