As the camera crew whisks them off to Scotland to film the lead-up to the wedding, camera-shy Dylan is front and center as Dusty's maid of honor. The producers are full of surprises-including old family secrets, long-lost relatives, and a hostile future mother-in-law who thinks Dusty and Dylan's family isn't good enough for her only son. At least there's Jamie, an adorably bookish groomsman who might just be the perfect antidote to all Dylan's stress . . . if she just can keep TRC from turning her into the next reality show sensation. (Pub Date:Dec 19, 2017)
Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.
A great rom-com about reality shows and finding one's prince.
3.5.
Dylan's perfect older sister was part of a successful reality show where she unknowingly fell in love with a lord from Scotland. Now she's about to get married, the family needs to spend a too long a time in his estate back in Scotland, being filmed for a special follow-up. And the big house comes with all the clichés, secret passageways, mean mother-in-law, and cute boy with a British accent. Maybe it's not going to be so bad for Dylan having to live with cameramen following her all around after all.
I was so happy to be able to read another work by Strohm so soon! Her quirky style had left me wanting more after finishing The Date to Save. Perhaps, my higher expectations this time made feel Prince in Disguise wasn't as entertaining, but I'll still say this: it's a great book. Back to Strohm's style, I appreciate how she doesn't go for a surprise with her plot but with the focus she'll give in the story.
So, what I really liked in this one book was, first, the characters. Most of them were very well constructed. Some did seem to act a bit with a clear purpose, like Dylan's mother and Jamie's mother, for them I didn't see enough depth. I should also add her best friend Heaven, she was funny but again because the writer wrote her in to be funny. But those with actual depth were really lovely. Even Ronan, Dylan's soon-to-be brother-in-law, who didn't do much during the book, showed to have an interesting personality. Dylan's sister Dusty spent most of the book just being a nasty but perfect older sister, but got me in the later half, she was great! I almost wish we had a prequel to see her falling in love with Ronan. Their backstory was so subtly entwined with this one I would believe if anyone told me Prince in Disguise is actually the sequel, it's like all that had really happened.
Now onto the main characters, Dylan and Jamie were the romance that I thought had failed in The Date to Save. They were just so cute together Dylan and I both thought it was too good to be true. But was it? That's the main question in the book for me.
Which brings me to my real issue with the book, we had such a nice mystery to solve but not enough thrill surrounding it. As a result this great story lost rhythm after the first half and dragged a lot. If Strohm wasn't so good at presenting different aspects of a situation, especially in this case with the schemes from the reality show production trying to control Dylan's impulsiveness, I'm not sure this would have earned as many stars from me.
Talking about the reality show, bonus points for being able to shine a new light on what could have been the dullest cliché. To be honest, I was ready to be bored by it and instead this plot saved the second half, in my opinion.
It seems when I want a funny contemporary YA, Strohm is turning out to be a go-to author.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
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