A Stars from Peril NovelPainting themselves a life together will be a royal ordeal.Small-town boy Cal Walters doesn’t know whether he owes his phenomenal success as an artist to talent or to his connections to famous people. Doubt leaves him secluded—until a lost bet lands him on yet another blind date. But this one is different.To Teofilo Vabriga-Kastav, playboy prince of the tiny nation of … Vabriga-Kastav, playboy prince of the tiny nation of Porvunia and passionate art lover, Cal’s paintings are as intriguing as Cal himself. When Teo invites Cal to his country for an art competition, a whirlwind romance sweeps them up. But it can’t last—loyalties and obligations bind them to lives that are worlds apart.
Cal and Teo might’ve found their perfect complements in each other, but to hold on to their happiness, they’ll have to get creative.
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Drawing the Prince by Kim Fielding was given in exchange for an honest review. Cal an artist, is not at all thrilled by losing a bet to his friend Merc having to go on a blind date and Teo, flying across the world just to meet the artist who caught his attention.
My only problem I had was that Cal had a chip on his shoulder from the beginning and seemed to give up or run away when things don’t go his way. Maybe if I had more depth for his attitude it would have made it better. This was a nice slow burn story where fairytales and real life seems to collide with impossible hurdles to overcome but creativity may just let them have a happily ever after they have always wanted.
Was it sentimental and emotional? Yes! Was it a fairytale? kind of but it was also much more! I loved everything about it.
Meet Cal aka Calvin Walters rising artist from a small town, Peril, in Nebraska and Teo aka His Royal Highness Prince Friedrich Aleksej Josef Vissente Teofilo, Duke of Vidac, Earl of Kramitz.
Teo is in love with the art coming from Cal’s hand, after meeting Cal in person he is falling even more in love with the man himself.
Teo has organized an art contest in his small country and wants Cal to tribute three parts to it.
Cal is smitten by this beautiful, elegant, aristocratic man. After watching Teo’s Instagram, Cal understands he is just one in a long line. Still, Cal agrees and travels to Teo’s tiny kingdom in Europe.
Staying with Teo in his castle, Cal gets special treatment. No men from the row have entered these rooms before. They fall in love quite strongly and comfortably. Cal knows it’s too good to be true and a broken heart will be next.
What a well thought out, gracious, beautifully detailed and layered story. I was so smitten with it. It was written with a passion and that made this tale even more appealing. It had bittersweet moments, which crushed my heart, also funny times that made me laugh.
You could expect this could be a sappy story while reading the blurb, it was far from that!
I prefer to call it an excellently positive and vibrant story!
Even though I thought the whole story was, at first sight, lighthearted it’s quite more than that, it has an intelligent plot and all thoroughly developed. The way the love of art was woven into this story, the importance of authentic roots and family was impressive! The story around the passionate work with charity-funding and, above all, how the love, emotions and the romance was shining blindly, it was just everything!
We got a saying in my country I’m not sure it’s universal:
‘’I don’t have to swim in money, just paddling is enough’’
Money isn’t everything, but hey it’s handy. It opens doors for you and when spent well, by that it also opens them for others, that was important here!
An awfully well written story, extremely kind and uplifting, it radiated feelings like the sun always shines, even behind thick clouds!
It’s all about possibilities, opportunities, caring, expanding your focus and faith in the future.
I love how it takes work to find a solution that allows these two great men to follow their dreams but also be together. This story spans two continents and 3 locations to find the solutions needed. There are lots of ups and downs to get these men to their well deserved happily ever after. I really enjoyed following along on their journey.
I would rate this 3.75 stars.
This is the third book in the Stars From Peril series. Although there is mention of Jaxon Powers and Landry Bishop from book one and two, this works well as a standalone. Cal Walters is a 23 year old artist who knows the right people. His insecurities about whether people buy his art because he’s talented or because he’s trendy due to his friends, has given him a little chip on his shoulder. Due to a bet with his friend Merc, he has to go on three blind dates. Third time’s a charm when he meets 28 year old Teofilo Vabriga-Kastav, playboy prince of the tiny nation of Porvunia and passionate art lover. Teo has insecurities of his own, never knowing if people like him for himself, or just want to be with him because of his family. He just doesn’t tell Cal he’s a prince…
The meet cute is actually, cute. I wasn’t sure about either character at first–Cal is standoffish and Teo is a bit too smooth–but their facades crumble fairly quickly. Seeing most of the book from Cal’s POV, at first he’s attracted to Teo, but not quit sure he likes him. Teo’s POV is used more sparingly to great affect. Seeing how Teo describes Cal and how Cal makes him feel hooked me into the story. He may be privileged and a bit spoiled, but he is actually a nice person and has a sincerity about him that’s surprising. Cal’s starting to develop that cynicism of living in California and being in the wealthy art scene, but he’s just a kid from Nebraska trying to protect himself. When Teo creates a painting competition in Porvunia in part to lure Cal there, they give in to their passions. Their intimate time is sexy, fun, and filled with laughter. Cal kids himself this is a one night stand, but they are already too taken with each other and he knows it’s more. Lying to yourself is difficult if you’re an honest person by nature. The dynamics here are fascinating as Cal’s in charge, even though he’s the commoner and younger. When his anxiety or fear gets the better of him in various circumstances, it’s Teo who steps in to help him relax or sort things out. They fit.
Teo’s family, his bodyguards, Cal’s friend Merc, Cal’s Gram, and other characters from the small town of Peril help move this along, but no one does more than Anita, his guide in the capital city of Velenik. She makes Porvunia feel more real with tours filled with fun historical stories. She is also loyal and proves herself to be truly caring of the prince and her royal family. This book is full of charming little details, whether of a foreign country, or of the Nebraska landscape, a thriving city or a small rural town. Still, it’s Nebraska that burns more brightly here when Con shares his home and all the people he grew up with, who have their own stories.
This really works through the opposites of being working class vs wealthy, an only child vs large family and having no father and absentee mother vs hundreds of years of extended family. Yet, their love of the arts united them. They have both had the benefit of fortunate fate and grew up having very little privacy albeit in very different fish bowls. When an emergency tears them apart, it would be easy to let life get in the way, to let it move them in different directions, but Teo is not having it. This is the point where, as farfetched as the story seems, it gets even more farfetched. For instance, Teo getting rid of his bodyguards when he should be worried about being kidnapped for ransom, or his rushing in and thinking he knows what a small town needs to “save” it. There is plenty of foreshadowing here to show the reader the way through. It’s sweet, and no matter how unlikely, I wanted it to happen just like that even if I didn’t know it at the time.