The Arcane Heart

By: Caroline Gibson

Narrated by: Matt Haynes

Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's Summary

Prince Lonn swore he’d never buy a slave, but that was before he met Llias.

Lonn carries a heavy burden; it is his destiny to inherit the powerful throne of Otharn and rule over the joined worlds. Suffocated by his overbearing parents and exhausted by the cold-blooded plots that surround him, Lonn escapes his troubles on a mercy mission to the far-flung world of Tornatt. Fate has other plans for him, however: At a filthy slave-market, Lonn finds a man his heart cannot leave behind, no matter what the price.

Llias of Fryst has no care for fate, destiny, or the desires of arrogant princes. Kidnapped from his home planet by a malevolent witch, Llias refuses to be a pawn in anyone's game, even someone as handsome as Lonn. Llias has plans of his own, and none of them involve being Lonn’s grateful, obedient companion. 

Trapped together on Tornatt, Lonn and Llias are forced to wrestle with fate, destiny, and the manipulative plots that surround the Otharnian throne. When the witch finally shows her face, Lonn must make a choice: betray his family and risk the safety of the joined worlds, or lose Llias forever.

©2020 Caroline Gibson (P)2020 Caroline Gibson

No FATE BUT WHAT WE MAKE!

This was my favorite of the Three books, can't wait for the next one! Spoilers follow: One thing I really liked is that this story is far less cruel and dark then the book 2 & introduced a new pairing of unwilling Prisoner and arrogant prince who is used to getting what he wants. But our man from Frit has an iron will, and a winning personality. He slowly wins the prince over, convincing him that keeping him against his will is not cool and will never create any real affection. We get a good look at the world and culture of Orthar, more courtly intrigue and the continued downward spiral of the King and Queen. It becomes obvious that the Rulers have completely given themselves over to prophecies of the future and are no longer of sound mind, and prince Lawn slowly comes to realize this especially after his Father tried to Literally mind fuck him into murdering his brothers children. Fortunately our Bois get out before it's too late to BREAK THE BONDS OF FATE. AN EXCELLENT BOOK, I can't wait for the Forth!

Fantastic book!!

I love getting Lonn's take on everything that has happened since he left. While he is off to quash an uprising he comes across a slave, Llias, that has a strange effect on Lonn. After Lonn buys Llias it comes to light that Llias can help the Prince handle his overpowering magic. Back on his home world things are in chaos. Both of his parents try to force him to find his brother, Vel, and kill his children. A crazy king, a lying queen, a reluctant familiar and a whole lot of turmoil and fighting. What is a Prince to do? I have loved this series from the beginning. I am anxious to finish the series.

Disappointing

This book feels really rushed and incomplete. I was really looking forward to getting into Lonn's head and getting to know him and i was underwhelmed. The character is much more interesting if you read the series as the MCU fanfic it probably started off as and just pretend Lonn is Thor. Thor has subdtance and depth. Lonn is just flat. I know even less about Llias. He's blue. He's a bit snarky. Has an important almost priest-like role that he needs to get back to. That's about it. The relationship is almost non-existent. There was so much potential here for angst, a slow burn, frenemies to friends to lovers. Instead we just got a lot of not freaking much really. I just really feel like this book was really rushed and was just a big old missed opportunity.