Blurb:

A marriage proposal from a deliciously handsome and wickedly charming prince sounds like a fairytale.

But for a nerdy scientist with severe social anxiety, it’s a horror story.

Prince Torin O’Grady, with his mischievous blue eyes and cocky grin, is always in the spotlight. And he needs to marry me to inherit the crown. 

But we have nothing in common. He’s a future king. And I’m perfectly happy slogging through mud in my work boots.

So why can’t I stop thinking about him? 

Maybe because he won’t stop texting me. And sending me gifts. And making me feel like everything I find awkward and weird about myself is special and amazing.

And there’s also that little detail of him offering me my dream job and telling me that together we can change the world.

Well, I could probably 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 for him.

And if I have to marry him 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 to get what we both want, then fine. It’s for the greater good.

It has nothing to do with the way he kisses me. Or that dirty mouth. Or the 𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵  he gives me in the bedroom.

Fine. Maybe it does. Still, it’s only a year. Then I can turn in my tiara and come back to my normal, boring, behind-the-scenes life.

But Torin is determined to turn me from reluctantly royal to royally 𝘩𝘪𝘴. 

NYT & USA Today bestseller Erin Nicholas is writing this fun new modern royal romance under her new pen name Erin Nicolle! 

Add it on Goodreads!  bit.ly/Reluctantly-Royal-GR

𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐔𝐂𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐋𝐘 𝐑𝐎𝐘𝐀𝐋 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟏𝟒𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐊𝐔!!

Get it from Amazon (and in KU)! geni.us/Reluctantly-Royal

Read chapter one!  bit.ly/Reluctantly-Royal-ch1-peek

*****

Excerpt:

“I want more than dances, Abigail.”

She presses her lips together, takes a breath, then asks, “What else do you want?”

I decide to be honest. “I want to whisk you away on my private plane to an actual palace and give you everything and anything you could ever want or need.”

Her eyes widen. “You don’t even know me.”

I tuck my hands into my back pockets. To try to look casual. But also to keep from reaching for her. 

“I’ve read all about your work,” I tell her. “I started by just wanting to know about that job you said you hated so much. But then I kept reading. I know all about you.”

She’s staring at me. She’s sitting up straighter now and even in the pale light, I can see her shock. 

“You…read about me?”

“Not just about you. I read all of your papers. Your work in college. Your dissertation. The articles you’ve published. I even stumbled upon some social media posts.”

“I…Oh…” She shakes her head. “I thought you wanted to sleep with me.”

I chuckle softly. “Oh, Abigail, I most definitely want to sleep with you.”

She swallows hard.

“I wanted that before I knew you are a damned genius who could come to my country and revolutionize agriculture and completely overhaul our economy.”

I can see that she’s breathing faster now. 

“So you want to hire me?” she asks. “Which means we can’t sleep together because you’ll be my boss.”

I step up on the first step.

“I don’t want to hire you. But I do want to bring you to Cara to do your work.”

“I don’t understand.”

I step up onto the next step, but she doesn’t back up. There’s only a step between us now. “I want you to marry me.”

Her eyes widen. But she says nothing. 

“Be my princess,” I go on. “You’ll have influence and resources. You can do anything and everything you’ve ever wanted to do.”

She’s staring at me. Then when she realizes I’m done talking, she laughs. 

“Marry you? Is that how things work for you? You just smile that smile, waltz a couple of waltzes, and women just say yes to anything? Even marriage?”

Well…

“I’ve never asked anyone to marry me before, so I don’t really know,” I answer.

She’s still smiling. “Thank you for the offer. But I’m not going to marry you.”

“As princess of Cara you can see your plans in action. Right now, they’re all just on paper. You’re not actually doing any of it. Don’t you want to see it come to life?”

Now she’s not smiling. She’s just watching me. She takes a deep breath. “Of course I do.”

“This is the perfect way. There’s no red tape. Nothing between your amazing brain and making it all happen for real.”

“What’s the catch?”

“No catch. My country needs a prince and princess in place before my grandfather steps aside. The country deserves to know who will be there to step up and take care of them. My grandfather needs a successor in place before his heart gives out.”

“He has a bad heart?” she asks. 

“He’s already had three heart attacks. I really need to get married to give him and the country peace of mind.”

“So you’re serious about finding a wife?”

“I am.” 

She steps down a step. 

“Abigail.”

“Yes?”

“If you step down one more step, I’m going to kiss you.”

She wets her lips. 

“So if you want to just keep talking, you need to keep your sweet ass right there on that step.”

She looks down at the step that would start the kissing.

“And if you don’t want to keep talking…or anything else… you need to go back inside.”

She’s staring at me. But she seems more fascinated than anything. “Okay. I understand.”

“Good.”

Two heartbeats pass. 

Then she steps down onto the step right above mine.

I groan and cup her face, bringing her mouth in against mine. 

*****

Review:

Pretty sure that there isn’t a better book boyfriend (or husband) than Torin. He’s hot, caring, and intelligent. He listens to Abi, really listens, and does his best to make her world perfect. He supports her and helps her navigate difficult situations. He gives her gifts that actually matter to her and makes sure that ALL of her needs are met *wink, wink, nudge, nudge* 🙂

Not that Abi doesn’t do what she can to support him in return. She believes in him and helps him embrace his future as a monarch, leading Cara into a delightful future. But no one can do it with the flair that Torin does.

I appreciate that we avoid what could have been a huge conflict towards the end. Instead we are given a satisfying slide into a HEA and a glimpse of a delightful future. Erin has always delivered the heat and the fun, continuing to do so with a new series and a new name, and I’m so looking forward to what she has in store for us next.

(Can be read as a stand alone but there are character appearances and references to previous books.)