Spotlight & Giveaway: The Princess Problem by Christi Barth

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Christi Barth to HJ!

Hi Christi and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, The Princess Problem!

 
Hi to all – thanks for letting me pop by!
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

Moving to Manhattan was Kelsey Wishner’s dream come true. But two days later, life takes an unexpected twist when a handsome bodyguard with piercing blue eyes delivers shocking news–she’s a…princess? Kelsey thought she knew who she was, and what mattered most. The last thing she wants is to be hustled away from the only life she’s ever known to a country she’s never heard of and a whole new family she’s never imagined.

Elias Trebanti’s entire life has been overshadowed by the missing princess of his country’s royal family. As both bodyguard and best friend to the prince, his world is turned upside down when he actually finds her…twenty-five years after she disappeared. But he didn’t expect her to fight so hard against her royal lineage. He also didn’t expect her to be so beautiful. Strong. Resilient. Tempting…

Surrounded by strangers who all have expectations of her, Kelsey finds refuge in the one person who cares only about her well-being. Falling for her bodyguard is undoubtedly against the rules. Especially when he’s her new brother’s best friend. Not to mention that she’s uncertain if she’ll even remain in Moncriano. Staying feels like a betrayal of the parents who raised her. Leaving is a betrayal of the parents who mourned her for so long. Despite what everyone believes, Kelsey’s positive she doesn’t have what it takes to be a princess. Should she ditch the tiara–and Elias–and head back to the States? Or embrace this new role, this new persona, this new love?
 

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

“Stop.” Elias lifted her hands and kissed the backs of them. “You’re a present, my treasure. Let me unwrap you.”
So. Romantic.
So. Swoon-inducingly. Romantic. The man actually treated her as if she was a treasure, worth untold value. Elias made her feel so special, so…seen and understood and valued.
“I’m all yours,” she said simply, dropping her hands to the forest-green comforter.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• I came up with the idea in the middle of Act I of the Broadway musical Anastasia. Then I spent all of intermission scribbling on the back of my ticket printout. By the time I hopped on the train home, I knew I had to write THE PRINCESS PROBLEM.
• I have never had more fun researching a book than I did scrolling through Pinterest for tiaras and royal jewels. Ooh, and rooms in beautiful palaces. Look at this amazing Spanish park that I worked into a scene: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/164451823880628836/ And this Italian restaurant sent in a grotto over the ocean: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/164451823880628882/

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

The first thing Kelsey notices about the strange man in her hallway is his electric blue eyes. But after chatting with him for only a few hours on the plane, she realizes his integrity is even more noteworthy.

As the crown prince’s best friend, Elias has seen women flock to his friend’s title, but bail when offered low-key, undercover activities. He hates title-chasers. So he’s immediately drawn to the beautiful woman who doesn’t want anything to do with her rightful title.

Kelsey had seemed unimpressed as he’d reeled off examples of her newfound wealth. She’d cared not at all for the title he’d bestowed upon her. What had she called them? Princess Perks. And she’d said it with a sneer in her tone and on her pretty pink lips.

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

Their first real date…which leads to their first time in bed… It’s a teasing, fun change of pace from all things royally series. They have lots of fun – and then things turn super hot.

Kelsey tugged free of his grasp. Slamming a hand onto the middle of his dark-gray polo shirt, she made a valiant attempt to both push him against the wall and look fierce doing so. She failed at both, but he played along.

“Hold it right there. Are you trying to take my phone away again for yet more nefarious reasons?”

“If by nefarious you mean kissing you, then yes.” In a twist on a karate move, he lunged to one knee and bent her backward over it, kissing the exposed line of her throat until she squealed and laughed. So much for semi-stealth mode. Elias quickly set her back on her feet and hurried them past the final turn. “I’m off schedule for tonight. Blocked out completely. Unless the palace is invaded by alien drones, there won’t be any interruptions. Just you and me. A real, normal, Friday-night date,” he said.

“It sounds perfect. And I’ll turn off my phone”—her smile turned impish, and she pulled her phone out of her back pocket—“as soon as we take a selfie.”

“No. Absolutely not. Not out here.” They’d tempted fate enough after pausing to kiss.

She stopped and held out both arms, upraised, like a candelabra. “Isn’t this whole, vast structure technically my house? Since when can’t a woman snap a photo in her own home?”

“You’re claiming ownership of Alcarsa Palace?” Elias couldn’t help but throw back his head and laugh. Kelsey continually both surprised and delighted him. “Did you just try—feebly, I might add—to pull princess rank on me? That thing you can’t abide and haven’t even decided yet to accept?”

“I’m trying it on for size. How does being imperious look on me?”

He dug out his key. Then he bent his knees and hoisted her over his shoulder. “Take your damned selfie and find out.”

Kelsey laughed and squirmed and, from the snick he heard, took the upside down selfie draped over his back as he carried her past three more doors until they arrived at his. Once safely inside, he slid her—slowly—down the front of his body until she stood. “Welcome.”

“Your show of strength is, mmm, immensely sexy.” This time she was the one stringing a line of kisses down his neck. She had to stand on tiptoe to do it, which canted her whole body forward against his.

Damn it. Elias heaved in a deep breath. “I’m cooking you dinner. Put your appreciation of my muscles on hold until after I’ve provided you with the aforementioned date.”

“Maybe you do things differently in Moncriano. But in America?” Kelsey very deliberately pushed her open hand down his back to cup his ass. “Dates can be all about sex. Start to finish. Soup to nuts.”

Maybe things were different in America. Because he had no idea he was expected to make soup. Or provide nuts. “I didn’t prepare a soup course. Just some sautéed calamari and cheese for an appetizer.”

Kelsey immediately let go, falling back several steps. Apparently she needed the extra room to bend over, hugging her stomach, and laugh hysterically.

“If you want soup, I can call down to the kitchens for it…”

“Elias, omigosh, no. I’m laughing because it’s just a saying. Soup to nuts means…well, the whole enchilada. Which, now that I think of it, probably doesn’t translate, either. It means ‘everything included’. No actual need on my behalf for soup.”

“That’s a relief.”

Readers should read this book….

It’s a fun peek behind-the-scenes at royal life. It’s also a heartwarming look at just what a family is, and how they can grow together. And above all else, it is a gasp-worthy, clutch at your heart romance.

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

I just finished book 3 of Unexpectedly Royal two weeks ago. It’s the story of the crown prince who falls for Kelsey’s American ‘sister’. An American who would be utterly inappropriate and wrong to be the eventual queen… I start book 1 of my Love Lottery series this weekend. And now that THE PRINCESS PROBLEM came out on 11/18, book 2, RULING THE PRINCESS will come out on March 23!
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: eBook of THE PRINCESS PROBLEM

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: Did you ever want to be royal? Was it because of one of the handsome British princes, or just for the clothes and fabulous jewels? Or the maids…

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Excerpt from The Princess Problem:

He was silent for a moment. “What can I do? Because I pledged to be the person you could trust, could turn to.”

Ohhh, that offer was better than an apology, more meaningful. If she wasn’t trying to set a precedent, Kelsey would’ve forgiven him right on the spot. “Time usually helps me cool down. After glancing at the schedule my grandmother put together, I realized I don’t have much of that, so I went for a run. To work off my temper before I accidentally unleashed it on anyone else.”

“I do the same thing. Run until all my thoughts disappear and all I can feel is the need to breathe.” Elias took her hand again and drew them down onto the green- and yellow-flowered cushions. “I’m not stopping you from running. Merely requesting a change of venue. Perhaps five minutes advance notice so I can change into more appropriate shoes.” He stuck out his leg, with the polished black loafer at the end of it and wiggled it back and forth.

He looked ridiculous. And that broke the last of the tension tightening her chest.

“I understand. I’ll follow the rules. But it’s a bigger picture problem. The running that I can’t do out here”—she gestured at the trees outside the glass panes—“represents everything I’m cut off from, every opportunity, every dream that I’ll potentially lose if I stay in Moncriano.”

“It’s an adjustment, not an end of the road. A shift in lanes, as it were. One you didn’t ask for, but one full of its own unique joys.”

Meh. All in the eye of the beholder. And so far, she didn’t behold anything that compared to her dream life in Manhattan, working with her clients on fulfilling projects. Did they even have pizza places in Moncriano that delivered at three a.m.? Kelsey snarled, “The princess perks.”

“Not just the clothes and jewels and palaces and yachts. Although you might want to give yourself the chance to enjoy all of those.” His eyelids lowered to a level of pure smolder. “I think you’d look spectacular with pearls and diamonds dripping down your throat.”

On the rare occasions Kelsey ditched her uniform of tees/yoga pants, she only upscaled to jeans and a snazzy shirt. Fun, artistic pieces she grabbed at street fairs were as fancy as she got. “I don’t have an outfit that goes with pearls and diamonds.”

“I didn’t say you’d be wearing anything else in this particular fantasy.”

Oh. Oh. Evidently, now that they were shut away in a hidden garden in the very private summerhouse, Elias could drop his “yes, your royal highness” routine. It was the real Elias with her at this moment— like when he’d dropped the proper bodyguard facade on the plane and held her.

Just like when he’d kissed her in the garden yesterday.

Kelsey had a feeling she’d enjoy playing out his fantasy. But how did you ask your scary as hell new grandmother, hey, can I borrow the crown jewels for a make-out session?

Despite her dry mouth, she managed to get out, “Princess perks aren’t enough reason to give up the life I planned.”

Elias gave her that look—the one he’d given her over and over again since their first meeting. The one that declared her to be extraordinary and unfathomable. Characteristics Kelsey had hoped to pick up after living in Manhattan for at least a decade. After watching other people do exciting things, have interesting adventures. After learning how to live it up.

Because Kelsey knew she was ordinary. She lived in yoga pants, wore yellow-tinted glasses occasionally to cut down on the blue-light glare after staring at her computer monitors for ten hours straight, and had lived an utterly boring life.

Manhattan was her chance to—eventually—change all that.

Being stuck inside a gilded prison, even with pearls around her neck, did not hold up well in comparison. And Kelsey hadn’t gotten the impression that this could be a part-time gig. This choice wouldn’t merely effect or shape her future; it would become her life.

A life sentence.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

What girl doesn’t want to wear a tiara? Me. The one who lives in yoga pants and knows she’s not special enough to be a princess.

One minute I’m starting my dream life in NYC, and the next, a man too hot for his own good is banging on my door, telling me that I’m a long lost princess of a country on the other side of the Atlantic.

Not exactly your typical Friday night in the Big Apple.

Suddenly, all of my plans for the future are yanked away. I’m trapped in a life filled with social obligations—and stilettos!—and an uptight royal family I didn’t know existed. They, and the whole rest of the freaking country, have lofty expectations I’m not sure I can meet.

At least the aforementioned sexalicious man, Elias, is my constant shadow, protecting me with his life. The whole situation is overwhelming. So I’ve secretly put him in charge of my happiness, too…and he’s taking my orders very, very seriously.

So seriously, I’m falling for him even harder than the new country I’m coming to…maybe…love.

And that’s a major problem, because he’s crazy about me, too. I may not know all the zillion rules about being royal, but I know one for sure: No way can a princess date her bodyguard…
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Meet the Author:

USA TODAY bestselling author Christi Barth earned a Masters degree in vocal performance and embarked upon a career on the stage. A love of romance then drew her to wedding planning. Ultimately she succumbed to her lifelong love of books and now writes award-winning contemporary romance, including the Naked Men and Aisle Bound series.

Christi can always be found either whipping up gourmet meals (for fun, honest!) or with her nose in a book. She lives in Maryland with the best husband in the world.
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