Reviewed by Anna Lynn
TITLE: A Heart of Gold and Glass
SERIES: Secret Fairy Tales #1
AUTHOR: Jocelynn Drake
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 317 Pages
RELEASE DATE: March 13, 2026
BLURB:
Hugo refuses to be anyone’s pawn.
He just wanted to find a husband.
What he got was flirty chaos wrapped in a charming smile with a side of adventure and danger.
Hugo is the son of a famous baker, looking for a rich husband to “save” his family.
(In other words, his mother doesn’t want them to leave their pseudo-aristocratic life for…shudder…jobs.)
He never set out to win the heart of Prince Everand.
And he definitely didn’t mean to get drawn into the middle of the burgeoning war between Brenam and Wulia.
However, to protect the prince, save his family, and keep his world from exploding into war, Hugo must prove that there’s far more to him than anyone expects.
He may even bag himself a hot prince for his happily ever after.
A Heart of Gold and Glass is a cozy romantasy set in a magical world filled with secrets, danger, action, meddling mothers, annoying younger brothers, a mad king, a bit of spice, and a playful prince who will do anything to keep Hugo forever.
REVIEW:
I was looking forward to reading this as it brings back to mind a story from my childhood. This is the first book in a new series from Ms. Jocelynn Drake. And it involves magic and love, elements that I so love in my books. Ms. Jocelynn Drake has had multiple series that involved Magical Creatures, Vampires, Wolves and Dragons and I am always excited to delve on a new adventure from someone who is a great writer.
Hugo is a baker’s son and he has to marry in order for their family to be saved from their situation financially. His mother, in desperation, said that Hugo can spin gold from straws, although he is quite an Artist with glass. He was called to the palace and asked to show this ability of his. But in reality Hugo cannot do that, and now he is trying to find a way to get out of the situation without making it worse for his family. But in all this, Hugo has caught the eye of Prince Everand and vice versa. Although his circumstances were somewhat dire, these two got to know each other and had some interesting interactions and adventure.
Hugo and Prince Everand although were brought together by a false pretense (not the fault of Hugo), just gravitated towards each other from the moment they met. And when they were taken, they have to do their best to prevent war from erupting between two warring kingdoms. And as they were on the run, they got to know each other better and began planning ways to solve the predicament they are in.
During these hard times, it is great to lose oneself in a lighthearted love story that is just right on the heart and mind, and this book definitely brings that. Not too heavy on the drama plot but engrossing and entertaining, a love story will definitely bind everything together. And as this is the first book, I am sure we will be meeting Hugo’s brothers in the next books. They have a great relationship with their older brother Hugo and am sure that we get to see more of that in the future books.
Thank you and Congratulations Ms. Jocelynn Drake.
RATING: 
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