This was such a fun and cosy read! We have a well-loved trope such as arranged marriage between two kingdoms, and grumpyxgrumpy characters, but we also have a bisexual heroine with chronic illness (confirmed by the author to be celiac) and a book-smart and soft hero who’d rather his wife did the stabbing for him.

After an assassination attempt gone wrong, Aric gets hit by a spell that turns him into a horse during the day. Bianca and him then have to find out how to reverse the spell and save their throne from an usurper, all in a matter of days. The plot was fairly straight-forward, but I loved the secondary characters, which I felt were well-defined and each with their own personality. The romance between the two was incredibly cute and I loved seeing them lower their defences and learn to know one another, however I would not classify this as a slow burn at all, since the attraction is there from the beginning (even when they think the other one hates them) and once they admit their feelings the relationship progresses very quickly.

I particularly loved the chronic illness representation: Bianca suffers from her “condition” (as she calls it) all throughout the book, and while Aric in particular wants to find out what causes it, it is made clear that it’s not something that can be cured, only managed.

All in all it was a fun romantasy and a quick read, on the cosier side with a little bit of action, loveable characters and just the right amount of horse puns for a book that does not take itself too seriously. It definitely filled the “My Lady Jane”-shaped hole in my heart and I will be recommending it!

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and Hodder for the review copy