For fans of The Princess Diaries and The Royal We comes a fun and daring novel about a modern-day princess who teams up with a spy to find out what happened to the fiancé who left her at the altar—and who just might get her own fairytale in the process.Princess Theodora Isabella Victoria of Drieden of the Royal House Laurent is so over this princess thing. After her fiancé jilted her on their … thing.
After her fiancé jilted her on their wedding day, she’s finally back home after spending four months in exile—aka it’s back to press conferences, public appearances, and putting on a show for the Driedish nation as the perfect princess they expect her to be. But Thea’s sick of duty. After all, that’s what got her into this mess in the first place.
So when she sneaks out of the palace and meets a sexy Scot named Nick in a local bar, she relishes the chance to be a normal woman for a change. But just as she thinks she’s found her Prince Charming for the night, he reveals his intentions are less than honorable: he’s the brother of her former fiancé, a British spy, and he’s not above blackmail. As Thea reluctantly joins forces with Nick to find out what happened the day her fiancé disappeared, together they discover a secret that could destroy a centuries-old monarchy and change life as they know it.
Funny, fast-paced, and full of more twists and turns than the castle Thea lives in, The Royal Runaway is a fresh romantic comedy that will leave you cheering for the modern-day royal who chucks the rulebook aside to create her own happily-ever-after.
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I had a blast reading this book. It has humor, danger, romance–and then even more humor. This is escapist fiction at its very best.
I LOVED this. It ticked all the boxes for the things I loved about The Princess Diaries, but for grown ups, with a light romantic suspense thread and a Scottish spy. Definitely recommend! Amanda Ronconi lends great life to the audio version.
I was hooked on The Royal Runaway from the blurb and once I cracked open the book and dove in head first I was submerged into a story and a land that I never wanted to leave! I want to live in Drieden and be a citizen!!
The Royal Runaway reminded me of the movie, Chasing Liberty from 2004 with Mandy Moore, but with suspense and intrigue. The idea of a princess on the run was utterly fascinating, especially because most of the time she didn’t really know where she was running to and why. That is until she meets the Irish rouge, Nick.
Nick completely flips Princess Theodora’s life upside down, even more so than it already is after her ex left her, the Princess of Drieden, second in line to the crown, at the alter! Nick becomes so much to Thea as they embark on a risky venture to figure out what happened to her ex and why he never showed up on their wedding day.
The Royal Runaway is charming, witty and intense! I need more from this world and I am dying for this story to be turned into a series! You don’t want to miss this incredible story, there are twists and turns everywhere!
Being jilted at the altar would, well, suck. Being jilted at the altar when you are a princess and your wedding is going to be aired on live TV? I don’t think there’s a word that describes how Princess Theodora of Dreiden feels. After hiding away for a few months following the disappearance of her groom, she arrives back in Dreiden ready to put a good face on a bad situation. When she sneaks out one night to have a drink incognito at the local pub she meets dark and dangerous Scot, Nick who see’s right through her disguise and convinces her to look into why her fiance disappeared. As they investigate their attraction becomes a force that Thea can’t ignore. What she and Nick find out changes her future, but is that future with Nick? Or without him?
This novel wasn’t at all what I expected and I mean that in the best way possible! When you pick up a romance where princesses are involved, I don’t expect much more than a fun fantasy romance, but this story had a lot of meat and emotion! Thea was not your usual princess. Yes, she was dutiful, but she also rebelled against her princesshood by sneaking out and escaping the confines of her service. In this case she got more than she bargained for. She had thought she’d been jilted at the altar but as she and Nick start looking for her ex, the book adds in some intrigue, making this book a bit more romantic suspense than rom-com. I liked that twist! Nick was ex military and very cryptic about who and why he was also hunting for her ex fiance. Surprisingly, Nick fought against his attraction to Thea. He was really focused, but she was nothing like he’d imagined she’d be. Nick, I found her surprising too! Those little surprise character traits were why I liked Thea so much and really rooted for her to find happiness. Even if it was with somewhat surly and slightly hesitant Nick. He was a man that didn’t like his agenda messed with, and Thea kind of rocked to the beat of her own drum.
If you’re looking for a romance with a little more depth, I think this one actually hits that nail on the head. I mean it’s no Jason Bourne meets Anne Hathaway from the Princess Diaries, but it does have a nice mix of action, emotion, and heat. Actually, I could see Matt Damon in the role of Nick, but I’m not sure he’s do a very good Scottish accent. Hmmm, maybe Gerard Butler? Anywho, pick this one up. I think you’ll be surprised and really like it too!
The Royal Runaway is the perfect royal romp, like The Princess Diaries meets James Bond, which I never knew the world needed until now. It does, trust me. Royal lovers like me will adore it, and rom com fans will love Lindsay Emory’s fresh, fun voice.
The Royal Runaway was a first time read from this author and I enjoyed this story full of twists and turns! I wasn’t exactly sure what I was getting myself into when I decided to pick this one up. It was pretty low on the romance, but I quickly realized there was more to the story than Princess Theodora finding love. It was time for her to pave the path of her future.
The blurb is what sucked me into this book, I was so intrigued and couldn’t wait to start as soon as it landed on my kindle. Who in their right mind would leave a princess at the altar?! Crazy, I tell ya. And that was just the beginning of a journey to find out the truth about the disappearance of her ex-fiance alongside a rather sexy Scot named Nick.
I absolutely adored Thea, she craved nothing more than to put duty aside and be her own person. To be free to do whatever she wanted to do, to have that bit of freedom. As the story progresses, we see a bit of her naivety fall away and the truth surrounding people she has known for most of her life, even her family. And that’s when she started to take control back in her hands and do what she can to protect her people and country. I really loved witnessing her journey of coming from a low point and picking herself back up again into a much stronger person.
Nick was always quite a mystery throughout this entire book, I was curious about his true motives. It was evident that there was something strong between them, but he rarely let up about it. He made it pretty obvious that he was fighting his attraction towards Thea also while trying to stay on task of what he was trying to do, but you can only push for so long. I’m not going to lie, I was a bit disappointed with the clean romance in this one, but I know soooo many out there will appreciate that fact. It was still enough for me to just fall in love with these two!
I loved watching the growth in Thea, someone who grew to be a much stronger leader for her country. There were some moments in the middle that felt like things were moving a bit slowly, but it picked up right away to get you to the end.
From the adventure, the journey towards strength and confidence and the bits of love in between, made for a very enjoyable read! I’ll definitely look forward to reading more from this author.
Lindsay Emory
This has everything I like: royal gossip, intrigue, fiery princesses, hot Scots, kissing and dead bodies!
I couldn’t stop reading The Royal Runaway! In fact I was angry every time I was interrupted because I loved being lost in the world of Princess Thea. This is the perfect book to read on a weekend getaway or whenever you need a break from reality. It’s fun, adventurous, and exciting (with a little romance thrown in on the side!) Definitely a must read!
A 21st century princess comes into her own when investigating a royal mystery in this entertaining romantic comedy.
What a fun escape!
I’ve had this book sitting on my nightstand to read for months and now I’m wondering why I waited so long to read it. I think because fate wanted me to wait until I needed the perfect escape from the real world. An honestly, a princess story is about as far from my life as you can get. But I got so much more. It was a romance and a mystery and walked the line between like a gymnast on the balance beam (not too much of either). It was also fun, witty, and as the quote promised, “whip-smart, engaging… delightful must read.”
I couldn’t agree more.
***I received an ebook copy from the publisher at no cost***
This is my first time reading Lindsay Emory and now I’m going to have to grab another one of her books because man can this woman write!
Princess Theodora (Thea) gets abandoned at the altar on her wedding day. After going away to compose herself, she returns to the palace and the public eye. Boredom gets the best of her and she decides to sneak out of the palace one night, ending up at a local bar. There she meets Nick, a Scottish lad who is handsome and charming. Except the next time she sees Nick, she finds out that he isn’t who he made himself out to be. This revelation kicks off a whole chain of events that will change both of their lives, and the lives of everyone around them.
Thea is a solid character. She got her heart broken but she bounced back. She’s a strong, independent woman, but she’s not sure if the job of Queen is one that suits her. I love how she isn’t afraid to be sassy and how she was willing to risk everything to try and figure out what had happened to the man she once loved.
The connection between Thea and Nick was instantaneous. The had chemistry that sizzled right off the pages. Nick is everything that I look for in a book boyfriend; handsome, devoted, charming, and on the alpha side but not disgustingly so. I love how dedicated he was to figuring out what happened to his brother.
I loved the plot in this book. I was thrown totally off course not too far in, and there were twists and turns all throughout. There was drama, royal shenanigans, lots of hilarious moments, and a few times when I literally found myself on the edge of my seat. I fell in love with Nick pretty quickly and found myself hoping and praying that he would end up with Thea at some point. (I’m not going to tell you if he does or not — you’ll have to read it yourself to find out!)
Emory did an amazing job creating the world in this story. I felt like I was there with the characters, in the middle of a royal movie or something. I loved the characters as well. They were in these big, lofty places in life, but they were still relatable and people that I would easily call a friend if I could pluck them off the pages of the book.
This is a hilarious, suspenseful, and sexy read.
Five stars to this novel!
Captivating! Full of twists and turns, The Royal Runaway will keep you guessing and cheering for a royal happily-ever-after!
Whip-smart, engaging, and relatable, The Royal Runaway is an all around delightful must-read romance. I couldn’t put it down!
I received a free copy of the book from the publisher.
I absolutely love royal stories. Even the real life ones are fascinating to me. So when I was asked to participate in this blog tour I took the plunge, of course! This is my first book by the author.
The Royal Runaway features Princess Thea and a man named Nick. As the story unfolds the reader learns more about who Nick is and what his agenda is with the Princess. After being left a the alter by Nick’s brother the two try to figure out where the missing fiance is and why he’s suddenly disappeared!
There are some parts in this book that were confusing to me. Long bits of monologue where I’d be searching for some sort of dialog to go with what’s happening at certain points. The overall premise is entertaining. I found myself wondering what the heck was happening in several places. Thea and Nick have their work cut out for them and there was at least one spot where I wasn’t even sure which side Nick was working for/on.
Please have a go with this book and let me know your thoughts! I’m always happy to chat about books!
3.5 stars
Copy received via Netgalley for an honest review
A little bit funny. A little bit sad. A little bit of intrigue. This book had a little bit of it all.
I was expecting this book to be little bit more lighthearted than what we got – that’s not a bad thing, though. I did enjoy Thea and Nick’s story.
However, I didn’t feel the connection between Thea and Nick. Other than the “he’s my ex-fiance’s-brother-and-he’s-hot”, I just didn’t feel it. And I definitely did not feel anything about them falling in love – but this could just be me.
Everything is a little far fetched (though that’s why we read fiction, isn’t it) and you really did need to just go with the flow with the whole Royal meets Bond kind of thing.
Whilst I didn’t love this book, I did like it and it filled a fun couple of hours for me.
The Royal Runaway is my first read by Lindsay Emory, and I will read more in the future.