The Princess Plan (A Royal Wedding #1)
by Julia London
Blurb:
Princes
have pomp and glory—not crushes on commoners.
Nothing
gets the tongues of London’s high society wagging like a good scandal. And when
the personal secretary of the visiting Prince Sebastian of Alucia is found
murdered, it’s all anyone can talk about, including Eliza Tricklebank. Her unapologetic
gossip gazette has benefited from an anonymous tip about the crime, prompting
Sebastian to take an interest in playing detective—and an even greater interest
in Eliza.
With
a trade deal on the line and mounting pressure to secure a noble bride, there’s
nothing more salacious than a prince dallying with a commoner. Sebastian finds
Eliza’s contrary manner as frustrating as it is seductive, but they’ll have to
work together if they’re going to catch the culprit. And when things heat up
behind closed doors, it’s the prince who’ll have to decide what comes first—his
country or his heart.
Themes: Historical
Rating: 4 stars
Heat Rating: 
Review:
A brand new series begins with a hilarious
story of a free spirit rubbing against the constraints of society and a man
forced to live within them for the good of his people despite the woman who has
stolen his heart. I have always enjoyed
London’s historical romances and was looking forward to beginning the new series
when I heard about it, hoping for something new and fun, and I can say I was
pleasantly more surprised than I even imagined by this story. London has a
skill with bringing the unexpected 20th century mentality of women
into her characters making them well before their time and then convincing the
men that fall for them that this is just fine.
I loved this story and getting to know an all knew set of characters and
an all new country and its customs and hope to get to see them even more in
future stories. I’m not sure exactly where the series will be going, but I hope
that Eliza’s friends will get their own stories in the series, as well as
perhaps Prince Leopold too. The fun and silliness of the story, even with the
underlying themes of murder and suspicion, made the love story between
Sebastian and Eliza light, which is crucial to allow readers to ignore the impending doom
for Eliza’s heart once she lost it to the Prince.
Eliza
has forgone any willingness to adhere to society’s understanding of what a
woman should and should not do or say, knowing she has earned her freedom
through heartache and embarrassment.
When a chance comes to attend a ball in honor of a visiting prince since
never thought she’d actually have a
chance at meeting the prince, but through a strange turn of events she not only
meets him once she finds herself drawn to him again and again. Prince Sebastian
isn’t interested in forming an attachment to any woman, though he knows he must
marry as part of his promise to his father and his duty to his people, so when
he meets Eliza he thinks nothing of it at first. When tragedy strikes and Sebastian needs help
tracking a killer, he finds an unlikely helper in Eliza and soon they are
wrapped up in intrigue and one another.
But the danger surrounding them becomes greater as they get closer to finding
the killer and though neither of them imagined it they have fallen in love and
now have to deal with the truth that they live in two very different
worlds. Is there any way for a Prince to
find his queen in a fallen woman that scorns society in every way but gives him
the love he needs to make him the man he must be for his people?
Eliza
was an amazing character, one that I enjoyed watching in action as she tried
her hand at tracking down a killer and stole the heart of a Prince without even
trying just by being her fabulous self.
It was obvious from the beginning that Eliza has decided to live life on
her own terms, being the best daughter, sister, and friend she can, even if
society continues to look down on her for past choices. Eliza is a woman living well before her time, one that has embraced her freedom
and is willing to enjoy life even if others look down on her for it. She is spunky and sassy to say the least,
courageous and generous for sure but I most enjoyed seeing her as she embraced
the chance to find love even though she knew that she could lose her heart and
the pain it would cause her in the end to lose her Prince. Prince Sebastian on the other hand was kind of an
ass in the beginning, not a bad man, but one raised in protection and privilege,
the most simple being that he is a man in a world where men of privilege could
do just about any damn thing they wanted with little to no consequences. He is determined
to do his very best by his people and knows that he will have no chance at
finding love, but when he meets Eliza she has a strange pull for him and even
though he doesn’t understand anything about her she is simply
irresistible. Again and Again he is
pulled back into her sphere and the more he is with her, the more he questions
his decisions and choices for his future.
I loved seeing the changes in him as he embraced his feelings for Eliza
and the craziness she inspired, but the most interesting times were seeing his
mind working through the drama and dangers that surrounded him as they looked
for the killer in his midst. It was
obvious that Sebastian needed his world expanded a little bit and Eliza was
just the woman to do it, so the love between them was inevitable if you ask me
because really who could resist her.
The Princess Plan
is a wonderful beginning to a series that is sure to be interesting and filled
with laughter, tears and love. I know
that I will love this series as I have all previous historical series by Julia
London, but I have a feeling this one will be even better than previous ones
after getting to meet the characters she plans to feature. Eliza is a wonder to watch as she experiences
the chance at true love for the first
time, after a disastrous first relationship that left her unweddable for the
last decade, and her antics as an amateur investigator were hysterical. It was obvious that Eliza is a soft-hearted
woman but she has had to make hard choices in life, the hardest being giving up
a chance at love, but now that she has met a man she is willing to risk the
pain for, she will give it all for Sebastian knowing she will lose him in the
end. Sebastian has no intention of
losing his heart of a headstrong and stubborn English commoner when he comes to
London on a diplomatic mission, but there is no resisting the magnetism that is
Eliza. He knows there is no chance for
them to have a future, that their affair can only end badly, with both their hearts
broken, but he can’t give her up until he is forced to. He is sexy, smart and a
little bit arrogant, but he is also protective and sweet in the most unexpected
of ways and I loved learning about him and his small country. The passion between Eliza and Sebastian
fueled some interesting interactions with arguments and stubbornness, right up
until they decided that passion could lead to different more intimate
directions. This story grabbed me from
the beginning and I fell in love with the story and characters, even allowing for
overlooking a few annoying moments where I wanted to beat the characters upside
the head for their stubbornness and unwillingness to think outside the box
(until the ending thankfully!). I loved how Julia managed to give us the HEA we
always expected in a truly imaginative and unexpected way, but truly I hated
all the tears she put me through. I know this one will be a great series and I’m
dying to find out what is next in this series for sure and to read what’s going
to happen.
*eARC provided by author (via
netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review. No compensation was provided.
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