Alyssa Cole was a guest on the Fresh Fiction podcast: https://freshfiction.podbean.com/e/let-s-talk-about-comfort-zones-author-guest-alyssa-cole/

Recs from ALYSSA COLE

We were obsessed with Alyssa’s Zoom background, which was the Nightwalker from Princess Mononoke.

Alyssa’s new book, HOW TO FIND A PRINCESS, will be in stores on May 25!

We discussed aspects of all of the books in the Reluctant Royal series, as well as the spinoff series, Runaway Royals.

Mr. Rogers, possibly a bisexual icon?

Alyssa has been reading SPY x FAMILY!

Coming soon: partnering with Oneill Jones on the REJECT SQUAD ULTRA graphic novel (which started out as a part of her novella, CAN’T ESCAPE LOVE, and is now real!!); Book 2 in the Hive series after THE AI WHO LOVED ME, which will be another Audible original.

Go to https://alyssacole.com/, sign up for the Girls With Glasses Newsletter, and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

How to Find a Princess is a fun and captivating retelling of Anastasia. It has beautiful queer rep and of course all the heat you’d expect from Alyssa Cole, plus her characteristic way of addressing social inequities and systemic oppression within her stories. There were elements I didn’t personally find as engaging, but since reading is such a subjective experience, that’s certainly not to say that that will be the same for everyone. I’d definitely recommend this for a diverse retelling, a steamy romance, and quippy narrative that will be a fun read for all!

I've seen Alyssa Cole's books around for a while - drawn in by the gorgeous covers - but hadn't picked one up. When I heard she was doing a queer retelling of Anastasia I knew I had to read it, & I'm so glad I decided to pick this up - this was great!

This is technically the second book in a series but can be read as a standalone (I hadn't read the first & was just fine). I don't think I've read a true royal romance prior to this & I really enjoyed the setup here - it is very reminiscent of Anastasia while still being uniquely its own story. Makeda was a strong protagonist & I enjoyed seeing her character grow throughout (especially on the ship, close/forced proximity is one of my favorite troupes); but the true star for me was Bez, I adored her - she was that perfect combination of quirky & strong, yet still vulnerable at times, & I loved seeing their relationship blossom. This isn't too high on the steam, but there are plenty of swoon-worthy moments. I did have a few pacing issues & the ending felt a bit rushed (I just wish we got more time in Ibarania), but small gripes aside, this was a ton of fun & I'd love to read more!

If you've been curious about Alyssa Cole's work & are looking to add some more LGBTQIA+ titles to your TBR lists, I'd definitely check this out! & if A.K. is the focus of the next book, count me in! Thank you so much to Alyssa Cole, NetGalley & Avon for providing an ARC in exchange for a honest review!

Makeda and Bez are just…the BEST! This books was smart, funny, charming, sexy, and just a wonderful journey to take with these characters! LOVED it!

I absolutely loved this story! When I think of romance, I think of books just like this one, that gives all the feels and satisfies every romance junkies' heart. This is a perfect books to snuggle up with on any day.

I didn't quite get the Anastasia vibes, but I enjoyed this book all the same. The ARC needed a good copyedit, but I found that more interesting as an editor myself than distracting. This was my first book by Alyssa Cole and it definitely won't be my last!

I really enjoyed the whole "going to find a long-lost heir" aspect of this, but as an Anastasia story? It's a bit of a hard-sell for me. That being said, there is a bit of an issue with the pacing overall that I only really noticed since this is a bit of a slow-paced romance.

How To Catch A Princess was a really intriguing read. The author came with a unique twist on a royal family, a Lesbian princess. That was different.

I liked how easy the read was. I did get a few good laughs and I liked the supporting characters. The main character is not interested in being royal due to a traumatizing childhood but I liked how the story came together at the end. The author is a good storyteller and I could vividly see things as they happened.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I really thought I'd love this book and am actually annoyed I didn't. In fact, I'm just annoyed at the book in general. Overly long and complicated, with a lot of repetition on the MCs' inner thoughts, it took until 70% for there to actually be any romance and anything interesting to happen. The last 30%, while still overly complicated, was pretty enjoyable but it took waaay too long to get there. And then the denouement was completely rushed you couldn't even savor it. Pacing was just all over the place and an editor should have cleaned some of this up. Unfortunate given the premise was so promising.

Somehow, I missed the previous and first installment to the Runaway Royals series by Alyssa Cole, How to Catch a Queen, though I have read all of the Reluctant Royals books. My enjoyment of How to Find a Princess was not dependent on having read the previous novel, though it’s possible I would have a better understanding of things like the World Federation of Monarchies, an organization which one of the heroines works for, and the fictional country Ibarania. Maybe not; often this kind of series is more shared world than anything.

Makeda Hicks is having one of those epically bad weeks that one finds in comedies. She’s not only passed over for promotion for a job she has earnestly thrown herself into, but is summarily laid off. (Adding insult to injury, the job she was applying for is given to an unqualified Becky whom Makeda has been propping up. Said Becky keeps calling Makeda for unpaid instruction, which.) When she heads home early to the apartment she shares with a girlfriend, the girlfriend is more than halfway out the door, saddling Makeda with both the rent and a small business loan Makeda co-signed. She drags ass back to her grandmother’s B&B to try regroup, which is where Beznaria Chetchevaliere finds her. Bez is an investigator for the aforementioned World Federation of Monarchies — which appears to be run by broad caricatures of Upper Class Twits, and is a delight to read about — and is searching for the lost princess of Ibarania. She has a personal stake in this as well: the Chetchevaliere family has acted as bodyguard to the royal family for ages, and Bez’s grandmother has taken some heat for “losing” the previous queen. In contrast with Makeda, whose self-effacement threatens to become self-annihilating, Bez is brusquely self-assured.

Makeda is wounded and tetchy when Beznaria first appears, and her antipathy only deepens when Makeda learns Bez is on a search for the Ibaranian heir. Apparently, Makeda’s mother, due to her own mother’s stories of a tryst with a Ibaranian king, made Makeda’s childhood very difficult? So she wants nothing to do with either Beznaria or Ibarania? Honestly, this aspect of the novel made the least psychological (and logistical) sense to me. I understand the psychological effects of growing up with absent or neglectful parents, and Makeda makes sense as a product of that environment. It tracks that Makeda has become almost hyper-competent after parenting her own addict mother, and that she’d have a heightened sense of shame. But I don’t really understand how the Ibaranian monarchy is at fault, even if her mom focused on that as a sort of addictive fixation. Maybe this is just growing up white, but I knew several people who claimed some sort of nonsense pedigree, and no one much made fun of them. Hell, I even had the full on national costume of a country some of my people were from, and they were all alcoholic slate miners. I also don’t understand why the Ibaranian monarchy didn’t investigate Mama Hicks’s claims 20 years previous, waiting instead to focus on her daughter. Makeda’s mom would be all over that. Makeda, instead, is totally over it.

This little infelicity isn’t that big of a deal though: the story is about the ways Bez and Makeda’s distinctly different by complimentary personalities strike sparks off each other. Bez reads to me as neurodivergent, which she thinks of as her too-much-ness. She has a weirdly confident resignation to eventual rejection: she’s not going to change for people, but she fully expects them to disappoint her by wanting her to change. Makeda, by contrast, bends over backwards for everyone, but in a way that can occasionally seem thoughtless? For serious, the ex-girlfriend shouldn’t have defaulted on that loan. But Makeda similarly shouldn’t have pushed the ex into running a business she was unqualified and unsuited to run. It looks like she’s helping, but her assistance is sometimes compulsive, more about internal motivations than external necessity. By the time Bez comes striding into her life, Makeda is is in full on snapping wounded phase, trying to reorder her personality to its exact opposite. This is going as well as one might expect. Which is to say: not.

The first third of the novel tracks Bez and Makeda while they are both living at the grandmother’s B&B, and this is the most broadly comic section. There are hijinks with both cats and plumbing, and Grandma Hicks is one of those dirty old ladies who is wise by way of teasing. Once Makeda agrees to return to Ibarania, the middle section switches locales to a container ship, where several romance tropes are deployed with a vengeance: only one bed! fake marriage! forced proximity! I am here for all of that, but others may feel differently. In the last third, once they’ve finally reached Ibarania, Cole delivers a fairly epic plot twist, one that I didn’t see coming, not even a little. (This is the second time she’s caught me out; I was similarly surprised by the reveal at the end of The A.I. Who Loved Me.)

I enjoyed the tight relationships both heroines had with their grandmothers, and the story’s offbeat and unexpected directions. Stories involving royalty often focus on makeovers and the trappings of wealth, and this was well-grounded in a reality of loan payments and rent. However, because the container ship was so cut off from both events in Ibarania and the States, sometimes the emotional through-lines felt a little disconnected. It does very much keep the focus on Makeda and Bez’s relationship, which I think is a good thing, but it was still a little disjointed. How to Find a Princess was an engaging read with likeable characters and a big surprise at the end. I’m happy I have another book to read in this series, even if it is out of order.

I received my copy from Netgalley.

How to Find a Princess was a wild ride of chaos that could have used more romance.

Makeda Hicks was known as the fixer and the doormat. She took out outrageous loans to help ex-girlfriends meet their goals and did work for free just to please those around her. After a tough day, she just wanted to go home and lick her wounds but instead had to deal with her grandmother’s claims about the summer she hooked up with a prince. In a matter of days, Makeda found herself on a cargo ship with Bez Chetchevaliere who was determined to prove that Makeda was a long-lost princess.

How to Find a Princess pulled me in almost immediately. Makeda Hicks was a character that you could easily connect to; she was a pushover and was determined to start taking up for herself. By contrast, Bez was fiercely independent and acknowledged that others often found her as “too much” and didn’t understand her neurotypical tendencies. The interactions between Makeda and Bez were fun because they were complete opposites and despite the formula being there for a sweeping romance, I never felt the spark between the two. From the beginning, they had an attraction that they were desperate to ignore, but Cole never explored how they were a perfect fit for each other.

To my knowledge, Karen Chilton has been the narrator for all of Alyssa Cole’s book and she continues to amaze. Karen Chilton perfectly embodied Bez’s chaotic energy and Makeda’s pragmatic nature. I couldn’t believe how quickly I flew through this book and it was mostly in part to Chilton’s engaging performance.

How to Find a Princess is a fun and light read that will appeal to readers who are just finding their way to romance.

How to Find a Princess is a queer Anastasia retelling about a constant people pleaser Makeda Hicks, who is on her last leg after being fired and dumped on the same day for being "too helpful" of a person. Makeda takes refuge working in her grandmother's AirBnB until a pansexual, neurodivergent royalty investigator crashes onto her doorstep, claiming Makeda has royal blood, and must be taken to her ancestor's land to claim her throne. As the investigator Bez and Makeda set off to claim her throne, they find themselves getting closer through forced proximity and a fake marriage.

Now, I'm going to preface this by saying I don't typically read mass-market paperback romance novels, so I don't have much of a basis to compare the quality or content of this book to others of its kind. First of all, I wouldn't really qualify the genre of this book as a romance, like the plot summary and cover suggests. Romance is more of a side plot to the main action, which is their journey to Makeda's island. The plot drags on really slowly, spending an excruciating amount of time and detail on moments throughout the days of their journey that don't hold much significance to the story or plot. This probably lines up with Anastasia, the fairytale this story is retelling, but I've never seen it so I can't say. However, I caution prospective readers to keep this in mind.

This story didn't flow well for me. The writing style and vocabulary was pretty stiff and formal throughout the story in a way that didn't make sense to me. This is likely because the story is a fantastical fairy tale that combines fictional lands with the modern world in which we currently live. The language was trying to draw a bridge between those contrasting styles, which didn't work out for me. The romance is infuriatingly slow burn (I'm talking first kiss about 75% through the book slow burn) while the first three quarters of the book contains a lot of unnecessary scenes that are drawn out at such a pace that was exhausting to read. The conclusion to the book was also very rushed, and felt like it came out of nowhere. Perhaps it was because by the last 90% I was completely skimming the book, but I didn't understand how the book came to that ending at all, and it only took up about 3% of the book.

That being said, the romance was really cute once it got going, and I enjoyed the chemistry the two leads shared. The steamy scenes were really well done, and I really enjoyed how the romance was executed once we finally got there. I also loved the character of Bez. She was chaotic in the best way, and I think her neurodivergent representation was done really well.

Overall, I would say while I enjoyed reading the romance, the world-building and suspense to get there wasn't worth it. If you're a reader who loves lots of plot and lengthy descriptions of benign moments, this book is definitely for you. Personally, I look for more fast paced side plots with a healthy main plot of romance, especially when the book is marketed as such.

2.5 stars, rounded down.

Princess Diaries meets Coming to America

The writing in this book is solid. The characters are well flushed out. The chemistry between the two women is believable; another opposites attract romance. I appreciate that the two main characters are black and queer; they are intelligent, compassionate, and flawed like everyone on this planet. The romance scenes were 3 out 5 on the sensuality scale.

I enjoyed reading this book, but I found that most of the book was predictable. The ending had a twist, but it was so abrupt that I did not have the time to enjoy it.

I look forward to reading more by Alyssa Cole.

Rating: 2.5/5 ☀️

Happy slightly belated birthday to this book! I got an ARC a couple weeks ago, but I was swamped with finals and work, so I only read it yesterday. I went back and forth on trying to decide how I felt about this. There was a lot I genuinely loved, but that ending was just a mess. It was such a shame because I generally don’t like modern royalty stories, but the premise of this pulled me in and I even found myself really excited for this. Anastasia but sapphic with Black women is an amazing concept, and there was genuinely some strong storytelling to start with.

First off, I really loved the main characters. Both Makeda and Bez were just amazing and yet flawed in understandable ways. Makeda was especially relatable, and I really wanted to shake her and hug her and tell her that she deserves good things. And they really just clicked well together. Like there was a good amount of chemistry and tension, but beyond that I could understand why they complemented each other.

And the storytelling and the atmosphere of it was really nice, too. Like I loved both of the character’s voices, and the development of the relationship. Parts of it seemed to even be making fun of princess tropes, which was really cool. I loved the cargo ship setting and the whole crew, too.

All that was fine. My issue, though, is the pacing and the ending. It just absolutely ruined my experience of what had been an otherwise enjoyable romance. Half the story takes place in New Jersey, half of it on the cargo ship, and then only two relatively short chapters are actually set in Ibarania. I wanted the royal drama the entire book was building to, but it just got shoved in at the end, and it was resolved way too easily and quickly. And that plot twist was just way too much for the last few pages, I had to go back and make sure I didn’t miss anything because the pace had picked up to breakneck speeds. Also, Makeda does not resolve anything with her mother, and I don’t know whether the birthmark means anything anymore.

I think the ending with the plot twist might have worked, but it really needed like fifty more pages to actually have things happen on Ibarania before the reveal, and also just settle things more after the reveal. I really have no clue what to make of it as is, but I really enjoyed the story up until the last couple chapters. Thank you to the author and NetGalley for an ARC of this book for an unbiased review.

Mekada Hicks is a people pleaser without boundaries. She jumps in to do things for others thinking it will make her indispensable but instead she is seen as a doormat. When her girlfriend leaves and the store she works at lets her go she returns to grandma's B&B to help out and regroup. In through the door walks Beznaria Chetchevalierek (Bez). She is a investigator for the World Federation of Monarchies and is looking for an heir to a small island monarchy in the Mediterranean. The search for an heir is more for a tourism than reigning but Mekada may be a long lost princess.

This is a slow burn romance and is very loosely based on Anastasia. For reasons that make sense in the story they go to the island on a cargo ship giving time for a relationship to develop. I like both the main characters but with Bez it is harder to connect. She has a unique way of speaking and thinking and while I understood her motivations I didn't see her desire for the romance. I like tropes where the couple are trapped together like on a long carriage ride, so the ocean crossing works for me. But I wish there were more conversations between the two MC's. The ending also felt very rushed. After waiting all this time to get to the destination the story concludes very quickly. I would have enjoyed an epilogue to know the couple was still together.

This is a second in the series but each book can be read as a stand alone. Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Alyssa Cole does it again!! She writes fantastic, realistic characters and these characters were no exceptions. The main characters were great but the secondary characters really shine!
I loved the cargo ship setting and remain hopeful that the next book will be about AK! The ending felt a little rushed but it was well worth a read!

Rating: 4.5 stars

I fell immediately in love with Bez in the first book in the Runaway Royals series, How to Catch a Queen. I remember thinking "OH DANG, she is amazing. Please tell me she gets her own book." I ran to Goodreads to check and HECK YES, not only does she get her own book but it's sapphic.

I ADORE that Alyssa Cole is mixing her series up with her pairings. The first book has a M/F pairing, and I can't remember if they're queer. I was pumped to see a F/F pairing in the same series. I'm so used to seeing series where every book is either straight couples, or the entire series is same sex couples (I read a lot of M/M hockey romance, OK). It's great to see this series where the first book had a M/F couple and the next has a F/F couple and it's just like "this is how it is." Because it IS just how it is! Alexandria Bellefleur's currently releasing Written in the Stars series seems to be doing a similar thing, where the first book had a F/F pairing and the second has a queer M/F couple. I just love to see it, and I'm so glad I'm seeing more of it. Let's please normalize seeing all sorts of couples, and not requiring different types of love to be relegated to their own series. :)

OKAY, that was a bit of a rant, sorry about that! As I said, I was so excited for Beznaria's book - give me those strong, sexy, queer neurodivergent heroines, yessss. I also really liked Makeda. Her story really touched me, and her struggle to find who she is and how to practice healthy boundaries was just really well-written and believable and I wanted to HUG HER. She goes through an incredible amount of growth, and it's written in a really great and human way - she's too much of a "smiling doormat" and when she wants to fix it she sort of over-corrects into being a grump (and still sort of a doormat, just not happy about it anymore...) And then the chemistry between her and Bez! And the combination of your typical fake relationship misunderstandings plus some caused by Makeda's history of letting people walk all over her and Bez's brain working in it's very Bez-like way, and ugh. I die a thousand glorious deaths, it's so good.

I do feel like the resolution and falling action was a bit abrupt and could have been developed more. It's almost like Alyssa Cole took us on this incredible journey and then when we arrived at the port of call went "Okee doke, we're here, happy ending now! *shove off ship*" I wish we'd gotten one more chapter or an epilogue that resolved some of the weird, mad scramble at the end. Still, I loved the journey as a whole so much, I can't be mad.

This is the second book in the Runaway Royals series, and can be read as a stand alone. As I mentioned before, Bez makes an appearance in the first book in the series, How to Catch a Queen, which is an amazing book and you should definitely read it, but it's not required to read it before this one.

This wasn't one of Alyssa Cole's best, but it was definitely a fun read with an unexpected twist at the end. Makeda has spent her life making other people happy, even if that means being a doormat for her lovers, her coworkers, and her mom. When Bez walks into her life, claiming that she is the lost princess and promising that she could make everything right just by showing up to claim and then unclaim her throne, Makeda takes a chance. A LOT of this book takes place on a boat and there is a slow slow slow burn that takes maybe a little too long to uncover. I enjoy AC's books, and the ending made up for it all, but there were some parts that I wish went a little faster.

Rainbows and Sunshine Book Blog
May 25, 2021

I adored this book! It was fun and I totally fell in love with the characters, especially Bez. This has

✔Sapphic Anastasia retelling
✔Fake marriage
✔Bodyguard/princess
✔UST
✔Slowburn
✔Dual POV

Bez is the embodiment of chaotic energy and incredibly charming. She's also neurodivergent, which is something I rarely see in romance. Her family is amzing too!

“Core strength, beauty, and knows how to make a sea slug into an object of affection. You really do win.”

As for Makeda, it took me a couple of chapters to warm up to her but she sort of grows on you. She gives and gives and takes care of everyone but all she wants is someone doing the same for her. Makeda's grandma is a delight and I loved her cat, Kojak, so much!

I haven't read any of the other books set in this world, except for a novella but that did not impede my enjoyment. This definitely can be read as a standalone. I would loved an epilogue to wrap up some of the things, especially their relationship but overall I really enjoyed it.

Makeda and Bez have sizzling chemistry and if you love sea voyages, fake relationships, long lost princesses and a hot bodyguard f/f romance, definitely recommend this one!

*ARC provided by the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review

3.5 Stars

A lovely, twisty take on Anastasia with a bit of a slow start.

Cole is good for many things, but some of the best are the unexpected turns her stories take and her characterization. This latest book the Runaway Royals series capitalizes on Cole’s talents and at the same time fell a bit flat for me.

Let’s start with the things I loved.

An F/F royal story is a great place to start. I loved the fact that would-be princess Makeda Hicks finds herself falling for Beznaria Chetchevaliere, royal investigator for the World Federation of Monarchs. These two are opposite with a hardcore attraction. They have differing personalities and there were elements of Makeda that I found easy to relate to. Especially, Makeda’s description as a ‘multi-tool’. I’m like Makeda in a lot of ways.

Secondary characters, from demon kitty Kojack to a possible future character in the mysterious AK, and even Makeda’s Grandmore were highlights as well. Providing insight and comic relief. Rich, vibrant descriptions along with emotional turmoil was plentiful.

Where the story fell flat is the pacing and mainly with my expectations. This story was a super slow burn romantically. The Anastasia element was there but downplayed in a big way and I often found myself easily able to put the book down and walk away. I loved the characters, but not the way the story itself played out. I won’t lie I wanted more time in Ibarania and more would-be princess stuff, and those expectations were snuffed pretty quick. Not to mention no first kiss until almost seventy percent through the book (note: there was a kiss prior, but it was more a kiss-turned-accident)

Overall, the book is good if you like slow, drawn out romances with plenty of tension. It’s also cute in the way of two awkward women finding themselves and each other. The challenges with plot could very well be me and not the story itself so take those with a grain of salt, but if you prefer fast-paced books this one is not for you.

~ Landra