I enjoyed this read. It was an interesting premise with likable characters. While reading, I did not really feel like this story had any stakes and there really wasn't any tension.

Royal Secret by M. Knopik is a novella about two men with secrets. To save his kingdom from war, Raven married Prince Nicholas—as a princess. But on their wedding night, instead of his secret being revealed, Nicholas refuses to have any intimate contact with his new bride, and even goes out of his way to maintain distance between them. To make matters worse, the queen makes increasing demands for an heir. When Raven overhears Prince Nicholas ask his best friend, Lord Henry to father the child, he panics. He turns to the only person he can trust—his chambermaid, Emilia. With her help, he soon learns that the Prince has a secret of his own.

Royal Secret is short and sweet in its way. I liked the fact that the main characters got to know each other slowly, and that there is more than just a single story line happening in the novella. I loved getting to know Raven and discover his secrets, and the connection and care for Emilia. I was a little disappointed that he was not trans but in the position of pretending to be female because of family obligations. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to explore those boundaries, but the story was still an interesting read. I do feel like we learned very little about Nicholas in comparison with Raven and I would have liked to know more about his emotions and thoughts- rather than just what I can cobble together from observations.

Royal Secret is a good, quick read for those looking for a different male/male romance. The Goodreads information on this book labels it as the start of a series, but I have yet to find more.

4 stars

Synopsis: Raven's sister was betrothed at a young age to a prince of a powerful country. When she died, his parents didn't want to lose that connection, so they said that Raven had died, not his sister, and made Raven pretend to be his sister. Once the marriage has been made official, Raven expects his deception to become common knowledge, and to be officially dispatched. His prince, however, doesn't want a wedding night, and doesn't even want to be around Raven.
Raven wants to know why, so he sends his maid, who made the trip with him to his new kingdom, to find out what is going on with his new husband. Raven is delighted to find out what his prince is keeping from him.

What I liked: the build in relationship between Raven and Nicholas. Once Raven finds out what Nicholas is hiding, he eases up on the prince, and understands why he doesn't want to be around him. As Raven comes in to his own, becomes the person who got hijacked when he became his sister, he discovers a world he never thought about.

What I didn't like: I wish that there had been more story, as I found the characters and what story there was interesting.

Overall impressions: I enjoyed the writing and the story. Told in 3rd person from Raven's perspective.

*I received a copy through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

I’ll admit it was curiosity that led me to this novella. Why is Raven pretending to be a woman? How does he think he’ll get away with it? And if they’re marrying to prevent a war, how is that all going to work when it’s revealed he’s actually a man?

To be honest, I’m still wondering about all of those questions, because the whole idea is frankly baffling and none of the offered explanations come close to making sense. Raven had no choice in the charade, yet is the one who will have to pay any and all consequences, and I fear for the fate of his parents’ kingdom if they think sealing a marriage alliance with a huge deception is a sound diplomatic idea.

But I put that to one side and tried to focus on the rest. The trouble is Raven’s own behaviour – and determination to get Nicholas’ attention and force a reveal of his secret – is also kind of baffling. Surely he should be happy to be getting away with everything and keeping his life a little longer.

However, again, I could get over this if only Nicholas wasn’t such a horrible bastard. The way he treats Raven his wife is borderline cruel. He’s supposed to be this wonderful prince, but he’s just a massive jerk, using Raven as a proxy to blame all his problems on. Even if Raven had been a woman, they’re in the same unhappy boat and the least Nicholas could do was be friendly, especially as Raven is all alone in a strange country. And yet the way he treats Raven his mysterious lover is worse. The love scenes were perilously close to non-con and his lack of care for his partner was awful. I disliked everything about him.

I had high hopes for this curious little tale, but sadly it stood no chance of meeting them because Nicholas was awful and I didn’t even like Raven all that much. Guess this one just wasn’t for me.