57 reviews for:

The Prince's Loving Guards

Beau Van Dalen

3.41 AVERAGE

mara97's review

4.0

I'm a bit more mixed on this volume. On one hand, it felt like Hal became a more complex character. It was no longer him being horny and finding someone who is attracted to him, but more so about his trauma of growing up and his not quite healthy home life. The smut, once again, was good and I got my double penetration (it was not an end all be all, but if we are going to make it smutty, at least gimme the good stuff). The guards, once again, were likeable and distinct enough to not feel too overwhelmed. What I will say, and that is my personal opinion, that this volume was a bit of a mess plot wise. A novella simply don't have enough space for huge worldbuilding and many plot threats, but first we had Hal's illness (which somehow lasted a month? Or it was a mistake, i don't know), than the whole palace part, and then we moved to Hal's personal home. Also the dynamics were a little off; I personally though they had better chemistry in book 1 than 2, as they were more involved during the first one. it felt like all the instances were one-on-one instead of a group effort but for the very end. Also, I was a little confused that Hal only now started to realize that he might have romantic feelings, while the whole time, he not once wondered if he would find someone to marry. He just envisioned his future with his guards and no further. Additionally, I will say that the descriptions still were not my favourite. There were moments I had to reread parts beause I missed things.As mentioned before, I did enjoy this book overall, but I am curious if the author's full-lenght work runs into the same issues, or that this was the issue of 'too many ideas, but only 30k words'.

aacura's review against another edition

emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

ech0reads's review

lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Sometimes you need a light-hearted and tender read about a Prince and his two partners, who are also his guards. This was so lovely!!!

nmcannon's review

emotional hopeful lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

noramahon's review

fast-paced

2.5

karlit0's review

adventurous emotional funny relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

heathersbooks_'s review

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

horrorbutch's review against another edition

5.0

Disclaimer: I received an ARC in a giveaway by the author.
In this really good and interesting sequel to the first book in the series Prince Hal returns to his father knowing he'll have to reveal facing the Serpent and what happened to it. Thankfully his supportive guards are there to keep him company.
My favorite thing was seeing Hal become more confident and trust himself a bit more. Even though the perils he is facing are just growing in number, the fact that he knows he can rely on his guards was lovely to read.
I liked the way their relationship deepened in this one. Due to some time passing and circumstances forcing them to rely even more on each other, I also found the fact that their feelings for each other grow to be realistic and sweet.
I also enjoyed getting to know Hal's guards better, especially Kaiser's backstory and the fact that we can see how much they care for Hal in ways that exceed their guardly duties and their sexual attraction to him (the way Elwood took care of Hal when he was ill it was soooo adorable and sweet!!!).
Another thing I found really cool was how Hal describes his genitals during sex. Every trans person has different things they like to call their genitals but seeing a pre-T person refer to his genitals as both a cock and a pussy/cunt was refreshing to read. And even though dysphoria does still play a role it seems to be (for now) a bit less of a struggle for Hal, since he's loved and accepted as a man the way he is and that's beautiful!
And finally I really quite enjoyed seeing the way the magic system was explored in some more detail, hinting at really interesting future possibilities.
All in all I really enjoyed this book. The writing felt a lot more intruiging to me than in the first book (which I still liked, don't misunderstand, but this was just even better!), especially because we got more answers to the world/character building questions raised, while still leaving me intruiged for even more answers by raising other even more compelling mysteries. I also felt that the pacing improved, allowing time for both caring and sexy times, while keeping the suspense alive. This was a truly worthy sequel to the first book and I can't wait for the next book in this series because the only thing I "disliked" about this book it is that it's rather short in length and thus leaves many questions unanswered. Know that you will be left wanting for answers to quite a few questions, but I am hoping they will all be answered in future books :)

chichicirillo's review

adventurous dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

rosemarie_cawkwell's review against another edition

3.0

A little over-written but a fun, slightly smutty novella. It will probably make more sense if you read the first book before this one.