I’m from South Mississippi, so when I say I’m the authority on southern charm in narration— believe me. Luke in this audiobook hit the absolute nail on the head! He even used “ain’t” without sounding like he hurt himself. You know when Hallmark season comes around and you get all cozy and warm feeling just thinking about their movie lineup? And your husband, dad, brother, and uncle all just roll their eyes? Luke is the embodiment of that! However, you can tell that he has resigned himself to his fate being in a house full of sisters. It reminded me so much of my own brother and how he would always reluctantly let us choose the movie every now and then. I also grew up in a builder’s home, so that was very nostalgic for me. Basically, Luke would hate to hear it, but I felt like I was in a Hallmark movie the WHOLE TIME!

Ellie trying to reinvent herself was also very relatable, because haven’t we all been young and dumb once? The shame she feels about her past choices is an element of my own reality that endeared her to me. I love that the people around her didn’t try to sugarcoat her past, but consistently pointed her to the present life she was working so hard in. I loved the Scottish lilt to the narration for her voice, as well. But what can I say? We love to hear ourselves and the southern accents will always win out for me.

This book! What a fabulous ending to a lovely family series! I was enraptured with the voices! The accents! The beauty of this book shown through in this portrayal of all the characters! I loved it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the opportunity to listen, all thoughts and opinions are my own!

⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book was ok. The story was cute and all but I found it very cliché.
Luke the main character was the typical Prince Charming. The problem was he wanted to be THE MAN. The one that is strong and cannot diminish his masculinity by being soft, or loving romance. Plot twist he is soft and he is romantic.
Ellie was the typical princess with her redemption arc planned out.
Let´s say that if you are looking at all the tropes possibly imaginable, this book gives them to you.
It´s light and predictable, which are not bad qualities, but after 20% I already knew EVERYTHING that was going to happen, and so it became boring very quickly.

What I liked the most about this book were the side characters and the audiobook production that was simply outstanding. It had a full cast of actors and it helped a lot to finish the book.

I started this book with high hopes because the reviews were fantastic. What's better than a grumpy-sunshine love story, right?

I really wanted to love it, but I found Luke to be too much of a toxic masculinity type of guy, and it really bummed me out.

This book was a cute royalty romance that was an unexpected find for me. It is the third book in a series but can totally be read as a standalone. This book gave me a huge Prince and Me movie vibe when I listened to it, and I think it might be a reason why I liked it even more because that movie was my childhood.

Luke Edgewood is a pretty grumpy introverted carpenter who loves wearing flannel shirts and can’t stand anything romantic. He ends up traveling to the island of Skamar to help with some restoration work and has a very unpleasant meeting in a coffee shop with Ally, a princess of Skamarian Islands, who tries to find her own feet in royal adult life and not to make any more messes that she already had. Aliana escapes to the secluded mountains to take charge of the orphanage’s renovations and when she learns that Luke is the one that was hired to do the construction working she decides to hide her royal identity, trying to enjoy the anonymous life and the fact that Luke treats her like a real person without any ulterior motives. And Luke himself ends up intertwined with all the romantic and cheesy romance tropes he was trying so hard to avoid.

I genuinely liked the relationship and dynamics between them, seeing Luke helping Ally along the way to try to discover who she really is and find her place in the world. I also appreciated the fact that when the identity reveal happened, there was no silly miscommunication that I hate so much. He took this as an adult, and thus, there was no ugly drama involved. I loved their fishing and tree climbing moments and how they both encouraged each other to be their best selves.

I also loved that while Luke was this sarcastic and grumpy man, he had this soft spot for children around him and was always so patient and supportive with his family, no matter how annoying his sisters were. I loved their sibling banter a lot!

This book is a sweet and heartwarming cozy romance book that fills you with coziness, laughter, and hope. It's also a perfect fit for the fans of Hallmark movies – because there were a lot of references, which I would have appreciated much more if I were a fan of those movies.

My only complaint would probably be the fact that I would want to have more of their background histories instead of those little glimpses we get.

Overall, this book is a definite recommendation from me!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction publisher for an audiobook copy in exchange for my honest review!

🎧 It’s a pretty typical cheesy romance. Love the idea of a southern boy falling for a “Scottish” princess. And the narrators represented that well. I love a full cast of narrators, except for the sister who sounded like Fran Drescher. It’s a great concept of the MMC being teased by his sisters that he’s in a hallmark movie, and he then hilariously keeps stumbling into hallmark tropes over and over again.
Why only 3 stars? This book would’ve been a lot better if it was about half the length. Everything was over described and there were a lot of pointless/repetitive storylines. It also felt like a very male centered world, where females need to cater to men. Mentions of god and macho crap frequently. And the FMC was a little bit of a doormat.

Thanks to netgalley for the ARC!

This book is a total Hallmark movie read with a European twist! It had a princess in hiding, a dreamy small town hero, orphanage full of adorable children, a small European country and lots of forced proximity and a tiny bit of enemies to lovers (my favorite)!! The audio book was great and had a whole cast of narrators, 7 to be exact! It made for a very entertaining listen with the narrator switching for the different characters.

I had to read this book because my husband’s name is Luke, so that was a fun little extra for me! Now he will be known as my loyal Luke. 😍

Thank you to Thomas Nelson, the author Pepper Basham and Net Galley for the advanced copy of the audio book!

O my goodness this upcoming release by Pepper Basham is like stepping into a Hallmark movie, but one that takes place in Europe instead of a Christmas Tree Farm 😉

Luke’s commitment to simplicity and solitude is tested when he finds himself entangled with a Grace Kelly look-alike who, spoiler alert, just so happens to be a princess 🤫. From restoring an orphanage to navigating the expectations of being a royal, this book is a delightful blend of romance and adventure.

With all the makings of a romantic comedy this is definitely a book that will leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside!

I listened to the audiobook and loved the cast of narrators, they really helped the book. The storyline was interesting but it felt so slow. It’s cute, like a Hallmark movie, but again- it felt so slow. I expected to like this one a lot more than I did, but I’m sure it will be a favorite for some.

I wanted to like this so bad. It was really cute and sweet, but it was just a little slow for me. I got about halfway through and just couldn't finish it.

This was cute!! A very easy, clean romancey read. It felt a bit like a hallmark movie. The characters were fun and the story had a nice pace!

I do wish I had known this was a part of a series, it took me a little bit to figure out who all the side characters were. It was definitely readable without having read the other two, but I wouldn't say it's standalone.

Thanks to Netgalley for the copy to review!

Luke travels to the small island of Skymar to help rebuild an orphanage. While there, this grump falls into his own Hallmark style romance with a sunshine secret princess, complete with a meet cute, enemies to lovers, and forced proximity.

Pros:
- Swoon worthy MMC and relatable / sympathetic FMC
- Absolutely beautifully described settings
- A+ for the movie references (both romantic and suspense)
- Healthy and supportive communication between the MMC and FMC
- Realistic and positive representation of faith / religion
- Realistic and positive representation of recovery
- Great audio cast with an impressive range and believability


Cons:
- Without having read the first two in this series of stand alone novels, I was very confused about who all these characters were. It takes until 30% through the book before we learn which of the people he's talking to are his sisters and why we care about them. I made it through the end of the book without understanding who all the side characters were because there is very little to no explanation given.
- I call this the "Secret Jesus" book because - other than the publisher - there is zero hints or explanations that this is a Christian novel. While I enjoyed this aspect of it, I didn't look at the publisher again when I went to read it and it was a bit of a shock later in the book when faith based plot points were peppered in.
- The audio was a bit hard to understand at times - with the thick accents of some of the side characters.

Overall - this was a really good, funny, and heartfelt book. I really enjoyed it but would have liked some more obvious explanations of who the side characters were, who was married to who, who was dating who, etc.

I think this had Halmark feet. Flannel wearing American meets royal. They have a meet cute in the coffee shop, I love the MMCs sister. Every time he talks to his sister she’s talking about how his life is a Romcom. I think this was a cute, easy read.

This book was fun. It took a little bit to get used to all of the voices because I had to use context clues on who was who, but it ended being a lot of fun. I liked the gruff but also secret romantic heart in luke.

Very conflicted on this review. I grabbed this audiobook based on the cute cover and premise of the book without realizing it was an ultra “clean” romance. It was a cute book, but really didn’t have that deep of a story line. The breakup was barely a breakup and of course the HEA was seen a mile away. I also struggled with the MMC’s obsession with “the kisses”… It was however, light and fun, so still an enjoyable read. 3.5 rounding to 4 as this was partially my own issue 🤣

Loyally, Luke by Pepper D. Basham

Narrated by: Christopher Ashman, K.C. Sheridan, Kathleen McInerney, Natalie Duke, Gary Furlong, Caitlin Davies, and Mhairi Morrison

FIVE STARS


This book was adorable!

Luke is making it through life, through a series of events he is in Skymar with an opportunity to bid on and work on a project fixing up the county orphanage. As the only boy raised with three girls he overcompensates a bit on the "masculine" part of things. Some found it annoying, it just was what it was to me.



Ellie is a princess trying to get her life back on track after a series of poor choices. The Royal family has a place in Skymar where they can live normally and they also care for the orphanage. Ellie is trying to get back to active royal status and is in charge of overseeing the renovations.



Luke and Ellie do NOT get off on the right foot and her royal status goes unknown for some time which gives them a chance to get to know each other.



This book had a host of narrators, all who were perfect. Christopher Ashman, K.C. Sheridan, Kathleen McInerney, Natalie Duke, Gary Furlong, Caitlin Davies, and Mhairi Morrison were all awesome!



Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins Christian Publishing, and the author for the opportunity to listen to and review this book.

If you’re looking for a Hallmark movie written into a book, this is it. The author not only references Hallmark movies, but names every romance trope that she’s about to introduce… #meetcute, #forcedproximity, #enemiestolovers, #oppositesattract. It’s cheesy and predictable, but overall a wholesome love story about a small town guy who falls in love with a foreign princess while visiting the fictional country of Skymar.

I received an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It is a sweet heart warming romance book where opposites meet, the side characters are but I felt like the story was so slow and not moving forward but it ended well and they all lived happily ever after 💗

This isn’t the typical genre I read and I really enjoyed it. It was fun, lighthearted and witty. Loved all the characters. There were several narrators and this took me a moment to make the adjustment and I found it quite appealing. Definitely a clean romance with light faith. This book had me smiling and laughing throughout. I loved the ending. It is part of a series, but can be read out of order. I was blessed with a free ARC, and I’m leaving my review voluntarily. Highly recommend, if you need an entertaining, light read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book for free in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own.

This was a very cute romance and I enjoyed all the different narrators for this audiobook. It probably won't be on my favorite romance books of 2024 list, but I still am giving it 4 stars for being cute and taking me away from the stressors of daily life. i will also be definitely looking out for more books by Piper Basham in the future!!
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Many Thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

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