How can he win with the odds stacked against him?Prince Hamish has no interest in fulfilling his duty of marrying. Not to a woman, at least. That doesn’t stop his mother, Queen Fiona, from presenting him with every eligible noblewoman that enters their castle. He’s certain it’ll be no different with the representative of the Udynea Empire.So when they do arrive, Hamish is relieved the imperial … arrive, Hamish is relieved the imperial prince, Darshan, is not the woman everyone expected. Until the man kisses him and Hamish is confronted by the very emotions he has been forced to conceal or be punished for. Emotions he is eager to explore.
But the kiss proves to be a little too public and leads his mother to take drastic measures to ensure Hamish adheres to her family vision. The contest of arms will force Hamish to make a choice: give up his happiness for convention’s sake or send the kingdom spiralling into civil war for the right to love his own way.
This book contains violence, attempted suicide and adult themes.
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This book was entered in The Wishing Shelf Book Awards. This is what our readers thought:
Title: To Target the Heart
Author: Aldrea Alien
Star Rating: 5 Stars
Number of Readers: 16
Stats
Editing: 9/10
Writing Style: 8/10
Content: 9/10
Cover: 8/10
Of the 16 readers:
15 would read another book by this author.
14 thought the cover was good or excellent.
15 felt it was easy to follow.
16 would recommend this book to another reader to try.
Of all the readers, 6 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘plotting a story’.
Of all the readers, 6 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘developing the characters’.
Of all the readers, 4 felt the author’s strongest skill was ‘writing style’.
11 felt the pacing was good or excellent.
16 thought the author understood the readership and what they wanted.
Readers’ Comments
“A good LGBTQ+ novel with a strong cast of characters. This is a pretty light read with elements of love and betrayal. There is an adventure element to it too. I thought it was well written and very enjoyable.” Male reader, aged 21
“I thought Hamish was the best catcher in the story. It’s rather comical watching him try to understand himself and how he feels.” Male reader, aged 36
“The queen is a bit of a cow making her a superb ‘villain’ in the story. All the other characters seem hapless compared to her scheming nature. There’s good chemistry between the two male characters, and the setting is well developed and interesting to get to know.” Female reader, aged 52
To Sum It Up:
‘A cleverly plotted LGBTQ+ novel with a fine cast of characters. A FINALIST highly recommended!’ The Wishing Shelf Book Awards
Loved the world building here and the struggles of the two Princes Hamish and Darshan to claim their royal rights along with the right to be themselves and love who they choose. Great secondary characters both in opposition (Hamish’s mother) and in support make this a family story as well as one of political intrigue.
This was my first read in the Spellster world, but I did not feel terribly lost or confused. This book has great world-building and character development. I loved watching these two different men with different ideas and cultures (but one very specific similarity) come together and find and fight for their love. There are some steamy scenes here, but they are not excessive and serve to enhance the story. There is action, adventure, magic, intrigue, a very unpleasant Queen (Hamish’s mother), and wonderful and supportive other family members. I look forward to book 2 in Hamish and Darshan’s story.
I received an ARC and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.
What I Think: First, I simply adore world-building. I’m a fantasy, magic, and paranormal addict through and through, so without further ado (and crossing all crossable limbs that I’ll be unbiased) Ladies, Gentlemen and those of you yet to make up their mind, I bid you welcome to Mullhind where the Queen is desperately trying to marry off her 37-year-old son who seems to be a confirmed bachelor. Only for him to be sent a different gender from the mother’s latest schemes. The Queen is mad for which I’m glad but Prince Hamish is disturbed which does not stop the meet-cute from being as sweet as Darshan. Then, the Authoress just dropped a serious size difference that ensures that this tale currently has my utmost attention. Hamish is a hulking, fiery-haired, fierce man of the land, while Darshan could pass for an elf. The Queen’s firstborn, Gordon, heir to the throne and Hamish’s older brother though is enjoying this too much and I’m on his side all the way. Women’s lib definitely gets glorious mentions. An entire ship crew of only women? All my childhood fantasies of piracy came tumbling back with that one. Darshan’s home might be luxurious and magical but I think he’s falling in love with its rugged, more natural beauty and I can’t wait to see how he develops away from home. Or how he copes with his instant crush on Hamish as a fantastic, merry chase begins. But, of course, there will always be haters and the Queen’s mistreatment of Hamish is making me clench my teeth. Goddess save us from Royal Idiots including Hamish who bears it all so admirably, partly due to the guilt he’s been made to bear and the punishments that have been imposed on him. There’s this line from the Lion King that kept rolling around my head, especially during the times when the Queen is being a hater. ‘I can see what’s happening… But they don’t have a clue.’ If I can predict the future, I hereby predict she’s about to have a fight on her hands, which I intend to gleefully enjoy. Oh goddess, can you imagine almost dying in your own home because you have to hide your sexual preference? The most painful part of this tale is that Mish doesn’t even know how amazing a man he is. Darshan will have to fight for his freedom, then prove the man’s worth to him. But Darshan is my boy right now and I know he can do this even though he’s got a mountainous job ahead of him. It’s actually a pleasant surprise that he’s more caring and intuitive than his upbringing would allow. He’s sweet though laced with the perfect kind of magical danger and background that makes him a worthy adversary to the Queen. Yet, the Queen has more trouble in her hands, a gay grandson, more magical talent in her home than she would ever want and it sets me cackling with glee again. If Hamish is a rustic, ruddy teddy bear, Gordon is an act of God and would do a better job of ruling than his mum which irritates the hell out of me (the part that believes women should naturally be good at things like leading and still being able to love. I know, biased, but I’m working on it. Promise). She has embarrassed, humiliated and demeaned Hamish for so long that he finally couldn’t take it anymore and fright beat in my chest for fear of what he would do when he reached his breaking point. And when he reacted, my heart stuttered, so shocked that I couldn’t even cry, seeing something so close to my own reaction to anxiety and panic attacks. I had to take a break and breathe real deep for a while but when I came back to the tale, I was mad and ready to hurt something. If Gordon hadn’t shown more reason to love him, or Dar hadn’t earned even more of my trust, I might have run away from this tale. But I had to stand by Dar as he went into the battle of his life, for what body can survive without its heart? Not even a royal magician can live like that. The most delightful part was knowing things the queen did not know that would make her never sleep again. Ha! Evil cackle ensued again. At this point, I couldn’t put the book down anymore. How anyone can still be as optimistic as this group of people baffles me and I’m pacing my room restlessly as I wait for Civil War to break out. But the tenderness between Dar and Mish, as frail as finely spun silk and as dazzling as the sun makes the erotic moments even more significant as it leads us to the depths of these two men, showing that there is so much more to them than meets the eyes. And like all good things, it left me hungry for more (I have mentioned I’m greedy but only for sweet things, I assure you). The 3d image Mme. Aldrea gives to each of her characters are the hallmarks of a true puppeteer!
Verdict? A keeper of a comfort tale to remind you that while love can start as a surprise and in the midst of despair, it can blaze bright enough to rival the sun.
I love the imagination of this book. Rich landscapes and diverse characters are a strong point. The MC are wonderful. You can practically feel their attraction jump off the page. The mother however, well you can feel her too but she’s awful. The story is great. I felt fully immersed in this world. I am definitely going back to read book 1 and will continue the series
I have enjoyed reading this book and getting drawn into the world. As Hamish gains experience from being around Darshan. There are some hurdles for them to overcome.
Unpredictable