A review by fishreads
Prince and Betrothed by Tavia Lark

adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0

Sei Mallory is a grail raised and educated by the Porcelain Guild of Fellrin in order to serve a mage one day. (A grail is a person possessing a huge reserve of magic which they are unable to access themselves, but their magic can help amplify another mage's powers when they draw magic from the grail.) At twenty-one, Sei is finally on his way to Draskora to meet a man he was betrothed to and who will also be a mage he should serve as a grail. When Sei finally arrives at Ostomar, flown in by Marek Dire, the second prince of Draskora, on the back of his dragon Loska, he discovers that his betrothed, Vana, the first prince of Draskora, has deserted, and that Marek is expected to claim him in his brother's place instead. This comes as a surprise to both Sei and Marek, and while Sei just wants to fulfill his purpose as a grail, Marek has a hard time coming to terms with expectations of using a grail.

I found both Sei and Marek to be very likable characters. Sei was sheltered and inexperienced, but he had guts and knew how to handle himself in his own way. Marek was noble and brash, but unlike Vana, he didn't seem in danger of falling victim to the court's scheming. Another thing that elevated this particular story for me were the animal characters of fellcat Osric and dragon Loska, which were both quite integral to the plot and had their own autonomy and close relationships with Sei and Marek respectively. Once again, Kazia made for such an intriguing secondary character that I could hardly wait for his own story. 

Unlike previous romances in this series, Sei and Marek's romance progression felt organic and believable to me. It was really enjoyable witnessing Sei grow into his own power and stand up for himself and what he wanted instead of what was expected of him. Marek was just imperfectly perfect for him; I loved such a strong character finally realizing it was okay to lean on somebody else.

This was hands down my favorite book in the series and one that I might even return to in the future. 

(All the book reviews for this series will be written somewhat quick and dirty as I read through all the books in the span of six days. I've written my quick overall impression of each book as I finished them, but now after finishing the whole series I find myself lacking energy and brainpower to try to write more detailed reviews for each book.) 

Themes: dual POV, arranged marriage, magic/mages, dragons