Once Upon a Prince By Laurie Winter

This is my stop during the bookstagram blitz for Once Upon a Prince by Laurie Winter. This new release is a standalone sweet royal romance book. This bookstagram blitz is organized by Lola’s Blog Tours. This bookstagram blitz runs from 30 November till 6 December. See the tour schedule here. Don’t miss the tour wide giveaway! One winner will a prize package containing an Amazon gift card, a soy candle and a glass slipper figurine. You can enter the giveaway at the bottom of this post. 

Once Upon a Prince By Laurie Winter

Genre: Sweet Romance 

Age category: Adult 

Release Date: 23 November 2020

Blurb:

 Prince Oscar Mendoza grew up with the expectation of becoming King of Montecelia. But after the sudden death of his father, some citizens desire to abolish the long-established monarchy. In hopes of saving his family’s legacy, he travels to America in search of a slice of regular life while yearning to prove he’s not the pampered, self-absorbed prince so many believe. Amelia Newland focuses all her attention on her wedding planning business, Royal Weddings Incorporated. She’s got to be ever diligent, especially as a rival company is undercutting her prices. When a dashing stranger comes to her rescue on the streets of Milwaukee, she offers him a temporary job while agreeing to keep his royal identity a secret. With her largest, most high-profile wedding looming, Amelia cannot allow her feelings for her newest employee to get in the way of success. And as Oscar settles into life as a common man, he finds obligation knocking on his door. To save the monarchy, he’s needed back in Montecelia, which means leaving Amelia during her greatest moment of need. But can he abandon the woman he’s grown to love for the sake of duty?

Links: – Goodreads – Amazon – B&N – Kobo – Campagne Books

Excerpt: 

Oscar lightly touched her hand, letting a finger trail from her wrist to her fingertip. “You allowed to dance while on the job?” Technically, her job was done for the night. Amelia could have left already with the assurance the remainder of the celebration would proceed without issue. But dancing with him seemed too appealing to be a good idea. “I’m here to observe and troubleshoot. I don’t join in the fun.” “Maybe you should.” He pulled her gently along to stand in the center of the patio. With one hand resting on the small of her back, he held her hand with the other. “After all your hard work, you deserve to enjoy it, even only for one dance.” Her resolve turned to a puddle at her feet, along with her inclination to keep her mind totally on business. She hazily comprehended she was standing on cool cobblestones with bare feet. Between the warmth of Oscar’s coat and the closeness of his body, she was perfectly comfortable. As he held her underneath a sky now full of stars, she didn’t allow her normally practical nature to invade the pleasantness of the moment. She liked him, was physically attracted to him, and stayed reassured her feelings held no danger. He worked for her, temporarily, and his home was in a country where he was its rightful king. She wouldn’t fall for him. Just as he would never see her as anything more than the nice American woman who’d given him a job.

Author Bio:

 Laurie Winter’s head has always been full of stories. Then a dream gave her the inspiration to put her thoughts into written words, sharing a part of her heart and soul. Now, she creates authentic characters who overcome the odds and find true love. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband, daughter, and rescue dog.

You can find and contact Laurie here:

– Website – Facebook – Twitter – Goodreads – Amazon – Instagram

Giveaway: 

There is a tour wide giveaway for the bookstagram blitz for Once Upon a Prince. One winner will win a prize package (US Only) that includes: – a $25 Amazon gift card – an EcoCandle handmade soy candle – a Cinderella glass slipper figurine.

You can enter the giveaway here Or use the rafflecopter below: a Rafflecopter giveaway https://widget-prime.rafflecopter.com/launch.js

Review: A Real Royal Christmess by Linda West

Genre:  Sweet holiday romance with humor

Publication Date: 22nd September 2020

Standalone Novel

BLURB:

Two opposites find themselves thrown together in a winter paradise when their separate agendas unite them on a strange and daring journey. Jess is trying to win back her boyfriend, who dumped her for being boring. Jamie is trying to complete his father’s bucket list before he takes the Crown. Both of them are hiding who they truly are, and when the truth is discovered, it’s a real royal Christmess!

MY THOUGHTS:

Jess is heartbroken as her boyfriend has dumped her for being boring. Jess is determined to do anything to win her boyfriend back. And according to her, she can do it by proving that she is not boring at all. So, Jess sets off to the mountains of Vermont with her best friend to prove how exactly opposite to boring she is!!! On the other side is Jamie, a prince, who is trying to fulfill his bucket list before he takes the throne. And just as a commoner, he goes to Vermont to enjoy his life before he takes up the throne. On the mountains of Vermont, while enjoying the time of their lives, Jess and Jamie meet each other. And just like all other cute love stories, they both hate each other initially but later come close unaware of the fact that they both are keeping secrets from each other. What will happen if Jess and Jamie come to know about them?

The story begins with Jess. Jess is expecting to get engaged but instead she is dumped by her boyfriend giving some very ridiculous reason!! And to add up to it, someone at work has messed up with her badly. Obviously, Jess is be heartbroken after all these turn of events. But keeping aside her sorrows, she decides to win Collin (her boyfriend) back. I loved Jamie!! Along with Molly, her best friend, she tries to prove her bravery and that she is not boring, but her attempt at proving it sometimes becomes a bag of laughter for the reader. What I loved the most about Jess is that instead of sitting back at home with a bucket of icecream she  tries to venture out of her comfort zone. In all this, she learns to enjoy the things she feared.

And Jamie, he wants to fulfill his bucket list which he created with his late father. All he wants to do is to live a normal life before he takes over an entire kingdom. As the story proceeds, we get to know about Jamie and it just makes me love him even more❤❤. The writing style is amazing. The story unfolds bit by bit and we get to know more about the characters and their personalities. I got invested into the lives of Jess and Jamie and was eager to get to the conclusion to find out how the story unfolds!!

Overall, A Real Royal Christmess is a perfect romantic but uplifting story where Jess finally gets to meet her prince charming.

AUTHOR BIO:

Linda West is the best selling author of the adorable and enchanting “Christmas Kisses and Cookies.” It is a delightful series of holiday romances based around the town of Kissing Bridge and the magical Landers sisters who are the reigning blue ribbon cookie queens thanks to their mothers’ ‘special’ recipe book.
Linda was the owner of Mayberry – a celebrity-filled restaurant in Malibu where many of her recipes enchanted the regulars such as Tom Hanks and Anthony Hopkins to name a few. Her recipes are sprinkled throughout her fiction books much to the delight of her fans.

Her newest venture is in the cozy mystery and humor genre. With – Death by Crockpot – the first in her newest series -Linda takes her favorite known characters from Kissing Bridge and throws them into some side-splitting funny adventures.

Website

Review: This Year Maybe by Liz Hinds

BLURB:

Alison and David have been engaged for so long that even Alison’s mother has given up asking when, but it’s second time around for both of them and they’re not in any particular hurry.
That said, Alison is beginning to wonder if living with her has put David off the idea of marriage so when he suggests they set a date she is delighted. But that date is six months’ away and a lot can happen in six months – especially if you’re Alison!

‘My son’s been arrested, Great-aunt Millie’s fallen in love, my best friend suspects her husband of having an affair, and I still need to lose weight. How on earth can I think about getting married?’

Purchase Links
UK | US

My Thoughts:

Alison and David have been engaged for quite while now and they decide to get married in six months on Midsummer’s Day. Alison being the excited one, starts telling more and more people about the wedding, and everyone is delighted for them. She starts inviting more people for the wedding. Her friends Pippa and Bev help her out for the wedding preparation. But then different unfriendly situations arise which makes Alison wonder whether if this really is the right time to get married?

Talking about the characters, all the characters are very well written. I loved Alison!!! She is honest, funny and real. She sometimes acts on impulse without thinking about the consequences whereas David her to be husband is the exact opposite. He is calm and thinks before he acts. David is always there for Alison no matter what. And then there is Alison’s mother. Alison and her mother’s relation was difficult, they never got along with each other. Alison has two most wonderful friends Bev and Pippa. Bev is funny while Pippa is pretty organized. The friendship between these three ladies is such a delight to read!!!

The writing style really is brilliant and so are the conversations.

The book also deals with the pressure, anxiety and dilemma Alison has to undergo during her pre-wedding preparations such as losing weight, staying up to other’s expectations.

The books kicks off with wedding preparation and then it explores various different unfriendly and unexpected situations such as an arrest, love, suspicion of extra marital affair , weight loss and many more! All this just increases Alison’s dilemma.

Overall, this year maybe is a funny and inspiring story revolving around Alison which does not fail to leave behind a sense satisfaction.

Author Bio

– I’m a golden-retriever-loving granny, who enjoys walking by the sea or in the woods, who eats too much chocolate, and who gets over-excited when the Welsh team plays rugby.
I have self-published two novels, This Time Last Year, and The Dog-walking Club, but I’m also an experienced freelance writer and author of several non-fiction books published by Hodder & Stoughton, Scripture Union and Kevin Mayhew.

Social Media Links:
Facebook – LizHindsAuthor
Twitter | Website