If you love reading hockey romance this friends to lovers might satisfy that next book craving.

When hockey player Daniel falls for the one woman he can't have, especially once he discovers that his royal bloodline will change everything. How long will it take for him to get what he wants? Who can he trust?

This is the second book in a series and hopefully not the last.

This was such a quick, easy read and I cannot believe how quickly I devoured this. I am a sucker for fake relationships and the added royalty element. It was so predictable but I still soared through this book. I thought I would need to read the first in the series in order to understand this book, but this could work as a standalone. There is nothing in this book that made me feel like I was lost or confused (thankfully there is no need for world-building). Definitely worth giving it a try if you want something quick, easy, and simple to reach a reading goal.

I enjoyed this book. It kept me interested from beginning to end. I am always down for a royal romance and I enjoyed the fact that this was in America and he was a “hidden prince”. I haven’t read the others in the series but I think this is ok as a stand-alone.

I'm not sure what I could say about this book you can't guess from the description which is certainly not a bag thing in this case. At his book is a delightfully romp of a royal romance with some hockey thrown in. I always love seeing royals outside their countries and placing Daniel in Chicago gave me that kind of fun feeling,
Daniel and Madison's friendship is so fun and as we see if grow and change we feel for both characters until you desperately need everything to work out. If you don't know anything about hockey don't worry because it won't trip you up to much but if you decide to do some side by side googling on the sport you may find it's a fun distraction from life.

Not going to lie. I went into this book not expecting a whole lot, but I was surprised. This was a very fun read that made me want to keep reading. I cared about the characters and what happened to them along the story.

This book was just so much fun!!!

Gosh, it feels like forever ago since I read the first book in the Chicago Falcons series. I missed it. I missed these wonderful characters. Also, shocking, and really surprising for someone with my bad memory, I still knew most of what happened in the first book. Would you look at that?

I had this book on my tbr for ages now (gosh, I'm so behind on all my Netgalley ARC's. This one is a year old. Oops).

I'm so happy that I finally read it. To be honest, when I started the book I didn't read the summary and I surely didn't remember it from a year ago. So e v e r y t h i n g came as a total surprise. I'm not even kidding. The first sentence of the summary tells you that Daniel is a freaking prince and still, when it was revealed in the book, I was totally freaking out and grinning like an idiot, cause OMG, DANIEL IS A PRINCE!!!!

All I remembered from way back when was that I LOVED MADDISON, and that I was so freaking excited that she got her own book cause SHE IS ALL KINDS OF AMAZING, and she was the greatest friend to Alice in the first book.

So now that I got all my rambling out of the way, let's dive into the actual review.

I love the writing. I just love the flow of the whole story and you can't tell at all that this was written by two people. I loved it.

The characters are amazing, duh. Like I said, I loved Maddison in the first book. She was amazing. So I loved her right from the start in this book, obviously. And Daniel. the prince (hihihi, I'm still giddy about that. Excuse me!). I loved that Hayden and Alice from the first book didn't take a total backseat and were only mentioned a few times but that they actually played a really big part in this book. I also really loved Eva, Daniel's sister.

The relationships.
Let me start with family dynamics, cause that is were the good stuff is. I loved the relationship between Daniel and his mom. Single moms doing their absolute best and raising amazing dudes. YESSSS!!!! I also loved the bit of Maddison's family that we saw. They actually just showed up two times, in the beginning of the book and the end, and what a night and day difference those two scenes were. LOVED IT!!!

Friendships. F R I E N D S H I P S.
BE STILL MY BLEEDING HEART, cause this is were it's at. THIS IS THE STUFF MY DREAMS ARE MADE OF. Daniel and Maddison. Their friendship. I just love relationships that start in friendship and become more. I love Daniel and Hayden and how they always got each others back. Maddison and Alice. Girls supporting each other. And also how Eva fit right into them, even though these three girls are all kinds of different. I LOVED IT.

Storywise. I loved the whole Prince Daniel thing. I loved the whole book pretty much playing in Eldonia and meeting some of the people there. It was such a different vibe from the first book. I loved it. Ice hockey was still a big part of the book, cause it's such a big part of Daniel, and seeing him torn between not wanting to leave his old live behind but also helping his sister and protecting her from having to marry such a douchbag. It hurt my heart.

It was a beautiful story that was quite predictably BUT THAT WAS JUST WHAT I NEEDED. I needed amazing friendships, loveable characters and a mindset of "everything is going to get really terrible before everything gets wrapped up in a nice little bow and all will be right in the world".

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.

After loving book 1, Just One of the Boys, so much, when this book became available to request on NetGalley, I don't think I could've pressed the request button any faster. Daniel and Madison were characters I was definitely intrigued about in the previous book, so having their story now told was a dream come true, and with the added royal element too. Daniel has been keeping a secret from all of his team mates, and best friend, and long time crush, Madison. The truth is, he's actually the illegitimate soon of the King of Eldonia, and therefore is a prince. He was happy living in Chicago with his mam, and though he loved his younger sister, Evangeline, he didn't want to have to live in Eldonia full time. However, when his father dies, he has to clean up his act, and portray himself as the perfect prince, ready to take over Eldonia, if necessary. Thinking it would be better to prove his seriousness if he had a girlfriend, he and Madison decide to pretend to be together, but with both of them having feelings for the other, will it work out well? Especially when it's revealed that Evangeline will have to marry some creep if it doesn't work out.

Now, I loved this book, maybe even more so than the first one. Daniel and Madison's characters were so perfect, and hearing from both of their PoV's improved the book so much. The fake relationship and friends-to-lovers tropes are some of my favourites in YA contemporaries, and in this book, having both go hand in hand was really good. I think the authors did it perfectly, and though Daniel might have a bad boy persona, he's really a softy at heart, especially around his sister and Madison. The secondary characters, including Alice and Hayden, all played small roles, and each added to the plot line in their own individual ways.

If book 1 was comparable to She's the Man, I'd say this book has a bit of a vibe of the story line from The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, again a film I adore. I can't wait to read Evangeline's story in the third instalment in this series, because she was a new character who I need to know more about.

I really enjoyed reading this book, and the characters was someone I wanted to read about! I hadn't read the first book when I got this, but I could easily read it as an stand-alone book without any trouble with it. Unfortunatley for me I forgot to review the book when I first read it, therefore it won't be written any lenghty review from me this time.
But I do know that i read it in just a couple of days during a vaccation, and it was a book i couldn't put down!

This was a fun and sweet romance read written really well by these two authors. The story flowed all the way through keeping me engaged all the way through the story.

This was a cute contemporary novel that was a short, quick, and easy read at midnight when I couldn't sleep. I have a select few people I would recommend this to because of the story and the writing style, but it was cute! I have a weakness for secret princes, ballroom scenes, and fake relationships, and this had all three, so I was loving that! However, I felt like the writing was a bit choppy and could have used another round of edits before even getting to the ARC stage.

I really liked Daniel and Madison's relationship. I liked that they were best friends and really had each other's backs. I almost wished that they didn't get together in the end though because it was nice to see a healthy male-female best friend relationship - you don't get that very often in YA books. But they were cute and supportive.

I thought the plot was very rushed though. IT felt like there were lulls and build up to ... nothing. It was obvious what the solution was and I felt like it was ridiculous that no one had thought of it sooner. Usually it is okay if a plot is obvious and I can predict what will happen because typically how it happens is different, unique, interesting, etc. But that wasn't really the case here. It felt pretty typical story that I've read a bunch of times before.

If you like hockey players, fake relationships, and secret princes, this is probably the book for you! If not, try something else instead.

So when I came across this book in the bloggers mailing list of the publisher, I couldn't pass up on the opportunity of requesting it. It's sports romance and it's hockey sports romance at that so yeah; that makes me want to read it, badly! Add in the fact that there are Royalties present as well... I really couldn't pass up on it haha. The synopsis made it look like this would be my kind of read! Was it my kind of read, in the end?

Yes, definitely! It has angst, it has drama - and drama is something I love every now and then - it has a great romance and some sports elements, combined with an easy going writing style. I also love the presence of the Royal element in it, with our male lead being a Prince in hiding. This book has 'Princess Diaries' & 'the Prince & Me'. If you're familiar with those movies and loved them, then you're really going to like this book!

It's ya contemporary so the romance is kind of fluffy sometimes, as you'd expect, but it can be intense as well and I loved how the intensity especially, was balanced out perfectly in this YA setting. The book was overall quite predictable but then again; isn't that the case a lot of times when it comes to certain types of books? I wasn't particularly bothered by it, but it is a reason as to why I don't rate certain books 5-stars for example, like this one.

I hadn't read the first book in the series yet but in my understanding the books are inter-connected and can be read as standalone technically. I didn't feel that I missed things by not having read the first book yet so there's that. I do like it though, when reading interconnected books in series, that I recognize characters from books earlier on in the series so I'm definitely planning on reading the first book sometime to see what the story of those main characters was like.

Overall, I enjoyed this sports romance a lot, despite it being quite predictable and there being quite some drama present from time to time. It was written in a way that just had me hooked you know? I kept flipping those pages so easily and that's a good thing to me. I liked the romance, the sports elements and the Royalties elements in it. It's a ya contemporary book I'd definitely recommend to anyone who likes reading these kind of books!

"But I know that in order to pull this off, I'm going to have to let go of every real thing about me. I'll have to become someone else, someone new, someone...royal" (chapter 6).

This review was originally posted on my blog: June Reads Books.

Happy book birthday to the second book in the Chicago Falcons series, Just One of the Royals by Leah and Kate Rooper! Thank you to the Rooper sisters, Entangled Teen, and Chapter by Chapter for my eARC of the book in exchange for an honest review. While I have not read the first book in the series, these books are actually just different stories about different people on this hockey team, so there isn't a ton of build up missing by jumping into the second book, and the reoccurring characters are reintroduced.

This book felt very much like The Princess Diaries vibes: Daniel is a prince who grew up living a normal life in Chicago. He needs to be whipped into shape and lose his bad image in order to take the throne of a small European country after the death of his father. The biggest difference is that he brings along his best friend and secret crush, Madison, to play the role of his girlfriend in order to improve his image. Boy, do things get messy there!

Madison's goal in life is to be a big time movie star, so when she is offered the role of a lifetime, and the opportunity for her big break if she succeeds, there's no way she'd turn it down! Especially when it means more time with her best friend. But with so much acting going on by both Daniel and Madison, how is anyone supposed to tell what's real and genuine, and what's not? Are the people they strive to portray taking them away from the people they really are?

Just like Mia Thermopolis, while learning about this country he is being asked to rule, Daniel learns about the people, the culture, and begins to love everything about it. He starts to take a genuine interest in the people around him, which is honestly one of the biggest character growth scenarios he goes through. It's no longer about what he wants when he wants it, but about how the people around him are affected.

The playboy who gets serious about one girl trope seems to be super common in YA contemporary books lately. It didn't really feel necessary to this plot--there are plenty of other ways Daniel can be selfish and unfit for the throne. From this aspect, there doesn't seem to be much creative liberty and I was wishing for more depth to Daniel.

This was the kind of read I needed. When it comes to contemporaries, sports romances are favorite kind to read. What caught my attention with this book was it's ice hockey player who's secretly a Prince, and the best friends to something more troupe. Just One of The Royals is one of those books you can pick up, and easily read within a few short hours. It's a light hearted, fun, fast paced, romantic theme read.

Aside from the sports theme, one of the things I liked about this book are the friendships. I liked that we got to see the dynamics of the friendships of the hockey team, to the girls, as well as the family dynamics of Daniel and his mother, and his sister Eva. Finally, a story with girls who can be friends without the mean girl drama, and cattiness. It was so refreshing to read! It was easy to like each of them without knowing a lot about them.

I liked the friendships even more than the romance. There wasn't any sort of chemistry between Madison and Daniel. I felt their friendship was more genuine than their relationship. Though it was natural to want these two to end up together. I would have liked to see their relationship, both the fake one they have, and the real one it turns into, a lot more developed.

Though this is the second book in a series, it definitely reads like a stand alone, which I liked, since I didn't read the first book in the series. However, now that I've met the characters from that book, I may have to go back and read it. I'm looking forward to reading Eva's story next, which comes out today.

There is some minor language in this book which may make it unsuitable for younger YA readers.

This was a really cute romance story. There was a lot of tension in the story that was very easy to see as you read. I was still a little lost in regards to the book because it felt like I was missing something. I couldn’t really get into this book myself, but it might be good for a young teen that likes romance stories.

tw: underage drinking

A special thank you goes out to Entangled Teen for allowing me to read an eARC of this book early. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Gosh, this story was so damn cute. I was smiling like an idiot almost the entire time I read the book. I seriously just love cute romance stories like these. It was just what I needed after a rough couple of months.

The tension in this story was so real, it was driving me mad. Daniel and Madison clearly had chemistry but both were just ignorant of it. The miscommunication between the two was so hilarious at times. We got POV from both of them so were privy to their thoughts. Often times I just had to shake my head.

While this book was adorable, it had it's serious moments. Madison, who is Korean American, is struggling with her parents and what they want from her. Madison wants to be an actress but her parents want her to be a doctor. My parents let us kids pursue whatever we wanted so I can only imagine how Madison must have felt. It would upset me so much if I wasn't allowed to even think about my dream job.

This book is the second of a series. Usually books like these can be read as a stand alone. This one does mention events that happened in the first book. So it might be best to read them in order. But it won't deter from your enjoyment if you decide to skip the first one.

Overall, this was an adorable story. I adored Madison and Daniel. I loved the tension and the wondering if they were ever going to be together. Check this out today!

This was... fine. I wasn't thinking this was a high school romance - I somehow missed that in the promo materials - and so a lot of the really important tension in this book felt off because I couldn't quite buy the age of the folks facing it. I enjoyed it, but it's not one that'll stay with me and I don't plan on following the series. If they had been seniors in college vs. seniors in high school, this would have flowed a lot better for me.

The concept was good.

But there was literally no character development – how old are they? Their dialogue was so juvenile, I was honestly thinking they were young teens (except when they said Eva was 16, that is the only part which gave me indication with how old they all were) but even then, yes, the dialogue made them sound like they were very young. And sure, you call them junior hockey team – is that junior in university? No, it couldn't be, because Madison wants to go to Julliard for the university, so it must be junior in high school. See? No one wants to be doing generic maths while reading a book.

I loved watching the Mighty Ducks growing up, and stories about royals are usually just really interesting in a contemporary setting because hello, when is that going to happen in real life to me? Unfortunately, the writing just didn't do the idea justice. And within the first 10%, everyone knew Daniel's "big secret" and I just couldn't get passed 57% because the whole idea that these seemingly-adult characters were juvenile just didn't interest me.

I was flicking through scenes. I was not paying attention to the dialogue. Nothing seemed to sit well with me, the writing was average and the dialogue I keep coming back to because it was just so...juvenile. There is no other word for it.

I think, with the right writing and the right setting, this book idea could be incredible. I think it would work so much better with adult characters – the intricacies of politics and romance could be explored so much more, and just, yeah, that's all I really have to say.

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2.5/5

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This was an arc provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

3 stars — OK. So. Hmmm… I adored the first book in this series, so I was excited to see more. But…while this one wasn’t bad, it was just missing something. The tropes in this story are friends to lovers and fake relationship, and I didn’t always understand their friendship, and I DEFINITELY didn’t understand the need for the fake relationship. So I didn’t get what I wanted from those tropes, you know?

Daniel could be really adorable, but I felt like there were two parts to him…and I guess I never really understood all of the bad boy stuff. Like was he putting on that persona because he was trying to live up to the bastard prince part? That would make sense, but honestly it wasn’t super clear. And it really didn’t make as much sense considering how sweet he was to his Ma, his sister, and Madison. I guess I didn’t see the point, especially if he was crushing on Madison the whole time. What’s the point in getting together with all those other girls? It wasn’t terribly endearing.

Madison could be really sweet as well, but she also got a bit annoying at times. I never really got into her passion for acting, b/c we didn’t get to see it…like at all. We were just told about it. And it really didn’t end up making sense with the fake relationship, I guess I just didn’t see it come into play. And of the two stories, Madison’s definitely felt like the one that fell by the wayside.

Neither of their stories felt all that concrete, and I didn’t feel a lot of development for either character either. At the end there was a bit, but it felt rushed by that point.

As for the two of them together, their chemistry was okay…but nothing mind-blowing. It certainly didn’t give me as many tummy butterflies as I was expecting. It really felt like their relationship wasn’t that well developed as a friendship at the start of the book, and so I didn’t really feel the progress from that to more. And in this case the back and forth got a bit tiring. It’s common in friends to lovers, but I just wasn’t invested and it didn’t feel like it was building up to something.

Like I said at the start, the whole fake relationship didn’t really make sense. Why was it even necessary? It never really came into play in the end. Daniel having an “honor roll” girlfriend did NOTHING to boost his status. Her role wouldn’t have changed a bit if she’d come as his best friend. So that was disappointing.

There were other little things that contributed to the okay-ness. I found some of their reactions too over the top…like the spaghetti sauce thing. It made it feel unrealistic. I also saw the twist coming from a mile away, and honestly I was disappointed that no one else saw it until the end.

The highlight for me in this book were the antics of the Falcons. It was a bit unbelievable at times, but I loved how they were there for each other. And I enjoyed the hockey bits — it felt like a true sports romance.

So yeah. In the end it felt like they tried to put too many elements into the story, and as a result didn’t really succeed at any of them. Too bad. I’ll still look forward to reading Tyler’s story, but I sincerely hope it’s more focused.

The book was exactly what I was expecting, based on the summary. Sometimes, you just want to read a Cinderella type of story, no matter how cheesy or cliched it is. And that's exactly what I got here. We have a secret prince, a castle and crown, and a possible Cinderella.

The characters were very well done. More complex than I expected they would be. And the book is very clean, for modern YA standards. I really liked the ending. Sure, it wrapped up pretty much as I anticipated from the beginning, but the great prose and the real life characters made it deeper and more touching.

I recommend the book for anyone who needs more monarchy and romance in their lives.

Disclaimer: I received a copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

*copy received via netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

I loved this book! It was a fun and quick read but I really enjoyed it anyways. I must admit that I liked the first book a bit more because it felt more real than this one, but I would still recommend this one if you're in the mood for something funny, light and not too long.
The story itself is nothing new but it was really nice the way it was told and although I really enoyed it, I wish it were a bit longer and more elaborated.
Other than that, I enjoyed reading this story.