BEHOOVED by M. Stevenson – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Behooved by M. Stevenson
Published by Bramble on May 20 2025
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Romantasy
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: A spell gone wrong turns a prince into a horse in this funny (at times) fantasy where the horsey antics are the best part of the story.

“Virtue of Mercy. I was married to a horse.”

Behooved is a fun and silly romantasy that offers a lot of laughs and some feel good moments, however I found it to be rather formulaic in regards to the world building. I also didn’t care for the characters much, as they come across as flat and sometimes annoying. But I did love the idea of a man who turns into a horse at sunrise (and back into a man at sunset), and the author didn’t hold back when it came to horsey puns and double entendres, so despite my issues, this was an entertaining story and I’m glad I read it.

Bianca is a young woman from House Liliana, one of nine noble Houses in the kingdom of Damaria. When her father informs her that she’s to be married to the prince of House Gildenheim in order to prevent a war, Bianca dutifully agrees to the arrangement, even though she’s never met her husband-to-be. Bianca’s first duty is to her family, and she’s determined to make her father proud.

Unfortunately, when Bianca meets Prince Aric, the wrong sort of sparks begin to fly. He seems to be angry at her, and on their wedding night, when Bianca expects him to demand they consummate the marriage, Aric simply wants to “get it over with.” But before anything can happen, an assassin bursts into the room, intent on killing Aric. Luckily, Bianca’s sister Tatiana gave her a magic charm to use in case of emergencies, and Bianca figures this is definitely an emergency. But when she activates the charm, she’s shocked to see that the magic has turned Aric into a white stallion!

With an assassin on their tail and the fate of the kingdom hinging on whether Aric makes it to his coronation in a week’s time, Bianca and Aric must figure out how to break the spell, uncover the identity of the assassin, and try to get along.

Let’s start with the good. The second half was a lot of fun, with lots of funny dialog and fast-paced action. While I didn’t like Bianca and Aric in the first half of the book, as they get to know each other, their characters become much more likable. Aric starts out as a grump, but as he and Bianca are forced to hide from the assassin, who is supposedly still after them, their true personalities emerge and shine. Aric isn’t your typical main character/love interest, and I liked him more because of it. He’s short, almost frail in appearance (well, until he takes his shirt off, at least!) and loves nothing more than to settle in with a good book or two. He doesn’t want to go to war with anyone, but instead has dreams of everyone in the kingdom being able to read. And let’s face it, I absolutely loved the times he was in his horsey form. There were so many awkward moments when Bianca is talking about “riding” him, I found myself laughing out loud.

I also liked some of the themes and messages the author addressed. Bianca has a “condition” where she gets frequent stomach aches and nausea, and the author reveals in her Afterword that she based the condition on her own struggles with celiac disease. Bianca has been taught by her parents never to show fear or pain, and it reminded me of my own issues with migraines and working through the pain no matter what. 

But I did have a few issues. First, the sex. Sigh. There are a few spicy scenes that just didn’t fit the tone of the story. Obviously this is being marketed as a romantasy, and sex scenes seem to be a prerequisite for the genre. But the sex here is awkward and goes on way too long, in my opinion. Also, the author’s language harkens back to old fashioned romances and was frankly a bit embarrassing (“A hard length pressed against my backside. How intriguing.”) This is one instance where closed door scenes would have worked much, much better, especially since the chemistry between Bianca and Aric was almost nonexistent. And forget about a slow-build romance—the couple goes from zero to sixty in about half a page! The best scenes were when Aric is in horse form and the two are clumsily commenting on the situation (“Right. Almost time for me to ride you.”) LOL. And before you ask, no, there is no beastiality in this book!

The world-building is fairly standard and (other than Aric turning into a horse) didn’t wow me. This is a world where some people can wield magic (like Bianca’s sister, who created the protect charm that went spectacularly wrong) but the author never goes very deep, so very little was explained. I wanted more from the characters as well, especially Bianca, who mostly ended up annoying me. And I would have been fine if Aric had just stayed in his horse form!

Stevenson wraps everything up neatly at the end, which I appreciated, and even gives readers some feel-good moments. If you’re a horse fan, and you’re looking for a fairly quick read with some laugh-out-loud moments, Behooved just might be for you.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.