A Fun Winter Romance

Prince in Disguise

by Stephanie Kate Strohm

Hardcover, 320 pages

Expected publication: December 19th 2017 by Disney-Hyperion

ISBN 9781484768174

ARC From Publisher

About:

Someday I want to live in a place where I never hear “You’re Dusty’s sister?” ever again.

Life is real enough for Dylan—especially as the ordinary younger sister of Dusty, former Miss Mississippi and the most perfect, popular girl in Tupelo. But when Dusty wins the hand of the handsome Scottish laird-to-be Ronan on the TRC television network’s crown jewel, Prince in Disguise, Dylan has to face a different kind of reality: reality TV.

As the camera crew whisks them off to Scotland to film the lead-up to the wedding, camera-shy Dylan is front and center as Dusty’s maid of honor. The producers are full of surprises—including old family secrets, long-lost relatives, and a hostile future mother-in-law who thinks Dusty and Dylan’s family isn’t good enough for her only son. At least there’s Jamie, an adorably bookish groomsman who might just be the perfect antidote to all Dylan’s stress . . . if she just can keep TRC from turning her into the next reality show sensation.

(Goodreads)

Rating: 4 Stars

Review:

I was lucky enough to receive this book as a surprise from the publisher. It wasn’t something that I would normally read, but I saw that Stephanie Strohm was going to be at a conference that I was going to so I decided to buckle down and read it before I met her. Boy was I glad I did! (By the way I met Stephanie Strohm in person yesterday and she is awesome! So cute! Clearly a fan of love and of Disney. If you ever meet her get her talking about the movie Tangled! You won’t regret it!)

The cover of a Prince in Disguise is nicely done. I feel like it’s something a teen would pick up, but there’s almost a bit of an adult romance essence to it that might appeal to older teens/new adults. It definitely reminds me of Winter/Christmas, and after reading it I can say that the writing also fits that time of year perfectly. 

I wasn’t sure what to think of the book from the description. Reality TV show stuff is not my cup of tea. And usually YA romance books follow the same generic boy meets girl formula and they bore me. I was pleasantly surprised to find that this book contained so much more. First of all I loved the Southern girls going to Scotland. I’m from Northern Illinois, but I have an appreciation for the South. And I’ve been to Scotland and loved it there so much its on my list of potential places to live someday. From the girls’ house in Mississippi to the “castle” and all it’s secret passages, perfect descriptions everywhere that made me feel apart of the story. I feel like Stephanie got the culture of the South and Scotland right. Beauty queens, haggis, kilts, mud runs, shooting and more were all represented. Putting these two cultures together created some wacky fun moments that I can definitely picture being on a reality show. Surprising the Scottish boys by how well they can shoot while wearing pink camouflage is just one example. 

Like most teen romance stories, you have the heroine of the story (Dylan) not initially seeking love, only to have it kind of fall in her lap. Only this time the boy’s back story had me guessing. Is he a “prince” in disguise ? Is he just using the girl to get on TV? Is he just a part of the TV show? All the guessing made the story a fun read. The characters were all likable, which can be rare. Even the mean soon to be Scottish mother in law had her likable moments. The story itself was well written and flowed perfectly. By the end I was surprised to find myself wishing that there was more. I think that this book is an adorable winter read for any teen. Especially those wishing to get out of a sibling’s shadow, or to find love in an unexpected place. 

Spoilers… Only Read On If You Want To Be Slightly Spoiled…

One of the things that interested me at the end of the story, that I have to mention, was the reveal of who our romantic interest (Jamie) really is. I now want to go and do more research of the royalty of England and see if this character really exists. I feel like the answer is no, but still. Nice twist Stephanie! Nice twist! If anyone wants to discuss this please contact me. I’d like to know what you guys think!