Series: The Royals, Book 1
Publisher: Pocket Star
Genre: Contemporary Romance
ISBN: 9781451659634
Source: Publisher
Buy it here: Amazon | B&N
In this enchanting retelling of the classic Audrey Hepburn film Roman Holiday, a royal prince tries to escape his hectic and rigid life and ends up leading a young graduate student on a chase through the Eternal City.
Julia Costa is too busy trying to complete her PhD while also holding down a full-time job as a private tour guide in Rome to keep up with celebrity gossip. So when she crosses paths with a real, actual prince, she mistakes him for a client and takes him on a daylong tour of the city.
Intrigued by the idea of spending time with someone who obviously has no idea who he is, and delighted at the prospect of a day free of royal obligations, Niccolo La Torre, Crown Prince of Lazaretto, acts on impulse and assumes the role of Julia’s client. He swears to himself that he’ll return to his royal duties after only half a day…but he’s having the time of his life.
Until Julia presents him with the bill. Since he snuck out of the hotel without so much as a dime, he tries to escape, only to discover that she won’t let him out of her sight until he can pay her back. She’s determined to get her money…and perhaps more from the handsome stranger she’s fallen for.
Royally Roma is an energetic, charming read. Teri Wilson consistently writes great modern-day retellings and her take on Roman Holiday had wonderful nods to the Audrey Hepburn/Gregory Peck classic while still maintaining its own identity.
Put aside your disbelief and enjoy a modern day fairytale where a dutiful prince in dire need of taking a break from cleaning up his brother’s messes impulsively takes off and explores the wonders of Rome with his beautiful American tour guide. I held off on writing this review for a couple of days because I was a bit torn about this book. Nico and Julia are both likeable characters who brighten up the page when they’re together. I loved how Ms. Wilson made Rome come alive on the page as Julia and Nico zipped from place to place. Even the more serious moments of Royally Roma couldn’t dampen the story’s sunny appeal. That being said, what took the book down a few notches for me was the romance. I really liked Nico and Julia together and given the whirlwind nature of the source material the breakneck speed of the romance wasn’t an issue for me. What did bother me was that Nico starts out the story keeping his identity a secret from Julia and this goes on for so long that it did make the romance a bit hard to swallow. If their falling in love had been a bit more drawn out or if Julia had gotten to know all of Nico’s character for more of the book, then I would have been more satisfied. You can have either a whirlwind romance or a secret identity, but both together is a bit much. Added to that the ending was abrupt and left me wanting more. If there had at least been an epilogue I would have satisfied. Even with these issues I found Royally Roma to be a lively, charming story and I’m looking forward to reading the next Royals book.
FTC Disclosure: I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
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