A prince walks into a bar with a pack of cards.
The barmaid glances at him, “The sign says no gambling.”
The prince smirks, “But I’m always guaranteed a royal flush.”
Crickets
Yeah… my jokes need some serious work, maybe Aren Bellamore should add “no bad jokes” to the Raven’s Beak Tavern rules, right under “no marriage proposals.” Aren, the protagonist of Rings of Fate by Melissa De La Cruz, runs the tavern with sass and spunk, allowing no room for adversity to get her down. She’ll help those in need and will always put her family before herself.
Enter Prince Dietan, charming, cursed, and apparently allergic to asking for help. Somehow, fate or coincidence brings him right to Raven’s Beak Tavern’s doorstep. You wouldn’t think Dietan and Aren’s worlds would collide, but here we are, and it’s delicious chaos.
Rings of Fate is high fantasy with a mix of desperation and comedy that’ll keep you glued to your seat, and maybe sleep-deprived. Strip away the titles, and Aren and Dietan are just two people who don’t know how to ask for help, hiding pain behind wit. Sure, it starts feeling like an opposites-attract story is brewing, pun intended, but what really hits is seeing these two cleverly guarded individuals struggle with loneliness and watching the misunderstandings pile up. De La Cruz entices you with the perspective shift in each chapter, from Aren to Dietan, allowing you to interpret their innermost struggles whilst the other blissfully unaware. Whilst I may not be the front runner for best communicator, nothing compares to these two.
Melissa De La Cruz takes classic fantasy stereotypes, class divides, royalty, magical curses, twisting them to show that suffering doesn’t care about titles or wealth. Something that we see in our own reality. And yes, De La Cruz fully nails the “princes in romantic novels love grand gestures at the absolute worst possible time” trope. What a mouthful. But seriously, save it for when you’re not about to be murdered, but also thank you for expressing your feelings, very demure, very green flag.
While Rings of Fate doesn’t end on a jaw-dropping cliffhanger, it does leave some questions unanswered, keeping you itching for the next book. Lucky for us, it is just the first instalment of the Curses and Crown Series. Romance fantasy lovers will need to get some pop corn for their next all-nighter, strapping in for this will be one wild, witty ride.
