Review: Once Upon a Royal Christmas by Robin Bielman
Note: This ARC was provided by Tule Publishing in exchange for an honest review.
“I guess grace doesn’t come with the royal package,” she teased.“My royal package is better than anyone else’s. Trust me.”Hawk barked out another laugh. Rowan’s mind went straight to the gutter. Show me. Whoa. Put on the brakes, Miss Hard Up. She was not allowed to think anything inappropriate with regards to the prince. From now on, if her thoughts ventured to Theo naked, or half-naked, or even flashing a smile, she’d think about scary clowns instead.
Whoever thinks you need two to three hundred--or more!--pages to tell a beautiful love story needs to take their cue from bestselling author Robin Bielman. In the 105 pages--I'm taking advanced reader's copy and that number includes the pages that weren't the actual story per se--This isn't my first read from her and she's consistently written stories that I've simply fallen in love with, but me being the sucker that I am for a royal romance, well, Once Upon a Royal stole my heart just as Prince Theodore Chenery of Montanique was stealing Rowan Palotay of Montana's. Fans of the author's books should be able to recognize Rowan, who was in the love story involving her older brother Nick and her best friend Cassidy Ware in Falling for Her Bachelor, the second book in the Bachelor Auction Returns series and another Bielman-penned masterpiece that I adored. Rowan and Theo's story is a total standalone, though if you're like me and prefer to read books in a certain order and if you appreciate well-written stories, then I'm highly recommending Nick and Cassidy's romance. Trust me, it's a good one, so totally no regrets.
Maybe you wouldn't expect to find royalty in the Big Sky country, but twenty-eight-year-old Prince Theodore Chenery has flown all the way from his home country of Montanique to meet his maternal grandparents in his late mother's home state of Montana for the very first time. On his first day there, he bumps into Rowan Palotay, also twenty-eight, as she busily tries to stay one--okay, several--steps ahead of the pack of dogs under her dog-walking care. From the moment he meets her, Theo can't help but be taken by Rowan's candor and charm. She's nothing like the other women he's meet, those who blush profusely if he turns their way or who actively vie for his attention. Rowan is refreshingly underwhelmed by his royal status and he doesn't hesitate in requesting her to be his interviewer for an already planned article. She's genuinely interested in who he is, not entirely as a prince but as a man meeting his grandparents and someone trying to carry his mother's legacy. As drawn to one another as they are, Theo knows loyalty to crown and Montanique comes first, even if it means leaving his heart in Montana...
I loved the subtlety and simplicity of this love story. It never felt as if splashes and splatters of paint in loud colors were being thrown on a canvas, but more of gentle brushstrokes that blended together perfectly into this beautiful representation of romance and family except with words. Ro and Theo were so darn cute that it was impossible to not fall for these two and their story. This wasn't "just" a love story, but a tale of discovery about oneself and about their history and the history they went to create for themselves and leave behind later on. This earned bonus points because of the dogs, especially with one being named Oliver, which is also my furry, four-legged baby boy's name (and yes, he, too, is a rather naughty rascal at times!). There were also notable supporting characters, and the ones at the top of my list were the father and daughter tandem of Sean and Annabelle, and I'm desperately, wishfully hoping they'll get their story told down the line as well, because I'm already rabidly curious about them, helping to make Once Upon a Royal Christmas is one of my favorite holiday romances for this year. Five-plus stars. ♥
Maybe you wouldn't expect to find royalty in the Big Sky country, but twenty-eight-year-old Prince Theodore Chenery has flown all the way from his home country of Montanique to meet his maternal grandparents in his late mother's home state of Montana for the very first time. On his first day there, he bumps into Rowan Palotay, also twenty-eight, as she busily tries to stay one--okay, several--steps ahead of the pack of dogs under her dog-walking care. From the moment he meets her, Theo can't help but be taken by Rowan's candor and charm. She's nothing like the other women he's meet, those who blush profusely if he turns their way or who actively vie for his attention. Rowan is refreshingly underwhelmed by his royal status and he doesn't hesitate in requesting her to be his interviewer for an already planned article. She's genuinely interested in who he is, not entirely as a prince but as a man meeting his grandparents and someone trying to carry his mother's legacy. As drawn to one another as they are, Theo knows loyalty to crown and Montanique comes first, even if it means leaving his heart in Montana...
I loved the subtlety and simplicity of this love story. It never felt as if splashes and splatters of paint in loud colors were being thrown on a canvas, but more of gentle brushstrokes that blended together perfectly into this beautiful representation of romance and family except with words. Ro and Theo were so darn cute that it was impossible to not fall for these two and their story. This wasn't "just" a love story, but a tale of discovery about oneself and about their history and the history they went to create for themselves and leave behind later on. This earned bonus points because of the dogs, especially with one being named Oliver, which is also my furry, four-legged baby boy's name (and yes, he, too, is a rather naughty rascal at times!). There were also notable supporting characters, and the ones at the top of my list were the father and daughter tandem of Sean and Annabelle, and I'm desperately, wishfully hoping they'll get their story told down the line as well, because I'm already rabidly curious about them, helping to make Once Upon a Royal Christmas is one of my favorite holiday romances for this year. Five-plus stars. ♥
Date Read: 04 November 2016
Learn more about Robin Bielman.
Jen! I love you and your reviews so hard! Thank you so much for your kind words. I'm super happy you loved Prince Theo and Rowan as much as I do. Thanks for helping me celebrate my new release in such a wonderful way!
ReplyDeleteHappy Friday and weekend! xo
Fangirl moment! Squeeeee!
DeleteYou're welcome, Robin! Thank YOU for all the fantastic stories and characters you give us to fall in love with. ♥