Spotlight & Giveaway: That Prince is Mine by Jayci Lee

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Jayci Lee to HJ!

Hi Jayci and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, That Prince is Mine!

Thank you so much for having me. I am awful at small talk, but I can talk about my books for days. I’m so excited to share THAT PRINCE IS MINE with all of you.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Emma Yoon is a Korean royal court cuisine instructor who thinks she has life all figured out. She has no interest in a love match and romantic foolishness. She intends to find her perfect-on-paper match through a professional matchmaker, her godmother.
Michel Chevalier is the crown prince of Rouleme, whose life is dictated by duty. The one thing he will not accept is an arranged marriage. He comes to the US disguised as a professor at USC to find the love of his life.
He knows Emma is the only one for him. All he has to do is convince her in less than two months that love and happily ever after could be theirs.
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

This one…
“We have nothing in common,” she murmured, staring down at their entwined hands.
“Give me two months to prove you wrong.” He ducked his head to catch her eyes. “I’ll prove to you that you don’t want perfect on paper.”

And this one…
He gathered her into his arms and pressed his cheek against hers. He held on to her for much too long and not nearly enough as he prayed fervently in his head. Please.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• THAT PRINCE IS MINE started as a bit of an Emma fanfic for me. Hence the name Emma Yoon for our heroine, and Michel Chevalier (which means Knight in French) for our swoony hero.
• If you like food, you will love THAT PRINCE IS MINE. Emma is a Korean royal court cuisine instructor, and her love of food (i.e., my love of food) comes through on the pages. Have snacks ready when you read it because you’ll get hungry!
• THAT PRINCE IS MINE has a lot of Korean and some French in it, so for the audiobook, I actually had to record a pronunciation guide for the narrator. It was fun and funny to record myself saying random words. In case you’re wondering, I’m fluent in Korean and speak a tiny bit of French. I’m also conversant in Mandarin, but no Mandarin was used in the book. Haha.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

o Michel thinks Emma is beautiful, but he’s intrigued by her because she shows up at the café where he prepares for his lectures and meets a different man two to three times a week. The men always stand, stiffly bow to her, then leave. (Hint: She’s on her arranged first dates.)
o Emma hears his accent first (British with a hint of French) then turns and sees him. She’s knocked off her feet by how dreamy he looks.

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

Emma and Michel’s first love scene got me a little flustered. My romcoms haven’t been as spicy as my contemporary romances, but these characters had different ideas. (Please read to find out. Haha.)
I laughed a lot writing this book. Michel is so adorably awkward. I love some of the things he says such as blurting out “I like your dimple” after staring at her for too long.

I cried when I wrote the book tunnel scene. My character art is based on this kiss scene. It’s when they realize how much they care for each other even when their future is uncertain.

“Why the tears, darling Emma?” The husky voice that emerged from him didn’t sound like his own.
Her eyelashes fluttered and a tear rolled down her cheek. “I don’t know.”

Readers should read this book….

o Because it’s really really good. Haha. But I’m also serious.
o Specifically, this book is for readers who enjoy sweet, spicy, and funny romcoms with tropes such as royal romance, foodie romance, and opposites attract romance.
o And it’s really really good.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

Believe it or not, on August 1st (two whole days after THAT PRINCE IS MINE comes out), my debut romantasy, NINE TAILED, is coming out. It’s about a grumpy nine-tailed fox spirit who becomes a reluctant hero to save the worlds from an evil shaman. Love should be the last thing on her mind, but two hot guys make that really hard for her.
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: One print copy giveaway of THAT PRINCE IS MINE, US Winner

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Excerpt from That Prince is Mine:

From That Prince is Mine by Jayci Lee. Copyright © 2024 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.

“The Last Bookstore had the cluttered charm of a vast, old library but with an enchanting whimsy all its own. It was a massive two level store with Greek columns in the main hall. But with every space utilized to accommodate their innumerable books, it managed to feel quite welcoming and cozy.
“Do you want a tour? Or would you like to get lost in all this fabulousness?” Emma asked, grabbing hold of his hand.
He linked his fingers through hers. “How about a tour so I don’t miss anything important but with the option to linger if something feels magical?”
Her expression turned soft and dreamy. “You say the most perfect things. You know that?”
“I do?” His brows climbed to his forehead.
“What am I going to do with you?” Emma whispered. Before he could wonder at the tenderness that stole into her expression, she turned away from him and waved for him to follow. “For now, I’ll give you a tour of this gem of a bookstore.”
She led them upstairs then through a zigzagging path of bookshelves so tightly packed that only one of them could pass at a time. They made very little progress, stopping every few feet to finger through a book that caught their fancy.
“Oh, no.” Emma spun around and nearly bumped into his chest.
He steadied her by her shoulders. “What’s wrong?”
“We’ll never make it out of here in time for lunch—who am I kidding?—in time for dinner if I’m let loose in the cookbook section.”
He scanned the vicinity and pointed with his chin. “Is that it over there?”
“Yes.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I’ll hold your arm. Just guide me past it then we’ll be fine.”
He took the opportunity to stare at her lovely face, memorizing every precious inch of it. Then he led her down the path with his arm around her waist and said close to her ear, “Open your eyes.”
“Are you sure? It doesn’t seem like we went far enough…” Her jaws went slack as she eyed the books surrounding her. “Michel, this is the cookbook section.”
“I know,” he said.
“But—”
“I’m not going to let you rush past a section you love just for the sake of sticking to a schedule…”
Emma was already lost. Some books she flipped through quickly but some she lingered over a while longer. But when he noticed that she was reading a cookbook page by page, he carefully led her to an alcove with an armchair. Since there was just the one chair, he sat down first and settled her on his lap. She barely glanced up as she poured over the book.
After nearly half an hour, Michel shifted his leg by an inch to get some circulation back but the motion jolted Emma out of her trance. It was still early and hardly anyone had passed by them.
“Oh my gosh.” Her hand flew up to her mouth and she scrambled to get up from his lap. “Your poor legs.”
“Shh.” He tugged her back down and rearranged his legs, all the while holding her tight against him by her waist. “This is worth it.”
“Michel,” she said but didn’t try to stand up. After a resigned sigh, she licked the pad of her index finger and dabbed it on the tip of her nose. “Do this.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I’m serious. Do it several times and it’ll help with the pins and needles in your legs.” When he continued staring dumbfounded at her, she rolled her eyes and tapped his nose with her own dampened finger. He refused to put his own saliva on his nose, but he didn’t mind it at all when Emma did it. “It’s a trick my grandmother taught me when I was little.”
The tip of his nose felt disconcertingly cold. It might’ve been due to the distraction of having a damp nose but the pinpricks of blood rushing into his legs seemed to ease a bit. When proper circulation resumed in his legs and his nose was once again dry, Michel got preoccupied with the feel of having Emma in his arms.
He traced the lines of her fingers and the faint blue veins on the back of her hand. She pressed herself closer to him, burrowing her face into the side of his neck. The warmth of her breath sent a shiver down his spine. He shifted in his seat and tucked her against him until every curve of her fit against him. Her shoulders rose and fell on a sigh and he breathed in the scent of her hair.
Emma tugged him down another labyrinth of bookshelves until they arrived at the most improbable and wonderful place—a cavernous tunnel made of books. And they had it all to themselves. He chuckled with awe and joy as his gaze wandered over the books surrounding him. This made getting up from the armchair worth it. Maybe.
She maneuvered him so gently, so slowly that he didn’t realize what she’d done until his back was pushed up against the wall of books. Then she rose to her toes and pressed her lips against his in a sweet lingering kiss that he felt down to his soul. Her touch was chaste with barely parted lips but he felt as though she was offering a part of herself that she kept closely guarded. His heart clenched in his chest, overwhelmed by a rush of emotions he couldn’t parcel out.
When she broke the kiss, a tremulous breath left him and he could only stare at her for a moment. She held his gaze, her eyes shining with unshed tears. He pushed her hair away from her face with unsteady fingers and tucked it behind her ear.
“Why the tears, darling Emma?” The husky voice that emerged from him didn’t sound like his own.
Her eyelashes fluttered and a tear rolled down her cheek. “I don’t know.”
Michel wiped the moisture away with the pad of his thumb and brushed his lips across her temple. The back of his throat burned with his own tears and the ache in his chest spread, making it difficult to breath. He gathered her into his arms and pressed his cheek against hers. He held onto her for much too long and not nearly long enough as he prayed fervently in his head. Please.”

From That Prince is Mine by Jayci Lee. Copyright © 2024 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Library Journal’s Romance Pick of the Month

A love-averse Korean royal court cuisine instructor is waylaid by a gorgeous professor—and prince in disguise—who will do anything to prove to her that love and happily ever after can be theirs.

Emma Yoon dreams of opening a culinary school in Los Angeles. To that end, she teaches Korean royal court cuisine to hopeful brides of upper-crust Korean families. Thanks to her godmother, a renowned matchmaker, business is booming. But when rival matchmakers plot against her godmother using Emma’s single status,
she must save her godmother’s reputation and her dreams by finding a perfect-on-paper husband—even if she’s not ready for love. Meeting the gorgeous and irresistible Professor Michel Chevalier is not part of her plan.

Prince Michel Chevalier refuses to marry a woman handpicked by his elders. If he must spend the rest of his life in service to his country, he wants to do so with someone he loves by his side. With only three months left until his arranged engagement is formally announced, Michel escapes to Los Angeles to find a bride of his choosing,
someone who loves him for himself rather than his crown. Serendipity leads him right to Emma Yoon, who might just be the woman of his dreams.
Book Links:  Amazon | B&N | Google |
 
 

Meet the Author:

JAYCI LEE writes poignant, sexy, and laugh-out-loud romance featuring Korean American main characters. Her books have been in O, The Oprah Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Entertainment Weekly, Hollywood Reporter, E! News, and Women’s World. Jayci is retired from her fifteen-year career as a litigator because of all the badass heroines and drool worthy heroes demanding to have their stories told. Food, wine and travel are her jam. She makes her home in sunny California with her tall-dark-and-handsome husband, two amazing boys, and a fluffy rescue.
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