The Swedish Prince (Nordic Royals, #1)

by Karina Halle

[stacey_is_sassy]

A Swedish Prince walked naked into a room...

Holy Shamoly!! Seriously, even as a happily married woman, there is NO WAY I could look away if a naked 6ft 5 bloke walked into a room. Sorry hubby, but I would DEFINITELY be checking out his package. CAN YOU IMAGINE IF YOU FOUND OUT HE WAS ROYALTY TOO???? OMG, I don't know about you, but I had images of Prince William in my head as I was reading The Swedish Prince. Sorry, Kate, I know he's taken and all, but he and Harry are the only royalty I know...in a princely kind of way. Well, the ONLY royalty I wouldn't oppose and run off screaming if I saw them naked. The only other royal blokes I know are Charles, Andrew and Edward...I DO NOT WANT TO SEE OR THINK OF THEM NAKED!! (shudders) But, then again, I haven't done a World Royal Watch, so I can't vouch for royalty in other countries.

Anyways...back to the story. I really enjoyed The Swedish Prince and found it even more appealing because it wasn't mistakenly represented in a "Modern Day Fairytale" kind of way. We get to see this prince warts and all. Sure, he's a good-looking bloke with plenty of money, a fancy pad and a cool car, but he's also had to face tragedy in the public eye. There is no way all the money in the world would make me smile (to appease the public) when a family member has passed. Sleeping in a fancy bed, driving around in an expensive car or having the nicest clothes will not bring a loved one back. Being constantly monitored, sometimes terrorised and having to be regularly "up" is not something I could do. I know it and thankfully there's not a chance in hell Prince Charming is on his stead racing in to whisk me off to his castle.

There was one part of this story that resonated with me. When Viktor needed to escape his everyday life, I could completely relate. Obviously, my escape is not exactly the same, but in my own little way, it was similar. See, at this time every year, hubby, the boys and I escape to the beach for two weeks. My work brain turns off, I only turn my laptop on every couple of days, and I look at my phone to check the beach conditions not my update feeds. This is my escape from reality. Viktor, like me, needed to escape his real world, become a little oblivious to what's going on at home and just be a tourist for a little while. In some ways, I think everyone needs to step away for a while to hopefully come back refreshed and able to tackle everyday life again.

While this story was good, there were a couple of times I was a little frustrated. Not all of it was because of the story. For one, it took me a lot longer to read. I started The Swedish Prince just before my holidays started so I was running around like a headless chook and didn't have the time to read. Secondly, it did get a wee bit bogged down in parts. I couldn't exactly tell you where, but it did feel like it went on forever at times, and I just wanted to get to the HEA already. I also felt that Prince Viktor expected Maggie to fit into his world without a lot of change to what he normally does. Mate, what the heck? Maggie didn't know the language, lives in a country where there is no monarchy AND she's scraping by as a maid in a hotel. Bloody Hell!! Lucky you have a good mate in Magnus, or your HEA would have been a happy in the sack for a day or two, instead of everlasting love.

Really enjoyed the family dynamics, Viktor's staff and friends that you know you can count on. Disliked the pressure from the media when they feel like you're public property. I know it's a reality, but I hate that the media are under pressure to get the right picture, break the biggest stories and expose the deepest secrets.

The Swedish Prince is sexy, thought-provoking and very sweet. Plenty of times that my heart pumped harder, my sighs were distinct and my smiles were of the goofy variety. It was a win for me and I'm definitely going to read more of these royal tales.