In Princess Ever After, book two in the Royal Wedding series, Rachel Hauck transports the reader back to the wonderful world of Brighton and Hessenberg that she created in Once Upon a Prince. Though the two novels are only remotely connected and easily stand alone, they carry the same romantic, fairy tale-like quality. And they're both so much fun to read!
A Royal Wedding Book
Regina Beswick was born to be a princess.
But she's content to be a small-town girl, running a classic auto restoration shop, unaware a secret destiny awaits her. One that will leap from the pages of her grandmother's hand-painted book of fairytales.
Tanner Burkhardt is the stoic Minister of Culture for the Grand Duchy of Hessenberg. When he is tasked to retrieve the long-lost princess, he must overcome his fear of failure in order to secure his nation's future—and his own.
Yet lurking in the political shadows is a fierce opponent with sinister plans to abolish the throne forever. Overwhelmed with opposition, Regina must decide if she's destined to restore old cars or an ancient nation. Together—with a little divine intervention—Regina and Tanner discover the truth of her heritage and the healing power of true love.
At first glance, Princess Ever After is the classic tale of a commoner ascending the throne, à la The Princess Diaries or any number of animated Disney films, but it has a "real world" feel to it. I loved the princess, Reggie, for her spunk and her "realness." I also liked Tanner, the man sent to reveal her destiny and escort her to Hessenberg. He was an enigma for the first half of the book, and I appreciated that Hauck let the reader in on his secret bit by bit, rather than explaining it all right away or holding onto it until the final pages. And the romance? Fantastic!
I have to say that the only thing I didn't love about this novel was directly due to my own imagination. See, several times Tanner's long hair is mentioned. To me, "long hair" on a man is like Fabio long. Michael Bolton in the 90's long. Gross biker dude long. So while I was loving Tanner's character, the picture my mind painted of him was less than attractive. Then, halfway through the novel, I stumbled across this post on Relz Reviews, which has pictures of the inspirations for Reggie and Tanner. So it's more like Matt Camden long. Jared Padalecki long. That kind of hair I can get behind! Suddenly, it was a whole lot easier to picture Tanner.
Princess Ever After is a perfect book for a rainy day. For a snowy day. For a beach day. Basically, for any day. It's fun, romantic, and captivating, and I'm now eagerly anticipating the next installment in this series. 5 stars.
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Read my reviews of Hauck's Once Upon a Prince, The Wedding Dress, and The Sweet By and By co-written with Sara Evans).
Rachel Hauck is an award-winning, best selling author of critically acclaimed novels such as RITA nominated The Wedding Dress and RITA nominated Love Starts with Elle, part of the Lowcountry series, the Nashvegas series and the Songbird Novels penned with multi-platinum recording artist, Sara Evans. Their novel Softly and Tenderly was one of Booklists 2011 Top Ten Inspirationals. A graduate of Ohio State University with a degree in Journalism, she worked in the corporate software world before planting her backside in an uncomfortable chair to write full time in 2004. Rachel serves on the Executive Board for American Christian Fiction Writers and leads worship at their annual conference. She is a mentor and book therapist at My Book Therapy, and conference speaker. Rachel writes from her two-story tower in an exceedingly more comfy chair. She is a huge Buckeyes football fan.
Learn more about Rachel at http://rachelhauck.com
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Litfuse Publicity Group. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
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