ALYSSA COLE IS ROMANCE ROYALTY. This series continues to grow and reflect current times in ways that are hopeful and lovely, and it is both an escape and a balm. It's so, so good.

4.5 stars - A compelling romance with a rich setting and world-building, and two leads that I rooted for as individuals as well as being invested in their romance. It follows Sanyu, the new King to the kingdom of Njaza, who must marry before his coronation. However, Njaza has never kept a Queen long-term, and it's expected that the same will happen with his new bride, Shanti.

The conflict is perfect on both a personal and political level. Sanyu is determined not to seem weak by becoming attached to his first wife when everyone takes it for granted that she will be first in a long line. Any wife of his father's left almost as soon as he became attached to them, and he's a character who completely lacks affection and confidence in himself. Shanti has been preparing to be a Queen her whole life, and is filled with intelligence and ambition. She can deal with a loveless political marriage, but her skills mean nothing if all she's allowed to do is sit silently and wait for her trial marriage to run its course.

The world-building here was fascinating, and added so much to the story. I wasn't just rooting for Sanyu and Shanti to fall in love, but for Sanyu to stand up to his advisor, for Shanti to be given a voice, and for important changes to be made to benefit the kingdom.

This isn't a hate-to-love romance. Both Shanti and Sanyu feel an instant attraction, and Shanti is too pragmatic to hate Sanyu, while Sanyu is more socially awkward and sullen than anything else. Instead, it gave me everything I enjoy from an arranged marriage trope: the insecurity and instability that comes from two people who like each other but can't be sure of the other's feelings because they've already been forced into a partnership.

Shanti is amazing, but Sanyu could have easily been written as incredibly unlikable. However, this book does an incredible job with characterization, and I found him extremely sympathetic. You understand exactly why he acts the way he does, and how he's been shaped by his father/father figure and his society. Instead of being completely arrogant and bullheaded, he shows that he's willing to change as soon as he has someone who will both speak up to him and listen to him.

This was my first time reading Alyssa Cole, and I'll definitely be going back to read the Reluctant Royals series.

It's nice to see a diverse royal romance story, which no doubt will appeal to many readers. I think perhaps if you had read other books in this series, you may get more out of this story.

This is the first in Cole's new Runaway Royals series, and it's just as good (and connected to) her Reluctant Royals series. Shanti has always planned to be a queen. Sanyu, as king of Njaza, needs to take a wife, although he hasn't had a really great example of what marriage should look like. When Shanti and Sanyu are matched and married, Shanti is excited to finally be a queen and have the ability to make a positive difference in the world. Little does she realize that her husband and her new country have little use for her other than to put a check in the box of having a queen, at least for a little while. Of course, as Shanti and Sanyu spend time together and get to know each other, Sanyu's view of the role of a queen changes.

As an added bonus, Shanti and Sanyu take part in group chats with the main characters from the Reluctant Royals books, particularly Johan and Nya. A very minor part of the book, but a fun addition for those who have read Cole's previous books.

Simply put, Shanti Mohapi wanted to be a queen. It is something she wanted her entire life. Well, she gets her wish when she marries the King of Njaza, Sanyu. Sanyu is not happy to be King, but he knows he has to be as responsible as possible. Sanyu did the responsible thing. He took a wife. Love? That is not part of the plan. Companionship? Maybe.

Meanwhile, Shanti is not having an easy time in her new role. Barely any contact with Sanyu is frustrating enough, but when his subjects begin to reject her, things seem more than she can handle. Shanti is no quiet mouse. Instead, she has plans, and those plans are to do whatever it is in her power to change some things - yet, she keeps this in secret.

Sanyu is following his father's footsteps in more ways than one. One in particular is that there is a time limit as to how long he will remained married to Shanti. If she doesn't fit his expectations, he will trade her for a new wife, and will continue that pattern until he finds The One. Well, could Shanti be The One after all? Would it be wise for Sanyu to act on his growing attraction to Shanti? What about her? Does she want to stay married to Sanyu especially as he seems uncaring and unreachable?

How to Catch a Queen is the first book in the Runaway Royals series, which is a spin-off of The Reluctant Royals series, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I am eager to see more stories in this series. Continuity is a favorite thing of mine while reading, so it was great to see a few of the people from previous novels. We met Shanti and Sanyu in A Prince on Paper, so it was great to get their story now. Alyssa Cole just might sneak her way into my list of favorite authors. Can't wait for the next book in this series.

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

Alyssa Cole is one of my favorite authors full stop not just the romance genre but like all of the genres. Her characters are incredibly dynamic, they just feel so real like you could actually meet them walking down the street or something. I think she’s one of only a few romance authors who are able to navigate all the sub- genres from historical to sci-fi to contemporary she’s incredibly prolific. Shanti and Sanyu continue the tradition of being incredibly complicated characters and I loved watching them fall in love. The tropes Cole uses are turned on their heads because it’s an arranged royal marriage but in a contemporary African kingdom. Its the classic, he’s cold at least in public but in private like in the bedroom his heat is off the charts!

This is definitely one of my favorite of Cole’s books and I’m excited to see where the series goes from here.

Ever since she was a girl, Shanti has wanted to be a queen. She looked up to strong women monarchs – in her own nation of Thesolo and the surrounding countries – as role models. She was not royal, so she needed to marry into the role. She was tenacious and determined, finally seeing her chance to make her dream a reality when Prince Sanyu of Njaza needed a wife, quickly! Sanyu’s father, the King, is on his deathbed, and Sanyu must marry before he inherits the throne. The tradition in Njaza is to have a marriage trial of 4 months, then the King decides if he is going to keep his wife and make her the True Queen. Unfortunately, Sanyu’s role model is of a father who never kept a wife, never found a True Queen. (You find all of this out in the first few pages.) What remains to be seen is whether Shanti will get a chance show her worth as a queen. Will Sanyu see a future other than a perpetually revolving door of queens who never make it past the trial?

I found it a little hard to get behind a woman who dedicated her life to marrying a king so she could be a queen. I understand that she wanted to be in that position so she could influence change and help the nation and its people but it irked me a bit that she had to marry someone to be in that role, that she wasn’t enough all by herself. Setting that aside for the sake of a fun, sexy romance, I did enjoy this story of Shanti and Sanyu.

There is a little bit of crossover with characters from the Reluctant Royals books, which is fun -- Prince Johan (“Jo Jo”) and Sanyu went to boarding school together and they met in “A Prince on Paper” to broker the beginnings of a land mine removal charity. That story line carries into this book, although you could start with this one and be fine. This is a fun romance that deals lightly with some more serious issues like social justice and anxiety. There is also the familiar royal problem of wanting to be your own self vs. living up to pressures and expectations of tradition and duty. I recommend for fans of contemporary romance (set in a fictional African kingdom) with a strong, smart female main character, witty dialogue, and sexy open-door romance.

I love everything Alyssa Cole writes, so it's no surprise that this lived up to expectations. I loved Shanti being unapologetically ambitious, and I love that even though she was an obstacle in Princess in Theory, she gets her own story to show that she is not a villain and there is nothing wrong with being ambitious. I loved Sanyu learning to challenge the harmful gender norms he was raised with in order to become a happier and healthier whole person. The fact that the author could do that without trashing a culture is also gratifying--his country is not the source of these unhealthy relationship norms, but other circumstances are examined and resolved that help us see how when some people say 'but it's tradition,' they're picking and choosing the elements of culture they want to be dominant, not necessarily reflecting the full truth. I don't normally like the trope of the arranged marriage, but this one worked because their relationship still develops realistically and, I think, in a pretty healthy way. I love seeing strong, healthy relationships play out in fiction, and Alyssa Cole is the queen of healthy relationship romance novels! The hints of other royals in the background was exciting to see--I hope I don't have to wait too long to read their stories, too!

How To Catch A Queen is the first book in a NEW spinoff series called “Runaway Royals” and I have to say when this cover was released months ago I just couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book ….literally, I was leaping for joy. Because y’all know how the covers work me in all the good ways and this one…..dang ….did AVON did good or what? I know there was some criticism on the cover (I think due to the gal’s hair)–which is relevant to the story, but I love it and I have no shame in that. Its very interesting to see Cole start a new series that is loosely connected to her “Reluctant Royals” series.

How To Catch A Queen is a story that begins with our hero Prince Sanyu. Who has always rebelled against being the future king of Njaza. And in a way he has been running away from his destiny and much of it is due to the strict childhood he had with little love or affection like he envied in many others. But with his father on the death bed, his destiny to be king is about to become very real and another last request from his father…he needs to be wed at the same time and to a stranger, a woman they found on a royal dating app of all things. Shanti has always dreamed of becoming Queen. She was inspired by so many great women who served their countries diligently and she wanted to be just like them….making a difference in the world. So now that she is queen she is determined to do just that…but there is one problem….no one wants her in Njaza. They practically ignore her and shut her in the queen’s chambers. But when a few months go by, Shanti speaks her mind more, and draws the attention of her husband, and together they begin anew and their passion for each other and for the country of Njaza will embolden them in ways they won’t quite expect…

How To Catch A Queen is a story that I was so drawn into so very quickly and what a page turner, I read this in one morning because I was so hooked into this book here. I couldn’t seem to get enough of this romance and what is revealed. Not to say I didn’t have some issues with this story, because there was some but overall this was superb. First I adored the setting, set in a country in Africa, so we get to see a whole different culture and traditions which was unique and eye opening. Alyssa Cole really did a tremendous job in showcasing this side of the story.

Now as for the characters….I loved them in unique ways and struggled with them at the same time. Don’t get me wrong, I adored their depths and strengths and what they overcame. The hero didn’t have the best childhood, and never saw “love” as being acceptable in a marriage. So he has to work his way out from the false education and realize that love is power and not weakness but it takes time and lots of pain on both sides because of it. Shanty….I liked her a LOT but I think she sometimes got too caught up in the title of “queen” and sometimes I felt that she viewed Sanya as a way to get the title and keep it and not a human being and a husband. They both have their flaws but its their journey in discovering what love and marriage is all about that is the real kicker. And while I was reading this the song “Love and Marriage” by the great Frank Sinatra was in my brain the WHOLE time. Like they needed to know that song LOL

I did admire seeing their interactions together and seeing them learn to let go of what they thought to expect in a royal marriage, and find their way through the marriage and ruling the country as a partnership. They have their ups and downs but seeing them discover each other was the beauty of this book and realizing what true love is capable of is what made this book such a gem of a read!! I definitely couldn’t get enough of seeing this romance develop in such vibrant ways.

Overall I found How To Catch A Queen to be a story of delights, journeys, and gems to delight in the intricate layers that Alyssa Cole delivers in!

I always enjoy this author’s books, as they are a different spin on contemporary romance. In this particular book, it is a spin off new series but also has some of our old favorites as well. She does a great job world building and I really enjoyed both the hero and heroine. I look forward to reading the next. Thank you to netgalley for the arc!

Classic Alyssa Cole! This was fabulous. She does such an amazing job of filling in the backstories and complex motivations of characters in natural ways, without a lot of explanatory blah blah blah. I am already eager for the next book in this new series.

How to Catch a Queen is the first book in a new contemporary romance series, Runaway Royals, by Alyssa Cole. A companion to her Reluctant Royals series, the new series shares the same African setting, engaging writing style and steamy tone. In this enemies to lovers story,

Shanti has worked her entire life to become a queen. You might remember her as the woman whose shoes Ledi throws up on in A Princess in Theory. When the neighboring country of Njaza, needs a queen for their soon to be king, Sanyu, Shanti is chosen. But being queen isn't anything like she thought it would be. She's sequestered with no outside contact, she's not permitted to speak during council meetings, and Sanyu is cold and distant. Or is he.

This a fast-paced read with lots of cameos by characters from the Reluctant Royals series. Shanti is a strong kickass woman undeterred by prejudice or sexism. She's kind and compassionate with her emotionally damaged king, determined to fight for a better future for Njaza and herself.

I'm already looking forward to the next book in the series!

Alyssa Cole always knocks it out of the park. I thought this was such an interesting read and the romance was perfect. I loved all of the strong women in this. I am beyond excited to see where this series takes us!

A new Alyssa Cole is like Christmas! Hot, romantic, and the leads are so obviously meant for each other. I speed read this! Cover is gorgeous.

I had a little trouble getting into this as a contemporary romance, since I couldn't really relate to the African monarchy or the main characters' motivations. But once I realized that it was really a modern fairy tale, complete with a reluctant new king and a queen from a foreign land, I was able to relax and enjoy the story. The (fictional) kingdom of Njaza gained colonial independence 50 years ago, and has been isolated from the world ever since. When the first king dies and his son Sanyu inherits the throne, he and his new bride, Shanti, have to navigate ruling, politics, economics--and each other.

This is a spinoff of Cole's Reluctant Royals series, so a few favorite characters appear on the periphery, but mostly it's the story of Shanti and Sanyu deciding what they want from each other and for their kingdom. Shanti is a badass, and Sanyu is a lost boy who may be stronger than he thinks.

For the most part, I enjoyed this. The royal couple have some thoroughly modern ideas to help their kingdom, and their tentative romance is a slow-burning joy to watch.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review.