How to Catch a Prince - Rachel Hauck

HOW TO CATCH A PRINCE (The Royal Wedding Series #3)

Publisher:
  Zondervan
Release Date:
  February 24, 2015
Market:
  Christian
Genre:
–Christian Fiction, Chick Lit
Length:
–368 pages
My Rating:
   4/5

 

About This Book (from Goodreads)

Prince Stephen came to America to escape responsibility. But what he found complicates his life more than ever.

Corina Del Rey is happy with her life in Melbourne, Florida. She spends her days engrossed in her career as a journalist and has her sights set on climbing the corporate ladder if for no other reason, to distract herself from her dissolving family. But when she is confronted with the past she fought so hard to put behind her, she struggles to make sense of her future.

Prince Stephen of Brighton Kingdom has moved on since the tragic death of his buddies in Afghanistan. A star professional rugby player, he has no intention of looking over his shoulder at what could ve been.

But when a notice arrives in the mail requiring his and his wife s appearance before the courts to dissolve their marriage, he must deal with the questions rumbling around in his heart. He thought his marriage had been annulled long ago, but his memories of Corina Del Rey remain close. Does he still love her? Can he even find her? Above all, can he tell her the truth about that fateful night in Afghanistan seven years ago? If he does, he might really lose her forever."

CRITIQUE

I have read the other two books in The Royal Wedding Series.  Knowing them to be fun, predictable reads made me excited to read the most recent installment. 

I received a digital copy of the book from the author as a part of the Street Team and the same time my request for an ARC from NetGalley came through.  A few days later, the request I had placed at the library a few months before publication was fulfilled.  Clearly I was meant to read this book.

This book certainly met my expectations.  And it was just what I needed to be reading at the time – something light and entertaining and uplifting. 

There was a good mix between the prose and the dialogue.  I never felt bogged down in any of the details or scenes. 

There were a couple of places that didn’t seem consistent.  For example, when Corina goes home to pick up a dress and says her flight leaves that night and then shortly after says it leaves the next day.  But it was just a little blip that didn’t take away from the story.

While the outcome of the story was predictable, I still liked to get to know Corina and Stephen and “see” their interactions with each other.  I will say the break-aways to Gigi I could have done without.  And the randomness of her having been at Cathedral City seemed to come from out of nowhere.

I don’t believe there was too much backstory.  You’re hit with the twist at the start and the past, while hinted at, is explained as needed.

The romance in the book is pleasant.  I enjoyed and cheered for Corina and Stephen.  Hoewver, I found the spiritual/supernatural elements to be a bit…I hesitate to say it, but hokey.  The whole Manor and Adelaide and all.  I really had to have a suspension of reality. 

That being said, I really did enjoy the book – reading the whole thing in just a day or so.  Every time my toddler would let me, I’d pick it up and read a few more pages.  It was a much needed break between the more serious reading in my piles.  Definitely would recommend.  And even though it’s the third in a series, I do believe it could be read as a stand-alone.

Rosie Dunne - Cecelia Ahern

Synopsis from B&N.com:  From the bestselling author of PS, I Love You comes a delightfully enchanting novel about what happens when two people who are meant to be together just can't seem to get it right.

Okay, let’s just get it out of the way.  Why are European chick lit novels so full of profanity?  I just don’t understand it.

Whew!  Now that’s done, on to the rest…

I loved the format of this novel.  The whole story is told through a series of notes, letters, invitations, cards, emails, and chat.  You know, the way we tell our stories every day.  I loved the nuances and the misspellings and the quirkiness of it all.

I really was attached to the character of Rosie and was cheering her on…and groaning as she made various bad decisions.  I didn’t get as attached to Alex, but that is probably as the story has more of a focus on Rosie and her life.

It was a great bookclub choice for the month of love.  It was “enchanting”.   But, more than that, it was just plain fun to read.

Note:  This book was also published under the titles of Love, Rosie and Where Rainbows End.  Oh, and it’s slated to be released as a movie in 2013.  Hopefully they do a better job with it than they did Ahern’s P.S. I Love You (loved the book; the movie was just okay).

The Devil Wears Prada - Lauren Weisberger

I saw the movie a few years ago. A friend from book club had the book as a suggestion to read. We didn’t end up picking it for a club selection, but I asked to borrow it. I felt like reading something light and witty. I wasn’t disappointed.


Andrea Sachs dream is to write for The New Yorker. She believes she is on the fast track for that dream job when she lands a position as the assistant to THE editor of Runway magazine. Little does she know what the job is going to require of her physically, mentally, and emotionally.

I enjoyed the book (but could have done without the language). You know, so often when we are in the midst of something, we really are blind to how it is affecting and changing us. We are focused on just the moment to moment to achieve the end goal and don’t realize that we could be causing our world to fall apart around us.

That’s why it’s so important to have balance – something I continually struggle with.

One Season of Sunshine - Julia London

Jane Aaron was adopted as an infant. Now she is thirty and has spent a few years teaching second grade in Houston and is experiencing writer’s block regarding her master’s thesis. Her boyfriend has just proposed, and she realizes that despite how together her life seems and how much she loves her family, she has a longing to know where she comes from.


To this end, Jane takes a leave of absence from her job and heads to Cedar Springs…the only place she knows to begin her search for her birth family. While in Cedar Springs, Jane takes a job as a nanny for a widower with two children. That seems to progress while she continues to hit roadblocks in her search.

The book was a nice, light read. The story was intriguing, and I enjoyed the characters.

I had two qualms. The first is that there were a few sensual moments. Not really over the top, but more than I’m comfortable with. After reading the book, I read online that Julia London is known for her seriously romance novels. So I would imagine this one was very much toned down for her.

Also, there were a few loose ends. Mainly, did Jane ever finish her thesis?