Once Upon a Prince, the first novel in the Royal Wedding series by bestselling author Rachel Hauck, treats you to a modern-day fairy tale. Susanna Truitt never dreamed of a great romance or being treated like a princess---just to marry the man she has loved for twelve years. But life isn't going according to plan. When her high-school-sweetheart-turned-Marine-officer breaks up instead of proposing, Susanna scrambles to rebuild her life. The last thing Prince Nathaniel expects to find on his American holiday to St. Simon's Island is the queen of his heart. A prince has duties, and his family's tense political situation has chosen his bride for him. When Prince Nathaniel comes to Susanna's aid under the fabled Lover's Oak, he is blindsided by love. Their lives are worlds apart. He's a royal prince. She's a ordinary girl. But everything changes when Susanna receives an invitation to Nathaniel's coronation. It's the ultimate choice. His kingdom or her heart? God's will or their own? Once Upon a Prince, the first novel in the Royal Wedding series by bestselling author Rachel Hauck, treats you to a modern-day fairy tale. Susanna Truitt never dreamed of a great romance or being treated like a princess---just to marry the man she has loved for twelve years. But life isn't going according to plan. When her high-school-sweetheart-turned-Marine-officer breaks up instead of proposing, Susanna scrambles to rebuild her life. The last thing Prince Nathaniel expects to find on his American holiday to St. Simon's Island is the queen of his heart. A prince has duties, and his family's tense political situation has chosen his bride for him. When Prince Nathaniel comes to Susanna's aid under the fabled Lover's Oak, he is blindsided by love. Their lives are worlds apart. He's a royal prince. She's an ordinary girl. But everything changes when Susanna receives an invitation to Nathaniel's coronation.
This was almost a 4 star book for me. The first two thirds were really fun and light and sweet. Well, the first chapter was a little tough because it's abrupt and the dialog felt a little stilted. But then in the second chapter it smoothed out some and I like the southern flare in the dialog with her family.
I loved how realistic it was in handling modern day royalty and incorporating the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Carl Philip. I liked that even though it was sort of love at first sight it was still grounded in who these characters are and their interaction with each other and their shared faith. I really liked the way they encouraged each other in that faith and what it meant for their lives. Like I said, on it's way to a solid 4 stars with only a few minor complaints.
And then...it was all falling in love and then it kind of fell apart. The author separates the main characters and it just wasn't any fun anymore. Because the fun was them together - flirting and fighting and I'm all for conflict between then and from the outside world. But the story just deflated when they spent so much of the story isolated from one another. And Susanna got kind of annoying in her refusal to admit that she loved him - and then actually saying it over and over but acting like it was the first time every time. She was all mopey and lost and that wasn't fun either.
And then the end! After the lack of fun of them together the end was so short and not as sweet as the beginning and so it was kind of disappointing. I mean, she spent the whole proposal questioning him in order to provide exposition for the reader! And I liked that he called her out on that but it still spoiled a lot of the moment. It was just too fast and too little of the fun and sweet that was the beginning of the story.
