REVIEW: The Princess Plan by Julia London

The Princess Plan by Julia London is the first book in the Royal Wedding. It was an awesome book to start the series! The first chapter draws you in and you become captivated by the world the author created.

Eliza Tricklebank is an unmarried lady who fixes clocks and takes care of her father (who is blind and a justice of the Queen’s Bench). After a misunderstanding with a gentleman several years ago, Eliza is happy with her simple, single life and helping her widowed sister, Hollis, with the Honeycutt’s Gazette of Fashion and Domesticity for Ladies. Lady Caroline, a friend of the sisters, manages to get invitations for them all to attend a masquerade ball at Kensington Palace which is being held in honor of Crown Prince Sebastian of Alucia.

Sebastian is in London to find a suitable English bride and settle a trading agreement between Alucia and England. The morning after the masquerade Sebastian’s personal secretary, who is the only man Sebastian trusts, is found dead. Sebastian becomes inpatient with England’s investigation and after an article in the Honeycutt’s Gazette he decides to take matters into his own hands. He never expected to become enchanted with Eliza, a commoner who is not impressed with him and not afraid to speak her mind. Eliza is determined to help Sebastian solve the mystery, never expecting to fall in love with him. Sebastian realizes that he doesn’t want to marry someone who wants him due to his title, he wants Eliza who wants him for the man he is.

Can Sebastian find a way to settle the trading agreement and marry Eliza? I loved the fact that Eliza was not looking for a husband, but Prince Sebastian had to find one in the “marriage mart” before he left England. It seemed original since in most stories the woman is looking for a husband.

The author did a great job providing the readers with descriptions of the differences of their life stations and the environments that they lived in. It was funny to read the details of Eliza’s house through the Crown Prince Sebastian’s point of view. This was a great book and provided the reader with a mystery, witty banter and romance. I can’t wait to see who the second book will be about or to read it.
 

Book Info:

Publication: November 26th 2019 | Harlequin | Royal Wedding #1

Princes have pomp and glory—not crushes on commoners.

Nothing gets the tongues of London’s high society wagging like a good scandal. And when the personal secretary of the visiting Prince Sebastian of Alucia is found murdered, it’s all anyone can talk about, including Eliza Tricklebank. Her unapologetic gossip gazette has benefited from an anonymous tip about the crime, prompting Sebastian to take an interest in playing detective—and an even greater interest in Eliza.

With a trade deal on the line and mounting pressure to secure a noble bride, there’s nothing more salacious than a prince dallying with a commoner. Sebastian finds Eliza’s contrary manner as frustrating as it is seductive, but they’ll have to work together if they’re going to catch the culprit. And when things heat up behind closed doors, it’s the prince who’ll have to decide what comes first—his country or his heart.