Crown Prince Oliver doesn’t want his life to change. Despite sharing a border with Fairy, the kingdom of Bellemare’s at peace, and Oliver’s in no hurry to inherit the throne. He’d rather be an artist than a hero, and his fairy-companion Tirian is his best friend, who hardly does magic at all.
But every heir to the throne must complete the traditional Quest to find their destiny, and it’s Oliver’s turn ... and he’s starting to realize that he doesn’t want a destiny without Tir at his side.
But Tir has secrets of his own, about his magic, his reasons for crossing the Fairy border, his feelings for Oliver -- and a prophecy that could change the fate of two kingdoms forever ... if Tir and Oliver can find their happy ending.
4,25 stars. Another gem by K. L. Noone. I adore the author's writing. Oliver and Tirian's story was heart warming (at times also heart breaking), and from the first to the last page lovely!
I loved Oliver, it's his pov we get. He's oblivious for so long.. I felt so much with him! It's been years since I shed actual tears while reading, until this novel.
Tirian and Oliver's story was beautiful and touching. There were even unexpected twists that kept me glued to the pages.
In the author's note they say it's their first novel, now expanded, and with added scenes at the end.
This is a somewhat lighter-hearted story, a novella followed by a short story about a friend, but Content Warning for grief in the novella, because that was harrowing even though this is a romance. Or especially because it is. It was worth its higher price, for me.
***3.6*** I liked it. It was emotional at times. Somehow I'm even glad that what happened happened at that point in time as I could handle it because I knew that there was quite some book left and so everything had to end well.
This is a revised and expanded version of A Prophecy for Two, also including a bonus short story, The Physician and the Fairy Lord. It’s a charming fantasy about two people who have known each other almost all their lives and taken one another for granted. Well, that’s mostly Oliver.
Really, they’re both fools. Fortunately for them, this is a romance with a happily ever after wrapped in sprinkles and frosting. This is a story made of sugar and sweet enough to melt your teeth, and I had a fun time reading it. If you’re in need of a bit of dessert, try this book. The short story is also cute, following the castle doctor and Tir’s cousin.
A lovely fairy tale that I discovered purely by accident. It has a lot of things going for it - a great cast of characters beyond the main couple, beautiful writing, a much-needed positiveness - there are no bad guys in this book and it has a similar feel to KJ Charles's books when it comes to the accepting attitude towards LGBT+ people and the way female characters are depicted. In fact, the only thing that's lacking is a proper conflict - I felt the one the book had was too easily dealt with. I still really enjoyed this - it was the kind of book I needed to read, and I recommend it to anyone who likes fantasy and m/m.
I may or may not have fallen in love. This is the kind of fairytale I'd definitely read to my children if I had any. May we please have a sequel? I want to know all the adventures Lou is having down south. I want to know more about the Fairyland, and Rae and Cedric, and Fadi. I fell in love with Fadi. (Don't tell Beryl) This needs to be 100 times longer.
This is an appealing m/m fantasy romance about a young prince who'd rather stay at home with his fairy companion and best friend than go on a quest to discover his destiny. It's set in a charming fairytale kingdom where everyone seems to know each other and the royal family and villagers mingle freely. It appears that heteronormativity is not the norm, at least among the upper classes, and the broader worldbuilding hints are fascinating. The writing is fresh and descriptive, with plenty of humor.
It's a short novel, so there isn't a jam-packed plot, though exciting incidents do happen. The main focus is the aftermath of these events, and how the characters respond to them. There's no real antagonist as such, because everyone is basically on Oliver's and Tirian's sides; the conflict comes from circumstances outside their control. It's a very gentle romance, which is why you feel so much for the characters when bad things occur. They've been living a charmed life so far, which leaves them unprepared for misfortune. Noone does an excellent job with her treatment of grief and healing. Even the resolution doesn't make it easy for the characters; they're going to face obstacles and challenges, though it's still a happy-ever-after for all that.
There are some aspects that I would have liked to see fleshed out more. Since the story is told from Oliver's point of view, we naturally learn more about him than we do Tirian, whose feelings and motivations are something of a mystery. The same with Tirian's magic. It's described as being seductive and sensual, but we learn just enough about it to tantalize. (I'm also intrigued by a couple of characters mentioned in passing, the Splendid Mistress Rosalind and her husband.) In general, though, this book is a delightful treat for fans of fantasy and m/m romance.
There's also a bonus short story about the royal physician and his own romance. It's a sweet courtship, threatened by the inevitable misunderstanding, but of course it all works out in the end, and also serves to advance the main novel a bit.
This edition is *revised and expanded*. I would like to read the original edition, because this? It felt needlesly long.
To quote the book:
“Molasses,” Ollie said, […]. “Icebergs. Mountains being formed. Other slow objects. […]”
This had its moments, but overall, it dragged. I didn’t care for the bonus story, at all. The epilogue from Tir’s POV was fine… but didn’t really leave things off on a better foot than the main story.
Noone writes some really lovely short stories, and maybe that’s what this should have been.
A fantastical fairy tale that contained everything a real fairy tale should.
A quest for True Love, a Fairy companion, dragons, ultimate sacrifices, and a happy ending. The lyrical quality of the writing fits this kind of story so well and I was incredibly sad that it was so short (because I'm greedy, not because it didn't feel like a full story).
The bonus story about the physician was a nice addition. I would eagerly inhale any additional stories set in this world.
This just really hit the spot for me. I could see what was going to happen from a mile away and I still cried buckets when it actually happened. The cover is beautiful, the pining and angst worked for me, and I thought the length was perfect. Any longer and Ollie's obliviousness would have become too annoying to enjoy the book.
I was a tad bit thrown off because I was expecting an epic high fantasy storyline to go with the romance plot, but this was definitely simply a fairytale romance. A nice read nonetheless as long as you don’t go into it with the wrong expectations.
A fairytale journey with some fun twists and lots of feels! Noone can always be counted on for poetic language, engaging characters, and a tug on the heartstrings.
A very adorable little story! I really grew to love Oliver and Tirian and enjoyed seeing them pull their heads out of their butts and fall in love. Overall a very sweet story!
My god… the most anticlimactic story I’ve ever read. At every turn where the author could have increased the suspense or created some kind of mystery to be revealed at a latter point, they took the opposite direction and unraveled the hole plot right then an there.