Down With the Prince

by Xanna Renae

The infamous Prince of Catol won't live to inherit his dead father's crown without her.

Hollis Avayana wants nothing to do with the Kingdom of Catol. Not for any resentment about her people's tormented history with the kingdom, no. She doesn't care about the bloodshed that traces her lineage. Hollis wants to remain where she cannot be seen. To live a life floating about the world like a piece of dandelion fluff.

When the handsome Captain of the Royal Guard breaks into her cottage and demands she come to the castle to heal an unnamed person, Hollis' first instinct is to throw herself off her balcony and into the sea.

When he makes an offer she can't refuse, Hollis decides anything could be done for a price.

What she didn't expect was her patient being the Crowned Prince of Catol himself. His name infamous on every tongue in the Kingdom. And rooted deep within him? An illness unlike anything she's ever treated before.

Something intentionally cast.

Genres: Fantasy

433 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 2, 2024

About the author

Xanna Renae loves daydreaming about how to save her characters from the messes she puts them in. Currently she is giving life to the ideas inside her head from rural Missouri where she lives with her husband, Noah, and two cats, Calcifer and Zelda. She has a bachelor of arts in Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University, where she graduated with honors.
When she isn’t writing you can find her tucked away in her little bungalow reading, snuggling with her cat, or playing video games with her husband.

Reviews

[Brend · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hey you! I've been telling you to pick this up since January! Do it!


I have no notes regarding plot, characters, writing, etc. This could have been a 5 stars had it been edited a bit more. I'm definitely gonna be picking up the sequel

[Xanna Renae]

An update from the author:

Hello! After getting some feedback from readers about the book, we are going to be upping the font size for readability and accessibility, as well as going through the story and fixing all grammatical issues that we come across. The book did have several editors and rounds of editing, but things slip past human eyes. Thank you all for being so kind in letting myself and the Nightshade team know!
This updated version will hopefully be ready and live around the end of March.
Thank you all so much for your kindness and love for the book!

[Restless Isabelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOVED the magic, the snippets of lore and the world, I just wanted MORE, 3.5🌟! This was an entertaining quest filled with conspiracies, betrayals, banter, interesting healing magic and endearing characters. It felt so different from what’s out there at the moment - angsty, snarky, fae and blah blah blah - so seriously recommend giving it a go particularly if you like some chaotic-magical Howl vibes.

I mostly struggled with the writing in parts. Mainly some awkward passages where small actions were repetitive and overstated (I cannot fathom the amount of characters tapping, smoothing their fingers over glasses 🤷‍♀️) as well as some jumbled sequences where we lose track of where characters are in relation to each other. I found it jarring and it kept pulling me out of the story that it dragged in parts.

This being said the world feels so fresh and the characters are so charming that I’d recommend giving this a chance. I’ll be tuning in for the second instalment.

[Beka]

Ridiculously excited for this one! The author is a friend and my DnD DM, and I can’t wait to read this whimsical stabby poison fantasy book of hers! 👀

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good story and a cool concept, and I liked the central dynamic between Hollis, Lukxa, and Dagen. As such, I really wanted to love it. Unfortunately, I think the prose could've used a last pass or two with an editor, and there were a few too many suggestive comments and scenes for me to really be a fan. (To be fair, those comments and scenes aren't any worse than what you'd get in some general-market fantasy, but I found this book at Realm Makers, so my standards are a little different.)

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I could eat this book and digest it so that I could memorize every word I quite literally would. I really want to write a 1000 page essay on everything I loved but I hate typing so I’ll be reviewing it on tiktok and insta at mofreads! To just bullet point a few things:
-The trope surrounding the romance was a breath of fresh air!
-the last few pages genuinely had me screaming
-I’m HOOKED and can’t wait for the second book (it was ended so well)
-the plot made perfect sense, and while some bits were easy to guess, most of it was perfectly revealed later on
-everyone’s hot (need I say more?)
-the magic system isn’t hard to understand, was very interesting, and (which I assume will be demonstrated more in the second book) there’s room for the reader to learn even more about the system and different types of magic there is!

I highly suggest giving this book a read, and it helps a smaller author get noticed!

[Courtney Corboy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I see I'm tumbling down a certain overarching book genre rabbit hole. The characters are well-done--full of flaws, personality, and realness. The magic Hollis uses--her sight--is beautiful and intricate. This book took me time, but it is a good read. It's a good book for a cozy, rainy day. I highly recommend reading this book!

[Preciosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved loved loved! Hollis is a blast! Such a fun quirky character. And I adore Lukxa! I love how protective and sweet he is! And his friendship with Dagen is just so endearing! I would have loved more parts with Dagen-or a couple chapters from his pov, that would have been pretty interesting!

But umm I need the sequel like now! That ending is killing me!!

[Benedikte · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book 😉 Had a good pacing and magic system. I liked the main couple, would though have enjoyed to see them as a couple couple, but that was before a realized that this was not a stand alone book, and I will look forward for nr 2 and be tuning in 😁

[Nafi · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was so cute and funsies altho theres some part where it gets too long, this is a solid 3.8 for me :)) ENDING IS TORTURE THO THE CLIFFHANGER?!!!!

[Hunter]

DNF 31%

I was absolutely loving this book. I love LOVE love me a quirky main character and Hollis is the best kind of quirky. I loved the slow but steady pacing. I love the world building. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED THE HUMOR! Of what I read I loved the set up of the magic, and the mystery of what’s going on with the prince.

I had to make myself stop reading this book. (I did not want to stop! It was so good) It just had way too many innuendos for me. I set very strict standards of what type of content I read. At one time I did not and the books I read got worse and worse and it affected my faith, my relationships, my attitude, and I don’t want to ever go down that road again. So I stopped Down with the Prince. But to be clear nothing I read was terrible (I’ve highlighted some of the instances and you’ll see none of them are that bad, it’s just that there were so many), and if it only happened a couple of times I prolly would have kept reading, but it just happened too many times for me to have a clear conscience about continuing the book.

The author was very upfront about there being lots of flirty banter though so this DNF is one me .

I will be keeping my eye on this author though, because her writing style is of my favorite kind, her humor is spot on, and she writes the best characters.

[Vee · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐
From the first five pages I could already tell the Studio Ghibli influences (mainly Howl's Moving Castle). And that's what got me hooked and going.
Now, what is this book? Well, it is a whimsical, lush magical story with an incredibly creative magic system, and characters who are deliciously delightful like caramel. Hollis was such a joy to read, with her unexpected behaviours, her wit and unsuccessful lies (I will be saying one thing in regards to that: THURSDAYS). Lukxa was a very beautiful (literally, the man is stunning) character who was well fleshed out and MY GOD HE AND HOLLIS MADE ME BLUSH. I had to put the book down and squeal a few times. It took me some time to become attached to the Prince, which might be intentional on the author's part. And well, the ending made me doubt him, because was that HIM or some plot by the Councilors or Nok? That is why this is not a full five stars, but otherwise, it was a somewhat (somewhat because there are villains who, by the way, gets woven in wonderfully) cozy fantasy that I need more of.

[Lilgaygoblin · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. There were parts about the book that I really liked, especially the magic system. I also quite liked Hollis as a protagonist, and unexpectedly I also enjoyed the political intrigue. However, some other parts about the book just weren't really it for me, mainly the romance. Still, I will be reading the next books, I'm interested in how the story will go and would love to see some secondary characters that I enjoyed being developed more.

[Shelf_indulgent · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was unexpectedly really good🔥

[Huntish18 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was fortunate enough to read an advance copy and even in it's rawness, this story is compelling and lovely. Perfect execution of escapism. It's funny, has the tension we all desire, emotionally satisfying and is so cozy.
The heroine and hero were beautifully written and have such complimentary personalities. The romantic subplot made it easy to continue picking it up (I'm a sucker for that kind of thing) but the actual intrigue kept me reading.
Well thought through, and such a fun read. I highly recommend this debut novel as the author obviously wrote her heart into it. So nice to see when authors demonstrate a love of the craft, and an appreciation for the escapism we all crave in books

[clown_the_basking_shark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review on storygraph