Once Upon a Princess

A very cute and a little steamy at times fantasy romance, fast paced and fun with a Robin hood feel to it, a lovely way to spend some time in the pages of this fun story

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

This book was amazing. Filled with love from the characters. The Cover is what got me hooked, though I haven't read book one yet book two was easy to follow and I did not feel lost. But Now I feel like I need to read book one to fully understand the book. I give this a five out of five-star rating!

First off, this is book two in a series, but you don't have to have read book one to engage with the characters. The plots appear to run concurrently, so there's maybe a little additional depth to be gained, but the story stands on its own.

The set up of the story is about a power play between a tyrant usurper and the rebels opposing him. Head of the rebels is the true heir to the throne, although he's still looking for his older brother, who might have survived the attack on their family many years ago. Callum is the charming, handsome and kind antithesis of the son of the usurper king that Zara, the female lead, has been arranged to marry.

Cue Zara being rescued on the night before her wedding and whisked off into the forest by the rebels. It ought to have been a fast paced adventure from that point, but it actually was a fairly slow paced, gentle excursion across the country to talk to various nobles about supporting the rebel cause, with plenty of opportunities for trysts between Zara and Callum. It wasn't slow in a negative way - it just didn't quite go how I was expecting from the set up.

It did fall into the trap of having characters not get together simply because they can't yet for the sake of the story. I didn't particularly buy Callum's reluctance to commit to Zara because he hadn't found his siblings, especially when the story had a baked in reason for the two of them to be at conflict with each other in Zara being a Nocturn - a person with magical powers - and Callum hating Nocturns for their role in his parents' murder.

Overall, this was a cute, saucy fantasy romance. A few slightly forced 'conflict' moments don't detract from the fun enough to make it not worth reading. It's perfect cozy reading for the colder, darker nights. 3.5 stars

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

Good book full of romance and magical settings. The plot is different and flows smoothly and the main character is well written.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Highly recommend this book to everyone. Can't wat to read more from this author.

Even though this is book 2, it can definitely be read as a standalone. I haven't read the first book and didn't feel like I needed to at all. At most there were just a couple times that it would have probably enhanced a situation or such, but that's about it.

So this was okay. I liked it, and I enjoyed it...but I'll not ever read it again. I liked the premise and everything that happened here, but I just didn't get that into it. It was great to have a sheltered princess not balk about living in the woods and all the hardships that Zara ended up facing. So that was refreshing. Callum was a great enough guy, but he certainly didn't make me swoon for him. I also grew increasingly frustrated with him not explaining why he kept pushing Zara away. These two were so good at communicating everything else.

When Callum was a child, his family was betrayed and he witnessed his parents getting murdered. Having been found by a loyal guard, he was kept safe but never knew what happened to his brother or sister. In the years since, Callum has raised a rebel army to fight back against the usurper of his father's throne. Unfortunately, they are having a harder and harder time taking and maintaining ground. Callum can't get the support he needs from his own people for various reasons. They don't want to take the risk, have already been bribed, or don't believe he's a lost prince that everyone thinks is dead. When the neighboring kingdom agrees to a wedding between their princess and the usurper's son, Callum knows he must act fast.

Zara is a princess that has worked hard to earn her mother's approval with limited success. As heir, her mother has been strict on her but she never listens to Zara's opinions. And now Zara is being forced into a marriage she does not want and knows will not benefit her people. Which leaves her only one option. She has been communicating with the rebel leader, Ash, for some time after he was denied an audience with her mother. When he lets her know he has a plan to sneak her out of the castle the night before her wedding, she willingly takes the chance. She has had her doubts about Ash being Callum, but it doesn't take her long to know for sure he is. And she's determined to do whatever she can to see him succeed in taking back the throne.

What neither one of them expected was for them to develop feelings so strongly and swiftly for the other. And while Zara knows she wants Callum, Callum keeps pushing her away because he doesn't think he deserves her and doesn't believe he has room in heart to love. Aside from their complicated romance, it turns out that Zara's not as big of a help to Callum's cause as everybody was hoping for. Well, not until she agrees to marry him anyway. Even more good news comes with another sighting of Callum's older brother. So of course, Callum has to check it out even if it means leaving Zara. Things never go smoothly for these two though, even when they're not together. In fact, things got worse. But Zara has changed during her time with the rebels and she is no longer afraid to go after what she wants and do what she knows it right. Which gives this story a little role reversal of who rescues who.

I will say that I wasn't happy at the place this book ended. It just seemed rather abrupt and left me wanting to see these two actually get married and find some happiness. Maybe it'll happen in the next book though, I don't know. Will I check it out? I don't know about that either.

Callum is trying to take the throne back from his uncle Gracchus, the usurper, after his family was massacred. He is part of the rebel group and they enlist the help of Zara, the princess of L'Ortagia and a nocturne, to ensure the support of the nobles.

I liked the plot of this book. The romance made it engaging but I felt it was a little bit rushed. I was also hoping that Zara would be able to provide more persuasion to gain the support of the nobles but it seemed like she was only there to provide an alliance between the two kingdoms. Also, it would have been nice to see Zara using more of her nocturne powers to show them that it wasn't evil. The ending felt a little abrupt as well.