Princess in Love (Royal Trilogy, #2)

by Julianne MacLean

[EBookObsessed]

This is the second book in Julianne Maclean’s Royal Trilogy, which features the youngest royal, Princess Rose. In this story, Leopold Hunt, Marquess of Cavanaugh, shows us that an omission is as good as a lie and it can cost you everything you hold dear.

Rose’s father, a great soldier, was put on the throne after a revolution overthrew the prior King. He has ruled for over twenty years and has raised his son, Randolph, to succeed him. Leopold’s father is a firm royalist and has been waiting these 20 years to dethrone the King, and put his own son, Leopold, a distant but true royal descendent, on the throne.

When Rose met Leopold two years ago, she was certain their mutual admiration would lead to a proposal of marriage. She all but had her wedding dress picked out, when she was pushed aside by Leo and she learned a painful lesson about love. What Leopold had neglected to mention during their time together was that he has been secretly engaged to the last living child of the former king, Princess Alexandra Tremaine, and their marriage would further support Leo’s claim to the throne. The same Princess Alexandra who was now going to marry Rose’s own brother, Randolph.

Leopold has spent some time away from his father, and after returning from the Napoleonic wars as a hero, Leo has begun to realize that not only does he not share his father’s ambitions to rule the country, he truly admires the King and Prince Randolph. A chance meeting throws Rose and Leopold together again and with his betrothal broken, he wants to pursue a love with Rose. But Leopold has forgotten to mention his royalist father and his secret plot to dethrone Rose’s father.

But even the darkest secrets manage to find their way into the light and when a plot is discovered to kill the King and fingers point to the royalists, Leopold’s past and secret plots start to crumble the foundations of his new love affair with Rose. It is too late to confess his change to heart so now the truth sounds like a lie.

Can love survive when lies, ambition and power come into play? Can you sift out the truth from the lies when there is a crown to be won? Leopold believed he could just walk away cleanly from a lifetime of plotting but will the mark of betrayal be too much for new love to survive?

THOUGHTS:

I really liked this book, Julianne Maclean has a nice writing style, but I didn’t absolutely love this story plot. Pathetic that I am, some stories stress me out especially when you can see the lies that are going to bite the character in the butt. The bigger the lies, the bigger the bite, the more stressed I get. (So sad)

So the first thing I would recommend to you is to skip the Prologue. When the premise of the book includes two people both with an interest in a same crown, you know that you are going to face big issues. I thought the prologue gave too much of what was going to happen so I spent my time waiting for the book to catch up to the prologue and it cast a shadow over the whole story. Start with Chapter 1, the prologue is repeated in the story.

It was a wonderful story. The storyline was more creative than the usual regency fare. Just skip that prologue.

Received ARC from the author. Thank you.

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