Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: The Way to a Man’s Heart
SERIES: The Kingdom Of Corazon #1
AUTHOR: Anne Marie James
PUBLISHER: Pride Publishing
LENGTH: 135 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 22, 2021
BLURB:
The heart wants what the heart wants…
Christian Diaz grew up as the best friend and unofficial bodyguard to the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Corazón. After an incident left him questioning his place in the castle, Christian joined the military and didn’t return for ten long years.
Now he’s been assigned to the castle as Royal Military Liaison to investigate the source of some recent threats against the crown. The annual Midsummer’s Ball is the perfect place for the anti-monarchy group to make their next move, so that’s where Christian will be too. If it gives him a chance to reconnect with his friends in the castle and make a play for the man he has compared all others to, it’s even better.
Max Ramirez is now the head chef for the castle. He started as a sous chef at age twenty when Christian was just an awkward teen. Now that Christian’s back at the castle, all grown up and interested in Max, the chef is determined not to let an opportunity with Christian pass him by.
When someone tries to sabotage the Midsummer’s Ball, Max and Christian need to work together to track down the people determined to make this event their last.
Reader advisory: This book contains mentions of drug use, obsession, references to parental abuse, drink spiking, violence, attempted rape, and attempted murder.
REVIEW:
At the midsummers ball, Christian returns to court after a ten-year absence. His mission is to protect the Royals from attack. The minute he walks in, Max, the royal chef, is stunned and not about to let his chance with Christian pass. Thankfully, Christian feels the same.
The Way to a Man’s Heart is the first in The Kingdom of Corazon series. Corazon is an island country. While the timeframe is not set, the dialogue and places mentioned indicate it is an extra feature of the world we know today. It introduces the people, and the storyline is complete by the end, suggesting that characters may overlap but not the main arc.
The story is told in the third person from Max and Christian’s viewpoint and was technically sound. For a short 33k novel, the world-building was enough to give me a view of an old-fashioned traditional royal setting (castle and all) with all the trappings of modern society.
The main characters are introduced early, and I found the no-nonsense approach to the plot refreshing. After admiring from afar for ten years, Christian and Max are upfront about their feelings. Their domestic situations gave a grounding element to Castle life, and I wanted to munch them both. With Max being a chef, he wants to feed Christian. And Christian being an army bod, protection is a high priority. The combination makes for two loving men whose support for each other left me with warm fuzzies.
A similar approach is also taken to the threats against the crown. There are no unnecessary prolonging twists and turns or deliberate misplacement of brainpower. An intellectual cast is there to solve a mystery, stop the bad guys and save the day. Intermingled are past issues, and the delicate relationship Christian has with his father.
All in all, I found The Way to a Man’s Heart to be a delightful straightforward read, with an interesting cast, a good plot, drama, secrets, and a super combination of family, love, and duty—an excellent start to a series.
RATING: 
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