Adventure Between the Pages: Once Upon a Prince by Rachel Hauck
1:00 AM
Age
Appropriate For: 13 and up (thematic material,
romance)
Best
for Ages: 15 and up
Description:
Susanna Truitt
never dreamed of a great romance or being treated like a princess---just to
marry the man she has loved for twelve years. But life isn’t going according to
plan. When her high-school-sweetheart-turned-Marine-officer breaks up instead
of proposing, Susanna scrambles to rebuild her life. The last thing Prince
Nathaniel expects to find on his American holiday to St. Simon’s Island is the
queen of his heart. A prince has duties, and his family’s tense political
situation has chosen his bride for him. When Prince Nathaniel comes to
Susanna’s aid under the fabled Lover’s Oak, he is blindsided by love.
I am
going to start this review with the one thing I didn’t like about this book:
the cover. For me, the cover gave me pause. It made it look like the book would
have content that might not be appropriate It isn’t so much what is shown as what is implied. Thankfully, the cover had nothing to do with
the story. I hope
this type of cover doesn’t become a trend for Zondervan books.
Thank
goodness I chose not to judge this book by its cover, because it was an
amazingly wonderful story. The romance in it was so clean and so God honoring
that even younger readers might find themselves liking it. Seriously, I don’t
think I have read a romance from a traditional publisher that made me jump up
and down saying “That is the kind of romance I want!” until I read this book.
Both
characters like each other from the beginning, but feelings are not the center
of the romance, only a factor. Most of the time Nate and Susanna spend together
is spent talking, often about faith. When they are apart, they don’t spend all
the time dreaming of kisses, hand-holding, and such, the miss each other’s
advice, thoughts, and presence.
Nathaniel
was so amazing. There are not many heroes in books who think more about duty
and honor than their hormones. He was the type of guy I am looking for – the
type who treats girls with respect and honor; the type who cares more about a
girl’s heart than her body. That isn’t to say he wasn’t attracted to Susanna.
Let’s be honest, it would be weird to have a romance where there was no
attraction. It is simply that he thinks more about who she is than the fact
that she is pretty.
The
fairy-tale aspect was so fun. So maybe it wasn’t 100% believable, but who
cares. It was so fun! The settings were so lovely that I could hear the
accents, and the history of the fictional country was well presented. Some of
the political aspect was murky, but not too bad.
The
faith message was awesome. It was well-constructed, not too heavy, and central
to the story. Both Suzanna and Nate helped build each other’s faith.
I highly
recommend this book to anyone looking for a clean fairy tale, God-honoring
romance, and characters that are strong of faith and character.
I received this book from Zondervan through Booksneeze
in exchange for my honest review. I was under no obligation to write a positive
review. The opinions in this review are entirely my own.
2 comments
I don't know what you were thinking when you looked at the cover. But what I saw was a woman about to get married or something. Someone very happy and excited. :-) But that's just my two cents.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, though, on your remarks about the story. This is the best Christian romance I have read in a long time.
Rosie,
DeleteI know it has been a long time but I going through some old posts and came across your comment.
When I first saw the cover, to me it looked like a girl that wasn't clothed holding up a dress. Much later I was able to see a better image and saw the tiny straps on her shoulder. The cover doesn't bother me as much anymore.