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jayraams's review
4.0
This is a 4 out of 5, it's a slow burn romance. I feel like the people complaining about it being slow pace aren't queer, because WLW people will watch 6 seasons of a straight show for a kinda kiss and 5 minutes of gay stuff.
It is spicy in all the right ways. The neurodiversity is also well written. If you like it fluffy and Atypical this is your next queer read
It is spicy in all the right ways. The neurodiversity is also well written. If you like it fluffy and Atypical this is your next queer read
editorbrenna's review
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kelseyd's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Alyssa Cole is my queen and I love everything she writes, and her first book in the Runaway Royals series was one of my faves I still think about, so this one as an "Anastasia" retelling was a pre-order for me. It then sat on my shelf waiting for a perfect moment. I loved this one a lot, although it was a different journey than I was expecting. Bez is an investigator with autism who has been trying to find the heir to her home country for years. She thinks Makeda is the heir, but Makeda thinks it's a mistake and just wants Bez pick someone else. I related to Makeda so much as a people-pleaser, and Bez helps her learn how to focus on just being herself because that is enough. I thought most of this book would take place in the home country, but it actually is a road-trip romance with a fake relationship, only one bed, and a twist ending at the end. Usually Cole's stories end with a "happily ever after" and this one felt a little more like "happily for now," but I still loved it and can't wait for the third one to come out!
shancarr's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
anacereading's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
kaylajcj's review
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
tiredqueer's review
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
womanwill's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
zayah_wrights's review
3.0
We open up the story to our main Character, Makeda, losing her job (apparently because she's too obedient and a less suitable candidate for the promotion she was gunning for). As if the day can't get any worse, she gets home to find her girlfriend all packed and ready to leave her. Steph claims that Makeda is suffocating, always wanting to lend a helping hand.
Her grandmother offers her a job at her family's guesthouse, which she accepts and says she'll move back in to help run the business. Then, gran touches on a subject Makeda is reluctant to discuss, her so-called royal lineage. She hates talking about it because of how crazy it drove her mother, leading to her being bullied and teased about it at school. So, growing up, it became something she started to resent. Yet gran won't let it go, at least not without Makeda reaching out to the royal house, claiming she has nothing to lose at this point.
She won't have any of it and this pushes gran to be more determined, saying that the kingdom of Ibarania is looking for its long-lost heir and that there's a cash lumpsum offered to whoever the royal house finds to be the true heir. And our girl could use the cash injection as she's stuck paying off a loan she was basically sweet talked into taking out but then left to handle it all alone.
The, we meet Beznaria, who's working hard to find a way to restore honour to her family's name due to an incident that took place years ago. Her grandmother, the royal guard at the time, lost the land's queen on a bustling dock in Sicily. And her reputation has never recovered. Bez, being the person she is, vows to clear her grandmother's name by finding the lost heir. And what do you know, the searching committee is soon inundated with tons of claims that she's tasked with following up on and they lead her to the U.S.
These two meet and, though they're not the best of friends from the get-go, they do try to treat each other with some respect. Makeda is none too happy about any of this, which poses a threat to the next phase of Bez's investigation: to take Makeda back to Ibarania.
The one thing that ends up convincing Makeda to finally agree to going with Makeda is the fact that the loan she's taken out is posing threats to her grandmother's business. And to get that lump sum offered by the royal family would be the push out of the forest she needs desperately.
We spend a lot of time on the cargo ship Bez was able to get them onto, by lying and saying they're a newly-wed couple. And by the time they get to Ibarania, I was starting to lose all the focus and all the fun had been drained out of the story.
Even the ending was a bit confusing to me - all along, Bez is the actual long-lost heir, and we never really get the answer about whether Makeda is also related to the royal family or not. I did love the chemistry these two had as well as the longing they tried so hard to hide from each other. I just wish we had more time with them once they got to Ibarania.
Her grandmother offers her a job at her family's guesthouse, which she accepts and says she'll move back in to help run the business. Then, gran touches on a subject Makeda is reluctant to discuss, her so-called royal lineage. She hates talking about it because of how crazy it drove her mother, leading to her being bullied and teased about it at school. So, growing up, it became something she started to resent. Yet gran won't let it go, at least not without Makeda reaching out to the royal house, claiming she has nothing to lose at this point.
She won't have any of it and this pushes gran to be more determined, saying that the kingdom of Ibarania is looking for its long-lost heir and that there's a cash lumpsum offered to whoever the royal house finds to be the true heir. And our girl could use the cash injection as she's stuck paying off a loan she was basically sweet talked into taking out but then left to handle it all alone.
The, we meet Beznaria, who's working hard to find a way to restore honour to her family's name due to an incident that took place years ago. Her grandmother, the royal guard at the time, lost the land's queen on a bustling dock in Sicily. And her reputation has never recovered. Bez, being the person she is, vows to clear her grandmother's name by finding the lost heir. And what do you know, the searching committee is soon inundated with tons of claims that she's tasked with following up on and they lead her to the U.S.
These two meet and, though they're not the best of friends from the get-go, they do try to treat each other with some respect. Makeda is none too happy about any of this, which poses a threat to the next phase of Bez's investigation: to take Makeda back to Ibarania.
The one thing that ends up convincing Makeda to finally agree to going with Makeda is the fact that the loan she's taken out is posing threats to her grandmother's business. And to get that lump sum offered by the royal family would be the push out of the forest she needs desperately.
We spend a lot of time on the cargo ship Bez was able to get them onto, by lying and saying they're a newly-wed couple. And by the time they get to Ibarania, I was starting to lose all the focus and all the fun had been drained out of the story.
Even the ending was a bit confusing to me - all along, Bez is the actual long-lost heir, and we never really get the answer about whether Makeda is also related to the royal family or not. I did love the chemistry these two had as well as the longing they tried so hard to hide from each other. I just wish we had more time with them once they got to Ibarania.
clownwitch's review
4.0
wow this book was a delight i just finished with happy tears in my eyes and already miss makeda and bez. atlantic city, the high seas, queerness, neurodivergence, a search for a royal heir, a hilarious bad guy, a huge cast of wonderful and supportive characters, and two protagonists learning how to communicate, navigate conflict, love, and heal all while finding delight, laughter, and joy. wow still crying. what a gift!