The Charmer in Chaps

March 18, 2019
This modern-day Cinderella story, the introduction to London’s Princes in Texas series, introduces readers to Three Rivers, Tex., and a wealthy playboy whose heart is as big as his wallet. Former foster child Ella Kendall, now juggling an accounting business with a waitressing job, inherits her family’s rundown home, and coming back to Three Rivers reunites her with her high school crush, Luca Prince. Luca is as handsome as ever, but Ella refuses to fall for his well-known charms, thinking he’ll just love her and leave her. Luca has lived a privileged life, but his mother taught him to be ashamed of his dyslexia and inability to read, so he struggles to form real relationships and never stays with one woman long. He’s nothing like the image he’s created, and when he sees the wholesome, intelligent Ella again, his desire to improve his life and reconnect with her surfaces. Ella feels she can never belong in Luca’s world, and though he opens up about his secret, she walls herself off. Self-discovery and personal growth are at the core of this romantic heartstring-tugger, and the intense chemistry and emotional connection between the lovers make it a must-read.

Starred review from April 15, 2019
Once upon a time, during a high-school dance, Ella Kendall shared a kiss with Luca Prince, the boy she had been crushing on for years. Clearly that kiss meant more to her than it did to Prince Luca, as Ella discovers when she bumps into him again a dozen years later, and he can't even remember her name. Not that it matters one bit since a now older and wiser Ella isn't about to get romantically played by a Casanova in chaps like Luca. But when he "meets" Ella, his new next-door neighbor, he is immediately intrigued by the spunky spitfire, who seems to be one of the few women in the world immune to his romantic charms. The more Luca tries to engage with Ella, the harder she pushes him away. Now, if it takes every last trick in the book, Luca is going to wrangle his way into Ella's heart. Breezy banter, lively dialogue, crackling sexual chemistry, and plenty of sassy charm propel the engaging, fabulously fun, first book in London's new Princes of Texas series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)