Thank you to Netgally, the publishers, and Zoiy Galloay

When I requested this book I was unaware that it was apart of a series, one that requires you to read the previous books for this one to make sense. I am unable to read all the previous books along with this one before the publish date. Therefore, I will rate this a fair 3/5 stars and will adjust the rating and review when I am able to read all the books in the series along with this one.

3.75/5 stars! If you tell me there is an assassin in a book, I am 1000% on board. This was my first read by author Zoiy Galloay and I wasn't disappointed. This felt like a slightly more deeply developed Two Princesses of Bamarre, which was a fan-favorite of mine when I was a teenager. I did feel like the premise was a bit of a lie because it made it sound like there'd be a bit of spice, which was lacking. That being said, it was an easy book to enjoy and quickly picked up pace after a slow 15-20% start.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

It took me long - too long. I always struggle when I can't finish a book, especially when I committed to do so. However, I could not go on. The characters didn't catch my attention, I felt nothing for them - except for the "good" queen who killed her brother for being a bastard to take the throne... seriously? I don't know if at some point the characters will notice that she is evil - but after a few chapters of her being praised for being so good and wise and so on and so forth (the prince clearly has some sort of Oedipus syndrome) I was pissed. She is a bloody murderer! Psycho queen aside, everyone else was simply not smart enough nor interesting enough. Which is sad, I had really high hopes. I also think that there is an audience for this, I am just not it. On the positive side, the world seemed quite intriguing, a little less ifo-dumps would have helped it along.

I enjoyed this book so much! It was a very nice continuation of the series. The writing was well done and the romance was so cute! I would highly recommend this book.

Takes place about 18 years after the he first book.
It follows the son of the girl from the first book
It's time for his matchmaking competition.
Nobody was really likeable. I think he shouldn't pick any of the girls

Too many POVs, and they are not done well.

Badly written: weird grammar mistakes, scenes/chapters that add nothing to the story, careless decisions that do not advance the plot.

A mess.

Not my type of fantasy! I’m personally a duck up for male pov’s but I just could not stand Zandkiel. Most of the time he came like a spoiled prince instead of the Heir to the Throne.
Loved Grace, she’s perfect!

Did not finish, sorry. Did not finish, sorry. Did not finish, sorry. Did not finish, sorry. Did not finish, sorry. Did not finish, sorry. Did not finish, sorry. Did not finish, sorry

I DFN!’d this book as it was not for me. Nothing captivated my attention or appalled to me unfortunately.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

This book really just took me for a ride. I loved the build up, the character development, and the writing. I would definitely read more from this author!

Still having a good time with this series. This book felt longer than the last one, but I think that's because there was a bit more intrigue put in. Instead of someone coming directly after the prince, there are questions about different cities breaking off from Velazian rule, the dwarf slave trade, and who may be betraying the royal family.

Listen, this isn't groundbreaking. It's not going to be the best thing you've ever read. HOWEVER, it's honestly a fun time and I enjoyed my time reading it. I looked forward to picking it back up each time and I'm still questioning who to believe. I will absolutely pick up the next one.

Having read the first book in the series I was hoping for something better this time.

Unfortunately, it was much the same.

The story read very much like a series of Love Island.

The story also did not finish, leaving with a cliff hanger, presumably to encourage you to read the 3rd book in the series.

I will not be bothering.

I’ve received this arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts and opinions are my own!

This book is the fantasy version of the bachelor and it definitely reads that way. I haven’t read the first book in the series, which is his mother bachelorette style, but there are mentions to the story frequently in this book that implies there was more action in that series than this one. If you read the selection, imagine it’s like that where each lady is given a date but through competitions and such you can gain more time with the bachelor. There are more points of view in this book and unlike the selection where you are certain who is going to win, it’s unclear in this book.

My gripe with this book is that is very slow, while there is hints of plot and room for action, it ends as quickly as it starts. My other thing is that this is not a one and done book, by the end of it he hasn’t even eliminated any of the contestants or whittled then down at all!

Overall if you are a fan of reality tv and fantasy, then this might be the book for you. I will be reading the next book if only to figure out who the prince ends up with.

I very much enjoyed The Royal Matchmaking Competition, it reminded me a lot of The Selection with some more fantasy elements mixed in. The big twist was nice and kept me on my toes - I really enjoyed the ups and downs of the story and overall think this was an enjoyable read.

1 prince and 12 women, these women compet for the princes hand in marriage from human to elves to a dwarf, but they dont know that there is an assassin awaiting to kill the whole royal family and wanting to take over the entire kingdom, this book had ups and down for me, i felt like it reminded me so much of another book ive read, so many things kept making me drift back to the other book, this was an enjoyable read though

One prince charming searching for his true love.

Twelve beautiful damsels, elves, a dwarf & a commoner competing for the prince's hand in marriage.

One shadow lurking behind the scenes, trying to assassinate the royal family and take control of the empire.

I love Bachelor type romances and this was no different. 12 young ladies competing to be Empress is so much fun. Add to the story the intrigue of possible war and the story is so much more addictive. A must for romantasy readers who love a little bit of suspense.

Thank you to @netgalley and @ zoiygalloay for letting me preview this title.

I DNFed this book at 36%. I really wanted to like this book, but I just didn’t. The premise sounded cute, but I didn’t like how it was executed.

There are a lot of characters in this book. It was hard to keep track of some of them. There were a few that I either loved or hated, but most of them were “meh” for me.

I have read several books since starting this one and keep trying to come back to this one. This book just did not pull me in. I wasn’t really invested in any of the characters. There were cute parts here and there, but not enough to keep me hooked.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC to me in exchange for an honest review.

I have to admit that I missed the memo that this was part 1 of a duology. Or better said, when I started reading this book and up until about ninety percent into the book I was convinced that just like Qloey's story this was gonna be a stand-alone. That did impact my reading experience a little, since I was waiting for something that obviously only happens in the next book. However, I'm still glad that I got a copy of this book via Netgalley.

The first book in the series was an amazing mix between politics and romance. The ending felt a little rushed, but luckily we hear a lot about the falling out in this second book. This book follows Qloey's eldest son. Twelve girls have travelled to the palace to win his hand and it's clear that the politics of the past and current is gonna have a huge influence on the competition. And it's also clear that some past dangers might not be gone entirely.

Since this book is the first part of a story-arc that spans over two books the pacing is a little slower than Qloey's story. And while that's a little annoying in the beginning, since I was really waiting for things to get a little more dangerous and the politics making a more prominent appearance, I did like that we get some more time with the girls and really get to know them. Some girls are clearly more interesting characters than others, but that's unavoidable.

The moment the danger and the politics do show up things become infinitely more interesting. Partly because we see that Qloey's rule is not without consequences, but also because the competition and the outside politics are starting to influence each other. It's almost a pity that this time we don't get the complete story at once because I'm insanely curious to discover what's truly going on and where all this will lead.

I will make sure to keep an eye on the release date of the sequel!

Crown prince Zadkiel grew up hearing the stories of how his parents found true love at the Empress’s Royal Matchmaking Competition.
But as the twelve candidates gather to compete to become his future bride, he learns that his parents might not be the star-crossed lovers he always believed.
And his mother might be hiding bigger secrets than who she really loves.
As secret treaties and hidden alliances drive the empire toward civil war, will Zadkiel be able to move past his mother’s betrayal and find true love? Or will their enemies succeed in finally assassinating a member of the royal family?

"Oh my mermaids! I mentally whimpered like a wounded puppy and imagined banging my head against a wall. She is so infuriating!"

This quote sums up my feelings about the book — and gives a good example of the writing style. Despite the promise of a high stakes story full of intrigue, betrayal, and heartbreaking romance, the plot is contrived and inconsistent, the characters one-dimensional, and the writing overwrought.

Historical inaccuracies abound, from fake nails and eyelash curlers to the usage of modern words — even the word "date" is out of time and place.
The author also has some strong opinions on a number of topics, such as “period syncing,” Lima beans as torture devices, the actress Zendaya (seriously, what did she ever do to you?), and feminism. As in, the author is anti-feminist but she stuffs her books full of things she thinks feminists want.

None of the characters were at all likable or even relatable. The only person I felt any sympathy for was the Emperor who had it repeatedly rubbed in his face that he was his wife's fourth choice.
All twelve of the contestants were one-dimensional. They were either "quiet," or "perfect" or "foolish" or "mean" or "irresistibly beautiful." Whatever their attribute, that was their entire personality and they could be nothing else.

It was clear the author was still in love with Empress Qloey — the main character from the previous book. Despite Qloey’s obvious biases, these opinions were defended in such a contrived manner, despite her supporting child slaves, prolonged torture, and handing over prisoners to be slaughtered.

Zadkiel was the most inconsistent, unrelatable, and infuriating character I've ever read. He adores his mommy and refuses to hear anyone speak negatively of her — yet he already views himself as the Emperor and the empire as under his own rule. He's furious at his sister attempting to flirt with and spend time with the visiting princes — while he has only time for the more beautiful contestants (and commends himself for only kissing four of them, while his mom kissed five during her Royal Matchmaking Competition.)

The book ended on a cliffhanger, but a very unfortunate one. None of the plot lines were resolved, and while the storyline offered a natural place to split it (that would still have resulted in a cliffhanger), the author chose not to take it. A few pages further on would have gotten us to the first round of eliminations, ramping up the tension for the next book. Instead, we're left with a few obvious choices for whom Zadkiel would eliminate, but no satisfaction of seeing the favorites remain.
At least having a cliffhanger at all leaves us with the opportunity to write fanfiction in which the assassins are successful.

The root problem of the book is that it feels like the author has no awareness of any of the issues she’s trying to write, like politics and slavery and class issues. The story would have greatly benefited from these being eliminated from the story.

I really wanted to like this book. It was such a fun premise, and I love marriage competition books. Which was why I was excited to see it was mostly from the Prince’s perspective. The jokes started off good and I had high hopes, until about 40% into the story. I feel after that point it just became a, who is Zadkiel in love with today? Kind of energy. It’s very obvious which three he will narrow down to in the next book, which made the other dates feel very forced and unnecessary. After awhile all of the jokes and using Zendaya as comic relief was cringy a bit.

I did enjoy the action that started to pop up towards the end. It gave a break from the sheer amount of dates and gave background tension to the story. I do wish more had happened in this book other than building everything.

Overall if you enjoy funny books and like dating shows this will probably be the book for you. It was okay, and I feel skipping over some of the dates would’ve been beneficial. Especially with two dates in most book days. Would’ve gave more time to flesh out and get to know the main choices prior to the elimination ceremony.