Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: King’s Heart
AUTHOR: Devon Vesper
SERIES: Adradis Rising Book 1
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 339 pages
RELEASE DATE: September 13, 2021
BLURB:
They are the only ones standing between their kind and timeless evil. Will their love survive the fight?
Camden has spent his life not knowing who he is and being told he’s too broken to ever accomplish anything. But the truth is that he isn’t human, and his untrained powers hold the clue to either saving or damning all elven kind. Ripped from the only life he’s ever known and terrified, there’s no time for him to adjust when a gorgeous prince rides to his rescue.
Crown Prince Morough of the Netherdark will do whatever it takes to save the small but fierce omega who is their only hope for saving their world. Falling in love and finding his mate isn’t in the plans, but he won’t turn down his chance at happiness, even on the eve of the apocalypse.
But when it turns out that Camden’s powers offer either salvation or downfall, the stakes are higher than ever. With ominous premonitions of their love getting cut short, their fragile found family may very well be the first casualty of a war beyond winning.
King’s Heart is the first book in the stunning new fantasy series, Adradis Rising. Fans of Soulbond: The Omega’s Assassin and the Fated Elves series will recognize this world you’ve been dying to see more of. So grab your copy today and get lost in epic fantasy as only Devon Vesper can deliver!
Tags: Swoony alpha crown prince, feisty omega without a filter, found family, ancient evil, switched at birth, age gap, like serious age gap, 9000+ years of age gap, heat, knotting, virgin omega, name changes, ancient ancestors bent on destruction, Camden making a million+ year old king cry, Morough constantly exasperated by Camden, sane talking horses, murderous talking horses, prissy talking horses, magic kisses, epic adventure, a hint of mpreg, Omegaverse elves, magic, mayhem, and madmen.
This book was previously published under a different title and pen name in another genre. It has undergone extensive edits from its original version.
REVIEW:
The blurb for Devon Vesper’s King’s Heart sold this story to me. Unfortunately, the execution of the premise failed to captivate me similarly. The story is high fantasy omegaverse, and the plot is rooted in uncovering secrets and truths as the story progresses. Unfortunately, the presentation of the back story and the reveals across the narrative were muddy, lacking a crispness that sharpens focus on the pertinent facts as they unfold.
Camden (aka Kaiden) is a human believed to be mentally ill. He’d always thought so, that is until an accident involving a prescient horse brings him in contact with four elves from another world: Velithor, Sol’kyr, Li’nov, and Morough, who turns out to be his mate. Camden gets swept beyond the veil into another world where he experiences all kinds of revelations, including some about his identity. The storyline is fascinating, and I liked the underpinnings of it. But it’s relatively complex, with many characters, backstory, and interconnections, and it wasn’t presented in an accessible way, in my opinion. I found it difficult to flow with the narrative because I kept stopping to resolve some confusion. Things start to come together later in the story, but it takes a long time to get there.
That being said, Ms. Vesper engages in excellent worldbuilding, vividly creating a world of elves and imps and other varied magical creatures. Additionally, she does a good job developing Camden and Morough’s characters and their relationship, including some steamy, sexy, knotty fun. Overall, King’s Heart provides an admirable start to a new series connected to two of her prior series through a shared universe. I haven’t read those other books and wonder if it may have helped clear up some of the confusion I experienced reading King’s Heart. Ultimately, the story is enjoyable but requires patience and perseverance to get to the end.
RATING: 
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