Published by: Harper Teen
Released on: May 6th, 2014
Source: arc received from publisher to review
Rating: 3 Stars- It Was A Good Read
Add it to Goodreads
Dragged on a family trip to Europe’s ancient cities, Becca wants nothing more than to go home. Trapped with her emotionally distant father, over-eager stepmother, and a brother who only wants to hook up with European hotties, Becca is miserable. That is until she meets Nikolai, a guy as mysterious as he is handsome. And she unknowingly finds herself with a runaway prince.
Nikolai has everything a guy could ask for-he's crown prince, heir to the throne, and girls adore him. But the one thing he doesn't have...is freedom. Staging a coup, he flees his kingdom and goes undercover on his own European tour.
When Nikolai and Becca meet, it’s their differences that draw them together. Sparks fly as they share a whirlwind of adventures, all the while dodging his royal guard. But Becca's family vacation ends in a matter of days. Will Nikolai and Becca be forced to say goodbye forever, will his destiny catch up to him, or will they change history forever?
A fun fluffy romantic read with an exciting European setting. Royally Lost was just the kind of book I needed to read on a dreary rainy day. It was one of those around good reads, that I was able to sit and read without over thinking or analyzing anything, which was enjoyable to me. Sometimes it's nice to just sit and read a book like that. Plus, this book whisked me away on a trip to Europe. had a Prince, some romance, and an exciting adventure. What's not to like about that, right!?
Royally Lost follows the story of Becca and Prince Niokolai. One is on an European adventure with her family to try and reconnect, and the other wants freedom and independence to make his own choice, and not that of his parents. Being eighteen once (coughs), I got that both Becca & Prince Nikolai had that yearning to tackle the world and venture out on their own. I felt the same way when I was that age. I got their wanting to set out and make the most of the world. What I first understood about or sympathized with both characters, ended up being something I couldn't over look anymore. I'll explain.
Becca is on a trip of a life time, or so it seems. She's on a European cruise with her older brother, father, whom is a successful business man, and step mother. A step mother whom seems so nice, well is actually is and she's a secondary character I really liked in this story. Okay I might have ended up liking her more than Becca. At first I got that Becca didn't want to spend all this time with father and step mother. Instead of being interested in the history and enjoying the tours of each city they were suppose to be on, Becca was more interested in finding a diet pepsi and french fries. Okay, fine. I get it, sorta of. Okay I tried to get it, but I over the course of the book I could no longer excuse the way Becca was acting. The things I liked about Becca, slowly were etched away with her acting immature, her whiney and her acting selfish. She became a character who lied way too often to her parents about what she was doing and where she was going. On top of that, Becca's acting out made her look like a spoiled brat, and not someone who was responsible enough to be trotting around Europe with someone she just met.
Prince Nikolai was someone I too tried to understand. He wanted some freedom to be able to be a normal teenager, vs accepting his parent's tough ruling as King and Queen, just because tradition said. He wanted to be a normal person, and he wanted his parents to see that, and not feel so out of touch with their country in which they govern. I got his disappearing, and taking off for a bit to just think, and be a normal person. Hence his trek across Europe, and finding himself in the same city Becca was in. Like Becca, what I didn't like about Nikolai at first was his lying about who he was. YES, I totally get it. He's trying to be a normal teenager, so why tell a stranger you're a Prince and risk all the problems that could come from that. His lying leads to trouble for the two, and when she finds out about it, she's so in love with him she excuses it. Sure, I get it. It's teenage love, and I understand how she may excuse it.
If I had just sat down and read Royally Lost without looking too much into it I would have loved it. I really wanted to love it, but, there were a few things that I couldn't over look, no matter how hard I wanted to. There is an air of excitement about this story, and that yearning to just be free of all responsibility, and wanting to find your own adventure in the world. As I mentioned above, this was a fun fluffy romance read, and I'm sure you're wondering why I said it was fun when I just said what I liked and didn't like about the characters. The story does have a sweet summer romance between Becca and Nikolai. I loved their little get- aways through the various European cities that Becca's family cruise takes them to. I did like the romance, lying aside.
This was a sweet summer fling, and I liked how sweet these two were with each other. They both brought out some of the positive things in each other, and helped the other put down their guard a little bit more. I liked that Becca liked Nikolai for who he was and not for his title. The romance was sweet. I loved reading about their stolen moments together. But, I just couldn't over look the other things enough to totally enjoy this story as much as I really, really wanted to. And I'll just say it, I didn't like the instalove, though sometimes I think back at this age, and wonder if the characters, like some of us did at this age, confuse infatuation with being in love. Thankfully there's more than infatuation with this story.
Thankfully both characters redeem themselves, though not enough for me to love the story the way I wanted to. They did own up to their mistakes. I like that both characters had parental figures in their lives that gave them consequences for their actions. I also liked that both Becca and Nikolai finally stood up to their parents and expressed their desires to do what they wanted to, vs what their parents wanted them to do. After all, their both out of high school, and are ready to tackle the world. I admire the fearlessness Becca had and that sense of adventure she wanted to follow before following through and attending college. I liked that she went from a character who I started out liking, and then over the course of the story I felt she became selfish, immature, and whiney, but ended up being someone who learned from her mistakes and learned more about herself from her trip. She ended up being someone I liked again. Same goes for Nikolai. I liked that he was someone who stood his ground with his parents in a way that helped them see that they did need to live more in the times vs living in past tradition.
As I said, this was a sweet, fluffy romantic read that did have a few bumps along the way for me. It was a a story that started off good, had a few hiccups in the middle and ended on a sweet note for both Nikolai and Becca. If there was a sequel to their story, I would totally pick it up and read it.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment