Royal Date by Sariah Wilson-Review of one of my Favorite Reads of 2015

Product Details

• Title: Royal Date
• Author: Sariah Wilson
• Genre: Romance, Contemporary, New Adult
• File Size: 1776 KB
• Print Length: 254 pages
• Publisher: Kindle Press (March 3, 2015)
• Publication Date: March 3, 2015
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00QXUN5Y4
• FTC,FYI: I received an e-copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Book Description:
This Cinderella didn’t plan on a prince . . .

Kat MacTaggart is a girl who has a plan for everything—including her holiday ski trip to Monterra with her best friend. Everything is going according to plan until she finds herself careening out of control down a mountainside and being rescued by a guy who looks like Superman’s hotter Italian cousin.

HRH Prince Nico is intrigued by the woman he saved on the slopes and her refusal to date him. He offers Kat a deal—let him show her his country and he’ll pay her to write articles that will help Monterra’s tourism industry. Kat agrees, but given her past and lingering distrust of men, she has one condition—absolutely no kissing.

Thanks to the claims of a jealous British noblewoman and the schemes of a meddling paparazzo, Kat’s rule doesn’t seem to be a problem at first. But the more Kat gets to know Nico and the people around him, the harder it is to remember her keep-your-distance plan. Should she stick to it or risk everything for a chance at happily ever after?

Excerpt

          What was he doing with his fingers? Everywhere he touched me he left little pools of flame behind.

            He was unfairly using his masculine wiles against me, and I was stupidly giving in. I opened my eyes to see him studying me as he slowly ran his knuckles against my cheek. “So is that a yes?”

            “It will be a yes. I will pretend to date you, go where you want me to, write what you want me to write. On one condition.”

            He waited for me to continue.

            “No more kissing.”

           His hands stilled. “Ma che?” I guessed that was Italian for “What the frak did you just say?”

            “If you think about it, you want me to stay objective when I write the story, don’t you? So we should take kissing off the table, right?” I didn’t know if I was trying to convince him or me.

            “So you’re worried that my kisses will sway you and harm your objectivity?” He paused, as if considering. “That’s probably true.” He went back to lightly caressing me, and I worried that I might have to start planning my own funeral because I was dying.

            But I couldn’t let on just how much he affected me. “Full of yourself much?”

            He had his face close to mine, and I could feel his smile, hear it in his voice. He moved to put his lips right above mine. “You and I both know that I could prove as much right now.”

            Of all the things I expected him to do and say, the next thing to come out of his mouth was not one of them. “I can do that. If you don’t want me to kiss you, I won’t. I will wait until you ask me to.”

            Usually I would have been like, so not going to happen, but in this case . . . well, I hoped I was strong enough to stick to my guns.

            Nico ran his fingers through my hair, and I unconsciously tilted my head to lean into his open hand. “Am I allowed to still touch you? I’m not sure I can promise not to touch you.”

            “Uh . . .” I meant to say something. I did. He completely disrupted all of my brain waves.

            “Because it would seem you like touching me as well.” I opened my eyes and looked down. I had both of my hands on his bare chest. When had that happened? I didn’t even remember doing it. My hands obviously had minds of their own. I clenched them shut and put them back in my lap.

            “Touching is okay, I guess,” I said in that same breathy voice that I only had around him, and now felt like my new permanent one. To be fair, and putting aside the fact that I enjoyed it, Monterrans had repeatedly proven themselves to be an affectionate and kind of handsy people. I couldn’t exactly say no to him for something that was cultural, could I?

            Yes, even in my foggy haze I was aware of my pathetic attempts to justify and rationalize.

            “Good. Although I don’t know if it’s very fair to give a man a taste of heaven and tell him he can’t have it again.”

            My heart barreled against my chest as he did that thing where he ran his thumb gently over my lips, across my jawline, back to my lips. I sort of loved that. I would probably give up my firstborn child if we could just stay in this spot all night doing that.

            I was going to lose every last bit of resolve I had.

My Review:

Royal Date by Sariah Wilson has turned out to be one of my favorite reads of 2015. I started reading this New Adult, Contemporary Clean Romance and I couldn't put it down. I didn't want to put it down. The story is just that engaging and clever that you just want to keep reading until the very end. 

Main character Kat MacTaggart is smart, beautiful, and has a mind of her own, even despite her hard background growing up. She has decided that she is done with men, even if they are good looking and rich. Her first meeting with the handsome Nico is full of witty dialogue that makes you smile. You also can't help but fall for Prince Nico right along with Kat. 

Kat,along with her sassy, southern best friend Lemon end up staying with Nico's family after Kat's skiing accident. I loved how the author portrayed the royal family from the fictional European country of Monterra. They were not overly stuffy, but very accepting of the woman who had stolen their elder son's heart. I especially loved the relationship formed between Kat and Nico's youngest sister.

This romance has no sex, but it does have some heavy sexual tension between Kat and Nico and some drool worthy kissing scenes. This is a modern fairy tale that makes you want to believe in romance and happy endings, but it still takes the whole book for this to happen. It's not all happiness and roses as there is another story line with Nico's younger sister and a drug problem. It is all handled very well though.

This Cinderella-style Romance is fluffy, has a very hot Prince, and is such a fun, easy read. If you like a good fairy tale that will sweep you off of your feet, this is the book for you.

Royal Date was selected for publication on Kindle Press  this past March 3, 2015, through Amazon's Kindle Scout program and is currently available as an e-book. Wilson also now has a book deal with Amazon's Montlake Romance imprint for two more books, one of which is a sequel to "A Royal Date"  called Royal Chase.

Booking her client, Prince Dante of Monterra, on reality show Marry Me is a royal coup for PR agent Lemon Beauchamp. But thanks to a last-minute glitch, Lemon must pretend to be one of the contestants vying to win the playboy prince’s love and then live happily ever after—at least until the publicity tour ends.

Prince Dante agreed to go on the show to find a wife, even though he already has the perfect candidate in mind. She’s smart, funny, sexy, and completely uninterested in wealth and fame. She’s also absolutely determined to keep him at arm’s length.

Even if Lemon weren’t already engaged, she can’t trust a notorious flirt like Dante. So she ignores the lingering looks. Those subtle, thrilling touches. That pulse-quickening kiss. Until suddenly, Lemon isn’t playing for the cameras. She’s lovestruck for real, and just maybe, the man behind the title is the one who’s always been in her heart.

Meet Author: Sariah Wilson 

Sariah Wilson has never jumped out of an airplane, never climbed Mt. Everest, and is not a former CIA operative. She has, however, been madly, passionately in love with her soulmate and is a fervent believer in happily ever afters--which is why she writes romance. She has published five happily ever after stories. She grew up in southern California, graduated from Brigham Young University (go Cougars!) with a semi-useless degree in history, and is the oldest of nine (yes, nine) children. She currently lives with the aforementioned soulmate and their four children in Utah, along with three tiger barb fish, a cat named Tiger, and a recently departed hamster that is buried in the backyard (and has nothing at all to do with tigers).

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