Although parts of the main storyline were predicted in the blurb, this was an engaging read. With plenty of descriptive language to get lost in and the majesty of Rosewood to absorb you, there is so much to love.

Lottie has given herself a mantra to live by, and meeting Ellie Wolf tests all her powers of dedication. However, the duo quickly hit it off, and are soon firm friends. The ‘oops, you think I’m a princess and I haven’t corrected you’ storyline took a few turns along the way, proving that sometimes foot-in-mouth situations really can cause the most dramatic of actions. When Jamie, a friend of Ellie’s from Maradova, arrives, her patience is tested even further: with his sworn duty being to protect Ellie, this now includes educating Lottie in how to be a Proper Princess.

There are hints and echos of potential budding romances throughout the book, just little dashes of it peppered in, which is lovely, but more important is the dedication of friendships that ripples through the pages. The loyalty that Jamie has for Ellie might be his job, but the same in return she feels for him, they both feel for Lottie, and Lottie feels for both of them in return (you with me?) is not professional; it’s love.

No story can be smooth sailing and there are plenty of challenges for this emerging trio of friends, with more still to come I am sure. It’s the kind of first book that makes you certain this is a series you’re going to pay attention to; I’m sure this is absolutely going places.

This was a.. nice book. There were a few issues with it, but let’s get into the detailed review and explore them.

Plot:

The plot’s rather fun, and it’s actually exactly my kind of middle grade. The only issue? The book wasn’t classified as middle grade despite the fact that the characters literally sound middle grade. And there was no fantasy either! But the plot was nice and sort of original.

Characters:

Honestly, I did not like the main character Lottie. She did not sound like a 14-year-old like at all. And surprisingly she wasn’t even given as much depth as she should’ve been. However, Ellie, James and all the other characters sound amazing, and I liked reading them!

Writing Style:

This was actually the reason I read the book until the end and also for the three and a half star rating. The author’s writing style is amazing!

Thank you to Dave @ The Write Reads, the publisher, and Netgalley for providing me with a free e-book in exchange for an honest review!

When I think of YA fantasy, the word that immediately pops to mind isn’t usually ‘whimsical’, but that is the first word I thought after finishing this book! It manages to mix the whimsy of a middle grade with the more mature themes of a YA and pulls it off seamlessly.

In Undercover Princess, we’re following the story of Miss Lottie Pumpkin. Lottie is obsessed with fairy tales and all things princessy. When she works hard to get into the prestigious Rosewood Hall, it feels like her life is about to be one big fairy tale! That all changes swiftly when she meets her new roommate, Ellie Wolf… who happens to be a real life princess in disguise. Ellie just wants to live her life as a normal teenager for a little bit longer and, after circumstances lead everyone to believe that Lottie is the secret princess, she might just have that chance. But there are dangerous secrets floating around Rosewood Hall and both Lottie and Ellie soon find themselves swept up in them.

Y’all, this book somehow managed to be incredibly sweet and have my heart pounding all at the same time! It’s been awhile since I tore through a 400+ page book so fast, but I just couldn’t put this one down! This YA contemporary fantasy was an absolute delight to read from beginning to end. This was perfectly paced and, though there wasn’t a ton of action, I never once found myself bored. There were some plot points that felt a little under-explored but, hey, this is the first book in a series! I loved how whimsical this felt, even though there were certainly some darker themes involved. I loved the little puzzles and mysteries that are sprinkled throughout the story. And I especially loved the relationship between Lottie and Ellie.

Ahhh, Lottie and Ellie! Two of the most fascinating and well-written characters I’ve come across! I’ll throw Jamie in there, too, but Lottie and Ellie definitely stole the show. Watching these two interact and become from friends was such a treat. I loved how both their characters grew throughout this story. I loved how sweet Lottie is, but with a trace of steel that makes her a force to be reckoned with. I loved how fiery and independent Ellie is and how it’s clear she would do anything for the people she loves. And I loved the budding spark you can totally feel between the two of them. All of the characters in this novel were intriguing and nuanced, but Lottie and Ellie truly shined!

Final thoughts: This book feels like the perfect bridge between middle grade and YA. It has a whimsical feel that had me smiling throughout the story, but it also deals with heavy topics in a nuanced and interesting way that is definitely more geared towards young adults. It’s a fast-paced and fun ride that has action, adventure, and just a hint of romance. All the characters are incredibly well-written, but our two main characters, Lottie and Ellie, absolutely steal the show! This book reads like a real life fairy tale (but, like, one of the darker, original ones) with some mysterious puzzles and secrets scattered throughout. If you’re looking for a YA fantasy that is a quick, exciting read, you can’t go wrong with Undercover Princess!

Thanks to #thewritereads for making this book available to me.

Oh dear, this was just the cutest thing ever. We start out with Ellie, the crown princess of Maradova who really wants to defy tradition by attending a boarding school in England. She hopes that she will be able to hide away from royal duties for as long as possible until she is announced as the next leader of Maradova. After convincing her parents, they agree that the only way they would be able to keep her safe is to make sure that when she attends Rosewood Hall, she must hide her identity and should anyone find out they would send over someone who would keep her safe.

Then we meet Lottie who has worked so hard to attend Rosewood Hall on a scholarship. She has always loved and would say at one time in her life aspired to be a princess. The epitome of perfection and poise. Suddenly, she is suspected to be the princess who is attending Rosewood Hall undercover and while she does everything to tell them that she is in fact not, the rumour had taken on a life of its own. Just when she decides to just let them continue to believe what they want, she finds out that her room mate was in fact the real Princess of Maradova.

With the rumours of the Princess of Maradova in Rosewood Hall, it took no time for the Royal family to hear and to send in Jamie Volk, who happens to be not just Ellie's childhood friend but her Partizan. Basically, Jamie is a 'highly-trained' bodyguard who has been trained from birth for his role beside Ellie. After much back and forth (not gonna spoil it), they decide that Lottie continue to pretend to be the princess and do all the princess duties which means that she needs to learn all the etiquettes appropriate for a princess. Watching Lottie learn all these learn things while still managing to keep up her grades was just multi-tasking on a different level. It is the level of dedication I need to carry out my adult duties.

Anyways, I really loved the great cast of characters we had, even the snotty bratty ones, I loved the posh culture and how even within certain groups we have people who are left out. Imagine having all the money and still being the butt of the joke, I just can't. Definitely loved how accessible reading this book was, it really brought themes like royalty and the power and privilege that it affords to someone who is not royalty in such a different way than we have seen in books like the Princess Diaries and The Selection series.

What happens when two different girls, one who longs to be a normal girl and another who longs to be a princess are placed in the same room in the prestigious school of Rosewood.... I have only one word.... MAGICAL CHAOS.
Now this book starts nicely with the introduction of our two main characters Lottie and Ellie... but that's it.... cause as soon as both of them step into Rosewood chaos erupts... identities are mixed and an ever lasting friendship starts to form.
I have really enjoyed this book to the point that i went ahead an ordered the rest of the series few pages in.... yes ... its that good in my opinion... So if you have a little one or even for yourself and looking for that sweet crazy girl power series.... you've just FOUND it.
Therefore do yourself a favor and get them....
Psssssss.... the last book in the chronicle has been released already... just saying.

Undercover Princess is the first in a series aimed at the older end of middle grade and younger end of YA. It’s a series that takes the Blyton-esque charm and fun of boarding school stories such as St Clair’s and Mallory Towers and brings them into the modern times. I enjoyed reading this as an adult but I know I would have adored it as a youngster - pining to be sent to Rosewood to study and live.
I think the most important thing to try and do is put yourself in the position of that age group. It’s not aimed at adults and it’s meant to be full of sometimes annoying, self-centred and lost characters because let’s face it – that’s life as an 14 year old (year 10). I fully indulged my young teen self and just enjoyed indulging myself in fantasies of boarding schools, and all things princess.
I love the tropes of princess being ‘normal’ and accidental/unknown princess so this novel was totally up my street. Undercover Princess is a fantastic start to a series, laying the foundations , setting the scene and introducing the memorable characters.
I loved both girls. Ellie is a fun character – she’s feisty and fierce but a good, loyal protector to Lottie. She was also very smart and savvy too and despite being a royal, had her screwed on and was very down to earth considering her upbringing. Ellie is definitely the character I would have wanted to be as a teen. Lottie was more like the character I would have identified with. She doesn’t have a wealthy upbringing and had to work really hard to have access to Rosewood. She often gets herself into sticky situations and struggles a little to navigate to world and people of rosewood. The two girls complimented each other perfectly and it was lovely to see their relationship develop.
There is a mystery element to the story which is hinted at in the beginning. I liked how the tension built towards this; beginning with a feeling of a connection to something here and there. I also think there is so much ore to reveal in the next books and I have a few theories about Lottie and her parentage too.
I cannot wait to read the rest of the books in the series.
If this sounds like your thing, get your teen on, grab your tiara and come join the fun.

This is super cute. It definitely sits in that valley of older middle grade younger YA so is the perfect bridging book for those age groups. I think this would be particularly enjoyed by ages 11- 14 who have such few books directly aimed at them.

The Characters are great. I love how driven Lottie is, how self confident and independent Ellie is and how stoic Jamie is. They are a great team and play well off of each other. The friendship and love that grows between them. The setting is also fantastic. I adore the trope of elite schools filled with posh kids all sniping at each other, and this is filled with untrustworthy arrogant, yet driven and friendly student body. There is also lots of nods to LGBTQIA+ rep within the world this is set in.

The one thing that really stood out to me was all the nods to various fairy tales all throughout the book. We have so many like nods and winks from everything from the princess and the Pea, Cinderella, sleeping beauty, the Prince and the Pauper and even The Princess Bride sneaks a wee line in there. I liked this as it gave a real familiarity to it all. However, the book does suffer from absent adult syndrome. There are little to know adults mentioned or with any agency in the book which leaves the teens to run free and get themselves into some situations that would just be avoided completely by having adults in charge of the situation and doing their jobs. This has always been a big plot hole for me in these kind of books that just bother me.

Overall, its a sweet fairy tale like story reminiscent of things like the princess switch and the princess diaries. Cute with a little bit of danger, filled with friendship and adventure.

This book reminded me a lot of the Princess Protection Programme with Selena Gomez as we have two girls who both want to live different lives than the ones they are born into, Ellie is a princess and Lottie is a regular girl who loves to wear tiaras. These two girls end up being roommates at the same college (the princess is undercover) and once the rumour of a princess being at the school is revealed, everyone there assumes it’s Lottie that’s the princess. And her and Ellie continue to let them believe that, expect the real princess is actually in danger at that college but no one can actually know who she is (except the bodyguards and Ellie). But can Lottie continue to be the undercover princess to protect Ellie? She needs to make that difficult decision herself, is their friendship worth the risk, and more importantly, is this really want she wants to do?

I’d say this book is aimed at anyone 10-15 as it’s not really an original concept, and unfortunately the execution is a little off for me as a 30 something woman. It felt like it dragged for half of the book and I didn’t connect with any of the characters on any level. That being said, I did find myself wanting to finish the book because I wanted to see what happens. I think this is a book you’ll either love or hate, and if you go into it without any expectations you’ll enjoy the read. Personally I plan to continue with the series just to see if anything out of the ordinary happens.

I do now want to re-watch the Princess Protection Programme though cause that film SLAPS. Thank you to The Write Reads for sending me a copy to review.

Going in to Undercover Princess, I wasn’t really sure what to expect, as it is completely out of my usual comfort zone, but the book blurb was so promising that I had to give it a try. Also, I know if Dave @ The Write Reads is doing a tour for it, then it’s guaranteed to be good! I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this book, and it exceeded all of my expectations.

The story begins with Princess Eleanor Prudence Wolfson, sole heir of King Alexander Wolfson, and next in line to the throne of Maradova. She’s not your typical Princess, she doesn’t want the life she has been given, she doesn’t go to public engagements, and the public have no idea what she even looks like. She just wants to have a normal life. When it came to choosing schools, Princess Eleanor is determined to convince her parents to let her go to Rosewood Hall, and she is not prepared to take no for an answer.

Chapter 2 then takes us elsewhere, to Cornwall, where we are introduced to our main character, Lottie Pumpkin. Lottie lives in the attic room of a house above a bakery, with her stepmother, Beady. She could not be further from the Princess lifestyle if she tried, and the immediate contrasts between Lottie and the Princess are obvious. However, Lottie is about to embark on the most exciting adventure of her life, she is about to start school at Rosewood Hall.

Lottie’s arrival at the school leads to her meeting a real mix of characters, the first being exceptionally smart Binah, who takes her under her wing, and shows her around. But the most exciting first meeting is when Lottie arrives at her dorm room, and meets her new room mate. Ellie is dark, moody, and unbelievably messy, the complete opposite to everything Lottie is. This instantly makes you wonder how these two are going to coexist, let alone be friends. Despite their first meeting not being totally positive, I immediately liked Ellie, probably because I feel like I could relate to the dark and moody vibe.

The way Lottie gets herself into a difficult situation immediately, because she is too shy to correct people is also totally relatable, I feel like I’ve done that myself on so many occasions. However, Lottie’s misunderstanding somehow leads everyone to believe that she is the undercover Princess of Maradova! I’ve certainly never had people confuse me for a Princess… But Lottie’s room mate is particularly angry about this misunderstanding, because Ellie Wolf is in fact the real Princess Eleanor Prudence Wolfson. How people didn’t put that together is beyond me to be honest, because she’s barely even attempted to change her name! But, people believing that Lottie is the Princess works for Ellie, so their solution to the problem is to continue to allow everyone to believe that, unbeknown to them this is the start of everything they know spiralling completely out of control, and there is nothing they can do to stop it. This is where the story really begins to pick up the pace and sucks you in, and from here there is absolutely no going back.

There are so many important characters to this story, and I loved every single one of them (even the ones that weren’t great people). They were so well written, and there was a great mix of different personalities and styles. I liked that we got a little background information on all of them rather than just the main ones. My obvious favourite had to be Ellie though, I saw so much of myself in her. She didn’t really open up, she was protective, fiesty, a little angry at times, a little moody, but still such a joy to read and so likeable. I feel like we could be friends. I also enjoyed the way that Ellie brought Lottie out of her shell a little and made her a stronger person. I loved watching their relationship grow throughout the story.

From the moment that Jamie entered the story, things got really serious. There were so many shocking things happen along the way, some of which had me on the edge of my seat. It all came together in an exciting ending, that solved all of the mysteries that had appeared throughout. The perfect way to end a fantastic book. This story was unexpectedly thrilling, while at the same time being a ray of sunshine, and I loved it. This certainly wasn’t what I had been expecting. I’m now going to HAVE to read the rest of the series, because I am completely invested in Lottie, Ellie, and Jamie’s story.

I give Undercover Princess an easy 5 star rating!

My Rating: 3.5 stars

I have to be honest I wasn't too sure what to expect from this book. I thought it was going to be a fluffy girly type of read, and was worried I wouldn't enjoy it. But after reading the first few chapters I got the Princess Diaries vibes and was intrigued to see where this story went, especially as when I was younger I loved the Princess Diaries!!

I found the main two characters Lottie and Ellie to be very interesting and enjoyed watching their friendship grow. I really liked how they were prepared to stand up for each other and how they always had each other's backs. While the friendship grew I also sense a hit of romance blossoming between the two of them. I really do hope they do get together, I think they would make a great couple. Now that's definitely not something you hear me say often!

As for the plot, well there were some things that were predictable, while others I didn't quite see coming. I found this to be a fun and engaging read, but at the same time I felt I was the wrong audience age to fully appreciate the story and think if I was a few years younger I would have loved this book more. Never the less this is still a good read and a great start to the series.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a quick feel good YA!!

When Lottie Pumpkin heads off to the illustrious Rosewood Hall on a full scholarship, she expects to work hard and honour her promise to her late mother. She doesn't expect to become a princess - even if it's only pretend. Ellie Wolf is a princess desperate to cling to her last few years of 'normality' and when Lottie is accidentally mistaken for the secretive, wild princess of Maradova, going along with it seems like the best solution for everyone. But being a royal - even a fake one - is dangerous, and not everyone has Lottie's best interests at heart. Can she keep Ellie's secret and herself safe?

Book one, Undercover Princess, is a really fun twist on common princess tropes. It's perfect for anyone who has ever wished they could wake up one day and become a princess. For Lottie, it's a life changing dream-come-true with some very dangerous realities.

There are some gorgeous friendships at the heart of this story. It's about the magic of finding the people you belong with. There's also many great side characters - I'm looking forward to more from Binah especially in book two, as it definitely feels like there's more to her than meets the eye.

I would love to see this as a film or TV show - it has major Descendants vibes. The plot has plenty of twists and turns. There's lots of heart and lots of danger. The set up for the rest of the series is really strong and I'm looking forward to finding out what happens next.

4.5 STARS

I read this book for a blog tour, so thank you to the blog tour organiser, publisher and author for letting me take part in this tour, and thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Undercover Princess by Connie Glynn is the first book in The Rosewood Chronicles, a YA contemporary series with royalty, a posh school and great characters. I'm so glad that I agreed to do a review of this book instead of my usual spotlights in the last months because this book was so fun to read, a bit nostalgic, and might actually turn into a great comfort read for me. I smiled and laughed a few times, and it just made me feel happy, and if that's not what reading is about, then I don't know what is!

This book is set mostly in a posh boarding school called Rosewood Hall. I absolutely love reading books set in schools, I don't know why, but I find it is always such a great setting, especially for YA contemporaries like this one. I really liked how Connie Glynn described this place. It was dreamy, the teachers sounding great, and I could picture the place quite easily. The only thing I will say is that I wish that there would have been a tad more details about the school, the classes, the exams, because it felt like these elements were flown over quite quickly, and I would really have enjoyed more! It would have been great to see more of the palace too, however, this "issue" didn't bother me much at all in truth because I figured that with a 5-book series, the author will dive into more descriptions with the following books.

Lottie is such a lovely character, kind, charming, intelligent and sweet, although she is a tad bit naïve at times, BUT, she is a 14-year-old, and I'm reading this book as a 23-year-old, so I totally enjoyed this book, it's characters and plot for what it was, and had a fabulous time. I just really enjoyed reading about Lottie becoming "something" she had always dreamed of (I really can't say more because SPOILERS!!!) and when I found out what was going to happen to her, I was super happy. It totally made me think of Princess Diaries and when I was a teenager, I was obsessed with those movies, and so my princess-loving teenage year was very happy and satisfied. I really loved reading about Lottie and seeing her develop, make friends and grow as a person, and I can't wait to see more of her in the next book (which is on its way to me now as we speak, hehehe). I also loved Ellie, and while I had my doubts about Jamie in the beginning, I ended up liking him too.

I am kind of a sucker for any book with royalty, so I could guarantee that I would enjoy this book, and it definitely didn't disappoint. This was a unique way of portraying royalty, I mean with some elements like Partizans and Portmans which I was fascinated by. As the characters evolve through the series, I'm sure we will get to see more about these elements and how they are important to the girls and Jamie, which I am very much looking forward to.

Despite how cute and sweet this book is with royalty, princesses and meaningful friendships, there are also lots of threats and Lottie feels in danger quite a few times. I was just holding my breath waiting to see what happened and this book took me along for the ride and didn't let me go until the final word. You could tell there was potentially something bad going to happen, but it never made me feel uneasy, so it is still a very cute and comforting read, despite having some darker undertones with secrets, political elements and obviously all the royal rules and regulations that Lottie has to learn.

As I said above, this is a book and series which I see becoming a comfort read for me. I just loved how it made me smile and laugh, how I felt that I could identify with the characters (well, my 13-year-old self could), and I just enjoyed it from start to finish because it was so fun and easy and LOVELY, even though there are darker themes of course.

I gave this book 4.5 stars and I cannot wait for my order of Princess in Practice to arrive so I can dive in straight away and find out more about Lottie, Ellie, Jamie, and all the royalty elements of the plot. This was a super fab book and I'm so glad I got to read it.

If you love super cute YA books with realistic, kind and funny characters, a great plot that reads effortlessly and makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, along with some darker twists and themes to be discovered along with a few shocking secrets and revelations, and if you love schools settings AND royalty, then pick up this book quickly because it is the perfect story for you!

While I really loved how the relationships of the characters grew and the writing style and overall plot surely has a lot of potential, I felt rather bored while reading. It was like there was potential but it was missing the final push to really hook me and drag me under.

Well, I'll just start off by saying it was so hard to put this book down after reading the first few chapters. Glynn did a wonderful job of introducing us to our two main characters, as well as a few side ones I instantly fell in love with. She managed to show the differences between both Lottie and Ellie early on so we can completely understand why they would want to swap lives for a while. Lottie's story, even this early on, gave me major Cinderella vibes and I could easily see her becoming a favourite character of mine.

As for Rosewood Hall, at first glance it looks like the type of school I would have loved to have gone to as a child. Old, historic and filled with character. The authors writing style flowed and ensured that you speed through the pages, there's no slow or clunky writing, instead her descriptions and general writing drag you into the story until you feel like you're attending Rosewood along side Lottie and Ellie.

I think it's safe to say I loved my first look at this brilliant book. I only read the first 5 chapters, they're incredibly short which I loved, and I already felt bonded to the characters and like I was becoming a part of the story myself. I can definitely see myself picking up the full book in the not too distant future.

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Unfortunately this book just wasn’t for me.

There was nothing wrong with it, I just think as a 31 year old woman I was just a little too old for it.

The writing was good and last me to carry on for a while. But unfortunately I had to DNF at 50% as I just wasn’t invested.

The bit that I read though was a solid 3 star

This was a fun read, perfect for older children before they start reading Teen. The school system was good and the characters were fun, charming and likeable. Overall a solid read and start to the series.

I ended up really enjoying this! I spent a long time thinking “well this is fun and all but a bit young for me really” but actually the book picked up so much in the last quarter that I have mostly changed my mind! It’s definitely in the younger end of YA- our main characters are fourteen after all- but I wouldn’t say it was suitable for anyone younger than that.

Undercover Princess is, overall, a really fun story with a dark thread or two woven in. I’m really interested to see where the series goes as there are definitely several loose threads and some major sexual tension (can you call it sexual tension when the characters are 14/15? Maybe romantic tension) that I’d love to see resolved.

This book just wasn't for me. I'm afraid I just couldn't get into it. I can only assume that the timing was wrong for me when I did read this as the synopsis sounds very good to me - hence me requesting it. I may give it another chance in the future

This book is beautifully packaged but I found it slightly hard to get into. However, I know it’s something that my younger sister would probably adore so I think it does what it promises for the intended audience.