It seems like a dream come true . . . until it forces her to question everything.
Brielle Adebayo is fully content teaching at a New York City public school and taking annual summer vacations with her mother to Martha's Vineyard. But everything changes when her mom drops a bombshell--Brielle is really a princess in the island kingdom of Ọlọrọ Ilé, off the coast of Africa, and she must immediately assume her royal position, since the health of her grandfather, the king, is failing.
Distraught by all the secrets her mother kept, Brielle is further left spinning when the Ọlọrọ Ilé Royal Council brings up an old edict that states she must marry before her coronation, or the crown will pass to another. Brielle is uncertain if she even wants the throne, and with her world totally shaken, where will she find the courage to take a chance on love and brave the perils a wrong decision may bring?
My Thoughts
Some books you go into with certain expectations and this was one of those. With this stunning and eye catching cover I was instantly intrigued and then sweetening the pot with it being a royal romance I knew I had to check it out! Adding to that the fact that I’ve been hearing lots of good things about this author and I was excited for my chance to read it.
Unfortunately this quickly became a case of expectations not being met. At the start I was interested and hopeful but then things started to go off the rails and it became a bit of a struggle for me to finish.
Brielle had a big heart and she handled the crazy life changes about as well as could be expected. I just wanted a little more maturity from her because she read a little more like a YA heroine rather than a 25 year old teacher.
The hero in a novel that is written in first person from the heroine’s perspective is always a little tricky to make stand out and sadly Tomori just read kind of flat in my opinion. I appreciated the way he supported and was there for Brielle but I still wanted him to have a little more of a backbone and personality.
As with most royal stories the author created a fictional country and she definitely spent a lot of time crafting it which was very evident. The unique names and language were a bit hard to follow and took me out of the story at times trying to pronounce them but they did add some authenticity.
The faith element was extremely strong in this book, but it felt more forced in there rather than being a natural out flowing. It’s a difficult balance to find between clearly displaying the faith thread and not hitting the reader over the head with it and unfortunately in this book it came across a bit disingenuous.
There was also a little bit of a mystery thread which was a fun surprise (though I totally called the whodunnit).
Ultimately I think this book will hit the right spot with other readers but for me it was a miss.
Meet the Author
Toni Shiloh (www.tonishiloh.com) is a wife, mom, and multi-published Christian contemporary romance author. Her novel Grace Restored was a 2019 Holt Medallion finalist, and Risking Love was a 2020 Selah Award finalist. As a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), Toni loves connecting with readers and authors alike via social media.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.
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