3.5 stars rounded up.

This was fun but nothing incredible. Few things I loved: Clia, the fmc is autistic, and Ronan, the mmc, has chronic pain! The story was queer normative! I think the premise of Legally Blonde but at a war college was really fun and overall, mostly well done. However, I don't think the overarching military plot was well executed. It was predictable, the antagonists didn't have clear motives and I think it could've been more involved, rather that waiting until halfway through to bring it to the forefront of the story. The romance also fell flat a little bit. I would've bought into it more if it had been developed more throughout the story, rather than just a few scenes of them training, and mentions of them studying together. I also don't think the author knew if they wanted to write a romcom or YA fantasy because the tone drastically changes between the first and second halves of the story. The writing style also read more like YA than adult, even though the book was classified as adult. Overall though, it was a solid debut and I had fun while reading.

A fantasy retelling of legally blonde set in a diverse kingdom with magical creatures? Yes please. Much like the movie it’s inspired this book had an incredibly likable lead and a romance you can invest in. I was so invested in the heroines journey to prove herself and I can’t imagine anyone who reads this who won’t!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

When I heard the hook "legally blonde but make it medieval" I was immediately filing away this book in my brain as one to read (rip Medievally Blonde). I was so excited to get my greedy little paws on beautiful book this early.

I was really taken with Clía as the main female character in her tenacity to follow through with the seemingly simple plan to win back her former betrothed by completing the land's most intense military school. Not only did she complete it but her growth through the book from dutiful princess to a true leader. In addition to her growth I loved the training and battle scenes throughout the book. One thing I think done well in the book is the representation for LQBTQIA+ and chronic pain.

I almost wish this book as a duology so that more depth could be developed out of the plot and really sink into the world and more intricate nature of the politics. But overall this was a fun and unique read.

3.5 stars

4 stars 🌟 Ex's best friend? Yes, please! This was a wonderful debut novel. The development of the FMC, Clía, was the best part of the book. I was rooting for her the entire time and I love watching her become strong and independent.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️EVERYTHING I WANTED FOR A CUTE MEDIEVAL ROMANCE AHHHH LOVED LOVED LOVED. I truly enjoyed the characters and the plot. The story truly made me forget I was reading at times I was hooked. I’m honored I had the chance to read this.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers and the author for the e-ARC in exchange for honest review.

4.5 stars! This book was SO cute!

Think Legally Blonde in the medieval times and instead of lawyers, they're knights in training!

The FMC, Clia, is a princess of one of the realms on the continent. She's always been obsessed with fashion, design and all things pretty! Her parents have arranged for her betrothal to a prince in a neighboring realm. However, on the night their betrothal is to be officially made and announced, Prince Dohmnall tells Clia that she isn't serious enough and could never be queen of his realm. She has no background in warfare that his kingdom needs in order to survive. He also announces that he'll be traveling to Caislean Costa, a prestigious training academy, that takes ordinary civilians, royalty, and soldiers and turns them into warriors.

Clia is absolutely devastated to hear this news and realizes she must also travel to Caislean Costa to win him back! However, once there, she realizes that Prince Dohmnall is betrothed to someone else!! Clia quickly realizes thta she was in no way prepared for Caislean Costa and gets help from Ronan, who's also the captain of Dohmnall's guard and has been invited to the academy as well.

Ronan has been dreaming of coming to Caislean Costa since he was a boy and the leader saved him from certain death when his mother was killed by a rival kingdom's warriors. As Dohmnall's captain, he is able to come to Caislean Costa and feels like it's one step closer to repaying his mentor and realizing his dream.

Clia and Ronan realize there's more than just a spark of attraction between the two of them as the work together on studying and training. Their love story is so sweet! So many swoon worthy moments!

However, as with any romantasy story, there's going to be some conflict. The neighboring kingdoms are trying to go against the treaties that have been in place for years and eventually attack Caislean Costa. There's betrayal on multiple levels that I didn't see coming. There's love, there's fighting, there's female empowerment, there's hidden artefacts that end up making amazing weapons and there's still a happy ending.

Overall, I adored this book. The first 20 percent or so was a lot of world building and it took me a little bit to fully understand it and fully get into it. However, after this point, I was hooked and can not say enough good things about this book!

This was really fun! It definitely gives the same vibes as Legally Blonde, though I did wish that it would've leaned more into that at times. I really liked the romance and friendships, as well as the message about self acceptance. I also love how unique it felt, I feel like we don't get a ton of romances set in the Medieval time period.

I love that Clía proved herself to be strong and a warrior while also remaining feminine and ????. She wasn't a two dimensional character, and I found myself rooting for her and looking forward to her proving everyone wrong. There were a lot of men who doubted her and decided that she was too delicate and naive to be strong, so seeing her take her autonomy back and prove not only to them, but to herself, that she is capable and can have two different sides to her was great.

I also really liked Ronan. He had things that he wanted to prove to himself, but over the course of the story his faith and loyalty was tested. Seeing the way he pushed himself to be more than just his disability was inspiring, but also sad. I like how he helped Clía and helped give her the tools to boost her confidence, as well as becoming stronger and better.

Tropes/Themes:
- Fantasy Romance
- Dual POV
- Medieval Legally Blonde
- Princess x Military Captain
- Grumpy X Sunshine
- Hints of Found Family
- Irish Folklore
- Disability Rep

This book started a lot stronger than I anticipated. I thought it balanced character and plot well, and it was cozy enough while still having some meat to keep me interested.
I think it started faltering as soon as the first twist was reveled, and really lost its footing during the miscommunication scene to the point I just skimmed the last quarter.
I also wished that we got a bit more of Clia and Domnhal's friendship. It felt extremely shallow throughout as we were told they were best friends growing up, just for him to be an asshole the entire time he's on screen.

I thought this was going to be a solid fun time 4, but it didn't quite stick the landing

I liked the premise of this book. I do think the pacing was a bit off and hard to follow! I enjoyed it and it was still a fun read! I liked the characters and the romance was well done!!

It is a fun story and the descriptions are truth full. It took me a bit to get into the story the beginning felt a little slow pace with all the descriptions but once the story develop more it was very interesting and fun to read.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers for the e-ARC!

Forever mourning the title of Medievally Blonde because thats what this book is ;(

The premise starts out as the former title implied, an Irish kingdom take on Legally Blonde! Princess Cliodhna is rejected by Prince Domhnall when she believed he was about to propose, saying that she was not serious enough to be his wife and queen. So, when she learns he is traveling to Caislean Costa, the top military academy on the continent, she follows him there to prove that she can be everything he said she wasn't, and more! Of course, when Clia arrives, she is entirely overwhelmed at the rigor of the academy and the fact that Domhnall is already engaged to another warrior there. But at least Domhnall's best friend and captain of the guard is helping her to train, and he's not bad to look at either...

Eventually, between classes and missions and training sessions, Clia improves as a warrior! Just in time too, because war is threatening the continent and her kingdom!

I really like the concept of this book. I mean, a princess version of Legally Blonde? Sign me up! Thankfully, after the initial set up, The Princess Knight takes on a plot of its own and makes its characters more than archetypes of Elle Woods, Warner Huntington III and Vivian Kensington. Cait Jacobs also does a great job of working diversity and inclusion into the book. Clia has autism, Ronan has chronic pain, both love interests are bisexual in a queer-normative world. It gives The Princess Knight something to set it apart from other romantasy books coming out, and I thought it was very interesting to be in Clia's head!

I do wish there had been a character pronunciation guide at the beginning of the book. There's a list available on Jacobs's website, but it's not super fun to have to go look it up when I can't remember how to pronounce a character's name. Some names sound the same with English pronunciation as they did in Irish (Ronan, Declan, O Connor, etc), and some Irish names are popular enough that I knew how to pronounce them (Niall, Niamh, etc), but without the pronunciation guide I would have struggled with Cliodhna, Domhnall, Sarait, and Eithne. The average reader won't know how to correctly pronounce these names, and I would like to know as these are REAL names and not ones made up by a fantasy author.

Overall, this was a super fun read that combined two pieces of media I love, and sprinkled in some great representation along the way. I would recommend!

I was lucky enough to be an ARC reader for this book.

If you love, Legally Blonde and the medieval times this book will be right up your alley.
I have always been a huge lover of the movie Legally Blonde. I love the story and the character growth throughout it. I also love books set in medieval times and romantasy books.
There are plenty of retellings of fairytales, but this book is unique as it is a retelling of Legally Blonde sent in a different time.
In this book are leading lady is Clía she is a princess and is expected to marry a prince of a neighboring kingdom as a way to protect her people. When it’s time to get engaged, he backs out. Just as Warner did in Legally Blonde.
She then follows him to knight school to prove that she is what he wants.
This, of course, where the book begins.
Cait Jacobs did a great job, translating the world of Legally Blonde into a different era and with different scenarios and consequences.
I loved the world building and each of the characters. They’re all given their own unique personalities and traits, which made reading their dynamics so interesting and intriguing.
Clía is such a strong character, though she’s naïve and sheltered. She’s also stubborn and has a strong sense of justice. I also loved how it was incredibly important to note that she was very diplomatic which I think is an incredibly important trait for someone who is a princess to have and I loved how Cait Jacobs explored that part of her character.
Ronan was a great MMC. He’s not your typical brooding male lead. He is helpful, strong, kind, and loyal.
There is real romantic depth between Clía and Ronan which made their love so wonderful. You also get there relationship build from mutual respect to love.
I highly recommend reading this book!

The Princess Knight by Cait Jacobs
👑⚔️
This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I’m so lucky to have had the chance to read it early! A princess goes to knight school, becomes a badass warrior, and falls in love with the moody captain of the guard of her former almost-betrothed? Hi yes sign me up.
This book was so fun and I’m a sucker for a hyper-feminine FMC finding new levels of strength as a fighter. I will say this felt a little slow to me, and I really got lost in the weeds of the different locations & conflicts at times. The overarching political drama felt a little bit over- complicated and not very well explained at times. However the characters and relationships really pulled through to make this a worthy read.

The way I gobbled this up!!! I so enjoyed the plot and the tension between the characters. Thoroughly enjoyed my time with this book!

I received an early copy of this book from Netgalley. The first time I saw it, it still had the title of "Medievally Blonde," and I'm sad they weren't able to keep it (I'm assuming for copyright reasons). However, I was still very interested in a medieval retelling of Legally Blonde. Unfortunately, this book feel short of that fantastic premise. It was entirely too long, the storytelling was uneven, and I felt so little connection with any of the characters. If it had stopped around the 50% mark, I would have given it another star and described it as charming, however, the story shifted after that and it was just a lot of war, which was not what I signed up for in this book. Furthermore, the prestigious war school had like 2.5 tests and no metric system to speak of, so that important element of the story never worked for me. The book couldn't seem to decide if it wanted to be silly or serious, so it was a mash of both, which was jarring. Legally Blonde was such a fun and funny story with some serious elements that worked very well, and this book just wasn't able to capture that magic.

Slight disclaimer: I wanted to love this book so badly. Especially after how it was pitched. Legally Blonde meets Romantasy. I mean come on my favorite female-boss movie being incorporated into a Romantasy setting, say less count me in. However, the execution wasn’t quite there. And in the end fell a lot flat for me.

My immediate expectations was this was going to read more as a romcom, and have light elements of fantasy components. Instead this book leans heavily on fantasy topics. We’re being thrusted into a multi-kingdom political structure and looming war in the horizon. With that I had to immediately shift my focus. Because this wasn’t going to be a light romcom you can just breeze through. Now don’t take that as something horrible. Cait Jacob’s does an excellent job of story telling so once I got the hang of it, the book flowed quite nicely. Plus the elements of Legally Blonde were present and made the politics learning aspect more enjoyable.

PROS:
- first big pro, I loved all the representation we had in this book. Queer, Autistic, Chronic Pain. I thought all of these were really well done and brought unique narratives to the story.
- Clía’s journey. I was real nervous about this one because I honestly thought the whole book was going to be one big training montage. Now don’t get me wrong we did have those moments. But thankfully they were few and far between. I loved watching her grow stronger physically and mentally through success and failures. My biggest of love for her character comes with her realizing you can be strong, fierce and still be super feminine and like dressy things.


CONS:
- my first con, definitely has to be the romance. Now don’t come for me. I did not hate Ronan & Clía’s relationship. I just wish they had been fleshed out more. The pair do complement each other well. But I wanted more yearning and less insta-love between the pair.
- The world building/magic. I feel like I should preface the world building/magic in the second half of the book not the first. In the second half, if felt like the author was rushing and trying to add additional complexity to the world and magic system. But it felt disjointed and out of context.
- Which brings me to my final con, the political motivations of the villains. One, literally every villain was extremely predictable. But my bigger issue with all of them were their reasonings behind it all. It didn’t make a ton of sense.

Overall, Did I enjoy this and would I recommend? Yes I did enjoy this and ultimately I would recommend it. But definitely go in to this story with a different mindset than I did. This is not just a silly romcom story. There’s more of a political plot than meets the eye.

Lastly big thank you to NetGalley & Harper Voyager for providing me and ARC to read and review.

The Princess Knight started off as something I thought I would love. I was engrossed and really enjoyed it. By the middle of the book though I was bored and that led me to question so many things in this novel.

I love a good training school romance/ action novel like the rest but man did this fall short and I was underwhelmed.

The whole middle of this book and plot were so boring and dragged out over nothing. Half of it didn’t make sense for a ‘knight school’ and not just any school but he most prestigious school EVER for these countries.

Also, the names of everything were so confusing. The first chapter it was country name galore trying to setup for the reader when we only actually cared about 3 places. The prince’s kingdom, her kingdom and the one they were sorta at war with this whole time. I found myself just skipping everything because trying to read a ebook with all the names makes it incredibly hard to flip back and forth to the explanations page along with the map page.

The book is fine if you skip past the plot issues and like a slower fantasy romance book. But man, by 70% I found myself not actually caring at all what happens in the end.

My main issues with the plot points that made no sense:

1. Our Princess gets has to prove herself essentially the first day and puts up such a bad fight it lasts .5 seconds but she’s allowed to stay in such a notorious school that like 1 person has graduated in years?
1.5 Also to go with that, I don’t know how she was allowed to stay for so long other than for her to fall for the guard for the sake of the plot.
2. The school is barely talked about. We hear more about her training with Ronan than we do any classes and school training. They go on one mission and 2 fights where they prove themselves in 80% of the book. There is hardly a mention to classes or what she has even learned at this college.
3. The secretive messages and discussions behind doors and walls makes no sense for most of the book, but we’re supposed to gather something from this?
4.Why is the TAILOR of the PRINCESS invited to come to this prestigious knight school? She’s barely discussed in regard to the job that she’s apparently secured. But even if she was offered a job why would she quit working for the princess/royal family to go to the middle of no where and be a tailor at a knight college that barely has 30 people a the height of admission? Seems weird to leave a place of prestige to go to a place she would barely see recognition.

3.75 stars
🫑

This was a cute fantasy romance version of Legally Blonde. I enjoyed reading it, mostly because I liked the queer normative world, Irish folklore, and themes of self-acceptance. Sometimes, the writing felt a little clunky, and scenes would feel unfinished. I think I might have enjoyed this more as an audiobook due to the more romantic comedy writing style and Irish names. I found the world-building and most of the side characters and relationships to be underdeveloped. Having said that, I absolutely adored the relationship between our main characters, Clia and Ronan, and loved watching their growth, both together and separately.

This is one of my favorite book covers ever and I can’t wait to add it to my shelf!

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Voyager for providing this eARC.

Thankfully, I've just received a physical, which is my preference, so I'll read and rate that instead.

I heard much praise and anticipation for this new romantasy book all over social media and, let me tell you, it definitely lives up to the hype! The pure wittiness and sassiness these characters portrayed had me eagerly turning the pages into the late hours of the night. The world-building was very clear and easy to immerse oneself in as well as presenting possible opportunities for further development. I cannot wait to see what more the author may cook up for this unique fantasy world. And the romance? Perfection! I was swooning nonstop throughout the whole book. The tension of will-they-won't-they between the main characters utterly consumed me. I also loved how the main female character was not afraid to stand up for what she believed in and built supporting relationships along her self-discovery journey. I highly recommend this read for anyone who loves a great fantasy story filled with humor, romance, and an overall fun time!