The Princess Plan is the first book in Julia London's latest series, A Royal Wedding. I adore Ms. London's previous series, especially Rogues of Regent Street, and I was thrilled to get my paws on an ARC of this book. It's a wonderfully sweet, funny and tearjerker start to what I hope is a long series.

The unfortunately named Eliza Tricklebank (Eliza is lovely, but Tricklebank?!) is a writer for a gazette, together with her sister Hollis and her best friend Caroline. They are excited to be able to attend a ball being held in honor of Prince Sebastian of Alucia; surely they would get exciting stories for their gazette. Eliza, REALLY liking the rum punch, needs a moment to herself and hides in the servant's stairway. A handsome man appears there, and they flirt and he seems to be intent on seducing her. She later finds out this man was the Prince. During that night after the ball Sebastian's friend and personal secretary is murdered in his sleep. After Eliza's father the judge receives a missive in the mail regarding the murder and the ladies print the information in their gazette, Sebastian confronts her. They join forces to find the culprit and begin to get extremely close. Sebastian must marry an English Lady who will benefit his country....Will Eliza ever get her heart's desire?

Eliza was an extremely fun heroine. She was a regular adult woman. She wasn't titled, her house is worn and comfortable, she fixes clocks as a hobby, laughs with great gusto and initially throws Sebastian out of her home. Sebastian, raised from birth to eventually become king of his homeland, doesn't know what to make of her. The more time he spends with her, the more he begins to resent not being able to make his own decisions regarding his future bride. Their relationship becomes steamy and I was starting to tear up, wondering how they could possible overcome their roadblocks. This was a delightful start to the series, and I eagerly await to see how the series progresses.

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley. I received no compensation for my review, and all thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

Eliza was such a great character and I really enjoyed her. She is fierce, funny and honest. I enjoyed her interactions with everyone, especially with her best friend, Caroline and her sister, Hollis. The way her and Sebastian meet is so cute and I really fell for them as a couple as their story progressed. Sebastian is so swoon worthy and he is total book boyfriend material. The romance is sweet, sexy and a lot of fun.  

The side characters are all fantastic and I really hope to see more of them as the series goes on. They really helped the story come to life which just helped makes this story feel more real to me. Julia London left a bunch of dangling threads for where this series could pick up next and I am constantly changing my mind on whose story I want next. The second book comes out next year and it is has already been added to most anticipated list.

Beyond just being a romance this book also has a murder mystery element to it. Someone close to Sebastian is murdered and being a prince he can't exactly run around trying to figure out who did it. Eliza stumbles into some information and also connects a lot of clues to help solve the crime. It is pretty obvious who did it but I still loved the mystery aspect and what it brought to the story. 

One thing that really pushed this book to being a five star read for me is when the chapters would start with an excerpt from the gossip newspaper that Eliza's sister Hollis owns. There would be blind gossip items that related to the story but there was also little nuggets of advice for women that made me laugh. It was so fun to see some of the wild ideas women used to believe.

I really liked this story. It was light and fun until the murder.
Crown Prince Sebastion Charles Iver Chartier was here from Alucia, he wants to negotiate a Trade Treaty with England and find a wife.
Eliza Tricklebank is a spinster, 28 and enjoys fixing clocks. Her father is Justice William Tricklebank, who is blind and still serves. The murder was intriguing and surprising, the prince's best friend was murdered.
The characters were wonderful, so alive, and gossipy. It was well written and kept my interest. I loved the fact that her father knitted to keep his hands busy. There are some sexy parts so you want to be over the age of eighteen.
I received this ARC from Ney Galley and voluntarily reviewed it.

A classic hate/love trope with a surprising dash of true mystery thrown in to add more spice to a saucy romance between two people that were never meant to be together.
Eliza isn't princess material, but that's what makes her totally perfect for a true prince and totally likable. She's irreverent and clumsy, which makes her relatable and honest. Prince Sebastian wants to follow his heart, but he's torn between that and duty to his country. It's a problem.
The Princess Plan has everything romance readers love about witnessing two people fall head over heels for each other, plus a mysterious circumstance stirred in that only makes their story that much more compelling.
Four stars for this funny, charming romance that makes you believe in love again.

** Many thanks to Netgalley, Harlequin Books (HQN), and the author for the opportunity to read a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

DNF. I wasn’t connecting with the writing style or the characters - found myself skimming and ultimately decided I’m not the right reader for this story.

I am tired but happy...because I stayed up all night to finish this marvelous book! I just couldn’t put it down and it was 3:16am when I read the last page, much to my surprise! Eliza is my perfect heroine...honest, kind and bold. Her first couple meetings with Sebastian had me laughing out loud. Their story is bittersweet with a mystery thrown in. I loved it! I’m hoping the secondary characters get their own story in the future also.

I think The Princess Plan is going to be one of those books that is either a complete hit or a complete miss for most people with few riding the fence. However, I ended up riding that fence almost from the beginning. The story is well-written, and it certainly had promise. I was expecting a kind of Cinderella story, and I suppose in some ways it is. The characters are interesting enough, particularly Eliza. I really liked this quirky character. She's full of life and her acceptance of spinsterhood has given her a snark most women of the time wouldn't have had. I did have a little trouble with Sebastian. In fact, I didn't care much for him at all in the beginning, but that's not necessarily a deal-breaker. In fact, a flawed character with redeeming qualities can be quite fun. I did enjoy Eliza putting the prince in his place, not that I believe such behavior would've been acceptable in historical England.
As far as setting, the important thing for me with historical fiction is whether or not it feels genuine. Well, sometimes yes, and sometimes no. But the story is fantastical, so that's to be expected. I was a bit disappointed that the prince is from a fictional land rather than a place England would've negotiated with in the time period. That said, Sebastian's home country wasn't really the focus here. The focus was on the romance between the prince and the spinster. Which brings us to what brought them together in the first place. They do have a couple of initial meetings, but the author uses the murder of Sebastian's personal secretary to give this pair some common ground. So, we have murder, political intrigue, and romance being the primary goal. I do think solving a murder was a pretty clever idea for a plot device to bring these two together, which is why the predictability of the murderer didn't bother me. It wasn't really about that, it was all about Sebastian doing some much needed growing up as he came to terms with who and what he wanted, and what he may have to give up to get it.
In the end, there were things I liked about this one and things I didn't. The story does have some lags, and I didn't care for the lengthy descriptions for each new character. I prefer to get to know a character as the story progresses, more organically throughout the book I suppose. Some parts went on a bit more than I felt necessary, and there were others that I wanted more of. Nevertheless, the romance is fun, and I did like this pair together. So, did I love it? Not really. But I did like it, and it was worth the read.

I can’t even express how much I thoroughly loved this book! 😍 it was so refreshing and fun!! Eliza was such a fun and quirky person, saying what she thinks and feels, even if it isn’t what polite society would do. And Prince Sebastian, handsome and regal, kind of uptight as a royal might seem. She drives him a bit mad in the beginning, with her lack of care of his status. But as they spend more time together, and try to solve a mystery, they grow very close and fall in love. Now Sebastian has to figure out how to have his kingdom and the woman he loves ❤️. You must get this to find out what happens. You will love it!! ❤️

3.5 stars, rounded up.

Miss Eliza Tricklebank lives a quiet life as a spinster, she fixes clocks, cares for her father who is blind and a justice for the Queen and she helps her sister with her woman’s gazette. It may not be the life she had dreamed of, but she is happy. When the opportunity arises to join her sister and their dear friend Lady Caroline Hawkes at a masquerade ball for the visiting crown prince of Alucia, she jumps at the chance.

Sebastian Charles Chartier, the Crowned Prince of Alucia is in England for two reasons, one to work out a trade deal that will help his countries economy in the event of a war with the neighboring country of Wesloria and to secure a noble English bride. But tonight, Sebastian is enjoying his anonymity and hopefully a tryst with a willing matron. He shares some rum punch in a passageway with a partygoer and then endures introductions, before finally slipping away for his tryst, on his way out his secretary Matous asks for a moment of his time, he asks it can wait and promises to meet with him in a few hours, a promise he doesn’t keep. When he returns to his rooms in the morning, he calls for Matous and learns the horrifying truth – Matous was murdered the night before. Guilt drives Sebastian to investigate the crime himself – much to his staff and his brother Leopold’s displeasure. When a story about the murder makes to the pages of the Honeycutt Gazette – nothing will stop Sebastian from tracking down the owner of the paper.

Eliza enjoyed her time at the masked ball, she danced, drank too much rum punch and met the prince – twice – once in the passageway and then again when she moved in front of him and he stepped on her foot. She also noticed his secretary Matous and wonders what upset the man so much. She was saddened to learn of his death and shocked when a note is delivered to her father stating the killer is Alucian! But the real shock comes days later when Sebastian and his brother Leopold visit and demand to see her father. Eliza doesn’t care who they are, she will not wake her dad or tolerate his rude behavior and she kicks them out of her house.

Sebastian is fuming about Eliza but knows that he needs to talk to her father, so he returns to her house and apologizes, Eliza tells him what she knows and they begin a friendship of sorts. She learns more information about the note that was sent and helps him meet the last man she say Matous talking to.

Sebastian knows he has to choose a bride and that as a commoner, Eliza is not a possibility, but how he wishes she was! Things have escalated between them and he is in love, but they both know their time together is waning and heartbreak is unavoidable or is it?

I really enjoyed this story, the writing is good, the story never drags, the characters are interesting and for the most part likable, the love scenes are warmish, there are laugh out loud moments, a bit of angst, a very well done mystery and a HEA. Almost perfect, but not quite. The hero engages in a tryst with a married woman after he means the heroine – I can’t like that, just about every single title in this book is wrong – the daughter of a Baron does not have the honorific of “Lady” and incorrect use of titles and formal address are my biggest pet peeve in historical romance and finally the solution for their HEA defies credibility and because of the incorrect assumption that a Baron’s daughter has a title, isn’t even a viable solution. But overall, I really liked the story and would happily recommend the book.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that was provided to me by NetGalley and the publisher.*

Not very interesting characters and read like a historical YA to me. Please pass along my note (check yes or no, do you like me). What originally drew me to the story was the murder. I thought it would be a nice murder mystery/romance but that is not really what I got. I also thought the romance was lacking. I have read several of Ms. London’s books and some I loved and some I did not. This one is in the middle but more toward the did not books. I hate that because the books of her that I loved I really loved and laughed at them.

What a fun story! I loved the quirkiness of Eliza's life from her household to her hobbies and of course her sassiness! What do you do when a foreign prince comes to your country? Dream about being swept off your feet of course but Eliza's practical, she knows that's never going to happen, but dreams are nice. Sebastian has come to London on business for his country, to better his country's relations and to find a suitable wife and future queen, roll eyes, the balls, dinners and match making is in the air, he's trying to come to the justification of a strategic match but the heart is strong. Your heart will melt as Sebastian eyes are opened by true love. I enjoyed this storyline, the humor was wonderful and the characters are what makes the world go round! A definite do not miss read!

I enjoyed this well-written historical romance. Eliza's gossip gazette prints an anonymous tip about the personal secretary of the visiting Prince Sebastian of Alucia being found murdered. The Prince is trying to arrange a trade deal and also secure a noble bride, but finds himself spending time with Eliza while they work to discover the murderer. Eliza and Sebastian are both frustrated by and attracted to each other. This was an entertaining book and I look forward to reading more books by this author.

I really like the premise of this one but it is sadly lacking in the execution. I just couldn't connect with Eliza or Sebastian and for a historical romance that is a serious issue. I wish the author would've used a real country instead of Alucia, which is like a mix of France and Spain but not quite either. I found it annoying for some reason. This book just missed the mark for me.

Such a great book!! When Eliza attends a masquerade ball, she has no idea that she would ever meet the future kind of Alucia, being that she’s merely the spinster daughter of a judge. But she does meet Sebastian Chartier a couple of times, even though he does not remember the next time they are in the presence of each other.
Sebastian’s life has been planned out before birth and one this is certain. Alucian law prohibits him from marrying a commoner. While in London to secure a trade deal, he must find a bride from the gentry. The night after the famed masquerade ball though his trusted secretary and friend was found murdered in his bed. Fearing that the English police would not do a thorough investigation, he decides to try to solve the case himself. Especially after reading a story in Honeycutt’s Gazette of Fashion and Domesticity for Ladies that alluded a member of his own his staff might be involved.
Fate continually pushes Eliza and Sebastian together and they form a connection that’s unheard of in Victorian society. They become friends and fellow investigators. While pursuing the killer, feelings come into play, but Eliza’s a practical woman and knows that there’s no chance. She doesn’t entertain the thought, nor does she have a Princess Plan, a way to become a Princess. What Sebastian sees in Eliza is a plain speaking, beautiful woman, who doesn’t want him for what she could gain, who only loves the man he is, not his title.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Even though I figured out some of the mystery, the rest was as shocking to me as it was to Sebastian when all the details were laid out. I couldn’t believe who the killer actually was. With great writing, a wonderful story line, and marvelous characters, you can’t go wrong with this story if you’re a fan of historical romance. Do yourself a favor an read this today!!
I received an ARC of this story from Netgalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.

This book was a slightly different read for me than my usual. It had more mystery to it than a typical romantic suspense for me tio pick up. I didn't figure it out until the final chapters snd even then I missed a few details that changed the overall picture. Once everything was revealed I was easily able to see where the pieces fit into the whole. All in all it was an enjoyable read.

3.5 stars

This synopsis + Julia London = no way I was going to miss out on reading it.

I really liked Eliza and Sebastian. She’s used to doing whatever she wants because she’s a spinster. He’s used to doing what’s expected of him because he’s the prince. Together they have open conversations and decent banter. I loved Eliza’s sister and their BFF and I’m sincerely hoping each of them will get a story.

Plot wise, it was okay. The murder thread of the story didn’t really add much and in parts it felt like an afterthought. Even though Eliza and Sebastian were together a lot, it still seemed like they didn’t know much about each other. I didn’t quite get the jump from intrigue to lust to love.

Overall, it was a quick and enjoyable read with characters who were easy to root for. I’ll definitely be reading the next book in the series.

**Huge thanks to HQN Books for providing the arc free of charge**

This was a really fun read. There were so many things that were uncommon: the heroine, Eliza, a commoner, doesn't seem concerned at all with her reputation, her family doesn't want the Crown Prince Sebastian hanging around Eliza but not because of his womanizing reputation, and the prince actually recognizes Eliza's worth early in the novel. Sebastian and Eliza have honest conversations with one another from the beginning of their acquaintance. Eliza gets to put her full wit and intelligence on display, and she is something to behold. Eliza's sister and best friend helped a lot, they had the most fun conversations together and I loved how they helped Eliza. And when Eliza has a bit too much rum punch, all bets were off! Sebastian is an excellent match for her, and his solution to their difference in social standing is very creative. Watching the crew solve the the murder of his secretary added to the story. What was most interesting was watching the Crown Prince realize that women could be as clever as men -- I don't think I would have been able to live in the era with all of the restrictions on women.

This book is very hard to put down.I was smiling widely as I finished it, and am looking forward to further books in the series.

The Princess Plan is the first book in the A Royal Wedding series.
I truly enjoyed this book! This is the story of Prince Sebastian of Alucia who falls in love with Eliza who is a commoner. Their romance follows like a fairy tale where society and royal status stand in the way of them being together.
Eliza is very outspoken and does not care what society says about her. She's defined herself as spinster who will live day by day taking care of her father. Sebastian is visiting England to set a trade agreement and to choose a bride. It is during the first days when a member of his group is murdered. This sets off the story where Eliza assists Sebastian with some inquiries. Little by little they get to know each other and realize that they have things in common and a romance begins to bloom between them. Sadly because of his royal status they both know that they can't be together. These scenes of them talking about it were so sad. I teared up a couple of times.
Fortunately Sebastian finds a way for them to have a HEA.
This book had quite a few characters, which I am sure we will get to know more as the series continues. I really liked Eliza's sister and best friend. They had the most fun conversations together and I loved how they helped Eliza. Some of the most entertaining scenes where when Eliza enjoyed the rum punch a little too much. I actually LOL a couple of times.
I look forward to the next books in the series as I want to know more about Caro and Hollis, which I am hoping the next books will be about.

Thank you to the author for providing this ARC through NetGalley for an honest review.

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The Princess Plan” is the first book in a new series – “A Royal Wedding” by Julia London. It’s an enjoyable Victorian fairytale romance with thoroughly likable characters, an engaging plot and dialogue that’s charming, witty and warm and funny.

My thanks to Harlequin Romance Publishers for providing me with an ARC (Advance Readers Copy) in exchange for an honest review.

The Princess Plan is the first book in A Royal Wedding series by Julia London.
A wonderful historical romance. I swept away in this fairy tale with Eliza, a spinster and also commoner falls head over heels for Sebastian, a Prince.
But can they have their fairy tale ending or will he realities of life get in the way?
A drama filled storyline, with a mystery, and maybe a murder murder. A captivating romance sure to please historical romance readers everywhere.
The Princess Plan is well-written book, with a intriguing plot line . The characters are well developed and relatable and a storyline that flows smoothly at just the right pace to make this a spellbinding read. You will devour this in one sitting and will be held captive until the very end.


Favorite Quote:
"I'm very sorry, Miss Tricklebank, but I can't leave this to you."

"Oh, dear. Did I mistakenly ask your permission. I assure you, that was not my intent." She smiled again, her eyes sparkling with delight.

"You must be the most irreverent, disobedient person I have ever met in all my years," he said with exasperation.

"Really? In all your years? Perhaps you ought to go abroad more often, sir. I am disobedient because I am not your subject."

My Review:

The Princess Plan reminded me of The Princess Diaries because of the mention of the location being a small EU country so there was a parallel with that. The language was very formal at times but there was good attention to detail and I loved the cover.

Thanks to Julia London and Harlequin for my ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

3.5 stars