Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: The Pastel Prince
SERIES: Crowns of Melowynn
AUTHOR: V.L. Locey
PUBLISHER: self-published
LENGTH: 223 pages
RELEASE DATE: January 17, 2025
BLURB:
The fate of the wilds is in his hands.
Kenton, a young druid prince, feels trapped in the bustling city life, a world away from the forests of his birth. Despite his royal duties keeping him tethered to the urban sprawl, his spirit remains tangled with the whispering trees and the ancient, mystical rhythms of the forest. But when a sinister threat endangers his people’s land and lives, Kenton embarks on a perilous journey to track down a powerful and ancient being; the lone archdruid powerful enough to stop the darkness.
Only, Beirach is nothing like the archdruids of old tales. Instead of withered and world-weary, he is younger than expected, vital, and has a magnetic charm that Kenton can’t ignore. Thrown together by fate and bound by a shared mission, Kenton and Beirach find themselves in the heart of a battle to save nature. As the dark mage’s shadow looms over the forest, they fight together and find a love as raw and wild as the forest itself.
The Pastel Prince is an M/M age gap romantasy set in a faraway land with magicks and mythical beasts, a belligerent pixie, a young druid on an epic quest, an older archdruid who’s not as washed up as he thought, Elven castles, long glances over a campfire, and a fey-tastic happily-ever-after.
REVIEW:
So this is the second series now that V.L. Locey has written in a magical/fantasy/paranormal genre and this one is full-on fantasy. I’m here for it! I thoroughly enjoyed this world building here. The beginning of this book really sets up this world and it’s a little slow going, but I think was handled pretty well. Kenton is a delightful character. He’s very sweet and the story is told from his POV. He’s a druid elf who has been tasked with living in the city to watch over Aelir so that that Aelir can meet his destiny. But then strange things start happening and Kenton is tasked with finding out the reason for these things.
The mission is potentially a dangerous one and so he paired with and Arch druid, Beirach. Beirach is nothing like Kenton anticipated. Beirach has a history too. There is a spark between them, but they have much work to do. While they close in on the culprit, a lot of danger and turmoil and pain occurs along the way. Their attraction has to take a backseat to their mission here, so their relationship is a bit of a slow build.
Also along the way, they are assisted by a pixie princess, Tezen who vows to work with them. There are other characters who come to their aid as well and together the discover the cause of the turbulence. They must work together to set things to rights and Beirach and Kenton can further explore their relationship.
This book is a bit of a roller coaster. There are highs and lows, humor and heart. Tezen is a particularly entertaining character 
The slow build of the relationship between Kenton and Beirach is well-written with an eye on all the distractions of the mission. I enjoyed the world and the characters and I’m really looking forward to the next book where Aelir takes center stage Well done and I sure hope that this author continues her foray into these new genres. Highly recommended.
RATING: 
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