How to Find a Princess by Alyssa Cole

Another great addition to the Runaway Royals series, this book has a nice twist ending that falls in line with both characters.

Makeda Hicks's life isn't going exactly the way she had planned. She's a helper, always wanting the best for other people and working to make their lives easier. However, that has made her something of a doormat. And that is coming back to bite her. Her girlfriend is now and ex because Makeda helped her a little too much. Makeda is out of a job because she wasn't able to stand up for herself and prove that she deserved a promotion so, while a coworker got the job, Makeda got the boot. Now, an old story of her grandmother's is coming back once again, the fiction that Makeda's mother was conceived with the king of Ibarania. That story is what caused Makeda's mother to live in a fairy tale all of Makeda's life. 

Beznari Chetchevaliere just wants to prove that her grandmother didn't kill the old queen and that means finding the lost heir of Ibarania. Makeda seems like a good fit since she is in a picture (sent by her grandmother) wearing a ring that looks like it could have come from the kingdom.

The two are immediately attracted to each other but are diametrically opposed to what the end of the heir search should look like.

Four stars

Follows How to Catch a Queen

This book comes out May 25th, 2021

Opinions are my own

How to Catch a Queen by Alyssa Cole

 Ugh. Alyssa Cole. Why do you do this to me? I settle in for a few chapters before bed and then get pulled into the story of a woman who has been planning to be a queen for years. Her whole life, really. And she came awfully close in an earlier Cole book. But now, Shanti Mohapi is so close. Except, in the kingdome of Njazi, only the True Queen will stay married to the king. Everyone else is cut off after four months. Three months into her marriage, Shanti is beginning to lose hope. The new king seems dazed and uninterested. 
Sanyu was raised in a patriarchal society where men rule with an iron fist and the king can show no weakness. But he is mourning his father's death and unsure of whether he can step into the large shoes left by the former king. However, he's starting to wake up. And he's noticing that his wife is not only intelligent, she wants what is best for the kingdom. Plus, he's really attracted to her.
Shanti definitely could have been painted as too rigid in pursuing her dreams, but Cole has written a likable character who is just going after what she wants without tossing anyone else under the bus on the way. Sanyu was also believable. A kid growing up in a bad situation but one who is learning and growing from his situation. I did think the book dragged a little in the middle but the ending was incredibly satisfying and I loved seeing characters from previous books in the series.

Four stars

Followed by How to Find a Princess
This book came out December 1st, 2020
Borrowed the book from CloudLibrary
Opinions are my own

A Prince on Paper by Alyssa Cole

Nya Jerami  and Johan von Braustein are both characters we've met previously in this series. Nya Jerami is from Thesolo and is most known in her country for her father's attempt to poison the heroine in the first book. Johan is literally a red-headed stepchild, mostly known for being a party prince whose mother had a great romance with the king but then fell tragically ill. Both of them are scarred by their pasts. Nya spends almost as much time on dating games as she does in real life and Johan hides his kind heart behind a hard-partying exterior, mostly so he can protect his brother. But both their situations are coming to a head. And it ends with a fake engagement. Well, that's toward the first third of the book so there's really a lot that comes after including some huge revelations about Nya's father and the brother that Johan is trying to protect.
Yes, this book is about royals but there are themes that affect the larger population for sure. People who are judged by the sins of their parents, people who don't quite fit in with how they are supposed to behave, etc. and I think Cole does a pretty good job of handling them.

Four stars
This book comes out April 30th
ARC kindly provided by publisher and Edelweiss