This is book two in a fun series. I received an ARC from the publisher, and after reading In Lieu of a Princess, I was excited to read the next one. The first book is told primarily from the POV of the imposter princess Louisa. All we know in that book is that the actual Princess Louisa ran away from her boarding school when she was told that her brother had died in a shipwreck headed back to their home country. Louisa “Isa” does not believe this for a moment and goes to find her brother. She knows she will be told she is crazy for not believing he is dead, as has been reported in the newspapers, so she leaves alone without telling anyone where she is going.
After being tricked and losing most of her money and her horse, Isa attempts to catch a mail carrier to get to Dover, but she doesn’t have enough money. Enter Sam, the Marquess of Ranleigh. Witnessing a woman who is clearly in distress, he jumps to the rescue and agrees to take her to Dover, even though he was headed in the opposite direction. Because he can sense she is a member of the gentry, even though she will only tell him her name is Isa Gunter, he worries about accompanying her without a chaperone. Luckily, they meet Mrs. Brompton, who is also on her way to Dover and she agrees to act in that capacity.
The journey to Dover (and Margate) takes Isa on a journey to self-growth. She begins the story as an impetuous, spoiled princess with callous disregard for servants and an air of entitlement. Because she will not/cannot tell anyone she is a princess, she is not treated as one. As a result, she is forced to act like a regular well-bred young woman, which is a challenge because she has never been instructed on how to do so. To be honest, she was told how but ignored all of those lessons because they didn’t interest her at the time. She learns to appreciate the service of others and to thank them for it, to consider the feelings of others, and as a result, she makes friends—the first true friends she has ever had.
Sam’s journey is not quite so impactful, although he does have his own issues. His father was an irresponsible gambler, and Sam hates being compared to him. He is left with an estate in need of funds due to his father’s actions and has sworn not to be like him in any way. He also believes love is an illusion and he enjoys his bachelorhood. Naturally, he falls in love with Isa. He also learns that he needn’t swear off gambling altogether, as long as he acts with moderation.
Along the way to Dover, they discover there are men after Isa, but nobody really knows why. They believe the men have been sent to retrieve her and bring her back to school, but when someone shoots at her and then others start appearing who are trying to kill her, things become much more serious. Once they have reached their destination, Sam discovers Isa is Princess Louisa of Aachen-Duren, and he is furious with her for lying to him. They discover there is another Louisa impersonating the princess and determine they must get back to London to set things straight, while still striving to avoid those looking to assassinate Isa.
One of my favorite things about this book was comparing it to In Lieu of Princess. Readers who read book one in this series will recall that Herr Mueller, Louisa’s bodyguard, has men all over England searching for her, not only to keep her safe but also to return her where she belongs. We also know that there were several attempts on the life of the counterfeit Princess Louisa. And we know many of the characteristics the fake princess had to learn to be able to accurately portray the real princess. Now, we see those traits in action, no acting necessary. Of course, the descriptors for the real princess in book one were from the POV of people who knew her so they were influenced by the perceptions of those people. In this book, we learn about the real Louisa and we can see that although the descriptions were correct, there is really so much more to her.
This is a clean story about two people who become friends and, through a series of challenges, realize they have fallen in love. I really enjoyed it and cannot wait to read book three.