Breaking the second-book curse, Prince's Gambit is the one I enjoyed the most on the trilogy. A lot of the issues I had with the first one didn't make a big appearance here, shifting enough of the dynamic between Laurent and Damen that I finally found them somewhat interesting together.
The camaraderie and slowly growing bond between Damen and the soldiers, as well as a handful of action/fight scenes, are, surprisingly, my favorite points on the book, especially considering that these topics normally don't weight much on my overall opinon of the story.
The romance thankfully evolves to something more enjoyable, Laurent and Damen bickering and mistrusting but rethinking their assumptions about the other results in scenes where the mood changes from comedic to tense in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, that only highlights how their power imbalance could've been better dealt with previously.
It's still a fun read, and I can see potential for an above-average one if the overall execution and delivery were polished.