This quick, adorable standalone was a delight to read. It was well written, had a great plot with good pacing, and had a cast of characters that were easy to fall in love with. The author did a great job with keeping the balance between the romance, the drama, and the angst, making this book easy to get lost in and hard to put down. Since this book is a standalone in a connected series of standalones, it tells a complete story but still connects with the rest of the series. As this book deals with some heavy topics, trigger warnings will be included at the end of my review for those who need them.
For her entire college career, Elle has been focused on one thing: training to win the biggest rowing competition in the country; using the prize money and her rowing scholarships to stay at her prestigious college and get a degree she can use to support herself in the future. As an orphan who was adopted later in life, she knows the importance riding on her ability to stay focused, but despite her best efforts, she can’t resist the opportunity to dress up for a night and sneak into the most anticipated party of the year: Prince Charles’ birthday party where it’s rumoured he’ll be choosing a wife. When her party crashing leads to a steamy, reckless tryst with the Prince himself, Elle panics but can’t bring herself to regret the moment, and despite her plan to avoid him and keep their time together as nothing more than a memory, Prince Charlie isn’t ready to let her go.
As time passes and Elle and Charlie grow closer and closer, complications within the castle walls threaten to tear them apart, and as Elle discovers a shocking truth that has the potential to change their lives forever, they need to decide if being together is worth not only their future together, but the future of the entire kingdom as well.
The plot of this book was super cliché and I loved it! I’m a sucker for a good accidental pregnancy trope, and combined with the royal/commoner aspect of this book, it was deliciously tropey and great fun to read. It had lots of good drama and complications to keep the story interesting, and though I’m not particularly a fan of a third act breakup, the author did a good job with it in this book. The plot made sure to give time for not only the spicy and sweet romance to bloom, but the scheming and underhanded problems to fester as well, taking readers along on a fast moving journey to this couple’s happily ever after.
Like the rest of the story, the romance between the MCs was fast moving, but it worked incredibly well in this book. The author gave time for the MCs to know each other inside and outside the bedroom, and with the help of the dual POVs, it gave readers confidence in the HEA this couple was fighting for. Though it moved a bit too fast in my opinion, I still loved the ending to this book, especially loving the epilogue that gave a glimpse into the future for this couple.
All in all, this was a quick, cute read that was well written, entertaining, and put a smile on my face.
TRIGGER WARNINGS:
Due to the context, possible spoilers ahead!
Though this book is a lighthearted romance, it deals with heavy topics such as: mentions of child neglect and/or abuse due to the foster system (off page), mentions of pedophilia and sexual assault (off page; about MMC), internalized shame due to abuse (on page), verbal and emotional abuse by a parent (on page), and a bit of other woman drama without any cheating (on page; doesn’t go into detail aside from some mentions in the third act of the book).