A playboy heir needs: a man to marry, right now.After spending half his life dodging his duty to the crown, the rebel heir to the Rosavian throne has been told in no uncertain terms that it’s time to settle down. Prince Leopold has one month and a vetted list of suitable princesses, and he will announce his engagement during Rosavia’s Royal Ball. But Leo’s got his own ideas about what really … ideas about what really suits him…
Royal Librarian Edvin Blom is good at not attracting attention. Shy and self-conscious of his stutter, he’s used to being overlooked and more than happy to stay in the background. At least, until the Crown Prince with a wild reputation shows up at the library’s new opening and decides to flirt with Edvin’s sister…
Edvin isn’t at all what Leo thought he wanted, but turns out to be everything he can’t stay away from. Edvin’s been burned by falling for someone out of his league before, though. And believing that Leo has really fallen for him? While Edvin’s drowning in his own doubts and insecurities, that might prove impossible… unless love gives them both a reason to come up for air.
Welcome to the tiny European country of Rosavia, where roses ramble over alpine slopes and princes fall for the men of their dreams. Every Rosavia Royals book happens simultaneously, so books can be read on their own, or in any order… but keep an eye out for familiar faces around the palace!
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This is the first novel is the Rosavia Royals series. It may be read as a standalone (but I highly recommend reading all of them!). This novel features the straight-to-gay trope and some royal hi-jinks between 5 princes searching for their forever.
The King and Queen of Rosavia inform their son, Prince Leopold (Leo) that it is time for him to marry. They have set aside a list of student candidates whom they feel would be fit to rule by his side. Leo is tasked with picking someone from the list and then announcing his fiance at the Royal Ball. Ever the rebel, Leo refuses to stick to the designated list preferring to choose his own woman. But of course, Leo has requirements of his own; his future spouse must be 1) rebellious; 2) exciting and 3) make his pulse race, heart trip and blood sing. Now he just as to figure out who that is…
Never identifying as anything but straight; Leo is mind-boggled when he meets his little librarian, Edvin (Eddie). Edvin is a Junior Representative of the Royal Library and after his parents death he took it upon himself to care for his siblings. Eddie is shy and has a cute stutter and cannot believe what the prince sees in him. But repeated outings, chance meetings, interfering siblings, and a sassy cat named Treble; hopefully they can get the HEA they’ve always been dreaming about.
I am a huge fan of Stella Starling, so going in I was already a bit biased because one of my favorite novels by her is “The Boyfriend Game” so I had high hopes for this novel, and she did not disappoint! Leo and Eddie are by far the cutest couple, they complimented each other so well throughout the novel. I loved how Leo called Eddie his “little librarian” and Eddie always referred to Leo as his prince. This book also is definitely exciting and makes your pulse race, heart trip and blood sing as you see the first Prince get his HEA!
In the first of a quintet of concurrent stories, Crown Prince Leopold, the eldest of five brothers and heir to the Rosavian Throne, falls in love with shy Royal Librarian Edvar “Eddie” Blom. The romance is loosely based on the Cinderella trope, but there are some unexpected surprises and atypical treatment of stereotypes that makes this a many-layered story definitely worthy of your time.
The quintet itself is unique in that the five stories all take place during the same few weeks leading up to the Royal Ball, and all five brothers are included in each story, with some foreshadowing to their own, but without giving anything away. The books are numbered in order from eldest to youngest prince, but the stories can be read in any order and, notably, there are interwoven details in them that could not have occurred without attentive collaboration from the team of authors.
Leo and Eddie’s story is low angst and little actually happens in the way of action per se. The narrative is laden with introspection, particularly on the part of Eddie, which makes the story move at a slower pace than other novels of this genre often do, but the Royal Ball “deadline” drives the plot forward steadily and remains engaging throughout. The story starts with a fairly standard premise harkening back to Cinderella – the unmarried heir to the throne is forced to choose a partner and announce his engagement in just a few short weeks at a Royal Ball. There’s a gender twist in that Prince Leo, who is introduced to us as a very “straight” playboy, meets and falls for Eddie – a man, and a “commoner” to boot, in contravention of conventional norms, rules and tradition. The story happily diverges, though, from the formulaic gay-awakening trope, parents’ refusal of acceptance, secret relationship, and objection to the M/M relationship. Leo doesn’t seem to have any internal difficulty accepting and embracing his attraction and physical relationship with a man. In one of many examples in the book of external stereotyping falling much more easily than internal stereotyping, the author doesn’t dwell on the gay-awakening, nor on the M/M relationship as a potential source of objection from the Crown or the community. Rather, the focus is on Leo and Eddie’s mirrored struggles with their own identities, which are gender agnostic issues that any person can experience.
Leo and Eddie, although seemingly opposites, are actually foils. Leo thinks he’s not good enough to take the Crown, doesn’t believe he is capable of taking care of others, including the people of his country, and doesn’t believe he knows how to love. But all around him we see evidence of exactly the opposite, from his interaction with Eddie, to his purported annoyance with Hugo, his long-time valet, and even with Treble the troublesome cat. Eddie, for his part, doesn’t think he’s good enough for anything – and particularly not for Leo – other than taking care of his brothers and sisters, and even that he thinks he doesn’t do well. He’s only had one boyfriend who battered his self-image at every opportunity, and continues to do so throughout the story. Notwithstanding, Leo and Eddie are both willing to try to be what each other needs, and in the process, they end up finding themselves as well and how they complete each other. There’s a plot device towards the end that particularly resonates as an effective metaphor for being trapped in one’s own internal self-imposed limitations, but successfully breaking free from those, albeit sometimes by relying on friends and loved ones.
The story is deceptively simple, and can be well enjoyed without needing to dig into any of the literary metaphors because of the humor, the lovable characters, and the sweet, romantic journey towards the HEA. But there’s depth to the messaging that enhances the reader’s experience if so inclined to dive in.
* I received an advanced reader copy of this book and voluntarily agreed to provide my review, which reflects my independent opinion
This story hooked me from the first sentence! This story is super sweet and romantic! Prince Leopold is a playboy who thinks he does want the responsibility of the crown. Eddie is a responsible Royal Librarian who takes care of his 4 siblings. Stella Starling did an exceptional, wonderful job of creating Eddie. He was so real for me; I felt all his emotions. Leo and Eddie were such opposites. Leo starts to need to take care of Eddie. When Leo realizes he loves Eddie, that felt like a “swoon worthy” moment!!
I am voluntarily leaving a review form an ARC that I received. My reviews are solely based on my thoughts and opinions
Wow! Can I just say this book was amazing! Eddie. OMG I just want to take care of him and protect him forever, so I can see why Leo does as well. This was beautifully written, and another one I wasn’t able to put down (literally. I was up until 4 am reading!)
This was the fourth book I read in the new Rosavia Royal series, since they can be read in any order, and I’m excited to read the others. Most of the authors of this series have written the Men of Hidden Creek series together, and they did a phenomenal job with that, so I know this will be fantastic as well. I love the idea that all 5 books take place at the sane time, and I’m looking forward to seeing familiar characters and events throughout each book in the series.
ETA after reading all 5 books: I really loved how all 5 authors had bits & pieces from each other’s books without giving anything away. I also love how they each kept the other brother’s personality & quirks when they wrote them into their books. If you didn’t know each book was written by a different author you wouldn’t be able to tell, they all flowed that well together.
I received an advanced copy and voluntarily gave my honest review.