“Does one adhere to matters of the heart or head? Does one follow duty or love?” (quote from the book)

That is the basis of this lovely historical novel by Jen Geigle Johnson.
There’s just a slight touch of a “fairy tale” feel all throughout the book, and I enjoyed following the romance between Prince Layton and Aribella. All the characters in this book are interesting; and I liked that the author gave both Prince Layton and Aribella loving and caring families. Their families ended up being quite the contrast from situations of the real historical characters in this book, Queen Charlotte and King George III.

This is a sweet, clean regency romance that has a theme of doing what is best for your family, even if it means giving up dreams of your own. I’m already looking forward to the coming sequels to this book.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

#AForeignCrown #NetGalley

I love this new series! A broken down castle, a lady in waiting, pirates, princes, kings and queens and princesses are all apart of this novel. Aribella was such a wonderful character, along with Layton. I had a hard time putting this book down. I could picture the descriptive writing of places in this book.

This is a beautifully written historical fiction romance set in England in 1810 during the Napoleanic War. The main characters, Lady Aribella and Prince Layton have such depth and love of family and country that the reader can't help but like them. I loved how they were pulled to each other and that they constantly struggled between following their hearts and their sense of duty. It made me want to keep reading until the end to find out if they ended up together or chose another option. I also had a foreboding sense that something tragic might happen before they could find true happiness. I would recommend this book to readers that enjoy historical fiction!
Thank you to NetGalley and Covenant Communications for an ARC of this book in exchange of my honest review!

Oh my!! Another lovely read by an author that's quickly become one of my favorites, and an auto-read for me the past couple of years. I love how the author weaves historical facts into her historical romantic fiction. This one takes place in the court of King George III, his wife Queen Charlotte, and Prince George (Prinny) when Aribella is summoned by the Queen to be one of her ladies-in-waiting in the place of her recently deceased mother.

Aribella is the daughter of a duke but she and her father are struggling to get by. It's been a rough year because of drought and tenants leaving, in addition to her father's ill health. When he dies the estate will be taken over by a distant cousin, who's also proposed marriage to Aribella. Before that thought can settle into her mind enough for a response, a letter from Queen Charlotte arrives requesting Aribella to take her mother's place as one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting for the next several months.

Prince Layton, the youngest of eight sons, goes to England to request help from King George III for help with Napoleon's privateers off the coast of his country. On the way there he helps a carriage which is also going to the palace, and is captivated by one the young ladies he encounters. Layton finds the bright side of spending (wasting) time in King George's court waiting to speak to him, is getting to spend time with one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting, the charming Lady Aribella.

Aribella and Layton were perfect for one another, and neither liked the politics of the court. They were both honorable and cared for their countries enough to resist their mutual attraction to each other and forgo a relationship to help their respective countries even though circumstances kept throwing them together. Theirs was a sweet love story and I loved how they managed to be together in the end.

I loved Aribella and Layton's meet-cute. Right away Layton knew she wasn't like the other ladies-in-waiting in the Queen's court. Speaking of the Queen's court, I never knew what ladies-in-waiting did and loved learning about it. This book made me want to learn more about King George III, Queen Charlotte and their many children. I loved Aribella and Layton's story and devoured it as much as I could without neglecting everything else in life. I hope the author has more stories in store for us about Layton's brothers.

I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley and Covenant Communications, but also purchased a copy for my personal library. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

A Foreign Crown by Jen Geigle Johnson, 240 pages. Covenant Communications, 2020. $16.
Language: G (0 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Prince Layton is in England to secure allies and naval assistance for his little country and absolutely not to spend time courting women. But, if Layton were to entertain such an idea, he would spend his time with the lovely Lady Aribella. Too bad they are both bound by duty, unable to listen to what their hearts insist is a good thing.
I enjoyed reading the story, though the ending seemed a little anticlimactic as it tied everything together, simply by nature of a book that is 99 percent internal conflict. Both main characters war within themselves: duty or love, mind or heart. I hesitate to encourage the theme of choosing one or the other because life is often messy, and I hope readers will choose a balance in their lives and seek what is best for them individually rather than making a rash choice because of the message of a book.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen

I am a huge fan of historical novels, and this offering by Jen Geigle Johnson ticks all of the boxes. A Foreign Crown is wonderful tale set during the French Revolution. Johnson has created a fictional tale amidst historically accurate details of King George's Court. It is full of adventure, intrigue, and love. Aribella Bardsley, daughter of a Duke, has been summoned by the Queen Charlotte to serve as a lady- in -waiting. Prince Layton, Christian Wilhelm of Oldenburg, has been sent by his father to enlist the aid of the English Crown to assist in Oldenburg's battle with French pirates. The Queen is interested in Christian setting a cap for one of her daughters. Marrying one of the princesses would help his family out politically. Aribella's estate is entailed to Lord Bartholomew, and Lord Bartholomew is interested in courting her. Marrying him will allow her to become the Duchess of her beloved family estate. Lady Aribella and Prince Layton Christian Wilhelm meet at King George the III's court and sparks fly. Both Prince Layton and Lady Aribella must decide between duty and the desires of their heart.

I received an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

While the Regency is an obscenely popular time period in historical romance, I can think of very few that involve the Royal Family playing significant roles in the plot. And that’s the charm of A Foreign Crown: we see the fictional Aribella and Prince Layton interacting with Prinny, Queen Charlotte, and the princesses, as well as a fairly believable portrait of what it might have been like for them as King George III was ill, and all of them trying to figure out what to do.

And Layton, as a prince of a fictional country, provides the story with more of a broader scope of European politics , as he is in England to establish diplomatic relations while the war against Napoléon is raging. I like that he’s trying to do the right thing, even trying to sacrifice his own happiness when he falls for Aribella.

I really liked Aribella as well, and how she was a genuinely caring person. I could empathize with her feeling compelled in her own way to do what was expected of her in terms of marriage to someone suitable whom she doesn’t love, while falling for Layton.

This is a delightful sweet romance, and one I’d recommend to Regency and royalty fans!

If you love books about...
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•Royalty
•Forbidden love
•Regency
•Court gossip and intrigue
•A Prince with swoon-worthy quotes
.
This one is for you! It was such a sweet romance. I loved following the court drama during Regency England and a glimpse into the life of the royal family. When Aribella meets Prince Layton visiting from another country, they are instantly drawn to each other, but both have different duties and plans. How will they find a way to each other?
I liked the premise of the book, but I wish we could have seen more of a convincing relationship grown between the two MC’s. It felt more based on lust than an actual connection. The pacing of the story also felt a little strange, and some parts of the story felt rushed
Thank you to the author and .Covenant Communication for the copy in exchange for review.

I loved these characters!!! Lady Aribella and Prince Layton both have a strong sense of duty, but will it win out over their hearts? This book is beautifully written and paints a vivid picture for the imagination. I am thrilled that their are many more princes to read about, as this is the beginning of a series. The romance is clean and full of tension. I would definitely recommend this book!

This novel was extremely well-written. The conflict was intense between the tricky political entanglements and the suggest romantic interests. Lady Aribella finds herself at court for the first time as the closest confidant to the queen while everything and Prince Layton finds himself trying to balance the princess's machination while gaining aid for his small country. The romance between the two slowly grows and everything seems impossible. This conflict made me invested in reading the story until the end. The anguish of the characters was real.

Jen Geigle Johnson brought the political intricacies of the war against Napoleon to life with Prince George as a strong supporting characters and Prince Layton as a strong main character fully involved in the naval warfare as his country enters the war. This was a great story to set the stage for understanding the regency era.

4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
About the book • A Foreign Crown • Author, Jen Geigle Johnson • Published by Covenant Communications • Release Date, August 3rd, 2020 • Clean Romance • Historical Romance • Exciting • Great Summer Read • Beautiful Cover
I really, really enjoyed this and loved Aribella and Layton. Their romance was wonderful, with lots of chemistry. I couldn’t get enough of them. JGJ did a good job. I don’t think I’ve read a book about the royal court in England before and learned of few things.
I just didn’t want it to end and I experienced all the feels with this one. JGJ is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors and I highly recommend this book.

Thank you NETGALLEY and the publisher for this ARC, in exchange for my honest review. ♥️

Will country matters tear them apart ...

I have read many books with real characters having a say in the plot line, last one was with Queen Elizabeth and I loved this side of the story by Elizabeth Keysian, Lord of Deception.
But here, it is nearly the whole family of King George III that are side characters, each playing a role in the troubles the heroes find themselves in and set at a time of big changes.
It was like an insight from the inside of the court life.
The hero and heroine are two sweet characters like their romance is, they are trustworthy persons and not very good at playing court’s games.
Aribella appears as very innocent and naive, so I wondered why as she knew she would be called to the court, she didn’t use her mother’s knowledge to prepare herself better to the conundrum the life as a lady-in-waiting might be with its web of deceits and the many falsities that would surround her.
Layton has too to learn to navigate the trouble waters of the English court, he came with a purpose and sitting idly without real goal does not suit him fine. Yet, upon meeting Aribella, his days became less boring, she intrigued him.
But things look like they are not meant to be, as everyone is determined to set them apart. Soon they find themselves torn between their duty to their own crown and the voice of their heart.

Their romance is a cute whirling affair, drawn to one another but set apart by crown’s matters.
4 stars

I was granted an advance copy by the publisher Covenant Communications, here is my true and unbiased opinion.

Oh my gosh, this book was amazing! Getting to see the royal family that led up to the regency era was so fun. Having a Scandinavian country is always good for me as I'm a quarter Norwegian. Jen Geigle Johnson is a master at weaving beautiful love stories into real history. This is definitely a great story, with princes and princesses aplenty.

A NEW FAMILY OF HANDSOME PRINCES ARE READY FOR REGENCY ROMANCE

Not many regency, historical romances feature royals. Not imagined and certainly not historical. This book went against the grain. Here, the British royal family played major parts in the plot. Also, a whole country and new royal family was invented. A royal family that included 8 handsome, single princes!

👍 WHAT I LIKED 👍

Historical characters: Like I said, having actual historical people be characters in a historical romance is very rare. Having them be major, supporting characters is pretty much unheard of. But that's the case here. Queen Charlotte, the princesses, King George and the Prince Regent are all major players in this story and I really enjoyed seeing something so real in a historical romance novel.

Romance: Layton and Aribella, our two main characters, have a sweet, honest and real connection. It is obvious that there are true feelings - the relationship is fleshed out so nicely. It makes the relationship seem believable and more than just lust. Though, they were a bit quick to be attracted to one another, but still. I liked them together.

👎 WHAT I DISLIKED 👎

Plot: Honestly, there wasn't much of a plot. Not aside from the romance that is. Aribella is starting as lady in waiting to the Queen. Layton is a visiting dignitary searching for military support for his country. All the while, King George is slipping into madness. Honestly, there wasn't much to it. There wasn't much of an urgency. Not much of a reason to keep reading aside from the building relationship between Layton and Aribella.

This book was unique from the regency romances I typically read because it dealt with real royals from a real country. Usually a book might reference Prinny from a distance but this book showed interactions with him as well as the King and Queen of England. Much of the book took place within the various royals' homes. It dealt with actual historical people and events. And that got me interested in the actual history. I had to read about what the princess died from and what caused the king's madness. While doing that I read points that showed elements of the writing that were taken from history. I might have wondered why the author stuck in some of the behavioral things of the King or Queen but found they were based in historical fact. So that was interesting for me. I also had no idea how things worked with a Lady in Waiting so that was interesting too.

I liked the main characters. It was kind of insta-love for them. And I was amazed at their ease in deciding to do what was best for their families and countries instead of wanting to do what would make them happy.

Sex: no
Language: no
Violence: brief Navy confrontation
*I received a complimentary ARC of this book and voluntarily chose to review it

This book was amazingly good!! It had so much depth with intrigue and a wonderful love story. I look forward to her next book.

I enjoyed reading this Regency Romance. Lady Aribella grew up in the country as an only child. Given all the upbringing of a Lady-in-waiting, yet not afraid to get her hands dirty and help the servants when years of hardship and drought nearly ruin her family’s home and very legacy. Aribella’s kindness and genuine heart draw other’s to her. I have to say that I was slightly surprised toward the end with her unexpected boldness, but I won’t spoil anything by telling you more.

Prince Layton arrives in England seeking an audience with the King on behalf of his own father the king of Oldenburg in hopes to gain the English King’s support and help with Navy Ships to help protect his county from attack by Napoleon. But when his path crosses that of Aribella, his heart can not help but long for more than a passing friendship.

Will political intrigue and machinations keep Lady Aribella and Prince Layton from discovering a future that they only dared dream of? I guess you will just have to pick up a copy of this intriguing book to find out!

(I receive complimentary books from publishers, publicists, and/or authors, including Netgalley. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own.)

Aribella is naive, almost ridiculously so.
The Princesses are considered sheltered, but next to Aribella they are positively worldly wise.

She trusts Layton with vital, highly sensitive information that is not hers to share, breaking confidence to do so, with no concrete evidence that he is trustworthy; just her own infatuation with him. Disappointing.

Lord Bartholemew, far from being the pompous windbag we expect the inheritor of an entailed estate to be, is a charming gentleman who genuinely cares about his cousin. Which makes it all the more disappointing that Aribella refuses to even consider him as a prospect due to her infatuation with Prince Layton.

Initially I found Aribella a likeable character who had some depth to her. As the story went on however, I found her lacking; in morals, in honesty, and in depth of character. As much as I wanted to, I could find no real substance to her attraction to the Prince, other than that she found him physically attractive and liked kissing him.

A readable, but ultimately disappointing story.

This was a nice read, although I have to admit that I wanted to enjoy it more than I did. It seemed like so much of the book was the hero and heroine waiting and worrying about their situations, but without doing a whole lot. However, that said, this book takes place in a royal court where, yes, a foreign royal and a lady-in-waiting are pretty much at the beck and call of the English royals. So I get it...I just kept waiting for things to pick up. I enjoyed reading about the made-up country, life in the royal court, and both characters had great stakes at the beginning of the story. Though I wanted more from the romance and the plot, this certainly doesn't keep me from wanting to try out other books by this author. And man, that cover is gorgeous!

Jen Geigle Johnson does historical romance with an eye for detail and a strong sense of the human connection.  She has delivered wonderful characters and a story arc that gives insight into the transfer of power from King George to the Prince Regent.  The intrigues of court and the challenges of expectations are well illustrated.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.