Book Review: Once Upon A Prince

Author: Rachel Hauck
Publication Date: May 7, 2013
Publisher: Zondervan
Series: Royal Wedding Series # 1

Once Upon a Prince, the first novel in the Royal Wedding series by bestselling author Rachel Hauck, treats you to a modern-day fairy tale.

Susanna Truitt never dreamed of a great romance or being treated like a princess---just to marry the man she has loved for twelve years. But life isn’t going according to plan. When her high-school-sweetheart-turned-Marine-officer breaks up instead of proposing, Susanna scrambles to rebuild her life.

The last thing Prince Nathaniel expects to find on his American holiday to St. Simon’s Island is the queen of his heart. A prince has duties, and his family’s tense political situation has chosen his bride for him. When Prince Nathaniel comes to Susanna’s aid under the fabled Lover’s Oak, he is blindsided by love.

Their lives are worlds apart. He’s a royal prince. She’s a ordinary girl. But everything changes when Susanna receives an invitation to Nathaniel’s coronation.

What did he say? The storm gusts moving over the Atlantic must have garbled his words. “I can’t marry you”?

 

She’d never been into romance, fairy tales, knights in shining armor, or handsome princes riding up to save the day. Just a happily ever after with her strong hometown marine. Now what was the plan for the rest of her life?

 

Then Susanna passed by or brushed against him and fired up his longings and dreams.

 

He was starting to know how it felt to be in love, though he’d never felt quite like this before. He’d experienced fluttering emotions, runaway thoughts, and numbed ambitions for anyone or anything but the girl of his eye, but this sense of peace and purpose, of clarity, of freedom to be himself, of selfless devotion was new to him. And he loved it.

I was instantly reminded of The Princess Diaries when I started this book. I immediately fell in love with Susanna and Nathaniel. Susanna Truitt has lived and loved her hometown of St. Simon’s Island ever since she was a little girl. And for most of her life she has been there waiting for her soldier, Adam, to come home and propose to her. When we readers meet Susanna, Adams kindly tells her that he “found the right ring but not the right girl.” Susanna, is of course devastated, and begins rethinking some of her major life decisions. When Susanna has decided to give up on love altogether, Nathaniel waltzes into her life and onto St. Simon’s Island. Susanna begins to, unknowingly and unintentionally, develop feelings for him, so I am sure you can only imagine her disbelief when she finds out he is a crown prince!

 

This story was absolutely wonderful! I could read it over and over again. This story has the makings that are as charming as The Princess Diaries! I fell in love with the story and in love with Susanna and Nathaniel most of all. I got to go along with Susanna as she embarked in a real life fairy tale. Susanna was an amazing heroine and I enjoyed following her around St. Simon’s Island. Susanna was the perfect character to become a princess/queen. She was sweet, smart, and put the feelings of other before her own. She handled one of the worst breakups known to man, really it was awful, with more confidence than any woman I know!

 

Nathaniel was the epitome of a perfect gentleman, and my favorite part of this book was when Susanna gets to travel to the kingdom of Brighton to visit Nathaniel, his palace, and his family. At first Susanna does not fit in well with the family and I loved watching her adjust to Nathaniel’s sophisticated lifestyle amongst the royals. I don’t want to give away too much when it comes to the second half of the book, but this is the when all the magic happens! Susanna and Nathaniel come to a few realizations, and by the time I hit the second half of the book I flew through it even faster than the first half!

 

***A copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at Zondervan in exchange for my honest review***