Reviewed by Chris*

TITLE:  My Prince

AUTHOR:  Anna Martin

PUBLISHER:  Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH:  243 pages

BLURB:  

After growing up in a rough part of town, George Maguire worked his way out of Manchester and to a career as a design engineer. Alexander van Amsberg, an architecture student at the University of Edinburgh, wasn’t the sort of guy he normally had explosive, hotel-room one-night-stands with. Alex was charming, classy, and, as George later learns, Prince of the Netherlands.

Fate brings them together again, and Alex makes sure to get his sexy stranger’s phone number this time. Despite all the reasons why they shouldn’t work, something clicks, and Alex thinks that this time, he might have found the right guy. But Alex’s aristocratic ex stirs up trouble in the press for George and his humble family, and Alex realizes he has to get real about having a boyfriend from the wrong side of town.

While George acknowledges his modest upbringing, he doesn’t let anyone insult his family. Life’s no fairy tale, and regardless of his royal title, Alex might destroy his one chance for happily ever after.

REVIEW:  

If it says ‘Anna Marin’ on the cover there is a good chance I am going to read it. I love this author’s writing style and her books always are so damn fun to read. Add to that the fact that I have a huge love of the whole ‘accidentally dating royalty’ trope, and this book was an absolute no-brainer for me. I just had to have it.

George is no-one’s idea of a damsel in distress and in need of prince to rescue him. Growing up in the seedier parts of Manchester means that he knows how to look tough and not show that he is attracted to blokes. But despite his rather rough and tumble background he has a good job and a family that loves him. His living situation may be a bit crap, but so far everything else in his life is going good.

Then he shags Alex, a prince of the Netherlands–not that he knows it at the time–and while countless fairy tales are all for the lowly commoner and the studly prince falling in love, in real life things are a lot more complicated. And not just because George isn’t exactly fully out of the closet.

Except for a few bumps in the road, this was a very sweet and easy story. It was one that I happily spent an afternoon reading thru, and it certainly has made its way onto the reread pile. I have a real sweet spot for the Netherlands, and I loved that Alex was from there. Though we didn’t get to spend nearly as much time as I would have liked in the beautiful country. But that is ok, because the UK is always a great place to be (at least in fiction), and I love books set there.

There are not a lot of surprises in this book, but what it lacks in shock and awe, it makes up for with great characters and some damn lovely romance. Their original attraction was hot, but I also liked how they grew as a couple over time. George having to deal with coming out–not only as gay, but as the lover of royalty–was really well written. It wasn’t over-done, and there were no major scandals to deal with in this book, but the way they had to face what they wanted and if it was worth the effort was done well.

Plus, Alex’s friend was just great.

Overall I highly recommend this book when you need something to keep you company on a rainy day. Very much a comfort read.

RATING:  

BUY LINKS:

Dreamspinner

Amazon

ARe

*I previously published my reviews under the name Carissa. As I work to update my profile on Love Bytes, please be aware that posts may be found under either my old name or my new name–depending on when they were originally posted. Hopefully the change-over will not take long and everything will be easier to find at the end of this all.