Just One of the Royals

Falcons' hockey player, Daniel Sacachelli, has a secret; he is the bastard son to the King of Eldonia. After his father’s passing, he needs to head to Eldonia to take up the crown, so his family does not lose their kingdom. He enlists the help of his best friend, Madison Myong, to help him clean up his image. This contemporary sports romance is suitable for young adults. I like Daniel. He is a Junior League hockey player. He loves his half-sister, Evangeline Harwell. He would do anything for her, even giving up his dreams of playing hockey to become king. All he really wants to do is play hockey. He doesn’t feel comfortable when he is in Eldonia. As an American, he doesn’t feel like he belongs. Daniel’s best friend, Madison, is kind of in a similar predicament. She wants to become an actress, but her parents want her to become a doctor. Madison and Daniel have both been pining away over each other thinking the other one isn’t interested. In all fairness to Daniel, originally Madison wasn’t interested in his playboy ways. JUST ONE OF THE ROYALS s a heartfelt and enjoyable read. Things happened that cause controversies. The characters grow and discover a lot about themselves. It had a great ending. I’m looking forward to book three. I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion. 3 stars — OK. So. Hmmm… I adored the first book in this series, so I was excited to see more. But…while this one wasn’t bad, it was just missing something. The tropes in this story are friends to lovers and fake relationship, and I didn’t always understand their friendship, and I DEFINITELY didn’t understand the need for the fake relationship. So I didn’t get what I wanted from those tropes, you know? Daniel could be really adorable, but I felt like there were two parts to him…and I guess I never really understood all of the bad boy stuff. Like was he putting on that persona because he was trying to live up to the bastard prince part? That would make sense, but honestly it wasn’t super clear. And it really didn’t make as much sense considering how sweet he was to his Ma, his sister, and Madison. I guess I didn’t see the point, especially if he was crushing on Madison the whole time. What’s the point in getting together with all those other girls? It wasn’t terribly endearing. Madison could be really sweet as well, but she also got a bit annoying at times. I never really got into her passion for acting, b/c we didn’t get to see it…like at all. We were just told about it. And it really didn’t end up making sense with the fake relationship, I guess I just didn’t see it come into play. And of the two stories, Madison’s definitely felt like the one that fell by the wayside. Neither of their stories felt all that concrete, and I didn’t feel a lot of development for either character either. At the end there was a bit, but it felt rushed by that point. As for the two of them together, their chemistry was okay…but nothing mind-blowing. It certainly didn’t give me as many tummy butterflies as I was expecting. It really felt like their relationship wasn’t that well developed as a friendship at the start of the book, and so I didn’t really feel the progress from that to more. And in this case the back and forth got a bit tiring. It’s common in friends to lovers, but I just wasn’t invested and it didn’t feel like it was building up to something. Like I said at the start, the whole fake relationship didn’t really make sense. Why was it even necessary? It never really came into play in the end. Daniel having an “honor roll” girlfriend did NOTHING to boost his status. Her role wouldn’t have changed a bit if she’d come as his best friend. So that was disappointing. There were other little things that contributed to the okay-ness. I found some of their reactions too over the top…like the spaghetti sauce thing. It made it feel unrealistic. I also saw the twist coming from a mile away, and honestly I was disappointed that no one else saw it until the end. The highlight for me in this book were the antics of the Falcons. It was a bit unbelievable at times, but I loved how they were there for each other. And I enjoyed the hockey bits — it felt like a true sports romance. So yeah. In the end it felt like they tried to put too many elements into the story, and as a result didn’t really succeed at any of them. Too bad. I’ll still look forward to reading Tyler’s story, but I sincerely hope it’s more focused.

This Princess Diaries like story will make you smile. It may be all fairytales and hearts but it's the sweet that makes it fun. Also...hockey. Who doesn't love a bunch of big sweaty hockey players?!?! The B@stard Prince has a lot to learn. With the help of his friends, he learns more in a few weeks than he ever has. Being yourself is far more important than being what everyone else wants...but the Prince isn't the only one learning this lesson.