If you missed the first in this series, (The Princess Plan), the basic gist is that Sebastian, Crown Prince of Alucia, fell for and married Eliza Tricklebank, an Englishwoman of no particular consequence. A Royal Kiss and Tell commences at their royal wedding in Alucia, full of pomp and circumstance. Lady Caroline Hawke is Eliza’s best friend and the heroine of this story, and honestly, she’s absolutely refreshing, in that she’s probably the most confident period romance heroine I’ve ever met. She knows, with complete certainty, that she’s beautiful, clever and charming, and she takes anyone who fails to recognise her as such as a personal challenge. Prince Leopold doesn’t even seem to be able to remember her name, so he’s the biggest challenge of all. Honestly, Caroline would be easy to dislike as a person in real life - I think I’d find her brash and obnoxious - but as a character, she’s certainly fascinating to read about.

Leopold’s the ‘spare’, and he’s never had to take anything seriously. Told about a shocking plot against his country and the dreadful plight of some young women sold into slavery in aristocratic English homes, he finds he wants to help, but doesn’t know how. He manages to bumble his way into a scandal, and eventually, ends up asking Caroline for help.

I really don’t get why Leopold didn’t just ask someone for help earlier. Caroline’s brother, for example, with whom he was such great friends. Hell, his bodyguards - he trusted them with his life, but not this secret? That didn’t make sense. Too much of the sub-plot about the trafficked women and the plot against the Alucian crown happened offscreen, including the resolution, which was just handwaved away as Leopold going off to fix things and then returning for Caroline. I wanted to see them fixing it together, not her sidelined and basically sitting around waiting for him to fix things so they could maybe, eventually, get together.

Too many things just didn’t gel here for me. I like Julia London’s writing style and despite Caroline’s character being very different from the expected Regency heroine, I really enjoyed reading her. I even believed in the way Leopold slowly but inevitably fell for her. But the sub-plot was just a hot mess and being on such a significant topic of human trafficking, the resolution mattered. Overall, I’ll give this three stars.

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this title via NetGalley.

At her best friend’s wedding, Caroline was upset that her friend, the bride, wouldn’t go against Alucia’s custom of only having flower girls so that she could be in the wedding party. She was upset that Eliza chose her sister over her to be matron of honor. I almost threw the book down at that point, but I kept reading. For about one-half of the book Caroline was pretty insufferable in my opinion.
We see that the hero is not much better than Caroline. Prince Leopold is the spare. His brother will be the next king, and Leopold spends his life without much care. He loves to spend his time in Lindon, far away from royal duties, living the life of a wastrel. Drinks, parties, and women are all he’s concerned about. That is until he meets up with an old acquaintance who begs for his help. It seems that there is an underground sex trade operation going on and it involves Alucia, their neighboring country of Westloria, and England. Prince Leopold is asked to help uncover and stop the deplorable crime and find out who’s behind it.
Everywhere he turns is Caroline, he’s already put her in her place once. One simply does not act like you’re a friend to a royal if you barely know them. He doesn’t remember her from their one meeting in England, and then their time together for the wedding of his brother to her best friend was spent with him trying to steer clear of her. Caroline needs to learn her place in his haughty opinion. Now that he’s back in England, packing up his household and using his last bits of freedom before he has to go back home and wed the daughter of a Westlorian noble, Caroline is at every turn and he can’t keep his eyes off of her.
You see the sparks fly off the pair every time they meet. You wait and wonder when the sparks will turn into an explosion, and when they do, it blinding. You start to see the change in both, when you realize that he’s using his life as a wastrel to cover the fact he’s rescuing the women who’ve been sold to English nobles, you begin to root for him. When you see Caroline’s attitude shift from being so self-centered, to actually helping Leopold in his quest, you become hopeful. The ending couldn’t be better, true love wins, the plot exposed, the criminals arrested.
I definitely did a 180 in my opinion of the main characters of this story. I seriously disliked both Caroline and Leopold, and almost stopped reading. I’m so glad I didn’t because this turned into one of my favorite reads so far this year. If you’re a fan of historical romance, I definitely suggest this story.
**I was given an ARC of this story by NetGalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.

The operetta is back and be read with your Lehar and Strauss records.
Even if I found it a bit slower at the beginning it’s entertaining and engrossing and I rooted for the lovely characters.
I liked the mix of historical fiction, political intrigue and romance. It’s well-crafted and it worked well keeping me hooked and enjoying the story.
It’s a romance but it’s also a story about growing up and accepting what we are and the consequences of our actions.
I liked the style of writing, the witty banters and the well thought and likeable characters.
I can’t wait to read another book in this series and I truly liked them.
Recommended.
Many thanks to HQN and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Lady Caroline was difficult to like at the beginning. She was annoyingly outspoken, which I usually like in a character. Her need to be the center of attention was also a turn off. But this author completely turned my feelings around for this character. Prince Leo has been told his time in England is over and he needs to return home to resume his duties and marry for the good of his country. A plot is revealed to Leo and he does his best to figure out who and what is at the center before he leaves. Their romance is slow and the banter is humorous.

While I didn't read the first book in this series, I didn't need to. The only bummer part is, there's really no point in going back to it either, since it's pretty obvious which couple got together in the first book.

The really good news is that these books aren't just romantic fluff. Apparently in the first one there was a murder to be solved, and this one has us working to free women from slavery and stopping human trafficing. Yay!

Lady Caroline starts out showing her regard for Prince Leopold by calling him 'the Arse of Alucia.' I loved her way with words. She is outspoken and just humble enough to go back and admit when she changes her opinion. The snarky evolution of their relationship was quite entertaining. Both characters felt real and were engaging in their development. It would be amusing to see them in the previous and subsequent books.

Overall, I'd give this book 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it as a fun historical romance for adult readers who enjoy that sort of thing.

As a historical romance fan (what's not to love about the Dukes from Erica Ridley and Darcy Burke) I was very happy to receive an arc for A Royal Kiss & Tell. While I hadn't read anything from Julia London before, I didn't realize that Julia's historical romance would be more political in nature than the stories of Erica and Darcy.
Prince Leopold of Alucia is the second in line for the throne. Feeling 'second-best' and not very useful, he indulges in booze and women in England, far away from his brother and father.
Lady Caroline (Caro) is one of the most remarkable ladies of the English society. She doesn't abide the 'laws' of etiquette and dresses in her own style. Much to the displeasure of her legal guardian and loving brother Beck. She knows how to use influential ladies from the ton to get her way. And now that she realizes that prince Leo doesn't recall who she is, she will make sure that this scoundrel will be shunned upon in England.
The story unfolds with a lot of scenarios in which Julia describes how the ton in earlier England is being played upon by Caro. And on the other side we see how Leo gets involved in a dangerous political intrigue, which could blow up the entire kingdom al Alucia.
Suspense, laughter, romance and deceit. Three out of five stars from me and a special thank you to Netgalley for providing the arc.

Romance at a Royal Wedding

Lady Caroline Hawke is reveling in the beauty of her friend Eliza’s wedding to Sebastian, Crown Prince of Alucia. However, she has to admit to twinges of jealousy. She’d love to be marrying a handsome prince, and there is one available. Sebastian's younger brother Leopold is quite a catch, but he doesn’t seem to notice Caroline’s charms. This calls for serious measures to attract his attention.

Leopold for his part can’t wait to get back to his bachelor life in London. He finds Caroline a nuisance. She’s forward, talks too much, and doesn’t seem to recognize the proprieties. She is beautiful, but that doesn’t make up for her imperfections until he needs her help to complete a mission. Women from Wesloria, a neighboring kingdom, are being sold into slavery and taken to London, and it’s up to Sebastian to rescue them.

This is a delightfully lush royal romance. The scenes at the wedding are a kaleidoscope of colors and sounds that create a perfect backdrop for romance. If you long to envision a royal fantasy, this is a perfect escape.

Caroline and Leopold are not likable characters in the opening chapters, they’re vain and self-centered. The saving grace is that they irritate each other leading to some amusing dialog. They become much more human when they team up to solve the mystery of the missing girls.

This is the second of the three books in The Royal Wedding Series. As fantasy romance they’re delightful.

I received this book from Harlequin for this review.

Prince Leopold thinks Lady Caroline Hawke is presumptuous, brash and completely lacking in etiquette and royal protocol. Lady Caroline Hawke is at her best friend's wedding, regardless that she's marrying into royalty, and doesn't much care what Prince Leopold thinks. Additionally, Lady Hawke is beautiful and charming to everyone except Prince Leopold. Although, she may fantasize about becoming a princess, marrying Prince Leopold isn't worth the effort. One night, Prince Leo suddenly sees Lady Caroline as the woman she truly is. Not the woman he's perceived her to be. However, at the same time Caroline has decided Leo is a pain in the arse and can't wait to go home.

I REALLY wanted Prince Leopold to get his own story. I loved him in The Princess Plan. However, he isn't the same fun loving guy he was. Caroline seems a little vain, okay a lot vain, which I didn't notice in the first book either.

It is great fun watching (in my imagination) these 2 argue, fuss and fight. Will they fall in love and live happily ever after? You'll have to read the book to find out.

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.

Excellent! Funny poignant storyline.

Lady Caroline Hawke is at her best friends wedding in Alucia and wishes it were she walking down the aisle to marry a handsome Prince. She loves being the center of every single mans attention at all the lavish events she attends. She is beautiful and she is a woman who says what is on her mind. She is quite put off that Prince Leopold of Alucia doesn’t even remember meeting her, but also wants nothing to do with her while she is at the wedding. This handsome Prince is certainly frustrating.

Prince Leopold is now the last bachelor in the family and the King wants him to marry quickly to someone who will be advantageous to the family. Prince Leopold heads to England to put things in order, trying to hold off on the engagement. When he is approached by an activist and told of a possible human trafficking plot, he is appalled and is committed to finding out more while he is in London.

When both Leopold and Caroline return to London, she is frustrated that Leopold has somehow become her brother Beckett’s best friend. They infuriate each other, but they also have sparks flying whenever they are together. When rumors start to fly about Leopold and maids from different households, Caroline helps the rumors circulate and soon Leopold is shunned from invites. Leopold has no other choice as things heat up to turn to Caroline for help in finding these young women who were sold to some of London’s upper elite. Caroline believes Leopold and vows to help him. When Leopold is summoned back to Alucia by the King , will Leopold leave the feelings he has for Caroline behind as well? When Caroline damages her reputation to help Leopold will it all be for nothing?

I loved this story by Julia London as much as I loved the first book in the series “Princess Plan” with the female characters being head strong, cheeky, and sassy. The banter between the characters is also such a great addition to the story. I loved that there is a mystery involved and how it is wound into the story line. This book does start at the continuation of the first novel, but it can definitely be read as a stand-alone story. Thank you so much to the author Julia London, Harlequin and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book to review. It was fabulous! All opinions expressed for this review are unbiased and entirely my own

Lady Caroline Hawke certainly has her pick when it comes choosing someone to court. However, only one man gives her pause and that is Prince Leopold of Alucia. As far as Leopold is concerned, he is set by duty to marry another. What is more is that he has no idea who Caroline is. And that vexes her. Annoys her. So, Caroline makes sure that Leopold remembers her. Having a lady's gazette at her disposal allows Caroline the chance to get Leopold's attention - and not in a favorable way. Instead she uses the gazette to besmirch his reputation.

Leopold wants to know who is behind the awful rumors being printed about him. But, things go far deeper than how he looks by what has been printed. There is actually a rather awful scheme that reaches high up in the London government that needs to be exposed, so Leopold approaches Lady Caroline in order to gain her help in doing so. The fact that the pair are strongly attracted to each other soon presents difficulties on more than one level.

A Royal Kiss & Tell goes beyond the trope of what might be considered hate to love. Instead, it gets deep rather quickly by exposing a slave trade occurring among those in the higher echelons. For this book to deal with this issue was a nice twist to what I as a reader have come to expect in historical romances.

Caroline's independent nature and Leopold's righteous one clashed more than once, especially considering Caroline's original goal. Meanwhile, Leopold may have wanted to do right - and did his darnedest along the way - was offset by his frustration due to the fact that he was the "spare" in the Alucian monarchy. He had everything but often wanted more and this did not always make him a pleasant person.

I loved development of the romance between Leopold and Caroline and also her relationship with her brother Beck and friends Eliza and Hollis. These relationships gave a nice bit of balance to the otherwise sensitive subjects and the mystery that was being exposed. I enjoyed this book as well as the first in the series, The Princess Plan and definitely look forward to reading Hollis's story in A Princess by Christmas, due for release in October.

Many thanks to HQN Books and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

My thoughts
Would I recommend it? Yes , in fact I've already told some of my friends
about it while I was reading it.
Would I read more of this series? Yes
Would I read more by this author? Yes

Note:
there is mentioning of slave-trade and trafficking but its not the main part of the story
First off I want to thank HQN Books for inviting me to read and review it and for their help in finding a new author to read, second this is the first time I've read anything by this author and even though this is the second book to A Royal Wedding series I would say pick up book one first to read that way you can meet and understand who the characters are. As for the characters themselves there was one that got on my nerves and that was Caro, how she acted not only towards her friends but towards the other characters in the book ,well lets just say there was times I wanted to ring her neck. And even though she was put in her place by someone that just made her act more like a spoiled brat who thought that they was never in the wrong , but luckily she was able to redeem herself in my eyes, did she become a favorite no but it got to the point where I could stand to like her and could see her finally growing up and that was mostly to her spend time with Leo . As for the romance its self its not a fast growing one , in fact it slow , which helps the story along much better than a fast one would , because doing that time you see the characters start to coming in to themselves which is great but the only downside is to the story is that I wish the author had not down played the slave-trade and trafficking, over all its a 4 star read because of how strong the characters are, how the story was written and how it comes to life, and at times it even had me smiling at what was going on, and while it did take me a while to like Caro , I did enjoy the story so much so that I didn't want to stop reading it, with that said I also want to say thank you to NetGalley for also letting me read and review it

Lady Caroline Hawke easily attracts men's attention but cannot understand why it's so difficult to catch the eye of Prince Leopold, brother to Prince Sebastian of Alucia. The answer is simple in that Leopold is generally inebriated or hungover at their encounters. However, Leopold may simply need a purpose in his life and he welcomes a mission to save enslaved girls when he returns to England. He needs to learn how to do so and comes to rely on Caroline for help. Her assistance changes once she learns of his good intentions.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review; all opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book once I could get into it. It was a good story. One part historical romance and one part mystery-both parts melded together well. Prince Leopold and Lady Caroline’s story was pretty good. It was nice to catch up with the characters from the previous book. The story was entertaining and the characters were fun.

While it wasn't my favorite of Julia London's books, I still enjoyed "A Royal Kiss & Tell," the second book of the Royal Wedding series. The romance between main characters Prince Leopold Chartier and Lady Caroline Hawke took a bit of a backseat to the intrigue in which Leo found himself to be embroiled, but they were both relatively likeable characters, so I was glad that they found a way to be happy together in the end.

It took me a while to warm up to Caroline in this book, which was disappointing because she was so much fun in the previous book of the series. Here, she seemed cheerfully vain and shallow at first, obsessed with fashion, spreading gossip, and being the center of attention at all times. However, as the story progressed and I got to know Caroline better, it became apparent that her cheerful exterior was a facade hiding her fear that no gentleman would ever want to marry her for anything other than her beauty or fortune. I certainly couldn't blame her for her desire to be wanted for herself rather than her looks or money, and she did seem to have a genuine desire to help others even if she wasn't quite sure how to go about it.

The highlight of the story for me was Prince Leo and his investigation into the human trafficking ring, which seemed to give him a purpose and help him mature quite a bit in a very short period of time. His tendency to bungle things, while unfortunate, was also sometimes amusing, as well as completely understandable because Leo hadn't exactly been raised to participate in schemes and intrigue. However, I loved his determination to do the right thing by helping those women, and it was wonderful to see his efforts pay off in the end.

The secondary characters were just as much fun in this book as they were in the previous book of the series, particularly Caroline's brother Beck and her friend Hollis. I hope there are plans for both of them to get stories of their own in the future!

In summary, "A Royal Kiss & Tell" was an enjoyable read and I would recommend it for all fans of witty historical romances, though with a content warning since the topic of human trafficking is a fairly important part of the plot. I look forward to the next book in this series.

*ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

I love Julia London’s books. This one, the second in this series, was a little hard for me to get interested in. But, I kept at it and in the end loved it. It’s a story of a woman who wants desperately to be loved for herself, not her dowery and a second son Prince who needs direction in his life. I eventually loved the story, it just needed a bit more time than it usually does.

I love a good romance and London offers up some of the best I've read. She does it again in this book, the tale of Caroline and Prince Leopold.

I have loved Lady Caroline's character since this series has started. She's fresh and a tad unorthodox and just lovable.

Prince Leo on the the other hand is a bit of a stuffy ladies man and conceited twit when he first appears. At first I was like,'Caroline and Leopold? Really?! I mean really?' But as per usual London delivers a fun, romantic storyline that makes it both possible and probable.

So Caroline and Leo become a couple you can route for; who capture your mind, heart and imagination. Who weave their way into your psyche so deeply that the thought of them not being together almost brings you to tears. All I can say on that subject is thank goodness Lindon always delivers a HEA, even in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this one! Caroline really grew into her self throughout the book & Leopold was just so cute the whole way through.

There were some topics i felt could have been done better, but overall I really enjoyed this one!

Following up to the first book, The Princess Plan , Lady Caroline is front and center with her love interest. For those who have not read the first book, this book can be read as a standalone. It will be more enjoyable learning the back history. Still, this story is easy to follow with well woven insights from the first book.

I confess I'm mixed about this story. I was hoping the story would be about Eliza's sister, Hollis. It is about Eliza's childhood friend, Caroline. Caroline is a hard character for me to like. She is shallow and her high opinion of herself is off putting. She's annoying with her "rules don't apply to someone as beautiful as me" attitude. She lives a sheltered and privileged life, fully funded by her brother. Whilst Hollis bemoans the fact that men either want her for her money or looks, she has not demonstrated anything worthwhile to admire. She is one of those characters you kind of feel pity for because she is so self-deluded. She isn't malicious; she's worse. She's careless and leaps to conclusions. She uses her influence quite frankly for bad rather than good. So what is there to like about her? I'm still not sure.

She does grow up a little in this story. She also finds something she is passionate about. This isn't her lust for her best buddy, Eliza's brother in law, Prince Leopold. She wants to design and make dresses. She also wants Leopold to notice her. They are an unlikely match and their romance felt contrived and forced. Their constant communication issues and inability to be honest with each other grated on me. They have the best of intentions from their point of view and yet each time, their help causes more things to go awry.

Character and lack of chemistry aside, this story is well written. The plot of human trafficking and how to foil this practice kept my attention. How Leopold responds to it and because his past behaviours undermines his plans, it is painful to watch. Not because it is bad, but because Leopold wants to right an injustice so badly yet every turn, his past wild behaviour is thrown into his face.

The conclusion to this story wrapped up very quickly into a happily ever after. Let's just say, Caroline's brother is finally able to taste the freedom. This romance is recommended to historical romance readers who enjoy a "prince charming" fairytale theme.

I adored the first book in this series, The Princess Plan, last year, and was so excited to get a chance to read this second book! Like the previous book, the characters in this book are excellent; one thing that London does so well is craft characters who feel solid and utterly unique. On that note, I can see a potential for some readers to be turned off by the MC, Caroline; she’s impetuous to an extreme and isn’t shy about making her opinions known. These traits often land her in sticky situations that can get cringy, so anyone super sensitive to cringe might find this a tougher couple to fall in love with. I was quite taken with her, though. 🙂

Due to the royal focus and the invented kingdom of Alucia, this series has a slightly more fantasy feel than your typical historical romance (a genre which, let’s be honest, is its own strain of fantasy, anyway.) Anyone looking for historical accuracy should perhaps keep browsing, but for those of us who just want to imagine a scenario where we get to fall in love with a dashing prince, this book is just perfect. The dialogue is great and the prose is strong, with the right amount of whimsy that doesn’t cross into saccharine sweet or precious territory. I also appreciated the court intrigue plot thread; astute mystery readers might unravel the mystery before the end, but I didn’t anticipate the twists and turns myself. All in all, this was a great read, and I’ll definitely be first in line for the next in series.