Secret Heir (Dynasty #1) By M.J. Prince [ARC Review]

RELEASE DATE: February 27, 2018
AUTHOR: M.J. Prince
GENRE: New-Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance.
PUBLISHER: Royal Press
SUMMARY: Since the beginning of time, tales have been told about Eden. But all the stories are wrong.

Running parallel alongside Earth, but never touching, there exists not just a garden, but an entire world of vivid colours and breathtaking beauty where the Seraph reside.

Jazmine has lived in ten different foster homes, in ten different towns and all her life she has felt like she doesn’t belong – not in the trailer park which happens to be foster home number ten, not anywhere on Earth.

After a universe shattering revelation, she discovers why. 

Far from being the nothing and no one, with no past and no future, that Jazmine had always believed herself to be, she discovers that she is in fact an heir to one of the seven remaining Seraph Dynasties.

She is Jazmine Evenstar, the last heir to the sovereign Evenstar Dynasty.

Thrust into the world of wealth and privilege in which the impossibly beautiful and equally cruel Dynasty heirs reside, Jazmine is forced to manoeuvre the tangled web that holds the Dynasties together.

Against the backdrop of breathtaking star filled nights, sweeping coastlines, grand marble halls and decadent palaces, Jazmine tries to find her place in this beautiful new world whilst fighting not to lose herself in the process.

But the fairy tale quickly unravels.

Half human and the illegitimate daughter of the late suicide King of Eden, the other Dynasty heirs make it clear that Jazmine does not belong in their world.

Raphael St. Tristan, heir to the rival sovereign St. Tristan Dynasty and next in line to the throne of Eden, the guy with the face of an angel but who is as wicked as the devil himself, promises to break her.

Jazmine quickly learns that the beauty of Eden is nothing but a deception as she uncovers the secrets festering at the heart of it. But can she disentangle herself from the web of deception and intrigue that the Dynasty heirs have spun? Can she stop herself from falling into Raphael St. Tristan’s trap before he can fulfil his promise to shatter her completely? Or are those stories about Eden true after all and will she be foolish enough to taste the forbidden fruit that is Eden itself?

He’s the kind of guy that could break hearts with just one look. I notice the little details that make his perfect face even more devastating—the sexy indent on his top lip, the even sexier dimple on his chin and his impossibly long golden lashes, so thick, that it’s sinful. I find myself thinking again that he looks exactly like an angel might.
But when he opens his mouth to speak, that image is quickly banished.

 

*ARC received from the author in exchange for my honest review*

First of all, I really enjoyed this book. It was Paper Princess meets Romeo and Juliet with a fantasy twist. I was totally sold when I first saw this book’s synopsis, if you don’t know I’m total sucker for hate to love romances.  The story was totally entertaining and fun to read but to be honest, it didn’t blew my mind away. The plot was pretty much predictable and there are some aspects in this book that really annoyed me especially the high school drama. Nevertheless, it  was still an engaging read and I’m quite certain that many people will definitely love this book. It has interesting characters and a hot romance which I enjoyed a lot. I also liked the fantasy and magical elements in the plot. For a debut, I think it was a good start for a new NA series and I hope the next book would be even better.

The story follows Jazmine, a seventeen year old orphan who has lived in ten foster homes in ten different places but she never felt like she belonged anywhere. Not in her foster home or anywhere on earth. She currently works as a waitress wearing skimpy dresses to save money for the art college but suddenly her whole world changes when she gets kidnapped by a stranger who has unusual eyes like her and gives the otherworldly vibes. The stranger turns out to be her grandfather who reveals that she’s the last heir to the sovereign Evenstar dynasty in Eden, a parallel world which is running alongside Earth. She’s half human and half Seraph, bastard child of the late king. Jazmine tries to find her place in this new beautiful world and hopes that she might belong here but it gets hard when everyone tries to make her life miserable by reminding her that she doesn’t belong in Eden especially the alluring Raphael St. Tristan, heir to the rival sovereign St. Tristan Dynasty and next in line to the throne of Eden. He is a devil with an angel’s face who promises to break her but Jaz had led a pretty hard life since young and she isn’t someone who would break easily and she wouldn’t give up without a fight.

Jazmine is a strong character, she’s a total badass with great amount of sass! I really liked her character but her attraction to Tristan annoyed me a bit. She hates the guy and calls him an a**hole but she can’t stop ogling his hot body and she feels the need to tell us how beautiful he looks whenever he makes an appearance. She was a total mush whenever he invades her personal space. I wish she had some control over herself. Tristan is definitely a swoon worthy character but I have mixed feelings about him. Currently I’m not fan of him but I don’t hate him either. He was arrogant, Jerk, Cocky, Alpha, and Class A A**hole. Some of his actions in the book really made me want to kick his ass and when I started to like him, he messes up once again. Honestly, he isn’t really a total bad guy, he has some good qualities too and after that cliffhanger, I’m curious to know what he’s gonna do next. The chemistry between Jaz and Tristan is off the charts. There is a lot of sexual tension between them at the beginning. I absolutely enjoyed their hot romance, it was totally steamy and blush worthy. As for the secondary characters, I liked Baron, Lance, Keller, and Ivy. I loved the fun banters and the friendship between these group. Layla on the other hand was a total Queen bitch, I absolutely hated her and I really hope she disappears soon.

The Plot was very much fun and interesting but It was also very much predictable too. I’m not saying it was a bad read because the book never failed to hold my attention and interest from the first page to the last line and I just finished it in two sittings. The only thing that I didn’t liked about the plot was that it was focused a bit too much on the high school drama and less on the magical element. I mostly felt like I was reading a New Adult Contemporary read set in high school. The characters are teenagers but it’s definitely not a Young Adult novel so be warned. The writing style was good, it was simple and easy to follow. The whole story was written in Jazmine’s first person pov. I hope we also get to have Tristan’s POV in the next book. There’s not much world building in this book which was a bit disappointing because I really wish to see more of Eden. I liked the elemental magic system and It was one of the aspect I loved. I hope we get to see some more elemental action in the sequel. 

Overall,  I had fun reading this book but sadly it didn’t make it to my favorites list. However, I’m still very much looking forward to the next book. The book finally concludes with a cliffhanger which I already saw coming but I’m still very curious to know what happens next.

Recommend it?

I highly recommend this book to every one who loves enemies to lovers/hate-to love romance especially to the people who loved The Paper Princess by Erin Watt but I must warn you that the plot is predictable filled with lots of high school drama and sizzling romance.

MY RATING:[3.5/5 Stars]

So, What do you think of this book? Do you want to give it a shot when it finally comes out? If you’re also a fan of hate-to-love romances what’s your favorite book?
Please Feel Free To Comment Below. ❤

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