Book review: To Marry a Prince by Sophie Page

One night is about to change Bella’s life for ever…

Bella Greenwood isn’t a fairytale girl. If pushed, she’d probably tell you that her perfect wedding would involve a handful of close friends and family. But as she’s never met anyone she’d like to marry, it’s a moot point.

Until, in a midnight garden, Bella is helped out of an embarrassing situation by a tall, dark, handsome man with laughing eyes. And suddenly her life changes for ever, because the man is the world’s most eligible bachelor: Prince Richard, heir to the throne.

Richard sweeps her off her feet, and before she knows it they’re engaged. Which is when Bella’s problems really begin. Suddenly she is public property, and as if it isn’t enough to have her every move watched – while also learning to curtsy and negotiating the etiquette of how to address her future mother-in-law – she soon finds herself embroiled in bridesmaid politics, a right royal hen night, and a wedding dress controversy that causes a national scandal…

Can this ordinary girl survive the preparations for her very own Royal Wedding?

Inspired by the wedding of Kate and William last week, I treated myself to the Kindle edition of this book hoping to carry on the romantic buzz that the Royal Wedding created. I’m pleased to say that To Marry a Prince was just the thing; the book is a real gem of a romantic comedy and I spent a very happy weekend reading it.

The story follows Bella as she returns to London from a disastrous expedition to a tropical island and tries to put her life back together. Her best friend, Lottie takes her in and in an attempt to cheer her up, drags her off to a party one night where Bella (who is a bit accident prone) is rescued from a tricky situation by a mystery man who turns out to be Prince Richard, the heir to the throne. As their whirlwind romance progresses, Bella finds herself having to come to terms with the Royal lifestyle. The course of true love never runs smoothly though and To Marry a Prince is a fast paced romantic comedy charting the ups and downs of dating an heir to the throne.

Bella is a great character; down to earth and not afraid to speak her mind and her reactions to the situations she finds herself in seemed very realistic which really endeared her to me.  Prince Richard comes across as a fab leading man – by no means perfect, he has some brilliantly funny and romantic scenes but never seems over the top. Together, the lead characters make for a believable but still magical story.

The supporting characters are all well written; from Bella’s friend Lottie, who isn’t afraid to give Bella a wakeup call when she needs it to the slightly mad characters from the royal family. The myriad of protocols and etiquette that Bella needs to learn and follow added fun twists to the story and I couldn’t help wondering as I read if this is what it was like for Kate and William.

Sophie Page’s writing and the style of the book reminded me of some of Meg Cabot’s adult books (books like The Guy Next Door and the Queen of Babble series) with a combination of romantic comedy, drama and realism. Very much a modern day fairytale, there are some truly swoonsome and nicely different romantic moments in this book and I loved it. I hope that we’ll hear more about Bella and her prince in the future and I look forward to reading more from Sophie Page.

5/5

You can find out more about Sophie Page and To Marry a Prince at: http://www.sophie-page.co.uk