The Princess Plan is the first book in A Royal Wedding series by Julia London.

If you like your books to be suspenseful, exciting and of course to have a fabulous romance, then this book ticks all those boxes. The romance is between Prince Sebastian and Eliza Trickleback. He is from Alucia in Europe and is looking to broker a trade deal with England. He also needs to choose an English wife for political gain. He should be choosing from the wealthy aristocrats but from the minute he meets Eliza he is smitten. 

Eliza is the daughter of a judge, they aren't poor, but they aren't of the class necessary to hope a Prince would ever even think of crossing their threshold.  When Sebastian does just that, they are shocked to the core. Initially, he visits their house to discuss an article printed by a magazine owned by the judge. It hints strongly at who may have committed the murder of Sebastian's friend and secretary. That is where the suspense starts because not only are the police looking for the culprit but Eliza and Sebastian join forces to do their own investigating.

The excitement of the chase, the danger that Eliza may find herself in, and of course the suspense as they come closer and closer to finding out who the murder is was fabulous. As for the romantic aspect of the story, oh my, our couple fights the good fight, their attraction being almost palpable, but when they give in to that first kiss...WOW...it was the most memorable first kiss I have read in a very long time. Their whole relationship is bittersweet because there is no way that Sebastian can get out of marrying one of the women chosen for him for the sake of their country. Or is there??

I really enjoyed Sebastian and Eliza's story and I happily recommend it.

When his secretary and best friend is murdered, the Crown Prince of Alucia has to team up with the most unlikely ally.

I received a free copy from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Prince Sebastian is in London to officially close a trade deal; and to unofficially find a wife amongst the eligible English ladies. The first part is his passion; the second is with greatest reluctance.
Everything is thrown amiss when one of the Alucians is murdered.
Not satisfied with the progress of the official investigation, Sebastian takes it upon himself to follow a lead that everyone else dismissed - a comment in a gossip gazette.

Eliza is content with her life. She has embraced being a spinster, and the freedom it brings her. She looks after her blind father, and helps with his legal cases; fixes clocks as a hobby, and helps to run the gossip gazette that her sister owns.
Everything is running smoothly, until an arrogant prince turns up and demands information on what she might have seen on the night his friend died.

There were some enjoyable parts to this story. The relationship Eliza has with her sister, her best friend Caroline, and the house-staff is quite lovely. There is a lot of open banter and laughter amongst them.
It was fun to watch Eliza give the same treatment to the Crown Prince who, naturally has never been spoken to in such a manner, and spends a lot of his time around Eliza completely flummoxed.
I liked how the relationship between Eliza and Sebastian developed, they both know their friendship can't last and they are always telling themselves that they will have to say goodbye and that the prince will have to marry someone else. It made a nice change that this was accepted, and wasn't a cause for spite or arguments.

The not-so-good...
I didn't like our main characters.
Eliza is supposed to be an independent, forward-thinking young woman, who has developed her own confidence after being ruined by scandal. I found her rude, blind to others, crude and inconsiderate. I got the feeling she was supposed to be a strong character, but she came across as very shallow.
Sebastian is supposed to be an arrogant prince who always gets his way, and the author captures that beautifully. The problem is, he never improves, and I could not like him.

The story wasn't too heavy on the romance, which I found quite a nice touch; but the background of the gossip gazette, the trade deal and the murder mystery were just that - a background.
There were no details, beyond which were convenient for moving the plot forward. Eliza didn't seem like a gossip, and she was often lacking in society knowledge, so it was often jarring that she was involved in the gazette (and we never saw her working on it, or any information on what she contributed).
The ending was a little underwhelming. The truth behind the murder is a decent enough plot, but it rattles along quickly, and is dismissed so they can break out the "Princess Plan". This felt tacked on at the end.

Overall, it was kinda light and fun, but I'm in no rush to read the rest of the series.

The princess plan by Julia London . 

Visiting Prince Sebastian of Alicia is a rich pompous royal heir on an overseas trade delegation with mounting pressure for him to find a suitable spouse whilst there. His personal secretary is murdered and is causing scandal and talk when it appears in Eliza Tricklebank’s gossip gazette. Eliza is a commoner, being the daughter of an elderly high court judge, and has printed anonymous tips about the murder in her gossip rag. Eliza meets him at the ball unaware he is actually the real Prince, as she is attending the royal ball her best friend who managed to arrange an invitation to due to her family’s royal Connections. Sebastian contacts her as he conducts some amateur sleuthing unaware they had met before. She does not stand on ceremony for her  and asks him to leave as she feels he is extremely rude. He gets irritated by her then fascinated by her as she is very clever and they investigate the murder. Then the relationship becomes steamy behind closed doors. He must choose a suitable bride as befits his countries standing and Eliza is not suitable as she is a commoner and Sebastian must choose. His country or love a solution must be found to resolve trade negotiations and a wife.

Well written book. Enjoyable historical romance novel. I liked it but felt it was a bit dragged out.

I do adore a royal romance and this one is really quite up there with the best of them. I Really enjoyed this story and especially both Characters, Sebastian and Eliza. I can't wait to read more from Julia London

An interesting plot.
It must be difficult for authors to find a different slant to a historical romance but Julia London has taken the well used trope of aristocrat (in this case a Prince) and commoner and given it a twist of murder and treason. Thoroughly enjoyable.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Absolutely by fantastic book, I very much enjoyed it very much, this I think is the first book I've read by this author but definitely will be reading more as our author is most definitely a great writer especially in a genre I adore.

Sadly couldn’t get the feel of this book, so am putting it down for another time in the hopes it strikes better.

Started off well and enjoyable but began to become stale, which I’m sorry about as I typically love historical romance/fiction and London’s works in general.

This was a book of two halves. The first half felt slow, the characters not all that likeable - particularly the prince, who came across as womanising and aggressive. It's not my favourite thing in a romance book to see one of the love interests having casual relationships with someone else in the course of the story. I'm not against them having had casual relationships with people, but I don't really want to see that when I'm invested in them getting with the other love interest. It feels like a betrayal, somehow. But that's me. Other readers may not have the same objections.

The second half gets better. Once Sebastian and Eliza get into the business of trying to solve the murder of one of Sebastian's staff, the pace picks up and the relationship between the two of them starts to progress into more agreeable territory. An 'inappropriate' woman sweeping a member of the royal family off their feet is one of my favourite romance tropes, so I thoroughly enjoyed Eliza beating out all the other upper class girls to win Sebastian's heart.

So, a mixed bag for me. There's nothing wrong with the writing or the story telling - it's just a case of what romance tropes work and don't work for me. If you like the slightly overly alpha hero, and don't mind a bit of casual sex with someone who isn't the heroine, along with the historical romance tropes of balls and dresses and carriage rides, you'll probably really enjoy this. For me, the second half made up for a lot of the things I didn't like in the first half, and it gets a solid 3.5 stars.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a review copy.

London’s high society loves nothing more than a scandal. And when the personal secretary of the visiting Prince Sebastian of Alucia is found murdered, it’s all anyone can talk about, including Eliza Tricklebank. Her unapologetic gossip gazette has benefited from an anonymous tip off about the crime, forcing Sebastian to ask for her help in his quest to find his friend’s killer.
I had mixed feelings about this book & feel like I’m sitting on the fence. It got off to a great start & I loved Sebastian & Eliza's first meeting in a servants' corridor & then Sebastian stepping on her foot, I adored her ordering him out of her house & at that point felt I was in for a very entertaining read with lots of banter between the pair, I also felt there was a great chemistry building but after that it went a bit flat. The murder mystery held my interest throughout & I enjoyed that part of the book. I felt the chemistry between the pair didn’t develop & I had difficulty buying into their love for each other. So a mixed read for me.
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

Great fun!

I really enjoyed this book, the main character Eliza resonated so much with me, speaks your own mind, not so much into "company", you know the fancy visitors etc! Eliza treated Sebastian like he wasn't a prince and that was so refreshing, usually there's a lot of bowing and sticking by society's rules and she just doesn't. I adored her and so wish I could be her!

Sebastian doesn't know what has hit him when he meets Eliza, no one talks to him like that, he's a crown prince for heavens sake! I struggled a bit more with Sebastian, especially at the beginning, he is so aware of who he is and everything is done according to that and he did frustrate me. However as the story progressed, I did find myself warming to him and by the end I was routing for him!

This book looks at the unconventional side of London society which is refreshing and it kept me turning the pages, I will admit to a bit of a binge read (it originally started whilst hiding from my cleaning lady and then I was hooked!)

I would recommend this book to those who don't want the traditional historical romance but something more fun with its own amount of drama

I like a historical romance and was looking forward to it. I knew that it would be light hearted and so it was. A spinster who looks after her blind father tries to help a foreign Prince solve the murder of his secretary. The heroine was feisty, knows her own mind. He is seemingly immune to her but gradually falls under her spell. A typical light hearted romance..
Somehow it didn't work for me, mainly because of the historical inaccuracies. Julia London likes using Victorian words for things to seem like she knows her period well. But she had too many obvious mistakes. Particularly annoying was that the man was given five pence to deliver a note. Anyone in the UK would know that sixpence is half a shilling and that there is no coin called five pence. Many other inaccuracies spoilt the story.

A fun, romantic read set in Victorian England that will keep you in a lighthearted mood. Definitely a beach read.

I am a fan of Jane Austen and historical romances. So when The Princess Plan by Julia London came available, i jumped at the chance. Although i wasn’t sure as it was a Mills & Boon, and i get the impression that Mills & Boon are quite cheesy, but i was most definitely mistaken. I love novels with a mixture of romance and scandal in a historical setting and this book came with the added bonus of a murder mystery too. So this book most certainly didn’t disappoint. I did to be fair find it hard to get into at first, but I never give up on a book, i persevered and wasn’t disappointed. I love how this author shows and not tell through the desciptions of the fashions and hairstyles of the day. I can just envisage what that person looks like in my mind. All in all i like the plot, although i found a bit slow to start, I’m not quite sure if i warmed to the main characters - Eliza and the prince. But i would recommend a read.

This book was a huge disappointment. I kept reading it hoping that it would improve but unfortunately I had to give up reading it at 30%

Rather disappointing for me I'm afraid. The blurb promised a spunky journalist heroine but what I got was a spinster who had happily settled into a comfortable life of caring for her blind father and sharing gossip with her widowed sister (the owner of a ladies gazette and the actual journalist) and her vapid, annoying, socialite friend who was entirely pointless to the story beyond providing the access to balls and fancy dinners. While there's nothing wrong with a carer heroine (a large percentage of fantastic historical romance feature heroine in a caring role) it was not the dynamic I was promised so I felt a little put out.

Unfortunately the hero also fell flat for me and, despite the fun, racy first meeting between the two in a hidden passageway at the beginning, they don't even meet properly for a long portion of the book and any solid romantic feels don't really appear until about 60% into the book. Thankfully once you're over that incredibly slow start the plot and romance picks up and becomes enjoyable to read but it's too little too late. The murder mystery is clumsy and the villains are so clearly sign posted it's almost insulting when the reveal comes and while I liked the romantic resolution the epilogue was overly cheesy felt grossly out of character with how manically happy everyone was.

Shame really as I was 100% on board for a lady journalist detective and a Prince gadding about London on the chase for a murderer. What I got was too many pages of the three female characters chatting in parlours about absolutely nothing, too few interactions between the leads and a paper thin mystery that's tied up off page. 

2 start for the brief spark of fun when the romance finally kicks off.

Had Julia London and/or her editor been able to differentiate between England and Great Britain, I might have been better disposed towards The Princess Plan.  Right from the beginning the lack of research in the book was irking.  And that continued to the end.  A baron's daughter is not Lady anything and the resolution of the plot hung on that.  I was also irritated by how the author imagined English was spoken in Victorian London - anything ranging from Shakespeare's version to that of the 1920s it would appear.  However, I did keep reading to the end.

vThank you to NetGalley for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for my fair and honest review.

I have to be honest, I went into this book with low expectations but I'm pleased to say that was crushed pretty quickly. I really liked the characters especially Eliza. I thought it was quite an interesting read which I couldn't put down. A good first novel by Julia London.

A sweet, fairly lighthearted story, filled with humour.  Eliza Tricklebank, a spinster, and her sister Hollis, a widow, write and publish Honeycutt’s Gazette of Fashion and Domesticity for Ladies, a very popular little magazine.  Together with their friend Caroline they have some delightfully dotty escapades, all in the cause of gathering snippets of gossip to include in their Gazette.  Eliza is generally a chatty person, but when she gets the unexpected opportunity to go to a ball given by Queen Victoria to welcome the Crown Prince Sebastian of Alucia to England, she acquires a taste for rum punch which makes her even more chatty, and flirty.

There is a tragedy within the Alucian delegation, and the Crown Prince is determined to discover why it happened.  His first clue is something Eliza writes in the Gazette, so he and his brother find their way to her house, where they think they should be speaking to her father, as the owner of the Gazette.  One thing leads to another and soon Eliza is helping to solve the mystery, falling in love with the prince in the process!  Of course, this is futile, he has to marry someone from a family with great influence ... or is it?  The Crown Prince would rather marry someone who will be his equal, who will love him for himself rather than his title;  can he find a way to get round the royal marriage rules?

Worth reading

I rarely don't finish a book, whether one I pick up for pleasure or a review volume; however, on this occasion I'm afraid this one has defeated me.

I read about a fifth of the way through and the plot was still rather hazy, what there was, was contradictory and the characters were mostly unsympathetic. 

It is strange that the author is writing about the UK but the detail is so American and nothing appears to have been that well researched. For instance, Hollis as a given name, if you Google it, comes up entirely given to Americans. Her references to 'the Covent Garden Market' (author's grammar) was annoying - small details but these are those that take a book, any book, even a Mills and Boon romance, from believable to otherwise. Using English , olde worlde phrases with US grammar doesn't work.

The scenes from the point of view of Eliza are comedies and are written for chuckles, entirely at odds with the more serious passages concerning a murder and the Alucian prince. What is this novel, a light-hearted comedy, or a tragedy? I will say that that author has constructed the amusing dialogue between the women very well, but what is amusing about a man with his throat cut? And the publisher formatted the file very poorly making it harder to read.

I was hoping for an easy, light read with tons of romance but thus far, no romance, only a sordid one-night stand Victorian style.

This was a delightful story of forbidden love, set in the time of Queen Victoria. The cast of characters were entertaining and the storyline compelling, with its ups and downs, intrigue and the anguish of a forbidden liaison. I was delighted with the conclusion, which was very clever.