The Royal Runaway

August 6, 2018
Emory (Resisting Santa) inelegantly jams crowd-pleasing features from the contemporary romance, period romance, spy thriller, and mystery genres into one unwieldy novel, but has neither the storytelling skills nor the flair for the absurd to pull it off. After Princess Theodora Isabella Victoria of Drieden, a small European nation, is stood up at the altar, she evades her strict grandmother and escapes the palace, looking for adventure while trying to hide from paparazzi. Thea accepts a drink from Nick Cameron, a swoon-worthy bad boy Scotsman who claims to be a reporter but turns out to be a British spy and also her fiancé’s brother. Thea and Nick evade royal security and engage in a bland, low-trust romance while following the links between the murders of people connected to her fiancé’s law firm and financial transactions that might be tied to the royal family. Even genre readers who enjoy all of these ideas will find this kitchen sink approach yields underexplored themes and an inconsistent tone that’s not very satisfying. Agent: Louise Fury, Bent Agency.

Starred review from August 1, 2018
Jilted at the altar, a princess teams up with a tempting stranger to find her missing fiance.Princess Theodora Isabella Victoria is second in line to the crown of the fictitious Kingdom of Drieden, described as a "tiny coastal nation on the bony shoulder of Europe." When her fiance, Christian Fraser-Campbell, the ninth Duke of Steading, fails to show up to their wedding, Thea's grandmother, Queen Aurelia, has her spend four months on Perpetua, an island in the North Sea where "they used to send the women who couldn't be controlled." One night shortly after her return, Thea slips away to a pub and meets Nick, a "dark and rough, but not altogether objectionable" Scot who flirts with her, kisses her, and then tries to blackmail her into getting him information about a lost family property. But she soon learns that Nick is actually Christian's brother, and the information he seeks could overturn the entire Drieden monarchy. With everything to lose and no one to trust, Thea decides to join Nick in his quest to find out what happened to Christian before anyone else is hurt. The royal family lore is charming, from King Henry III, who in 1650 condemned colonization as "a foolish, wasteful enterprise," to the court astrologer, Sybil, who consults the stars (and other intel) to advise Thea. The progressive princess proves to be as resilient as she is rebellious. Even when her throne is threatened, she insists that "human lives are more important than our culture!" Under her reign, "happily ever after" gets a refreshing update.This imaginative, absorbing, and empowering story is a must-read.

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September 15, 2018
Princess Theodora of Drieden is prepared to put duty ahead of love?until her fianc� jilts her in a spectacularly public fashion on her wedding day. While her family expects her to put a positive spin on this public-relations disaster, Thea is tired of the pressures of the crown, and a chance encounter (and steamy kiss) with a Scotsman named Nick seems like a harmless rebound?until she learns that Nick is the brother of her ex-fianc�, and he blackmails her into helping him find his missing brother. What transpires is a somewhat convoluted story of a runaway princess uncovering royal corruption, with Thea and Nick's romance simmering on the back burner. The backstory Emory creates for Drieden is entertaining, and while the mixture of espionage and romance is not developed to its fullest, it still makes for fun reading. Fans of Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan's The Royal We (2016), Meg Cabot's Princess Diaries series (especially Royal Wedding?, 2015), and Alyssa Cole's Reluctant Royals series (beginning with A Princess in Theory, 2018) will enjoy this breezy read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)