[Review] Just One of the Royals - Leah Rooper; Kate Rooper

Summary: Star hockey player Daniel Sacachelli wants only two things: 1) for the Falcons to win next season, and 2) for his secret — the fact he’s actually the prince of Eldonia — to never make its way to Chicago. But if Daniel keeps avoiding his crown, their family will lose their kingdom forever.

Madison Myong can’t believe that her will-they-or-won’t-they best friend Daniel is really a prince! He’s always seemed more rebel than royal. But now, he needs to clean up his image, fast. Posing as his long time girlfriend, Madison accompanies him back to Eldonia, intending to give Daniel a makeover fit for a king.

Only, the more royal Daniel becomes, the more Madison misses her best friend. And if she does her job right, she’ll lose him forever... (Pub Date: Jun 4, 2018)

Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

I guess I hoped for another version of the secret-prince trope, but this one wasn't bad.

Daniel is secretly a prince and now his father, the king of Eldonia, died, his sister shows up asking him to take over the throne or else she'll have to marry against her will thanks to some very old law. But Daniel knows his popularity isn't that high, so he gets the help of his secret-crush Madison, who suggests pretending they're a thing so he can show commitment.

I really wanted the actual prince trope. I mean, Daniel is really a prince, but he wasn't raised like one, he's almost his father's dirty secret and never thought of going anywhere near the throne until his sister contacts him. I think most of my disappointment came from the simple fact it wasn't the story I wanted, so take that in consideration.

Still... I caught myself a little bored. The pretend-relationship part never gave many fruits either, just the steps we all know the characters will end up taking. And to be honest, I wasn't convinced by the party-boy tag they put on Daniel. This is part of a series and I haven't read the first book, so mea culpa, but from this book alone, it was far-fetched. He seems too serious and focused for that here.

Now the characters themselves were good. I loved Madison, Eva, and Daniel isn't bad at all, poor thing. Everything happening at the wrong timing... I could see the writers' talents for building characters and wouldn't stop thinking of how I want to read the rest of the series or the previous book. But the story itself lacked shine.

If you're up for a nice, quick-to-read YA book, this can be it. But that's as far as it goes, in my opinion.

Rating: 3 out of 5.