Review: "His Defiant Princess" by Kathleen O'Brien (Royal Holiday #3)

Note: This ARC was provided by Tule Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Nine years ago, Brenna Tinley met a fellow traveler named Ron Vee during her gap year and it took just one summer for Brenna to fall in love with Ronnie. But he disappeared without a word and, in the process, broke her young heart. One divorce from a now imprisoned embezzler and four years afterward, Brenna and her best friend, Willow Arden, move to the Unified Isles of Cornetta, the same place where she met Ronnie Vee, in order to start her life over and get their business, Tinley-Arden Public Relations, started. 

Five years later, she's summoned to the palace in order to help the Royal House of Vicenza with a PR nightmare courtesy of the heir to throne, Prince Emory. However, it is the rogue prince, Prince Ronan, who has Brenna hesitant to take on the task. Ronan is Ronnie, a fact she discovered in the early days after her move to Cornetta. Ronan has known of Brenna's presence for about a year and has tried not to think of the girl he met that summer. But the more time they spend together, the more Ronan wants Brenna.

Ronan knows he hurt Brenna when he left without saying goodbye but he had no idea how deep that hurt went until after they see each other again after nine years. He wants to be able to explain but he knows that Brenna needs to focus her attention and expertise on Emory and the trouble he's caused. Ronan also made a promise to his late father, a promise that makes Ronan realize that as much as he wants to give Brenna everything she deserves, he may not be able to do so, making him undeserving of her or her love.

His Defiant Princess, a novella written by Kathleen O'Brien, is the third book in the multi-authored Royal Holiday series from Tule Publishing. This was a second chance royal romance between two strong-willed characters who met and fell in love over one summer and then meet again nine years later. A commoner and a member of royalty falling in love is nothing new, but what I loved about this book was the originality in both the story and the characters. Just when I think it's going in a particular direction, it surprises me!

The fact that Brenna knew that Ronnie was actually Prince Ronan and that Ronan knew Brenna was in Cornetta but neither of them did anything about the knowledge was something I wasn't expecting. There were also things that I thought were going to happen that didn't and yet I wasn't upset or disappointed. If anything, I appreciated being kept on my literary toes and His Defiant Princess was a book that defied expectation and one that is definitely worth reading. I'm giving this very pleasant surprise 4.5 stars! ♥

Date Read: 26 April 2015

Learn more about Kathleen O'Brien here.

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