4 Star Book Review: Royal Gone Rogue by Emma St. Clair, A Sweet Royal Romance

*I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary e-copy of this book from the author. All thoughts are my own and I was not required to post a positive review. Also, this blog post includes affiliate links. You can view my affiliate disclaimer here.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

“You can’t choose a wife based on a spreadsheet.”

“It’s a RUBRIC.”

“Even worse!”

With the king’s health in decline, the time is short for Crown Prince Phillip of Elsinore to choose a suitable wife.

Preferably NOT one of the many titled women who seem only interested in the crown.

Like the logical, responsible man he is, Phillip treats this task the way he does everything else--analytically, with measurable data points.

Leaving Elsinore in secret, Phillip travels to a tiny Italian village to meet the woman best matching his qualifications. The plan is to present Alessia with a proposal of marriage and return to the palace before anyone notices his absence.

What he didn’t plan for: FEELINGS.

His--almost immediate, gut-punching attraction like he’s never felt.

Hers--seeming dislike and distrust like he’s never experienced.

Phillip’s very practical plan has been replaced with a new one: to stay on and win Alessia’s affection at any cost.

Even if the cost is walking away from the crown ...

Royal Gone Rogue is the second in the Sweet Royal RomCom series with laugh-out-loud humor, heart-warming love stories, and sizzling chemistry that keeps the bedroom door closed.

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MY REVIEW: ★★★★ 4/5 Stars

Emma St. Clair has expertly delivered a fantastic royal romcom! I jumped into this story without reading book 1 (gasp! I know… I know…) and thoroughly enjoyed this standalone!

Prince Phillip, a statistics guy who always, I repeat always, plays by the rules has used a handful of spreadsheets, an algorithm and rubric to pinpoint the love of his life, with a little help from his friend and he’s never even met her. Seriously, St. Clair is the queen of dreaming up a scenario such as this. She kicks off the book with a bang, drawing readers right into Phillip’s serious, rule-following character and his desperate need for a wife, and future queen, ASAP. I loved Phillip. His character truly surprised me and I enjoyed seeing him grow and develop throughout this story.

Alessia is Phillip’s perfect match, or so his rubric says. And it’s right! She’s a great FMC who is easy to identify with, down-to-earth and has the sweetest, oldest support system. Her broken past got right to my heart and witnessing her dream, then step away from an ordinary life into the role of future queen was so fun! Her Italian hometown setting was probably my favorite of the two settings in this story; I loved it more than the palace at Elsinore! It had all the fun small-town vibes, was imaginary eye-candy and oh, the seaside was simply perfection!

This hilarious, devourable story was well done. There was a bit of secret identity, forced proximity, rags-to-riches and secret crush all tied together. It had a hint of spice, loads of desire, delicious attraction and definite swoon, but remained clean without explicit scenes. I loved it all! Emma St. Clair is, and probably always will be, one of my favorite romcom authors because she puts so much heart and relatability into her characters while simultaneously making me laugh and feel all.the.feelings. Reading her alternating FMC and MMC POV made reading this story fun and highly entertaining.

sUMMARY:

I look forward to going back and reading book 1 (I must know more about the attack swans!) and I can’t wait for others to come in this series and have a chance to get reacquainted with all the wonderful characters in this story. A definite recommendation from me.