A Princess in Theory: Reluctant Royals

This is the first book I have read by author Alyssa Cole, but it is not the last one for sure. As soon as I started reading this book I knew this was an author that i would be one clinking for years to come. Her gift of storytelling had pulled me in and had me looking to see if the country of Thesolo was a real place in Africa. The characters Naledi & Thabiso are so real it is almost like they themselves are plucked out of the city and right into this pages of this book. The story line is believable and the romance is there. The side character of Portia is someone I wanted to shake to wake her up and then by the end of the book I am so searching for her book to read. I am so happy I found this author in the middle of Romancelandia on twitter.

This is an intriguing twist on the romance trope where one person pretends to be something they aren't and hope that it doesn't spectacularly blow up in their faces (it always does!) when real feelings of affection and love enter the equation. Ledi, at first glance, is a typical grad student: struggling financially to finish school while working two jobs. Unknown to her is that she's a princess, separated from her people and country as a young child. Thabiso, Crown Prince of her homeland of Thesolo has tasked himself with arming her with that knowledge, seeing as he was betrothed to her years ago as a child. His intentions are not altogether totally altruistic or too high above pettiness, and their first meeting doesn't go as planned but it is electric. Reinventing himself as someone else, he seeks to immerse himself in her life, only to find himself wanting her for real. The first thing that influenced my request for an advance copy of this book was the cover. The couple looked so real and happy. Plus, the background colours just popped! I don't regret my request! The story was just as colourful and lively as advertised. The descriptions of New York and Thesolo were quite vivid and detailed. The other subplots in the book ensured that there was never a dull moment. This is a fun read. I am looking forward to the next in the series.

Fun, funny and surprisingly layered with depth the story focuses on Naledi (Ledi) a grad student in epidemiology, and her single-minded determination to succeed in school, support herself and lock down her summer internship all by herself. For alone is how she thinks it needs to be: promises from others lead to expectations, and a childhood spent in state care and too many foster homes to count have given her plenty of history on which to base that decision. Strangely enough, the one person she considers her best friend is her polar opposite: rich, unfocused, rather careless with her words and life, and while she’s always ‘sorry’ after the fact, her behavior often makes her a friend that Ledi finds exhausting. Thabaso, with his personal assistant Likotsi are in New York for a series of events, and his determination to meet Ledi and convince her of her history and her connection to him. He’s headstrong, occasionally tone deaf to the wishes of those around him, the only child of the King and Queen and a real determination to do the best or his country, all while being touted in the tabloids and feeling as if no one wants to know him, once they know he’s the prince. He devises a way (with plenty of cash and an unenthusiastic Likotsi) to infiltrate Ledi’s life and the two begin a tentative friendship. From a gala to the lab, a chance to investigate and solve a mysterious illness that could claim the lives of her grandparents, a more than bitchy Queen whose husband finds Ledi’s responses and spunkiness amusing and a villain causing the illness that is not difficult to discover, Ledi finds herself with family, history and a new friend who finds Thabaso’s ‘princely’ moments just as annoying in his assistant Likotsi. Clever and quick reading, the story holds plenty of emotion, heart and heat to please many with the romance and Thabaso’s determination to see Ledi cared for and happy no matter what. I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via Edelweiss for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.