[Review] A Royal Kiss & Tell - Julia London

Summary: Every young man in London’s ton is vying for Lady Caroline Hawke’s hand—except one. Handsome roué Prince Leopold of Alucia can’t quite remember Caroline’s name, and the insult is not to be tolerated. So Caroline does what any clever, resourceful lady of means would do to make sure Leo never again forgets: sees that scandalous morsels about his reputation are printed in a ladies’ gossip gazette…all while secretly setting her cap for the rakish royal.

Someone has been painting Leo as a blackguard, but who? Socially, it is ruining him. More important, it jeopardizes his investigation into a contemptible scheme that reaches the highest levels of British government. Leo needs Lady Caroline’s help to regain access to society. But this charming prince is about to discover that enlisting the deceptively sweet and sexy Lady Caroline might just cost him his heart, his soul and both their reputations… (Pub Date: May 19, 2020)

My first time reading this series and it surprised me.

Caroline doesn't have a self confidence problem, but things tend to go wrong whenever it involves Prince Leopold of Alucia. For some reason, he keeps showing up and even became one of her brother's best friends.

I hadn't noticed this story was about a prince of some made-up place, it was a bit disappointing because this came with a lot of back story of a country that doesn't even exist for me to care about. It's also the second in a series and I was actually lost in the beginning. There was so much information there, I felt overwhelmed. That overcome, I can say this can be read as a standalone. It's just the beginning that was too much, once the story actually starts, you're good to go.

The story deals with a conspiracy I never really got much about. My guess is that it'll be really dealt with in a later volume. To be honest, I was not a fan of the subplot. It did make Leo more trustworthy than the party-goer persona we think he is in the initial chapters, plus a bit of investigation can be excited in a book. Still, I never really got to care for it to even feel intrigued. 

Even so, I liked the book overall and I'd love to read the first volume, if I get the time. I've been looking for new historical romance authors and even if I can't say Julia London became a favorite, she's surely on my list of those to look forward to. The building of the main characters and their development was well done and the plot progressed well too. Plus, even if the book wasn't that exciting, for a book two, which is always the least favorite in my experience, it held my attention. I think fans who grew up reading The Princess Diaries should enjoy this series.


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

Rating: 3 out of 5.