This is a book that I found at Barnes&Nobles and I could not leave the store without it in my hands.
So I bought it.
During dead week. I stayed up until 4am reading it. During dead week. (FYI: Dead weak is the weak before finals.) But ooooohhhh was it a great distraction~
Once Upon a Prince by Rachel Hauck
This is the first of her new series: The Royal Wedding Series (the waiting time for the next one is killing me already!).
I read a few reviews that people compared it to The Princess Diaries, and I can see some similarities, but to be honest I didn't mind it. The characters were still different and the main girl isn't a princess so there wasn't any training to be a princess. The similarities are small and I probably wouldn't have even thought about it if I hadn't read any reviews previously. But that's my own opinion!
So Rachel created a fabulous read for her old and new readers alike! The story starts with Susanna Truitt and at 29 she has never once dreamed of a great romance or being treated like a princess. All she wants is to marry the many she has loved for twelve years. Well life isn't going according to the plan Susanna wanted. He high-school-sweetheart-turned-Marine-officer breaks up instead of proposing.
For some reason it was really hard for me to like her ex-boyfriend at all mainly because I felt so sorry for Susanna to have invested so much of her life into something that she wasn't even that committed too. At the time Susanna had forgiven him for the way he handled the situation she also came to terms with everything handled the way it was suppose to. I actually felt like I was growing and learning with Susanna as she ventured through the new territory of telling people she forgave them and I think that's a great lesson for everyone. I liked that added touch Hauck gave her.
The best part of this book is Prince Nathaniel. Call me bias but I am a hopeless romantic so when an European Prince comes to America all handsome and helpful a girl can't help be swoon. [DISCLAIMER: This prince is sadly not real, that we know of now at least.]
So Nathaniel travels to St. Simmons Island on his American holiday and from there is smitten with Susanna. If you ask me seems like she traded up! I had to laugh about that, and in a weird way it made me forgive her ex-boyfriend easier because Susanna was basically been wooed by a Prince. Score!
Yet, even though it all seems like love dovey time with sugar cookies and daisies sprinkled in the air there are some hurdles Nathaniel and Susanna have to jump though. One is admitting their feelings! Guh, I hate knowing their feelings and they won't say anything! I mean I want to jump in the book and just set them aside and tell them, but that would be crazy.
Both are live lives in different worlds. He's a royal prince. She's an ordinary girl. Then Susanna receives an invitation to Nathaniel's coronation and all the ultimate choice is put before them.
His kingdom or her heart? God's will or their own?
I loved, loved, loved this book and I really do hope to see more of Susanna and Nathaniel. My guess for the next one will be based off of Nathaniel's brother, but only we'll have to wait until that blessed day comes and I can dive back into this wonderful story Rachel has created.
Buy this book today you will not be disappointed! It will lift your heart and make you smile from page to page. I can't wait to see how Rachel goes with the rest of the series to come!
For His Kingdom,
Taylor Reid
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