Hope Kennard left Hasebury Hall—her ancestral home in Wiltshire—to travel the world in search of new and exciting adventures. Her new motto: No scandal, no betrayal, no family baggage, and definitely no regrets! Freedom suits her, right up until she ends up in the sunkissed island principality of San Michele and meets mysterious forest ranger Jonas Reval. He’s as secretive as she is skittish but he’s also everything she’s ever wanted in a man.
Jonas knows all about duty and the burdens of marrying to meet family expectations. But he can be himself around Hope and he sets about wooing her without taking advantage of all the considerable resources at his disposal. It’s just him, and her, what’s more, it works. Right up until Hope discovers that one pesky little detail he’s sort of forgotten to mention: He’s not just a part-time forest ranger and integral member of the family law firm. He’s charming, lying Prince Jonas Reval of San Michele.
And the fantasy Hope’s been spinning comes tumbling down…
**Previously titled The Prince’s Bride in the Royal Wedding Invitation multi-author series of 2017-2018**
Titles in the (reissued/renamed) Royal Weddings multi-author series include – Falling for Charming by Sophie Weston – Best Made Plans by Jessica Hart – If the Shoe Fits by Liz Fielding – Miss You More by Anne McAllister
Title: Falling for Charming (previously: The Prince’s Bride)
Series: Royal Weddings #1 (previously; Royal Wedding Invitations #1
Author: Sophie Weston
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: 2nd edition reissue – first published: October 13, 2017
Publisher: Tule Publishing
My Rating: 4 stars
**Once upon a time, Falling for Charming was known as The Prince’s Bride in the Royal Wedding Invitation multi-author series from Tule Publishing. Back in 2017-18, I was fortunate to receive all four books as ARCs and what you’ll find here is that original review with a few necessary alterations due to title changes and such. No matter when it was reissued, renamed with a lovely new cover – Jonas and Hope’s romance is touching, emotional… and still well worth your time.**
When your life had been turned upside down, and your youthful memories are not of a happy family but of a father’s incarceration – well, a lie is never an easy thing to be told, not even those little white lies that flow so naturally in a civilized society. Hope has no tolerance for lies of any sort. Having seen the results of her father’s lies, how his misleading destroyed so much for so many people… no, lies will never be acceptable.
So when Hope meets a real-life Prince who is going about his normal, real-life – without the pomp and circumstance his sister-in-law insists on- well, Jonas didn’t tell the complete truth, granted an omission is also a lie but he didn’t understand the importance of that difference to Hope at their first meeting. It would matter, and it would come back to bite him far too soon before explanations could be made. He’d told her the truth that he was in fact a practicing lawyer, that he did volunteer work with the forest rangers… he neglected to mention that he was also known as His Serene Highness, Prince Jonas of San Michele.
Most of us could understand the desire of a prince who has just met a lovely, interesting woman who does not recognize him to allow friendship or more to develop between them before revealing his true identity, titles included. We might not like it, but I believe we’d understand why at least.
Hope’s trust in Jonas was shattered when she discovered who he also is and their story is Jonas coming to understand just how important the absolute truth is to Hope… and Hope will eventually come to realize that while he did omit something vital, Jonas has also gone to great lengths to make up for that and prove his honest love for her.
I enjoyed their romance. If I was more on the team Jonas side well that didn’t mean I couldn’t see Hope’s point but her ridged mindset at times made her not so likable for me. With several interesting and intriguing secondary characters being introduced in this first world-building story, now I’m hooked on looking for the other stories to come in this series. I would recommend Falling for Charming for any Romance reader and suspect that you’ll easily get caught up in the rest of the series as well.
*I originally received this e-ARC of this novel from Tule Publishing via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*
Available for your favorite e-reader (mine is the Kindle)
