A refreshing addition to the fantasy genre.

"For me, a person who has avoided fantasy for some time, the Sapphire Prince was a breath of fresh air. As someone who was tired of seeing the same tropey fantasy stories, I really enjoyed this work. Casey West's "Loyalty Fallen" series has the potential to be one of my favorite fantasy tales in a while. Ren and Kathryn have a great chemistry, and its nice to see a story unfold where sex isn't the first suggested solution (or ever, really) to a world-ending event, or something. Kathryn is smart in all the right ways, and I was happy to see the heroine doing so much heavy lifting instead of being a damsel. Also, the fact that she wasn't some "chosen one" with super broken powers or abilities made her more likeable, in my opinion. The only thing I would like to see more in this story is more longing from Ren. Other than that, I love his character. I love that he's not the usual "protector boyfriend" or "Invincible Chad" that you see in other stories. He's strong, but the problems he finds himself and Kathryn in are believable and sometimes exciting. Some of the scenes had me sit up in my seat, thinking "game time". I find myself not having to suspend my disbelief much, if ever. The magic system is also great, because the mechanics of it are not put into a block of exposition, but instead revealed in the prose. I'll try not to spoil much, but I absolutely adore a character they meet later in the story, and wish I could see more of him. Needless to say, I'm excited for the second book. To the author, if you're reading this: No pressure. :) Now for the score. If I could give the scores for each category in half increments, I would. So, instead, I rounded all of the stars to 5. My real score would be a 4.5, with minor issues with grammar, and a slight lack of longing/ fleshing out the relationships in some spots. Perhaps in the second book, there will be more of the latter. If so, I can't wait for the author to rip my heart out and put duct tape over the hole she left. I'll be reading through this again once I get through the second and third books when they're ready!"