The Cornish Princess by Tanya Anne Crosby – Book Review

Book Rating: ⭐⭐⭐.5

Series: The Goldenchild Prophecy (Book 1)

Genre: New Adult Historical Fantasy

Spice: Medium

Summary:

Princess Gwendolyn of Cornwall has grown up hearing she is a child of prophecy, who will unite the dragon banners to stop the destruction of her people. Or so her mother, the Queen of Cornwall, and her maid say. They claim to have encountered two Fae granting Gwen this prophecy at her crib along with two other gifts: a face that reflects the beauty of the heart of the one who looks upon it, and hair that will turn to gold when it’s cut by her true love. Now that Gwen is coming of age to be married, her long-standing betrothal agreement to the eldest son of Brutus of Troy, who carries a dragon banner that could fulfill the prophecy, is fast approaching.

As Gwen is worrying over her father, the King’s, failing health, an unexpected message reaches Cornwall. Gwen’s betrothed has died, and Brutus will now fulfill the marriage alliance to Cornwall with his next eldest son, Loch. When Gwen and Loch meet, there is something about him that doesn’t sit right with her. To make matters worse, her childhood best friend and protector, Bryn, is removed from his duties, and she is told by her parents she must grow up and accept responsibility. Determined to have one last escape, Gwyn takes her new protector, the antagonistic but beautiful Málik, with her to visit her cousins. But trouble is afoot…will Gwen be able to fulfill the prophecy and marry Loch, or will her choices lead her down another path?

Reaction:

This book was one that was a bit hard for me to rate. There are aspects of the book that I really appreciated and enjoyed, and there are other parts that I wasn’t so enamored with. Starting off with the pros, I love the author’s choice to write about Gwendolyn of Cornwall, a historic female leader in a time where there were none. As this is the beginning of her story, we start off with Gwen’s only assigned duty to fulfill an arranged marriage and complete a political alliance, but we get a lot of insight into the world and how strong Gwen will have to be to make her way towards becoming a ruler. I enjoyed the blending of history, mysticism, and fantasy elements in the setting and characters. It’s well done, totally believable, and important to the plot such as Gwen's mother's doubts on whether Gwendolyn is a Fae changeling.

What made this book at times hard to get through was honestly Gwen’s character. I found her spoiled and just annoying at times. And the way the narrative is written, she is not even honest with herself about her motivations and feelings. What kept me engaged in the book through that were her relationships, especially with her mother, as her choices create interesting conflicts between the characters. The end of the book is what sold me on reading the next in the series, but no spoilers, so let’s just say it has multiple surprises I didn’t see coming. Another item of note, the book contains a lot of old English words, some that won’t even get you a result in the Kindle reference resources (Dictionary, wiki, translate). If that’s something that bothers you (it did me at times), this may not be the book for you. Overall, if you enjoy historical fantasies, you will probably enjoy The Cornish Princess for its historical premise, setting, and engaging plot.