I enjoyed this book, though I wish I had gotten to be in the head of both protagonists. The male POV alone was annoying at times, and I wish there'd been a POV to balance him out. The writing quality could have been better, but I'll let that slide since it was an ARC.

Very cute romance! It was believable and had a twist that I didn’t seem coming with her being sick. I liked both families.

So this book didn’t rank up there on my expectation scale. By reading the blurb, I thought it was going to be one of those books where sex is prevalent and the plot is nonexistent. Well, color me surprised because Reluctantly Royal wasn’t that. Nope, not at all. This book had a depth to it that I wouldn’t guess from reading the blurb. What I also liked is that Reluctantly Royal was told only from Luc’s viewpoint.

Reluctantly Royal starts off with His Royal Highness Prince Lucien being called back to Monaco. That was at the request of his brother, Sovereign Prince Sebastien. The Sovereign Prince is getting engaged and he expects Luc to do that same. In that same conversation, Sebastien asks Luc to take over his duties at the Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas. Luc reluctantly agrees to go. He decides that if he is going to be in Las Vegas, then he needs to live it up. He goes to a local karaoke bar and meets Hannah. Expecting their relationship to last a week, Luc is surprised when he starts to fall for Hannah. Luc hasn’t exactly been truthful with Hannah. He hasn’t told her who he was. But Hannah has secrets of her own. It is those secrets, once revealed that rocks Luc’s world.

I felt awful for Luc. He was reeling from the death of his twin brother and father the year before. The grief that was portrayed affected me so much that I actually got teary-eyed when Luc talked about his twin, Julien. I also felt awful about his alienation from his family. He felt that he was to blame for Julien’s death. It didn’t help that his mother would burst out into tears when she saw him. It also didn’t help that Bastien treated Luc like he wasn’t capable of making his own decisions.

I could understand Luc’s reluctance to go to Las Vegas. All Luc wanted, since his brother’s death, was to be a normal guy. To blend in with the other people and not to have security up his butt all the time. To be the keynote speaker at the Expo was the opposite of that. When he gets there, he finds out that his brother has him meeting with interested parties who want to do business with Monaco. Luc flips out and I don’t blame him. So when he meets Hannah, he thought that he could be a foreign tourist hooking up with a hot American. What he didn’t expect is to actually fall for her.

I liked Hannah and I thought she had a great sense of humor. The official first date that she picked out with Luc was a museum of porn. My only issue with her is that she was almost a pushover. She would get ripping mad at Luc and then stop. A couple of times she actually went to leave and she stopped when he showed up. Other than that, I loved her. I thought that she was perfect for Luc. She grounded him.

The sexual tension between Luc and Hannah was immediate and thick. I like that the author chose to not to have them have sex right off the bat. Instead, they waited. There were a few close encounters. One in the porn booth (you need to read the book!!) and the other in the indoor carnival. So when they actually had sex, it was explosive. And every single sexual encounter after that was the same way.

What sold me on the book was that the author didn’t end the book with Luc and Hannah having sex or with them moving to Monaco. Instead, she added another layer with Hannah’s big secret and Luc’s dysfunctional family. It made the book more relatable to me.

The ending was your typical HEA but it did have a few heart-wrenching scenes thrown in. The epilogue was fantastic. I am looking forward to reading Bastien’s story!!

Reluctantly Royal was a great read. It had a good plotline with relatable characters. I also liked that it was told only from Luc’s viewpoint. I haven’t read a lot of books where the author does that and it was refreshing.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Sex, language, and mild violence

I would like to thank Gillian Archer, Random House Publishing House, Loveswept and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Reluctantly Royal.

All opinions expressed in this review of Reluctantly Royal are mine

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

Quite the Royal Affair. Cute Saucy romance. Not at all what I was expecting.

I was browsing through Netgalley when I saw this book... To be honest, this was my first time to read something from Gillian Archer... The cover wasn't bad, but what caught my interest was the blurb... I've read a lot of royal romances... I mean we all grew up watching Disney HEA movies and had read about prince and princesses, so yeah, I was curious of what would set this royal romance apart...

The story revolves around the reluctant royal, Prince Lucien, who was captivated by a vivacious local named Hannah at a regular Vegas karaoke bar... and so their story starts from there and evolved from acquaintance to something more in a short span of time.... a lot has happened between these two within such a minimal timeframe but I guess when you dont have to worry about "normal people problems", you can just let your feelings run free and can afford to take any type of risk... and this is what Prince Lucien did... I'm not saying this is a bad thing... I'm just saying that if this were a regular guy, he'd be more pragmatic about his actions... and I guess there's really no timeframe when it comes to love— it just suddenly hits you.

I loved the story... Its sweet and easy... I loved their playful banter... the setting... the pacing was great... The overall concept isnt something new but what set this apart were the last couple of chapters... it evoked emotions and humanness.

I love Lucien and Hannah, really... but what kept on creeping in my mind, which made me excited and really curious is Sebastien (Bastien)... He was portrayed to be this uptight jerk of a royal big brother, and although he softened up in the end, and given his situation, I cant help but think if he'll have his own story? Probably he'll fall in love with his efficient assitant...or something... Ms. Archer, if you ever want to brain storm, I have ideas!lol

This story teaches you about humility, of being true to yourself and it also teaches you the importance of family... For the fans of Emma Chase and for those who are total romantic saps, this is the book to pick up next!

Luc was torn from the life he knew after the tragic death of his twin brother and father. No longer a soldier he comes to grips with his position as the crown prince. Reluctantly he accepts his position, dedicating his life to the loyal subjects of Monaco. As a way to help his brother he heads to Las Vegas and meets Hannah. She makes him feel truly alive for the first time in a year. Did he find the other half of his soul or will he forced into an arranged marriage? Absolutely loved this story!

MY RATING:2.5/5

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really tried liking Reluctantly Royal by Gillian Archer. I mean, just look at the synopsis. It's exactly what I wanted to read since it's about royalty and romance like come on!!! That's right up my alley.

Unfortunately, I just didn't like this story as much as I wanted because I had trouble connecting with the characters and the story itself. It may have been the writing style but I couldn't dive into the story as much as I wanted. I didn't really enjoy which direction the story was going aka our hero falls in love with a less than royalty girl and they both kind of awkwardly try to navigate their way through adapting to having him be a royal and her not.

It just wasn't what I wanted I guess and that's why my rating couldn't be perfect.

MY RECOMMENDATION:
if you're into royalty books I want to suggest Royal Attraction by Tiffany Triutt. The story talks about how a commoner is stuck between two royals and ultimately falling for the boy who took care of her all along.

ARC received for review

Sweet romance, but it dragged in places and then the end was rushed. boring and a little unbelievable.

What a sweet up and down romance between Hannah and Prince Lucian (Luc). The story was fraught with instalove, misunderstandings and the difficulty adjusting from a normal life that Hannah had to the royal one Luc had. Hannah had in her past things that happened to her to make her who she was today, living and loving as if it was the only day she would ever have. . Whereas Luc's past held him back until he met Hannah. He also had a strained relationship with his brother Prince Bastien and his Mum Princess Vivian. It was Hannah's deep love for her family that Luc wanted more for his life. She made him want to be a better man. I really enjoyed reading this book. I voluntarily received an Advanced Readers Copy of this book for review from NetGalley..

This is a sweet story of Luc (a royal from another country) and Hannah (a normal American) who meet and then fall in love. Talk about an insta-love story! Luc is only in Vegas for 10 days for a conference, but meets Hannah on night one in a bar while pretending to be a normal person opposed to a royal. Within a few days she learns he is royal and is willing to walk away from him even though she feels she is falling in love with him. Luc convinces her to give their relationship a try and she agrees. He too feels a strong connection to her. I don’t want to go into what happens next because I fear I will ruin certain things for you, the reader. I will say it was well written and I could relate with Hannah throughout the entire story. She was brave when I felt I would be brave and not so brave when I don’t think I would be either. There love has so much to overcome, but true love prevails.

This was my first time reading a story from this author. The ‘about this book’ is what appealed to me. I look forward to reading additional books from this author.

AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!

The title of the book had me convinced I knew where this was going to go, but I was incredibly wrong. I loved that both characters were easy to relate to even if one had grown up in luxury that most of us can't even imagine. I loved the doubts that Hannah had and her realistic reaction to learning the truth about Luc.

I loved the depth of Luc's family that was given to the reader; instead of glossing over them, I felt they were each part of the story.

Loved this book and highly recommend it!

For me this was written in a way that I could imagine it as a movie. Luc and Hannah both just wanting a few days to be themselves and not the people that their families need them to be. I like all the quirky places that they go, some were quite unique. Through the ups and downs, this is a book worth re-reading.

3/5 stars

*I received this as an ARC from NetGallery in exchange for my honest opinion *

This book was alright. It unfortunately fell a little flat for me. I am a huge sucker for royal romances, This just wasn't what i wanted it to be. It was an easy read so that was nice. I did enjoy the story enough. I'm sure if I haven't read my fair share for royal romances I would have enjoyed this a lot more. It just felt a little repetitive to what I've already read. But I can see how people would really love this book.

I found this story one that didn’t keep my attention. For me personally I felt like something was missing with the chemistry between Luc and Hannah. In saying that there were parts of this story I really enjoyed.

Luc is a prince from Monaco. And he doesn’t like his role. Ever since tragedy hit his family he’s had to stand up and do the role he never expected. He just wants to live a life where no one knows him.
Luc spots Hannah dancing at the club he goes to while on business in Las Vegas. One look at her and he’s hooked.
When a temporary thing means more to Luc then he expected he’s not sure what to do. He’s keeping a secret and Hannah has one of her own. But when Lucs secret gets out can Hannah trust Luc or will she run?

Quick easy read. I love other Archer books but Luc and Hannah's romance fell a bit short for me. For one thing too many times did the phrase "That is the nicest thing any one has ever said to me" was so overused it was an eye roller for me. Point of view was Luc's but Hannah was the dynamite character. Poor but proud Hannah rocks Luc's world in that she does not fall at this royal feet even when she found out he was a Prince. Luc's brother and mother were interesting characters to this tail as were Luc's security unit. "A copy of this book was provided by Random House Publishing Group - Loveswept via NetGalley with no requirements for a review. Comments here are my honest opinion."

My apologies, but I had difficulty getting into this book and it was hard to read. I stopped reading and could not finish this title.

Luc was 3rd in line to the throne until his father and older twin brother (The Spare) were killed in an accident. Now Lucien was being groomed to make over as Prince of Monaco if anything happened to his oldest brother. He was brought home from the military and forced to do his royal duties. As the title suggests, he did al this extremely reluctantly. He had always been the happy go lucky prince. He preferred his military responsibilities and the anonymity he had there. Now it's all duty and country. His brother is even suggesting an arranged marriage for him, no thank you!
Luc heads to Las Vegas for a speaking engagement in place of his brother and there goes to a bar and meets Hannah, a local American who he becomes quickly enamored with. They are from tow different worlds and even though Hannah doesn't know who he is, she has a feeling she doesn't fit into his world of obvious privilege. Her own struggles have her rethinking everything in her life and she allows herself to have a little fun with Luc.
This is a story we have heard before. We have read the book AND seen a similar movie or two, but somehow Gillian Archer gives it a new twist and a fresh approach. I enjoyed these characters and even their sidekicks (Dimitri, yum). It was at times both heartbreaking and hopeful. Overall a great, fun read.
I was given an ARC of this book for an honest review.

LOVED this royal adventure of a prince who lost two family members and is tired of living in the shadows. Can he make his family realize that the only thing he cares about is true love, happiness and the chance to live a normal life. Who will capture this prince's heart?

A spicy tale of true love that is worth more than a royal title and crown.

This is a lovely, fast pace story of the Prince of Monaco and a girl next door. Their chemistry is fantastic and I love that it's from the Prince's POV. I really enjoyed reading about his language hang ups and miscommunications. Luc's struggles with his family and losing that special someone who was close to him and meeting Hannah made him a better man and in turn, made him stand up for the love that they had. This was my first book by this author and I can now say I am a fan!

I am a fan or books with royals, because who doesn't want to be a princess... this book was just OK for me. Sometimes the relationship seemed forced between Hannah and Luc, like it was speeded up, but other times it was sweet. Was an easy quick read though!