Another mixed feeling review for me - I found it really easy to read this book and by the final chapter I was warm and fuzzy inside, happy endings and all that... but I didn't like the characters! They came across as shallow, vain, annoying, obnoxious... and then suddenly we were supposed to see their depths, which seemed to just come out of nowhere. So, not a bad book if you're looking for a bit of fluff (I like fluff - books that don't need me to overthink them can be very enjoyable!) but maybe don't look too deeply under the surface and be patient with the characters - they improve by "the end."

Julia London is a queen of historical romance.
Her books are very fast to read. They all have something in common : plenty of romance and good ending.
This one was not an exception.
Indeed, it was a royal kiss and tell for me!

I really enjoyed reading this book and I can't wait to read more books in this series in the future. Keep up the great work.

A beautiful historical romance told by an expert storyteller.
Impossible to put down until that last word on the final page, Julia London writes a fun, fabulous, and flirtatious tale...again.
Looking forward to book three of the series.

*I received this ARC from the publisher and this is my unbiased review.

A glittering romance set against the glamour of London, A Royal Kiss & Tell is a witty and clever tale of romance and friendship.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions are my own.

Julia London has another winner on her hands with her latest delicious and delectable historical romance, A Royal Kiss and Tell.

Lady Caroline Hawkes is delighted for her best friend Eliza who is about to marry the man she has fallen head over heels in love with: Prince Sebastian, Crown Prince of Alucia. Eliza and Sebastian can barely keep their hands off one another – even if the love which they share has stirred the faintest glimmers of jealousy in Caroline who would love to meet somebody who looks at her in the same way that Sebastian looks at her friend. Caroline might have a whole army of admirers vying for her hand, but she cannot help but be taken aback by the fact that there is one man who had the temerity to forget her: Prince Leopold of Alucia. Caroline cannot believe that this scoundrel cannot recall ever having met her and such an insult will certainly not be tolerated – even if Leo has started to haunt her thoughts and dreams…

Caroline has come up with the perfect plan to paint Leo as a blackguard. She is going to set her cap at the handsome royal prince while ensuring that his reputation is completely and utterly destroyed in a ladies’ gossip gazette! Caroline knows that Leo cannot bear having even the slight hint of scandal to tarnish his name. Not only are these scurrilous rumors jeopardizing his standing in society, but his infamy might end up foiling his investigation into the scandalous machinations of top British government officials. Leo must get to the bottom of who is behind these salacious lies that are impugning his character, but first he needs somebody to help him regain access to polite society and Lady Caroline Hawkes is the perfect candidate for the job.

Thrown together by fate and united by a passion that simply cannot be denied, the more time Caroline and Leo spend together, the more they realize that it’s not just their reputation that they are in danger of losing, but also their hearts…

I fell in love with this book on page one! A joyous, hilarious, witty, warm-hearted and sensational historical romance peppered with humor, sizzle and palace intrigue, A Royal Kiss and Tell is a superb tale the lifts the spirit and warms the heart and will keep readers riveted to the page.

Caroline was a fabulous heroine. Intelligent, witty, stubborn and independent, she will steal everyone’s heart whilst strong, charismatic and sexy hero Leo redefines the word swoon-worthy!

An outstanding historical romance that is pure magic, Julia London knocks it out of the park again with her latest novel, A Royal Kiss and Tell.

This was so cute you guys! I read the first book in this series (The Princess Plan) just last year and while I liked it, I must say I think I enjoyed the sequel even more! (There is some background in this one referring to book 1 but I wouldn’t say its required to read book 2 😉 )

I’m quite new to historical romance but have been finding myself enjoying it and this book is no exception! This book follows Caroline, who is a non stop talking socialite taking the Ton by storm. She doesn’t know when to keep her mouth shut or what “royal protocols” are when it comes to Prince Leo. In fact she has no problem just going right up to him like their old pals and talking his ear off… so it safe to say I LOVED Caroline. Give me a girl who says to hell with society and does what she wants *claps hands* yes girl.

Leo was a bit of a drunk and not the smartest bean in the bag but he had a very likable quality to him nevertheless less. At first he was appalled by Caroline and was like, who is this loud mouth who keeps thinking its appropriate to talk to me, but than his head started to turn after noticing her charm was slowly softening his heart…

While the plot was a little bit slow for me (for some reason I just found myself not that invested in the other interactions going on besides the moments between Leo and Caroline– and of course Carolines friends) I still found it a fun light read — plus that ending was precious!

This book is great if your a fan of historical romance, and low angst! I’m also really curious as to what love interests will be focused on in book 3!!

Lady Caroline Hawke is insulted when Prince Leopold doesn't remember her name, so she starts spreading rumors about him even as she plans to marry him herself. But the prince is investigating the British government and needs access to high society. He needs Lady Caroline's help to get back into the ton's good graces, and it is definitely higher stakes than either thought.

The kingdom of Alucia began its existence with that novel, which is quickly summarized in a paragraph on page one. This novel features on Lady Caroline, Eliza's best friend. She's as imperious as ever from the start, and Leopold is a prickly prince, hoping to get back to England rather than take part in the pageantry of the wedding and all of the parties in Alucia. He'd rather be the willfully ignorant one, but with Sebastian married off, machinations pull him into the realm of international politics.

This is a case of opposites attracting, and that the two would have to spend time together to really learn how they think. Leopold doesn't care about his own reputation as he goes around trying to save young women from Alucia or their neighboring country of Westloria that were trafficked to England. Some likely weren't abused (we get an example of one), others were. It's definitely a worthwhile cause that he had taken up, though he bumbled his way through it and tarnished his reputation. Being a prince only goes so far in a society that values the superficial as well as wealth and looks. Once Lady Caroline realized he wasn't as terrible as she thought, she helps him get back into the nobles' parties to find the remaining ladies he sought and even found one for him.

I liked this book and how the characters were able to riff off each other and interact and learn. I kind of liked the first novel a bit better, but only because in the beginning, I found Caroline as annoying as Leopold did! She grew on me as she did for Leopold, and her talents as a seamstress as well as a gossip develop over time. As outspoken and irreverent as she can be, Caroline means well, and more than makes Leopold's match.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A Royal Kiss & Tell, by Julia London, was available at booksellers in May of 2020. A Royal Wedding series book 2 gives us Caroline and Leopold as our hero and heroine. I really liked book 1, The Princess Plan, and had looked forward to Leo's story but I have to admit that I'm disappointed. I couldn't finish the entire book, I skipped around and finally went for the epilogue. I didn't like that either. I found Leo and Caro to be so vain, selfish, and annoying that I never took a shine to them. He's stuck-up and she can't shut up. He acts more like an entitled prince than she does a genteel lady. I never quite believed that anyone would ask Leo to help out in an espionage case, he's a useless fribble. Even with not caring for this book I'm still looking forward to book 3 in October. I have hope as the heroine is the writer & publisher of a ladies gazette that I found funny.

#JuliaLondon #ARoyalKiss&Tell #ARoyalWedding #Netgalley #HQNBooks #Romance

A romance that will make you laugh and keep you on your toes, A ROYAL KISS AND TELL by Julia London is enjoyable from beginning to end.

Lady Caroline Hawke has watched her best friend find true love and happiness and cannot help but want that for herself. The handsome, yet bothersome, Prince Leopold stirs something within her but he seems oblivious to her in every way. Well, two can play at that game, and Caroline is determined to make him take notice, and she has just the plan to do it before he disappears from her life forever.
Leo has always been the spare son, good for nothing but carousing and being free. But with his older brother happily married, the focus is now on him and he is being married off for political gain. But when he is informed about an evil plot involving many trusted people in the palace, will Leo be able to find the courage to uncover the truth, regardless of the consequences? And will he be able to ignore the beautiful, yet infuriating Lady Hawke, whose smile he cannot seem to forget?

With plenty of twists and turns, laughs and longing looks, A ROYAL KISS AND TELL by Julia London is the second book in this enchanting historical romance series. Caroline is a very unique character - confident, sassy, outspoken, and content in who she really is regardless of what society says - and likeable from the beginning. She is the opposite of Leo who lives rigidly by protocol but underneath his hard exterior is a vulnerable man who has never really known where he belonged.

A ROYAL KISS AND TELL has everything you could possibly want - danger, sinister plots, gossip, ballrooms, romance, and everything in between - and I look forward to the next book in this series. This book is sure to be a huge hit with all historical romance fans.

Julia London is back at it again with book two of A Royal Wedding series. In book two, the story is focused around Caroline Hawke, a flower of high society and Prince Leopold of Alucia. To be honest, I wasn't sure this couple would work. In the previous book, Caroline came off as a social butterfly with an over-inflated sense of self. There were times where I truly wondered if she was really a friend of the Tricklebank sisters, or a friend with a tendency to unleash verbal barbs to maim unsuspecting targets. I didn't think Leopold and Caroline would work as a couple. Despite her constant resuscitations of their previous meeting, Prince Leopold has no memory of meeting Caroline and didn't have much interest in starting a relationship with her. At first. The first few chapters did not cast Caroline in a positive light. She came off as a gossipy debutant with nothing much beyond the surface. I guess that was kind of the point? Later on, her character profile was more flushed out and you see more sides of Caroline as an individual and she becomes more likable. Like Caroline, I didn't have much care for Prince Leopold either. As the second prince, nothing much is expected from the spare heir. This aspect does give Leo a bit of a chip on his shoulder and also explains his mindset when it comes to involving himself with state business. Now that his older brother has married, his parents turn their eyes onto him and have chosen a bride for him. The bride is a perfect candidate from Wesloria. In an attempt to solidify peace between the two countries, they expect Leo to jump to their tune. This is not unexpected among royals, but Leo still chafes from the pressure. After hearing about a nefarious plot between the nobility in England, Wesloria, and Alucia, Prince Leo is suddenly playing the role of hero. And who should join him? Caroline, of course. The more time they spend together, the more their initial opinions about the other changes. And soon a mutual attraction forms. But there are other forces acting behind the scenes and soon Leo's rep among the nobles is in tatters. Who could the saboteur be? Overall, the pacing was better this time around. Caroline and Leo's character development was thought out and added different facets to my initial impressions and made them more likable.

It is very rare for me to not actually finish a book. It is even more rare when the book was provided with the intent to read and review it here. It saddens me when this happens, especially when the author is one I have read and enjoyed before.

Sadly, such is the case with A Royal Kiss & Tell by Julia London. I jumped at the opportunity to read and review one of Ms. London’s books as I have enjoyed many of them. Unfortunately, I made a little more than a quarter in to the book before I had to set it aside.

As always, Ms. London’s writing is quite well done. The scenes she sets up pull the reader in and it is easy to picture the action as it is happening. She has an ability to make the words jump from the page and to take the reader along for the ride.

My issue is with the characters themselves, especially Lady Caroline. She is a lady and yet her manners would claim otherwise. While she can be kind to most every one she meets, she often talks without caring if she is welcome or not. She also comes across as quite vain and shallow, taking great offense when those around don’t agree with her opinions of her own beauty.

Prince Leopold is thankfully a little better. While he finds Lady Caroline lovely to look at, he also finds her irritating with her apparent lack of manners. He chides her foolishness and spars with her in words. Being the second son, he is the “spare” to his elder brothers “heir”, a position he seems content with.

From some of the other reviews I have seen of A Royal Kiss & Tell, there are certain plot points that are not dealt with very well. They are supposedly dealt with in a ham-handed manner and often feel forced. I did not make it far enough in to the book to come across these particular sub-plots, so I cannot make any comments on to how they were written.

I have long been a fan of the author, Julia London. Having read numerous books by her, I have enjoyed many of them. While I personally did not enjoy reading A Royal Kiss & Tell, I will encourage other readers to give it a try. Just because it wasn’t for me does not mean it won’t be perfect for someone else.

A Royal Kiss and Tell is the second book in the A Royal Wedding Series. I really enjoyed the first book and had high hopes for his one. While I didn't love it as much, I did ended up enjoying it in the end. This is Leo and Caroline's story. The story line was a bit darker than the first book. It deals with human trafficking, in which girls from Leo's neighboring country are being bought for servitude and other nefarious reasons. Leo risks his reputation to try to save the girls. That subject is what initially turned me off for a lot of the story. If Leo had just told Caroline in the beginning what he was doing, a lot of angst could have been prevented and she could have helped sooner. I also felt like there weren't severe enough consequences for the members of the ton who bought the slaves.

What saved the book for me was the characters. I enjoyed watching Caroline grow and change from a self-centered, superficial debutante into a caring, selfless woman who doesn't care about society rules. I always love when a character whom I initially dislike shows a lot of growth over the length of a book. I loved the person Caroline had become in the end. Leo also went through a transformation realizing that he was worth more than the title of playboy. He was doing something noble, yet had to sacrifice his reputation in the process. That was heart-breakingly unfair. I did love the banter between the couple and loved their HEA. I look forward to the next book in the series.

I was very excited to receive an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review - thank you NetGalley.

I am on the fence with this book - I had a hard time liking the main character, Caroline. She seemed erratic, selfish and quite tone deaf to me, she was overly confident and I didn't like the way she acted in a lot of the social situations she found herself in. Leopold did not have much going for him either - if you take the title away there really isn't much left. He just seemed like a bit of a tosser to me? I also didn't feel much chemistry between the two - in fact I found it unbelievable he fell for Caroline.

London is a good writer though and I generally enjoy her books, this one just fell a little flat for me. It won't deter me from trying her other work..

I struggled with this book, primarily because of the heroine, Caroline. She is not the type of person I'd want to be friends with and though I tried, I just was not able to form any type of emotional connection with her until the final two chapters of the book. Perhaps if she'd had more depth or shown something more than egotistical, shallow, and annoyingly obnoxious behavior for the vast majority of the book, I'd have felt differently and been more invested in her and her relationship with Leo.

Leo also needs to grow up but his evolution begins earlier in the book and continues throughout. I enjoyed his character arc and found his growth believable, especially as it is paired with a bit of intrigue involving slave trafficking of young women from his country to England. London does an admirable job of transitioning his character from a drunken wastrel to a responsible man willing to sacrifice his own reputation to rescue the young women from untenable situations.

Human trafficking was a serious topic to introduce into this story. I would have liked to have seen more accountability for the perpetrators and attention given to the victims. There are still missing women being enslaved in England, rescued women who have been used as sexual playthings, and most of the high-ranking men involved seem to have not been held accountable for their heinous actions. I wonder if that is the author's statement on the unfairness of a female's vulnerability, and the male's power, during that time or if she has plans to continue this plot line in a future book?

London's a very good writer and I have enjoyed many of her books. There will undoubtedly be many readers who will love this book and probably feel very differently about Caroline than I did. It just didn't work for me but, sometimes, one reader's disappointment is another's pleasure. If you love Royals, fashion, gossip, biting banter, and a slow-burn, enemies to lovers romance, this might be a good book for you.

3.5 stars
ARC received for fair and unbiased review

I am so thrilled that I got the chance to read and review this for HQN since I read the first book in this series last year and absolutely loved it. And I think I ended up liking this one even more. Caroline is such a fun and refreshing character who really pushes Leo’s buttons which made for a lot of fun moments in the book. Also, the interactions between Caroline and her brother, Beck, were always amusing and very realistic of a brother and sister relationship.

Leo also finds himself put into a situation where, for the first time in his life, he is needed to do something important. He is given a mission that he knows he has to complete because it involves women being bought and sold and in trying to find these women he also finds himself. I really loved Leo’s character growth and how his priorities and viewpoints shifted as his awareness of how privileged being a royal has made him. The book also does a great job of balancing these darker moments with more humorous ones. Caroline has also lived a privileged life that she has fully taken advantage of and over the course of the book she also has an awakening of what she wants out of life. It was so lovely to see them both separately mature and how that maturity bonds them closer.

Watching Caroline and Leo fall for each other was one of my favorite parts of the story. I do, however, think there was a little bit of insta love going on. Of course, this is part of a series of books called Royal Wedding so I think that is to be expected. Also, the third book in this series will be a Christmas Wedding with our heroine from the first book’s sister, Hollis. I am so excited for that one since she is a character that I already admire and I’m so intrigued by the idea of her falling in love with a royal.

If you love historical fiction then this is definitely a series you need to pick up. Also, if you aren’t sure if historical fiction is something you would enjoy then this might be worth looking into because both books in the series really push back on what society’s norm for women was then.

⭐️⭐️⭐️3/4
Every prince has his secrets. And she’s determined to unravel his…

Every young man in London’s ton is vying for Lady Caroline Hawke’s hand—except one. Handsome roué Prince Leopold of Alucia can’t quite remember Caroline’s name, and the insult is not to be tolerated. So Caroline does what any clever, resourceful lady of means would do to make sure Leo never again forgets: sees that scandalous morsels about his reputation are printed in a ladies’ gossip gazette…all while secretly setting her cap for the rakish royal.

Someone has been painting Leo as a blackguard, but who? Socially, it is ruining him. More important, it jeopardizes his investigation into a contemptible scheme that reaches the highest levels of British government. Leo needs Lady Caroline’s help to regain access to society. But this charming prince is about to discover that enlisting the deceptively sweet and sexy Lady Caroline might just cost him his heart, his soul and both their reputations…
—————

This book was received from the Author, and Publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

Royal Kiss and Tell is the story of Caroline and Leopold who we met in the first of this series, The Princess Plan.{ The Princess Plan }
Julia London's -A Royal Wedding Series-
The story begins where book one, A Princess Plan leaves set in Victorian times, London delightful series is set in the authors fictional country of Alucia .

Lady Caroline Lady Caroline Hawke is beautiful, is an overindulged breathtaking beautiful woman. At opening of the book she is attending the wedding celebration of her very dear friend, Eliza Tricklebank. Who is marring a prince Sebastian, who happens to be in line to thrown.
She is completely happy for her friend but finds herself drawn to another prince, Prince Leopold. He is non other than Sebastian's brother, Leopold the second son of the King of Alucia. Being the second in line always tends to make anyone have a little chip on their shoulder. Living the drunkenly rakish lifestyle that only a spare royal prince could possibly lead. Tall, swoon worthy handsome. Extremely cocky and arrogant, He he sees lady Caroline as a vain and brash woman.
Lady Caroline, is not all what she seems to be, but she is definitely headstrong and demanding.
A delightful an entertaining lovely romance, with a great cast of characters. I really enjoyed the enemies to lovers trope and all the wit full banter between the the main protagonist. There is a little mystery along with some serious twists that makes the book really intriguing.


#aroyalkisstell #aroyalkissandtell #julialondon #netgalley #thatharlequinfeeling #bookrelease #newbook #booksandflowers #booknerd #bookreview #books #bookstoread #bookstagram #booklover #reading #romancenovel #bookstack #romancestagram #romancereader #idratherbereading #historicalromance #readingromance #allthebooks #springintoharlequin

Title: A Royal Kiss and Tell
Author: Julia London
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

This is probably a case of this not being the right book for me, but I had a hard time finishing this. Caroline and Leo annoyed me quite a bit, making what would otherwise have been an enjoyable read a bit of a chore. The writing was solid, and I liked the premise, but the characters were a tough sell.

Caroline came across as vapid, interested only in gossip and scandal, and getting attention—at least until the last 15% or so of the book. Then she started to mature a bit and became much more likable. Leo…well, he was pretty close to useless for the majority of the book, then he became more interesting when he started to step up some.

Julia London is a bestselling author. A Royal Kiss and Tell is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/HQN in exchange for an honest review.)

A delightful story that captured me from the start! Julie London is one of my automatic go to authors who never fails to pen a marvelous tale full of her descriptive prose laced with humor and a wonderful storyline.
Just image, your dearest fiend marries a Prince, who would one day be King and she Queen? Lady Caroline Hawke was so happy for her friend, Eliza Tricklebank (yes, I love that name!) who married Prince Sebastian.
But Caroline has her eye on Prince Leopold, Sebastian's brother. What would it take for him to notice her?
Oh he notices her alright, with her loud brass talk and hand gestures!
Leo just wants to get back to England to his entertainments and rakish life, but several things happen. First he father tells him he is going to marry a young lady who will help unite the country. Then he hears about the women who are being kidnapped from his country and taken and sold in England. It becomes his mission to save them. Well at least until things go awry!
I love the verbal sparring between Caro and Leo and how each seems to come together and eventually for a joint cause.
So sit back and enjoy this scrumptious story of how the royal fall, in love that is, and the wonderful journey to get there!

A Royal Kiss & Tell took some time to grow on me. Part of that is due to a lack of connection with Caroline, who is probably one of the vainest characters that I've read in some time. Nevertheless, there's something to be said for a strong heroine, one who knows her own mind. Where Leo is concerned, I'm not so sure she knew her own mind so much as she was determined to be noticed. I waffled a bit about this couple, but as the story progressed, I did warm up to them little by little, mostly as Caroline grew on me. Leo was a little easier to like from the start, plus he has some intrigue to keep him busy. The story is well written, and while it's not exactly historically accurate, it is entertaining, and it serves as a good bit of escapism which is something we can all use.