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The Courting of Kingdoms: A Romantasy Love Triangle with High Stakes
The Courting of Kingdoms is a Lightlark meets The Selection romantasy love triangle where thirty women compete to break the curse, marry the prince, and save their kingdom.
Madeline was content to live a quiet life, filling her days working, reading, and playing with her neighbor’s child. She wasn’t happy, but she was safe. And in a kingdom like Riversend, trapped by the Ageless Blight, safety was enough.
Within the palace walls, however, nothing is as it seems. A prophecy claims a commoner will marry the second-born prince and break the curse, and Madeline is chosen as one of thirty women to compete for his hand. But as she draws closer to the prince, Madeline's heart wavers toward his brother—charming, forbidden, and full of secrets.
Two princes. One deadly choice. Will love save their kingdom or doom it forever?
***
The Courting of Kingdoms is book one in the Unending Kingdoms series. This series will include some spice that builds up over time. Other themes and tropes in The Courting of Kingdoms:
Love TriangleImmortality CursesBrother RivalryRoyal Family IntrigueProphecies and DestinyBetrayalRoyal BallsPossessive Love InterestsSecret RelationshipsForbidden Romance
Madeline was content to live a quiet life, filling her days working, reading, and playing with her neighbor’s child. She wasn’t happy, but she was safe. And in a kingdom like Riversend, trapped by the Ageless Blight, safety was enough.
Within the palace walls, however, nothing is as it seems. A prophecy claims a commoner will marry the second-born prince and break the curse, and Madeline is chosen as one of thirty women to compete for his hand. But as she draws closer to the prince, Madeline's heart wavers toward his brother—charming, forbidden, and full of secrets.
Two princes. One deadly choice. Will love save their kingdom or doom it forever?
***
The Courting of Kingdoms is book one in the Unending Kingdoms series. This series will include some spice that builds up over time. Other themes and tropes in The Courting of Kingdoms:
Love TriangleImmortality CursesBrother RivalryRoyal Family IntrigueProphecies and DestinyBetrayalRoyal BallsPossessive Love InterestsSecret RelationshipsForbidden Romance
302 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 14, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 12, 2025
Definitely 4 stars! Wow this book took me by surprise. In the best possible way. I absolutely loved the storyline, they are in an Ageless Blight where no one ages and everyone stays the same age they are when the blight occurred, plus there are no new births. Our FMC Madeline just so happened to be in her 20s but if you were a baby you have been a baby for 1000 years. But there is more, you cannot die, you are an Unending and they fit seamlessly in with the living unbeknownst to them.
So you have the stuck in time aspect but now there has been a prophecy where 30 women have been chosen, the final one shall help break the curse and allow the world to move forward and age. But that also means all the Unending will finally die.
If that wasn't exciting enough for you we have two princes, one the heir and the other the "spare" whom the prophecy states will marry the chosen one and they will work together to break this curse. But it wouldn't be a good story with out a suspenseful love triangle....which brother will Madeline choose, Dre the Heir or Reign the Spare.
I literally just finished this book and I NEED the next instalment, this book just sucked me in completely at about the 40% mark and there was no stopping me. This is a fun YA/NA fantasy read that I'm highly recommending.
So you have the stuck in time aspect but now there has been a prophecy where 30 women have been chosen, the final one shall help break the curse and allow the world to move forward and age. But that also means all the Unending will finally die.
If that wasn't exciting enough for you we have two princes, one the heir and the other the "spare" whom the prophecy states will marry the chosen one and they will work together to break this curse. But it wouldn't be a good story with out a suspenseful love triangle....which brother will Madeline choose, Dre the Heir or Reign the Spare.
I literally just finished this book and I NEED the next instalment, this book just sucked me in completely at about the 40% mark and there was no stopping me. This is a fun YA/NA fantasy read that I'm highly recommending.
November 10, 2025
The Courting of Kingdoms is the first book in Sampson's The Unending Kingdoms series. This fantasy book features Madeline Parch and Prince Reignold (Reign) Kamari and is set in the Kingdom of Riversend. The kingdom has been trapped in time for over a thousand years. People do not age, there are no new births, and the dead (unending) are still around and often blend in with the living.
Madeline, who is very much alive, lives in Everbrook where she keeps to herself. She works in a bakery and spends her free time reading. One day, a royal messenger shows up in her small town announcing that 30 women from around the kingdom, who will be known as Curse Breakers, are being invited to the castle where they will compete to win Prince Reignold's hand in marriage and help end the "ageless blight". Madeline is beyond shocked to learn that she is one of the 30. She's prepared to make the trip in order to help her people, but has no desire to marry the prince or become royalty.
When she arrives, she meets both Prince Reignold and Prince Dredrick (Dre), heir apparent, and ends up befriending both. She is honest with Prince Reignold and the two decide to be friends. As for Prince Dredrick, there is a mutual attraction but he is betrothed to Princess Serena. Having spent time with both royals, she becomes persona non grata among most of the other women competing for the Prince's hand.
The author has created a captivating tale filled with twists and turns, secrets and lies, friendship, romance and betrayal. I was quickly pulled into the story and am keen to read what comes next. The ending is a cliffhanger of sorts and definitely left me wanting more. I hope the next installment is coming soon.
Madeline, who is very much alive, lives in Everbrook where she keeps to herself. She works in a bakery and spends her free time reading. One day, a royal messenger shows up in her small town announcing that 30 women from around the kingdom, who will be known as Curse Breakers, are being invited to the castle where they will compete to win Prince Reignold's hand in marriage and help end the "ageless blight". Madeline is beyond shocked to learn that she is one of the 30. She's prepared to make the trip in order to help her people, but has no desire to marry the prince or become royalty.
When she arrives, she meets both Prince Reignold and Prince Dredrick (Dre), heir apparent, and ends up befriending both. She is honest with Prince Reignold and the two decide to be friends. As for Prince Dredrick, there is a mutual attraction but he is betrothed to Princess Serena. Having spent time with both royals, she becomes persona non grata among most of the other women competing for the Prince's hand.
The author has created a captivating tale filled with twists and turns, secrets and lies, friendship, romance and betrayal. I was quickly pulled into the story and am keen to read what comes next. The ending is a cliffhanger of sorts and definitely left me wanting more. I hope the next installment is coming soon.
September 24, 2026
Very easy to read, I flew through it! The story was fun and that cliffhanger has me excited for book 2.
Madeline was a fine protagonist. I found her a bit wishy-washy and her motivations were a bit weak. She was a very isolated person and I wish we had gotten more female friendships and seen her coming out of her shell more than with just the boys.
I always enjoy a good love triangle, and involve brothers? I am in! I did not have a strong preference for either of the princes for most of the book. Things were moving a bit too quickly for my taste with Dre and As for Reign, his obvious yearning was everything, but outside of the early friendzoning she did, we didn’t see as much of him as I would have liked to get attached/root for him. I would have liked a bit more of the “dating” competition honestly.
I wish things moved a bit more slowly, as a slow burn fan myself. I feel like we could have had more time developing the romantic relationship and making the friendship growth feel more realistic, like it seemed that after one off the page conversation she was besties with the princes. I’m excited to see more of the romance in book 2.
The worldbuilding was a bit blurry to me but enjoyable. I am really interested in what we learn about the Unending and the way “death” works in this unchanging era, I hope we get even more into it as the series continues. The Ageless Blight is an interesting concept, but I don’t feel we get much of the full impact of what 1000 years with a lack of change does to people. So far the death aspect has been the most intriguing part for me. I’m glad we got to see the effects on the children, what an impactful scene at the orphanage.
Madeline was a fine protagonist. I found her a bit wishy-washy and her motivations were a bit weak. She was a very isolated person and I wish we had gotten more female friendships and seen her coming out of her shell more than with just the boys.
I always enjoy a good love triangle, and involve brothers? I am in! I did not have a strong preference for either of the princes for most of the book. Things were moving a bit too quickly for my taste with Dre and As for Reign, his obvious yearning was everything, but outside of the early friendzoning she did, we didn’t see as much of him as I would have liked to get attached/root for him. I would have liked a bit more of the “dating” competition honestly.
I wish things moved a bit more slowly, as a slow burn fan myself. I feel like we could have had more time developing the romantic relationship and making the friendship growth feel more realistic, like it seemed that after one off the page conversation she was besties with the princes. I’m excited to see more of the romance in book 2.
The worldbuilding was a bit blurry to me but enjoyable. I am really interested in what we learn about the Unending and the way “death” works in this unchanging era, I hope we get even more into it as the series continues. The Ageless Blight is an interesting concept, but I don’t feel we get much of the full impact of what 1000 years with a lack of change does to people. So far the death aspect has been the most intriguing part for me. I’m glad we got to see the effects on the children, what an impactful scene at the orphanage.
November 10, 2025
whew....ok I didn't see that end coming. I need more! You get lowered into a world of unending life. 1,000 years of living at the same age, be it 1 or 100. At first glance, you may think, awesome, sign me up! BUT could you imagine being pregnant for 1,000 years? or a helpless infant? So, when this world's prophecy proposes a way to end the ageless blight, it must be tried! But after living the same age for 1,000 years, who can you trust?
November 25, 2025
Really looking forward to the next book. Enjoyed the world and prophecies in the story and the ending was unexpected.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews