This was just okay. The writing wasn't bad, but I'm not a huge fan of novellas. It felt rushed at times, and I didn't really feel the connection between the characters. Most of the dialogue was in their own minds, and there wasn't a whole lot of trust between them. They were constantly jumping to conclusions. I think I would have liked Nicholas and Lizzie together if there was more of them actually getting to know each other. When Lizzie discovers Nicholas's secret, her reaction was ridiculous in my opinion. She was hiding her own situation, and to react that way to him was just uncalled for. While this wasn't my favorite read, I would be willing to give this author another try.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book.

Wow this book was just so good and so easy to get lost in. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I just didn't want the story to end. I just couldn't get enough of these wonderful characters and I just loved getting to see their journey. I will most definitely be reading more stories from this wonderful author.

A sweet cute quick Rom Com summer read. I loved the characters and something a little different in the Rom Com department. First time reading this author for me this time.
Thank you for my free ARC

A book sports book. I really enjoyed this one. Give me a good rom com of sports and love. I’m there for it. Yeah

I really enjoyed this book! It’s a light, easy beach read, and the characters are likable! I highly recommend this book, if you’re looking for a sweet, romantic escape! '

DNF couldn't get through the book.

**************I received a ARC for my honest option from NetGalley****************

this is such a sweet summer read. i'm really glad i read this one and got to read it earlier than everyone else. thanks netgalley for supporting me!!!

A Royal Second Chance Summer is the definition of a sweet, fun, summer read. It has two likeable main characters, love at first sight, rekindled romance, and a couple happily ever afters. I read this incredibly fast and could not wait to finish. Recommend for a fun escape book

A Royal Second Chance Summer was a pleasing, drama free and utterly sweet romance. That's packed full of likable characters, including a Prince, a commoner, and a grandfather who gets a second shot at love. A sweet five-star read. This is number two in the Little Shops on Heart Street but they can be read as stand-alone, I have read number two but missed number one and I didn’t think I missed anything as each novel tells the story of a different shop. This is sweet and romantic and just what I needed at the moment to brighten up my weekend. Pure entertaining escapism.

What a charming read! Delightful beach reading. I really enjoyed the banter and all the details of the Royal romance.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Such a perfect 'feel good' book - all the romance you could hope for with a little intrigue and some wholesome small town events too.

As you would expect, there is a mistaken identity and a romance that can never be... but the secondary storyline of a long ago relationship comes to the rescue of the current prince. It's woven together carefully and I enjoyed the range of characters and getting to know them better. There will be lots more to come I think!

Great Summer read, or for a relaxing and entertaining holiday read.

This story had all the Hallmark movie vibes, and I loved it! A small town girl falls for a foreign visitor, only to discover he’s actually a prince! All the characters in this book were super sweet and charming. We also get to see former relationships and how they evolved. Overall, I thought it was a cute story and I enjoyed the plot of it. I would recommend this one!

Thank you Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This story gave me serious Hallmark movie vibes! Small town girl falls for a foreign visitor to their small town. Turns out he’s a prince!
It’s a quick lighthearted read. A little cheesy at times. Perfect for those looking for a sweet and clean romance.

This is absolutely adorable. From the first moment you get a laugh. Told from two different POV this book has a ton of heart and lots of adorable moments.
The fact that it starts out as friends to lovers.

Heat Factor: It’s warm
Character Chemistry: They both seem more interested in themselves than in each other, honestly
Plot: Prince goes looking for priceless lost heirloom in the United States and ends up in a small-town antique dealer’s shop looking for help. Small-town shop owner agrees to help but has her own secrets.
Overall: I just couldn’t buy into this one--the characters seemed to kind of bump along and I never believed they’d really be happy in the end.

This was such a bummer because the setting was so beautifully done and the auxiliary characters felt so well-developed--but I just couldn’t connect with this one.

Prince Nicolas goes looking for a priceless royal family heirloom in the United States and ends up in a quaint little antique shop run by Lizzie Cates. Lizzie calls the cops on Prince Nicolas because he’s accidentally super creepy and then the awkwardness ball is off and rolling.

Both characters spend the vast majority of their time jumping to conclusions and sitting in their own heads. I didn’t feel the chemistry, because the mental gymnastics these guys went through were kind of distracting, honestly.

Unfortunately, the characters just never really evolved into something bigger and better than they were. For example, Lizzie gets furiously angry when she discovers Nicolas is a prince, but she’s secretly hiding her own very comparable background. Really hypocritical, and it doesn’t get called out. Plus, Nicolas treats a frail, tiny, little old lady callously and cruelly and I didn’t really feel like it was ok or that it was explained or rectified. It’s just a non starter for me.

So basically, I feel like it appeared that the series was strong and the other characters were really lovely, but I just couldn’t fall into this one.

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

3 STARS

This was a sweet, but very predictable romance. I feel that this happens a lot to short books like this. 150 pages just isn't quite adequate enough to really make a phenomenal and realistic story in my opinion. I liked our main characters Lizzie and Nicolas, but the dialogue and relationship between them was just a bit too cheesy for my liking and was too much like insta-love. A little disappointing since these weren't teenage characters. However, the storyline was intriguing enough to keep me reading until the end, and I liked that the ending wasn't quite as predictable as the rest.

Overall, a cute and short story for anyone looking for something simple and quick to read.

Lizzie is an antiques dealer in a little town called Wood Creek. We know she's practically in hiding there, but we don't know why. However, that means she's rather thrown when a handsome stranger appears on the doorstep of a house she's clearing and rather than befriend him, she has him arrested.

He visits her in her shop once he's released and she accepts his proposal to help him find a particular object, a valuable automaton in the form of a box with bird of paradise inside that sings.

Nicolas needs to find the bird of paradise to return to his grandfather who gave it away in the 1960s but it wasn't actually his to give away, hence Nicolas even considering getting it back. And he realises that Lizzie is well placed to help him. It doesn't hurt that he's smitten by her and wants to spend time with her.

So far, so romantic, but Lizzie does't know that Nicolas is the heir to the throne of Belfort, a small European principality, and she hates people with money. And Nicolas doesn't know she also has her secrets.

What happens when the man who can't marry a commoner falls in love with one, and the girl who can't stand rich people falls in love with a prince?

As an unashamed romance, this serves it purpose. It lays it on in spades and if that is your thing, you'll love it. However, it isn't without its faults. The main one for me is the treatment of Nicolas. He talks of being from 'Europe'. Europeans just don't talk like that. Europe is misunderstood by Americans. It is a continent, not a country, and we don't introduce ourselves as being from Europe, especially not crowned heads of state. Nicolas also speaks perfect American and the author has done very little to suggest he is different beyond telling us so. He has a slight accent in the beginning which is referred to one and never again. Make him different, give him a different speech pattern. And when Nicolas' grandfather appears, no mention of an accent or his ability to speak perfect American English. And no member of the western European nobility would EVER wear a tuxedo to a wedding - morning suits or dress military uniform only. The recent British royal wedding was research enough, surely?

Lizzie's family only make the one appearance when they absolutely have to which is rather convenient, no build up of unwanted attention, little surprise in that one phone call from her brother. It was too out of the blue and too well received to be authentic.

Nicolas thinks a lot on his parent's marriage and why it didn't work, but we never quite find out what the problem was. It is hinted at and then he gets distracted and never finishes the explanation and I think the author just forgot them in her excitement to get the grandfather in the story.

It is very melodramatic, so much repetitive introspection that it got too much. The two characters became self-centred and dull and the emotion ceased to be sincere. They became sickly sweet and impossible to like.

Considering the outpouring on social media on the launch of this, I expected more, a deeper story with more of a plot and I found it overall flimsy and insubstantial.

Unfortunately, we can't like everything and that's something I really can't get over. I so badly want to love everything I read and because I can't I feel so much guilt. My brain says I'm acting crazy, but my heart doesn't want to hurt anyone.

I really tried to like A Royal Second Chance Summer. I kept picking it up and reading a little bit only to put it down and walking away. My biggest problem was not being able to fall into the story. I'm one of those readers that will get lost into the story where I picture it in my head as I read it like a movie.

With me putting it down so much that never happened.

I did enjoy both main characters to a point but felt something was missing with them. I don't mind the quick falling in love. If I couldn't handle that I wouldn't read romance. Sometimes it just happens like that, other times it needs work to fall in love.

I think my biggest issue is the way it was written. Parts are like a race and others drag. The word count didn't help it. The story needed more flushing out. It's like the size of a novella and for me, there is an art to writing a short page count. Not all authors can do it. I also didn't get the vibe that it was part of a series. I didn't know that until I was ready to review it. Now it might not have worked for me but I'm sure others will enjoy it.

Sweet romance fans are going to fall head over heels in love with Viv Royce’s enchanting and delightful tale, A Royal Second Chance Summer.

Lizzie Cates had come to the small town of Wood Creek and vowed to make a success of herself and her antiques business. Sure, it hasn’t always been easy, but she is currently in a stage in her life where she is perfectly content with her lot in life. With her business thriving and a close circle of friends, she certainly has got enough to keep her busy. Romance, however, is definitely not on the agenda for her – until a handsome and charming stranger called Nicolas comes to Wood Creek looking for a priceless family heirloom which he hopes to gift to his grandfather on his eightieth birthday…

Nicolas thinks that Lizzie is the perfect woman to help him track down an antique which he has been searching for for years. He had come to Wood Creek for business, but he never imagined that he would find himself falling for the first woman to get under his skin for a very long time, and before he knows it, he is helping her out at the Wood Creek Fourth of July celebrations. As the two begin to get closer and closer with each passing day, they quickly begin to develop feelings for one another. However, Nicolas has been keeping a secret from
Lizzie: he’s the prince of a European principality called Belfort…

Fame has never interested Lizzie. She’s more comfortable sorting through dusty antiques and old treasure than on a red carpet. Her life in Wood Creek has given her everything she could have possibly wanted and so much more besides, but the more time she spends with Nicolas, the more she finds herself falling for him. But how will she react when she finds out that the man she loves has been keeping a secret from her?

Will Nicolas and Lizzie’s love for one another manage to withstand all the obstacles standing in their way? Or will the fact that they both want different things end up tearing them apart forever?

A must-read for Hallmark movie fans, A Royal Second Chance Summer is a charming page-turner set in an idyllic small town that is poignant, witty and so deliciously readable readers will devour it in a single sitting. A wonderfully moving tale about coming home, finding a place to belong and the magic of falling in love, A Royal Second Chance Summer features a delightful heroine and a gorgeous hero readers cannot help but fall in love with.

A captivating heart-warmer that is simply perfect for curling up with on a sunny afternoon, Viv Royce’s A Royal Second Chance Summer is another brilliant read by this talented writer.

A Royal Second Chance Summer definitely does not have a ‘cute-meet’ as our heroine pretty much has the hero arrested. But, it moves quickly from there to romance. With each of them ‘hiding’ their family background, you know problems will arise soon.

Lizzie and Nicolas took time to get to know each other over the Fourth of July preparations giving them plenty of time together. Add in Nicolas’ hiring of Lizzie to find a family heirloom. Once backgrounds are out in the open and having found the heirloom, everything goes against them. I loved the way Lizzie stuck to her principals where being public is concerned. I, also, appreciated Nicolas growing quickly and realizing he needed to do the right thing.

This is my first Viv Royce book. I loved its clean, wholesome romance with a touch of royalty in the mix.