ARC review: Kiss of the Royal by Lindsey Duga

Kiss of the Royal by Lindsey Duga
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Links: Amazon • TBD • Goodreads
Publication Date: July 3, 2018
Source: ARC from publisher

In the war against the Forces of Darkness, the Royals are losing. Princess Ivy is determined to end this centuries-long conflict once and for all, so her new battle partner must succeed where the others failed. Prince Zach’s unparalleled skill with a sword, enhanced by Ivy’s magic Kiss, should make them an unstoppable pair—but try convincing Zach of that. 

Prince Zach has spent his life preparing for battle, but he would rather be branded a heretic than use his lips as nothing more than a way to transfer magic. A kiss is a symbol of love, and love is the most powerful weapon they have—but try convincing Ivy of that.

With the fate of their world on the line, the battlefield has become a testing ground, and only one of them can be right. Falling for each other wasn’t part of the plan—but try convincing their hearts of that.

I was intrigued by the concept of this book, a magical world in which Kisses with capital Ks have almost limitless power, but after finishing the book, I’m not just not convinced. The story itself is kind of cute, sort of like a fairytale with its princes and princesses and witches and dragons.

That said, I didn’t feel like the overall story was particularly unique and it took quite awhile for me to care about what was happening. More than anything, I just felt burned out by reading the word Kiss eighteen times on each page. I’m in a bit of a reading slump as it is, which didn’t help.

I think this is partially a case of me not really being in the mood for this sort of fluffy fantasy, so I’m rounding my rating of 2.5 stars up to 3. It’s an interesting concept, for sure, and the ending was cute. It just wasn’t for me.