Who’s in the mood for another of His Royal Hotnesses …
*****
A His Royal Hotness Novel
by Tracy Wolff
Blurb:
Once upon a time I was being groomed to sit on the throne of Wildemar. Now Iβm lucky they let me into the palace through the front door. After I was kidnapped and tortured by extremists, my reward upon my release is that nobody trusts me enough to let me be king. And since my twin brother, Kian, has assumed all my responsibilities, I figure why not take over as the black sheep?
But after breaking things off with my betrothedβwe never had much chemistry, anywayβand giving the jetsetting playboy lifestyle a try, Iβm starting to wonder if Iβm cut out for this s***. Then I meet Lola Barnes, a drop-dead gorgeous entrepreneur from the States whoβs as refreshing as she is feisty.
Itβs supposed to be a one-night-standβuntil the press catches wind of my βnew American sweetheart.β Trouble is, Lolaβs no sweetheart. But the more I see our names together in the headlines, the more I find myself craving another taste. . . .
Ballantine Group; Loveswept | On Sale: April 24, 2018 | ISBN: 9781101884898| Pages 285 | Price: $4.99
*****
Excerpt:
βMy flight leaves in a little over three hours, Garrett, and I am going to be on it.β
βDonβt you understand? No one will believe a woman in the first stages of a relationship goes running off to another city.β
βMaybe not in your rarified world where half of everyoneβs job is learning how to manipulate the press and the public. But in the real world where I live, nearly everyone will believe it. People have relationships and manage to go to work all over the world.β
I think of the months of being chained up, of sleeping sitting up with my arms above my head while my body screamed from pain and exhaustion. βMy worldβs not that rarified.β
βDude, your world is as rarified as it gets. And youβve got three security guards sitting outside to make sure it stays that way.β Lola swings her suitcase off the bed with a roll of her eyes. βAnd I get it. I understand that you were raised to believe the sun rises and sets on you, and that every time you so much as breathe itβs national news. But really. You arenβt that special.β
Things are getting tense between us and I know Iβve got two choices. Continue down the road to a full-blown fight that will get me nothing or try to defuse the situation.
I settle for the latter as I raise my brows at her. βThatβs not what you were saying an hour ago.β
Surprise flickers in her eyes, then is gone as quickly as it came. βAn hour ago I was under duress,β she answers with a sniff.
I waggle my brows at her. βAnd here I thought you were under me.β
She snort-laughs, then slaps a hand over her mouth like she wants to pull the sound back in. But itβs so unexpected that I kind of love it. The same way I love that she talks in her sleep and has a star-shaped cluster of freckles on her left hip. The same wayβ
And fuck. Just fuck. I really am falling for this woman and, apparently, thereβs not a damn thing I can do to keep her from walking away in three hours. It shouldnβt matter, but it does.
I just wish I knew how I got here. Lola was supposed to be a distraction, a fun means to the ends Iβve been working toward my entire life. She sure as hell wasnβt supposed to be something more for me to care about. Something more for me to lose.
What the hell am I supposed to do now?
*****
Review:
After readingΒ Royal PainΒ I was so anxious to get Garrett’s book – he was bound to be dealing with a lot after his kidnapping and Wolff delivered.
Although I was a little surprised that Garrett’s dad didn’t show up more.Β We get some conversations about him and a couple with him but he never actually appears.Β And with how much of an a** he is to his kids, creating a LOT of issues along the way, I would have expected more.Β Not that his actions don’t have consequences that are in play here – they are and often – but I wanted more like we got with Kian’s book.
Instead, Garrett is mostly (and totally understandably) dealing with the fallout from his months spent being tortured and his recovery afterward.Β He’s been struggling and it takes meeting an in-your-face rule breaker to throw him off his game and out of his head.Β As a bit of her free spirit rubs off on him, Garrett starts to really feel again … which also opens him up to the possibilities of finally coming to terms with what has happened to him in the last year.Β It won’t be pretty but it is definitely needed.
I found Lola to be fun and sassy.Β She’s got a big personality but she’s not overwhelming and I never found her to be overdone.Β Instead she’s brash, but caring.Β And totally not intimidated by Garrett’s title.Β She definitely doesn’t let him get away with too much and instead helps him find his way back to the land of the living.
I will say that I got annoyed at the both a couple of times as they spent too much time beating themselves up for the exact same thing.Β Something would happen and they’d both start taking responsibility and offering verbose apologies.Β Before kissing and making up of course.Β It wasn’t horrible but I would find myself thinking “ugh, get over yourself” a time or two π
While I don’t think the daddy issues (for either of them) were properly resolved, I am pleased with the way Wolff handled Garrett’s issues.Β He’s good at bottling things up and hiding behind his princely mask, but he was never going to get better until he finally opened up about his feelings.Β It took someone coming in from the outside who could give him the care & understanding he needed and I’m glad Wolff gave him Lola for that.
*****
Author Info:
New York TimesΒ bestselling authorΒ Tracy WolffΒ lives in Texas and teaches writing at her local community college. She is married and the mother of three young sons.
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