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Happily Inc #2.5

A Very Merry Princess

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When Princess Bethany's father, the king, sells one of his best stallions, she insists the animal get the royal treatment. Disguised as Beth Archer, a mere stable hand, she takes him to Happily Inc, California, a quaint wedding destination that's especially sparkly over the holidays.

Rich women have no place on Cade Saunders's ranch. He wants a down–to–earth girl–next–door type – like Beth Archer. After a few cocoa–flavored kisses by the Christmas tree, Bethany begins to fall for her irresistibly handsome host. But will Cade still want her when he discovers she's more familiar with a crown than a cowboy hat?

116 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2017

988 people are currently reading
2014 people want to read

About the author

Susan Mallery

862 books15.4k followers
#1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery writes heartwarming and humorous novels about the relationships that define women's lives—family, friendship, romance. She's best known for putting nuanced characters into emotionally complex, real-life situations with twists that surprise readers to laughter. Because Susan is passionate about animal welfare, pets play a big role in her books. Beloved by millions of readers worldwide, her books have been translated into 28 languages.

Critics have dubbed Mallery "the new queen of romantic fiction." (Walmart) Booklist says, "Romance novels don't get much better than Mallery's expert blend of emotional nuance, humor, and superb storytelling," and RT Book Reviews puts her "in a class by herself!" It's no wonder that her books have spent more than 200 weeks on the USA Today bestsellers list.

Although Susan majored in Accounting, she never worked as an accountant because she was published straight out of college with two books the same month. Sixteen prolific years and seventy-four books later, she hit the New York Times bestsellers list for the first time with Accidentally Yours in 2008. She made many appearances in the Top 10 before (finally) hitting #1 in 2015 with Thrill Me, the twentieth book in her most popular series, the Fool's Gold romances, and the fourth of five books released that year.

Susan lives in Washington state with her husband, two ragdoll cats, and a small poodle with delusions of grandeur. Her heart for animals has led Susan to become an active supporter of the Seattle Humane Society. Visit Susan online at www.SusanMallery.com.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 334 reviews
Profile Image for ✰ Bianca ✰ BJ's Book Blog ✰ .
2,332 reviews1,341 followers
December 19, 2017
Sweet & adorable. A short, fairy-tale-ish holiday cowboy-princess-horse romance ☺☺☺ !
Connecting an old romance from the Desert Rogue series with the new Happily Inc series.
Could've been a bit longer - with a bit more depth and romance...but I really enjoyed reading it.

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Profile Image for Kirsten .
1,749 reviews292 followers
June 12, 2020
Not the best in the Happily Inc series, but definitely fun. This series - although nominally a romance - seems to be more about the people and the friendships in this strange little town that revolves around being a destination for weddings.

I really love the descriptions of the strange weddings and the things that happen at them. This book has the addition of a Princess from California via a fictional Arabian country. (When romances have to make up modern day royalty, I do tend to roll my eyes.)

Still, all in all, a fun read.
Profile Image for Ivy.
1,201 reviews58 followers
November 15, 2022
Schönes Buch für zwischendurch aber mir fehlt hier ein bisschen die Weihnachtsstimmung...

Toll finde ich, dass nicht klassisch ein kleines Königreich in Europa dargestellt wird.
Bethany ist die Adoptivtochter des Königs von "El Bahar", einem orientalischen Land und wohnt in einem rosa Palast. Wie in einem orientalischen Märchen.

Ich mochte das Setting, sowohl El Bahar als auch Happily Inc und auch die ganzen Figuren.
Vor allem ist Cade ein guter Typ.

Die Geschichte ist mal was Anderes aber eigentlich nichts Besonderes und am Ende dann auch sehr kitschig-romantisch.
Profile Image for Aly.
2,920 reviews86 followers
November 1, 2017
I'm not a fan of royal people as protagonist. It probably have to do with the lack of freedom who comes with the title and the out-dated rules. But this novella didn't come with the clichés of the monarchy and I liked the modern aspect.

Bethany Archer was born in California. She became the adoptive daughter of the Prince Crown Malik at 9 years old. He became King a couple of years ago and she's the Princess of El Bahar. Malik just sold a precious stallion to a stranger in the USA and Beth gave herself the task of accompanying the horse on his journey to make sure he's gonna be well cared for. But she's not going as Bethany the Princess of El Bahar but as Beth Smith. She doesn't want people to treat her differently. Far from the cliché of the spoiled woman, Beth is kind to animals, talk to them and do not begrudge to do the dirty chores.

A stable manager in Happily Inc, Cade Saunders is pretty excited about getting a royal horse. He always knew he wanted to be a cowboy and he think Rida the stallion will put his ranch on the map and help him to expand the breeding program. Right from the start, Cade and Beth get along well and are both pleasant and simple people. But when he say he'd been played by a woman before and vowed to never make the same mistake again, we know he's not gonna be happy to learn Beth was not totally honest with him. They take their time in spite of the fact that Beth will soon have to return home, but taking things slow doesn't mean it was boring. I found it and them charming. Falling in love happened quickly for them but their chemistry was believable. I know he meant well, but I didn't like that King Malik interfered with Cade and Beth's business. There was not a lot of the Christmas spirit in this story but that doesn't mean it wasn't sweet and enjoyable.
Profile Image for mangosbookshelf.
88 reviews42 followers
February 1, 2019
Eine schöne Zusatzgeschichte zur Happily Inc. Reihe, allerdings habe ich aufgrund des Titels mehr Weihnachtsstimmung erwartet.
Profile Image for Noa.
224 reviews6 followers
October 29, 2020
"Weihnachtsliebe und Lamettazauber" ist eine zuckersüße Liebesgeschichte von Susan Mallery.
Das Buch ist mit seinen rund 128 Seiten recht kurz und genauso schnell und leicht lässt es sich lesen.
Die Geschichte an sich ist sehr süß und hat eine märchenhafte Romantik an sich.
Gut dazu passt natürlich auch die Wahl der Charaktere, Cowboy und Prinzessin, sowie das Setting auf einer Pferderanch. Die Charaktere und auch die Handlung sind recht einfach, aber dennoch sehr liebenswert, gestrickt. Allerdings ist das Buch ja auch nur 128 Seiten lang, was die Handlung natürlich auch sehr einschränkt. Über ein paar Seiten mehr hätte ich mich hier definitiv gefreut!
Auch wenn die Liebesgeschichte recht vorhersehbar war, ist sie dennoch sehr herzerwärmend. Ein für mich doch recht großer Kritikpunkt ist allerdings die fehlende Weihnachtsstimmung im Buch. Hier vespricht der Titel und auch das Cover einfach etwas ganz anderes, als das Buch dann später ist. Große Teile des Buches spielen tatsächlich zu Thanksgiving und es ist auch später nicht wirklich eine Wintergeschichte. Stattdessen stehen hier andere Thematiken im Vordergrund, wie beispielsweise die Pferde.
Trotz dieser Kritik war die Handlung sehr süß und ich hatte viel Spaß beim Lesen.
Profile Image for Gitti.
1,151 reviews
January 3, 2019
Pallas Bruder Cade hat ein Pferd gekauft und zwar vom König von El Bahar. Und als wäre das nicht schon aufregend genug, geht ihm die Pferdepflegerin, die zur Eingewöhnung mitgekommen ist, nicht aus dem Kopf. Nur, dass die nicht nur eine Pferdepflegerin ist.

Weihnachtsliebe und Lamettazauber ist eine weihnachtliche Kurzgeschichte aus Happily Inc. Sozusagen ein Leckerli, bis der nächste Band erscheint. Zeitlich ist er an das Ende von „Die Liebe trägt Giraffenpulli“ einzuordnen.

Beth reist unter falschem Namen mit dem Hengst Rida, um sicherzustellen, dass er gut untergebracht ist. Nachdem sie sehr schlechte Erfahrungen mit ihrer Stellung als Prinzessin von El Bahar gemacht hat, scheint ihr es besser, unter falschem Namen zu reisen. Genau das führt dann zu Verwicklungen, als herauskommt, wer sie wirklich ist.

Das Buch liest sich sehr flott und wegen mir hätte es auch gerne doppelt so lange sein dürfen. Aber auch in dieser Kurzform gelingt es Susan Mallery eine schöne Liebesgeschichte zu erzählen. Alle schon bekannten Protagonisten haben einen Kurzauftritt und so hat man gleich wieder das Gefühl nach Happily nach Hause zu kommen.

Von mir daher eine Leseempfehlung für alle, die schon auf den nächsten Happily-Band warten.
Profile Image for Patrizia.
825 reviews15 followers
March 6, 2019
Zuckersüss und einfach himmlisch. Ein Buch zum abschalten und einfach geniessen. Tiefgang darf man nicht erwarten aber braucht es auch nicht immer
Profile Image for Darlene Burgess.
64 reviews
June 19, 2020
Stud needed

I loved this book. It was sweet and easy to read. It pulled you into the story. It was a short read. I hope you will read this book and feel the love.
Profile Image for Quinn.
688 reviews58 followers
December 21, 2017
2.5 stars. This just didn't work for me. Full review soon.

Merged review:

When I heard about A Very Merry Princess by Susan Mallery, I knew I had to read it. A Christmas-themed story featuring a modern-day princess and written by an author I love. I don't think it's possible for a book to me MORE up my alley. Unfortunately, I had some major issues with this story.

A Very Merry Princess is set in Happily Inc, California, the setting of Mallery's newest series. Bethany is the princess in this story, and she loves horses. When her father sells one of his horses to Cade Saunders of Happily Inc., she plans on accompanying the horse from (fictional) Bahar to California to make sure the horse transitions easily to his new life. She will also be traveling as Beth Archer instead of Princess Bethany to keep her true identity a secret. But when Beth and Cade start to fall for each other, she has to figure out how to tell Cade the truth.

As I mentioned above, I had some issues with this one. First, I had such a hard time liking Bethany. I found her to be kind of cold, and I had a hard time really getting to know who she was. And look, I know it's her job to take care of horses, but it was a bit much with her. She even slept in the stables for heaven's sake!

I did like Cade, though. He's a nice guy, and I do love the nice guys. However, part of his story line involves a woman from his past that accused him of being abusive towards her. Of course that isn't true, but I have such an issue with storylines like this, where a female character is lying about being abused. It just makes me mad.

I just didn't like A Very Merry Christmas by Susan Mallery all that much. It felt underdeveloped, and featured a heroine that I didn't like much, and some storylines that I had issues with. Although I have enjoyed a lot of Susan Mallery's novels, this one just wasn't for me.

 This review was originally posted on Quinn's Book Nook
Profile Image for Sina & Ilona Glimmerfee.
1,057 reviews118 followers
April 10, 2020

Ja, ich weiß... Ein Weihnachtsbuch lesen zu Ostern ist etwas exzentrisch, aber zu Weihnachten bin ich nie in Stimmung und so muss ich Weihnachtstitel halt über das Jahr verteilt lesen.
Bei der Hälfte der Geschichte hätte ich normalerweise abgebrochen, wenn sie nicht so kurz wäre. Weder Story, noch Charaktere haben mich auch nur im Ansatz interessiert. Trotzdem habe ich dann den Rest gelesen/überflogen und ich muss sagen, dass es eine gute Entscheidung war, denn da hatte der König noch eine 'größere' Rolle und über ihn hätte ich tatsächlich gerne ein ganzes Buch gelesen.
Da es mit königlichen Pferden zutun hat und mit einem Gestüt, musste ich zwangsläufig immer wieder Vergleiche zu dem Jugendbuch 'Kronenherz' ziehen (mein Monatshighlight März), was meine Bewertung dieser Kurzgeschichte nicht verbesserte.
Die Charaktere waren simpel gestrickt und die Spannung 'Wie kommen sie wohl zusammen?' stellte sich nicht ein. Es waren keine guten Gründe, warum sie nicht zueinanderfinden konnten. Letztlich waren sie perfekt füreinander und alles was ihnen im Weg stand, war eigentlich kein wirkliches Problem. Es war auch nicht so, dass es zwischen den Beiden gefunkelt und geknistert hätte. Es war nett, wie man sich das so im realen Leben wünscht, aber kein großes Buchkino.
Gut, ich habe auch noch nicht die anderen Teile der Reihe gelesen und bin mit der Kurzgeschichte gestartet, die zwischen Band 2 und 3 spielt. Vielleicht ist diese Liebesgeschichte also eher für Fans des fiktiven Ortes geschrieben.
Profile Image for Kristine.
743 reviews15 followers
November 21, 2017
Original review can be found at https://kristineandterri.blogspot.ca/...

I picked this novella up when I was looking for a quick story to get me in the Christmas spirit. A Very Merry Princess is #2.5 in the Happily Inc series but it can be read as a stand alone. I have not read any of the other books in the series and I was able to follow along.

This book had a fairy tale feel to it with a King and Queen and of course a Princess. It also had a somewhat familiar and predictable storyline. A Princess pretending to be an average person so that she can be treated like everyone else. While pretending to be someone she is not, she falls for the handsome cowboy and things get complicated. Sound cute? It actually was but the problem I had was I kept thinking Bethany was much younger than 26 years old. I'm not sure if it was because of the fairy tale feeling I got from the story or if her character was just a little immature for her age.

I was looking to get the holiday feels from this novella and although it was cute it lacked the Christmasy vibe that I was looking for. Christmas was mentioned a few times and a tree was purchased but it wasn't really a key part of the story. That disappointed me slightly.

A Very Merry Princess was a quick, easy and entertaining story. It lacked the festive spirit that the title and cover eluded to but I enjoyed it all the same.
Profile Image for Michele.
103 reviews5 followers
May 14, 2021
The third book in the Happy, Inc series did not disappoint - well, except in that it was too short!
I love how Mallory is able to bring the animals into yet another story. This time a horse and a barn cat! And of. Ours the humans make the story - a princess and a horse trainer turned ranch owner.
So much in this story appeals to me from the Ky connections to the royalty to who can’t relate to a bad breakup?!
Yet another book that makes me want to move to their small community and meet my friends!!
Profile Image for Julia David.
2,496 reviews25 followers
October 26, 2019
I have read about Bethany and Cade in other stories, so I was happy to read their story. Bethany has been burned so many times, so she travels under another name so no one knows she is a princess. For the first time, it is a problem. She has fallen in love with Cade and he doens't know who she really is. If she declares her love, will he forgive her lie? Or, will he break her heart? Cade has been hurt by lies before and he is glad that Beth is different. Or is she?
Profile Image for Chelsea.
1,550 reviews80 followers
September 1, 2024
I really enjoyed getting to read about Cade Saunders after meeting him in You Say It First. I also really liked Princess Bethany and felt they were a good couple that I am glad I got to read about. Her father Malik is also an interesting character and I added The Secret Bride to my TBR list so I could read the story about how him and her mother got together. I am also looking forward to continuing this series.
Profile Image for Susan Peterson.
1,997 reviews381 followers
December 16, 2017
Romantic Christmas story

I really enjoyed this Christmas novella! A headstrong princess and a dashing rancher...what’s not to love? Heartwarming and sweet, perfect for the holidays!
Profile Image for Christina (A Reader of Fictions).
4,574 reviews1,757 followers
Read
December 24, 2020
Too short to effectively develop the romance, leaving the reader more time to think about this fictional, progressive "Switzerland of the Middle East" country of which this white girl heroine is a princess. It also leaves time to think about the fact that the hero's tragic back story is . While I generally enjoy Mallery, this took all of the worst things and put them in one underdeveloped package.
Profile Image for Ashley.
7 reviews2 followers
December 25, 2017
Not believable at all

I know it's a cheesy Christmas book but it needed a stronger plot and character development. It was a Quick read though.
Profile Image for Laura.
782 reviews72 followers
August 8, 2018
This novella from the Happily Inc. series provides a HEA for Pallas's brother Cade. I actually enjoyed the shorter format for this one -- Beth and Cade, with their mutual passion for horses, were obviously well-suited and didn't really need a longer book to tell their story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Christi.
251 reviews9 followers
December 28, 2018
Perfect segue for Cade's story. Loved this quick book before I start the next 2 in the series. And I want to be this kind of princess!
Profile Image for Megan.
1,684 reviews38 followers
January 2, 2023
This was a short but cute novella that was a fun read and mostly light hearted. Looking forward to reading more books in this series.
Profile Image for Nita.
193 reviews4 followers
November 1, 2024
A delightful short novel that made me smile and feel all warm n fuzzy.
Profile Image for Monique Pearson.
Author 3 books43 followers
October 18, 2018
I LOVE Princess stories! Perfect girl for Cade! Sweet and romantic. I loved King also. I knew he was being mischievous all along!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Brandy.
1,260 reviews56 followers
January 9, 2020
I have been wanting to read Bethany and Cade’s story for awhile, so I was super excited to finally get the chance. And while it was too short (novellas are the bane of my existence), it was sweet and fun.
Profile Image for Leah.
1,976 reviews
March 23, 2020
This takes place mostly in California between Thanksgiving and Christmas. A few parts are in the Middle East. The story focuses on a horse and the romance between Cade and Bethany. I liked that this was short enough to only have one storyline and Cade's sister, Pallas, was in this too.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 334 reviews

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