The Royal Runaway

by Lindsay Emory

For fans of The Princess Diaries and The Royal We comes a fun and daring novel about a modern-day princess who teams up with a spy to find out what happened to the fiancé who left her at the altar--and who just might get her own fairytale in the process. Princess Theodora Isabella Victoria of Drieden of the Royal House Laurent is so over this princess thing. After her fiancé jilted her on their wedding day, she's finally back home after spending four months in exile--aka it's back to press conferences, public appearances, and putting on a show for the Driedish nation as the perfect princess they expect her to be. But Thea's sick of duty. After all, that's what got her into this mess in the first place. So when she sneaks out of the palace and meets a sexy Scot named Nick in a local bar, she relishes the chance to be a normal woman for a change. But just as she thinks she's found her Prince Charming for the night, he reveals his intentions are less than honorable: he's the brother of her former fiancé, a British spy, and he's not above blackmail. As Thea reluctantly joins forces with Nick to find out what happened the day her fiancé disappeared, together they discover a secret that could destroy a centuries-old monarchy and change life as they know it. Funny, fast-paced, and full of more twists and turns than the castle Thea lives in, The Royal Runaway is a fresh romantic comedy that will leave you cheering for the modern-day royal who chucks the rulebook aside to create her own happily-ever-after.

• ISBN10: 1501196618
• ISBN13: 9781501196614
• Publish Date: 9 October 2018
• Publish Status: Active
• Publisher: The Gallery Press
• Imprint: Gallery Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[girlinthepages]

*Huge thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC free of charge!*

*Actual Rating: 3.5 Stars*

If you know my reading tastes at all, you know that word "royals" in a contemporary novel hooks me every.single.time. That's why I've had my eye on The Royal Runaway for a while now, and it's comp titles are The Princess Diaries and The Royal We (two of my favorite contemporary reads EVER) so I screamed when I was approved for it on NetGalley and immediately dove in once I knew I had some good, solid uninterrupted reading time.

The Royal Runaway features a small, imaginary European country (Genovia, anyone?) called Drieden and centers on Princess Thea, second in line to the throne after her reluctant crown prince father. Knowing that her father would NOT make a good king (nor does he want to be one), Thea's been brought up with much of the pressure of being a crown princess and the knowledge that she will probably see herself on the throne sooner than most would anticipate.

The story begins in the aftermath of her royal wedding disaster, where she is left at the altar by her fiancé, who didn't even bother to show up at the wedding. After spending a few months in isolation while the scandal died down, Thea returns to her home country only to be swept up in a conspiracy situation that involves spies, murders, political corruption and, interestingly enough, a psychic.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that The Royal Runaway was not a romance novel, but much more of a spy story. When Thea finds out her ex-fiancé may be in danger and perhaps skipped the wedding by force, she teams up with Nick (a Scot, presumed dead, who's now a spy) to find out what really happened and face some of the corruption in her country head on. I was not a fan of Nick and Thea's relationship personally (I didn't feel like they'd actually end up liking each other and there wasn't enough time for a true hate-to-love romance to develop, and I also just think Nick was kind of a jerk), there weren't too many romance scenes. I was 100% there for the scheming, betrayals and political intrigue and think that this book honestly could have stood on its own without the romance. Things did take a weird turn when a psychic/astrologer got involved (still not REALLY sure what her role was in everything?) but I also don't think realistically a member of a royal European family could jaunt around Europe solving mysteries unnoticed so I'm acknowledging a certain suspension of disbelief was needed to enjoy this story.

What I really enjoyed about this story was that Thea was a truly intelligent protagonist, and unapologetic about it. She has a true passion and love for her country's history and politics and is always spouting off anecdotes and mini history lessons about her royal ancestors (I loved all the alternative history in relation to the other European nations) and though pretty much every characters gives her crap for being a history nerd she never cares. She's also not a ~special snowflake~ character who miraculously has everything come easily to her and becomes a kick-butt heroine- she really has no idea what to do with a gun or how to defend herself but manages to get herself out of some tough situations with her quick thinking and princess training.

Overall: The Royal Runaway was an extremely fun and quick read that covers some of my favorite topics in fiction. While it's not an all time favorite for me, I really looked forward to sitting down and reading it and definitely see the potential for a sequel based on some loose ends at the end of the story, which I would definitely read!This review was originally posted on Girl in the Pages

[Cocktails and Books]

I wanted to live this book. The elements were there. But I felt like I was supposed to believe in a romance that was never really seemed to develop between Thea and Nick was there. That the government would let a little thing like embezzlement go. And in the end, the bad guy never really gets caught. It all made for an underwhelming story, despite having a quirky heroine I liked.

[Liz (Bent Bookworm)]

~*Full review here on The Bent Bookworm!*~

Fluffy. A little bit funny, a lot ridiculous. Requires much more suspension of disbelief than my usual picks, but even still it was entertaining enough to finish. The title feels a bit misleading, as Thea never really seems to run away…she just sort of flounces off and disappears for a few days but doesn’t really go far. But anyway…

The plot is a bit…farfetched. Hence the required suspension of disbelief. The locale is obviously based on England, but the author has invented another country (I suppose so no one can say she’s dissing the actual British royal family?) and culture. Said country and culture is pretty much England…except England is also mentioned. Color me confused, for the first few chapters until I gave up trying to understand and just rolled with it. Then there is the issue of Princess Thea’s fiance’ abandoning her at the altar, and all the other super-secret-squirrel-stuff…and then there’s the other guy, who, yes, sounds hot, but in a very generic sense. Oh well, it was still cute.

I struggled a bit to really connect with and feel for the characters. Both Thea and Nick are just kind of…flat. Not in an annoying way, there just didn’t seem to be a lot there other than Nick’s oh-so-attractive-secretiveness about his past life and Thea’s terribly, exhausting choices between family duty and her heart’s desires. Oooookay, first world problems much? That is, at least, pointed out in the book. Thea needed a backbone. Nick needed to think more with his big head instead of his little one, all James Bond style.

The end was a little rushed, but it tied up all the loose ends nicely. All in all The Royal Runaway was a light, quick and easy read but without a whole lot of substance – which sometimes is exactly what is needed.

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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[Romance Schmomance]

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The Royal Runaway was a first time read from this author and I enjoyed this story full of twists and turns! I wasn't exactly sure what I was getting myself into when I decided to pick this one up. It was pretty low on the romance, but I quickly realized there was more to the story than Princess Theodora finding love. It was time for her to pave the path of her future.

The blurb is what sucked me into this book, I was so intrigued and couldn't wait to start as soon as it landed on my kindle. Who in their right mind would leave a princess at the altar?! Crazy, I tell ya. And that was just the beginning of a journey to find out the truth about the disappearance of her ex-fiance alongside a rather sexy Scot named Nick.

I absolutely adored Thea, she craved nothing more than to put duty aside and be her own person. To be free to do whatever she wanted to do, to have that bit of freedom. As the story progresses, we see a bit of her naivety fall away and the truth surrounding people she has known for most of her life, even her family. And that's when she started to take control back in her hands and do what she can to protect her people and country. I really loved witnessing her journey of coming from a low point and picking herself back up again into a much stronger person.

Nick was always quite a mystery throughout this entire book, I was curious about his true motives. It was evident that there was something strong between them, but he rarely let up about it. He made it pretty obvious that he was fighting his attraction towards Thea also while trying to stay on task of what he was trying to do, but you can only push for so long. I'm not going to lie, I was a bit disappointed with the clean romance in this one, but I know soooo many out there will appreciate that fact. It was still enough for me to just fall in love with these two!

I loved watching the growth in Thea, someone who grew to be a much stronger leader for her country. There were some moments in the middle that felt like things were moving a bit slowly, but it picked up right away to get you to the end.

From the adventure, the journey towards strength and confidence and the bits of love in between, made for a very enjoyable read! I'll definitely look forward to reading more from this author.

Major thanks to Gallery Books and Netgalley for the advanced reader's copy!