A fun, and sometimes funny, m/m romance that I ended up wanting to like more than I did.

I really enjoyed the characters, but the frenetic pacing with the constant one-liners stayed on the same emotional note a tad too long, making the story seem longer than it was. Splitting it up over many days helped, also, the utterly delightful Pax. Much as I liked their royal highnesses, I ended up wishing it was their (meaning Pax's) story, the focus on them.

Thank you to @netgalley and @inkyardpress for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I loved the premise of this novel. Royal twins separated at birth that happen to run into each other setting of a spiral of unexpected events. Princess Diaries meets Parent Trap meets Red White and Royal Blue meets American Royals series. This story addresses how royal families must live up to a certain image, homophobia, the paparazzi, and how families (blood or not) are the most important in the end.

Overall, it was a fun read. Pretty far-fetched, but that did not make it any less enjoyable. If you want a book of characters, you can cheer on, this book is for you.

4 stars

#books #bookishlife #booklover #readingisfun #iowabookstagrammers #iowabookstagram #netgalley #inkyardpress #ltbreaderteam #ataleoftwoprinces #ericgeron

This reviewer supports the HarperCollins Union. I have read this title and written a review, but I will not be uploading it here or on any other platforms until the HarperCollins Union receives a fair contract. As NetGalley requires the use of a star rating, I have provided a neutral 3-star rating which will be updated to my actual star rating alongside my actual review once the HarperCollins Union receives a fair contract.

Update 2/25/23:
What would you say to a book with The Princess Diaries vibes, but with two gay princes? I know, I was also immediately in.

Please Note: While I read this book at the beginning of the January, I haven’t talked about it until now due to the HarperCollins Union strike. Now that the union has (finally!) received the contract they've been fighting for, let me tell you about Edward Dinnissen and Billy Boone.

Edward is the Crown Prince of Canada and he loves everything about it - except that he has to stay in the closet for fear of what his parents and the citizens of his country will say. On the flip side, Billy is an out and proud cowboy in a small town in Montana who feels like there is something missing in his life. A chance encounter between the two in New York leads to the discovery that they are long-lost twins. With this new knowledge, they work to figure out their new normal while navigating high school, coming out, and a coronation.

This book was so much fun from start to finish! The dual POV really helped to show how different Edward and Billy were from each other while also subtly showing what they needed from each other. Our twinces (IYKYK) are very clearly products of their upbringing and their actions and motivations are easy to understand throughout. Additionally, the supporting characters are also fully fleshed out individuals that really pulled the entire story together. I could read a book centered around any of them really and I think that says a lot about the strength of writing.

Curveballs get thrown at the characters throughout the story and, while they weren’t always a surprise, they flowed effortlessly and never felt like they were just tossed in to add drama. A lot of plot points that are revealed later in the story (especially during the climax) felt super obvious once they were presented but were not things that I felt confident thinking were absolutely going to happen. I was kept second guessing myself and my theories throughout the book, and that was an incredibly fun journey.

DNF @ 46%. I wanted to like this book. It’s a trope that’s usually right up my alley. But the characters were simplistic and there wasn’t much of a plot beyond them hating each other.

This is a charming “what if” story of royal twins separated at birth. Neither knows the other exists, and one has no idea they are even royal, until a chance encounter one day. Now both their lives, and the lives of their families, have been completely turned upside down, and the fate of the monarchy might just hang in the balance.

The characters are endearing, the romances are worth rooting for, and the plot is just whimsical enough (Canadian monarchy, anyone?). There is some homophobia on the part of some side characters, so just be aware of that, but the book as a whole is a celebration of LGBTQA+ self-love and love.

Thank you to Harper Collins and Netgalley for an e arc or this one..
I actually liked this more than I was expecting! Love the gay twins and the split up at birth storyline. I was very mad on behalf of one of the characters at some points haha. This was cute and loved the romance!

An interesting take on a royalty romance. The book is very campy, and has themes like internalized homophobia that make the book so relatable. I’m glad I got an advance copy to read. This book is one I wish I could have read 20 years ago when I was a teenager.

That being said, the concept of a Canadian monarchy was weird. The world building could use a lot of work. The book was clunky to read at times because some things just didn’t make sense. Like the monarchy’s official merch contributing to the bottom line? That seems like a weird thing to include.

Overall, the 3 stars are more for the themes and relatable characters. I appreciate the out and proud characters and I also appreciate the struggles with internalized homophobia. This book was okay, but not much more than that.

I really expected to love this one, so I'm super disappointed that I didn't. It had a solid premise, but I didn't love any of the characters. In fact, some of them really bugged me. I know that Edward was scared of losing the only thing that made him special (in his eyes), but the way he treated Billy was horrible.

As someone who LOVED Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, I was super excited at the premise of A Tale of Two Princes, however, the story fell a little flat to me. The story is fast paced and the energy is more than a bit frenetic, but it was the "voice" of the characters that made the book an ok read for me. There was not enough individuality in their characters that the zingers and one-liners often sounded the same where I had to double check who was speaking in the moment. Still, this was this a fun book with great representation and I would still recommend it YA/NA audiences.

I love what this book represents and all the issues it tackles, but it seemed a little original and a little like stuff I've already read a million times. Wasn't terrible, just meh for me!

A Tale of Two Princes
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 1/10/23
Author: Eric Geron
Publisher: Inkyard Press
GR: 3.47

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Inkyard Press and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

My Thoughts: I loved the premise of this story. A hospital mix-up leads to two princes on opposite sides of the world and accidentally meet when both are in New York. Getting the prince ready for the ceremony turns out to be much more challenging than initially thought. This book covers an array of issues, character growth, and just an easy read. This story explores how royals could maintain the facade, homophobia, how intrusive the media can be, and how much family matters.

The overall tone is portrayed as light hearted. I loved the societal issues this book tackles. The story is narrated in a dual POV by both Billie and Edward. There are splashes of media excerpts, which I enjoyed. Billie from Montana is strong, family-oriented, and secure in his sexuality. Edward from Canada, is quite the opposite, not secure in his sexuality, starts with being selfish, but has a lot of character growth. My favorite supporting character has to be Pax, he is fun, lighthearted, doesn’t take life too seriously, and is the life of the party. The characters were developed well with depth, witty banter, and creatively built up. The author placed a note at the beginning of the book, which I appreciated. The author’s writing style was clean, humorous, engaging, and intriguing.

Overall, this was a light, fun read. While some of the premises in this book may seem far fetched, that is not what the story impresses, it more about not being put in a box and how perception image does not always match up, and lastly, it is about following your dreams, always. I recommend picking up this lovely story.

I was granted eARC access to A Tale of Two Princes by Eric Geron courtesy of HarperCollins Canada as part of my participation in the HCC Influencers program. Thank you, as always, for these amazing reading opportunities! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.

Edward is the heir apparent to the throne of Canada (yes, Canada!) currently serving a year-long grounding quietly tucked away at a high-class school in NYC. Billy is the eldest child and only son of a widowed farmer from Montana, and although he knows he can't ever really leave Montana and the farm, he wants to audition for Julliard, just for the experience. When the two cross paths in NYC, no one can help but notice their distinctly similar appearances. Identical, in fact. Like long-lost twins...

Where do I start with this one? I'm honestly so torn on how to rate it. On the one hand, this is a marginally predictable mashup of The Prince and the Pauper, The Parent Trap, and Gossip Girl, and I have a bone to pick with the author about maple-everything (I'll circle back to that.) On the other hand, the last third of this book had me in tears, in a complicated but overall positive way, and the human rights wishes this book has for Canada, the monarchy, etc. are fantastic and truly deserve attention.

This book is told in alternating first-person perspectives between our two princes, Edward and Billy. Other key characters along for the ride are Billy's mother, his rising social media star of a younger sister Mack, and his non-binary fashion designer diamond-in-the-rough best friend Pax. In Edward's corner, we have their parents, King Frederick and Queen Daphnee, best friend Neel, suspected girlfriend Fi, and royal advisor Gord. If you can keep a cast of 10 and 2 perspectives straight then you're all good, this book is easy reading and it really flew by.

Each character is distinct, well-rounded, and mostly given just as much page time as I felt they deserve. I think Neel could have used some more spotlight, as he's the Pax of camp Edward, but other than that I think we get to know everyone well enough. Edward and Billy are both very alike and very different, as one might expect from identical twins raised apart, and I didn't have any trouble distinguishing between the two and following along with perspective flips. The discovery of a long-lost older twin puts Edward's succession status in question, and this leads to teenage angst-filled sibling rivalry that is absolutely boiling under pressure. I can see how some readers might side with Billy and hate Edward for it, but I empathized with both boys in different ways, and it was really interesting to see the two of them go through so much emotional growth and this book unfolds.

This book is absolutely full of positive LGBTQIA+ representation and sincere wishes for equality of human rights in all levels of society. In this alternate timeline present-day Canada which hosts and celebrates a home-grown branch of the Commonwealth monarchy, homophobia and traditionalism are huge barriers for a gay prince to overcome. It's not really a secret to anyone with open eyes that the monarchy in the real world doesn't have any prominent "out" members anywhere near the line of succession, and it would be a huge scandal if one were to raise their voice. This book dares to challenge that, and I love it. As a non-binary person, I also adore the handling and spotlight of a prominent supporting character who exclusively uses they/them pronouns and has some clever suggestions for less gendered lingo.

Now, let's get back to that bone I mentioned earlier. First, both as a Canadian and as someone who studied Canadian and British history at the university level, it took at least half the book to stop being pulled back to reality by the cognitive dissonance of the idea that Canada wanted and celebrates a home-grown branch of the monarchy, rather than wishing the whole thing was simply abolished. While I personally have no problem with maintaining the mostly figurative role the monarchy plays in Canada's government and culture, I would be a fool not to acknowledge that there is a huge portion of the population that does not support the monarchy and cried out that the passing of the crown to HRM King Charles III would have been an ideal time to back out of that particular tradition. There are some comments here and there in the book that acknowledge Quebec doesn't support it, but to pretend that only Quebec doesn't support it is far too optimistic.

Now let's move on the maple. Not everything needs to be maple! It doesn't need to be a term of endearment, it doesn't need to be a curse word, it doesn't need to be the flavour of everything edible at all times, and I sincerely down "The Maple Crown" is what we'd go with if adopting a Canadian royal family won the popular vote to begin with. Take it from a nearly 35-year-old Canadian who has lived in multiple provinces: most of us don't like maple THAT much! Maybe Quebec does, they do harvest it, but not the majority of the rest of us. For most people, it's just the type of syrup we put on our pancakes. You hear about maple-everything because it's sold in our tourist traps and we do, admittedly, freeze it onto sticks in the snow like a lollipop on special occasions. I guess in short what I'm trying to say is that as a Canadian reader, I can tell the author is not Canadian, and while I'm flattered on behalf of Canada for the positive attention, it doesn't ring true to the experience of being Canadian and the maple thing seriously felt like a tired joke by the second chapter.

I thought I was done with maple, but really? The farm boy from Montana just happens to love putting maple in odd things? Is it supposed to literally flow in his veins because he's actually Canadian? Okay, I'm done now.

Overall, A Tale of Two Princes is a charming, heart-wrenching, pride-flag-waving royal adventure that's definitely worth a read. This is my first encounter with Eric Geron's work but it won't be my last, that's for sure!

I'm going to be honest I just didn't like this. This concept is over done at this point and nothing about this was original. It rehashed the same things all the other "royal" romances have done and it definitely didn't do it better. I felt like I had read this a million times which is just disappointed. I'm not saying this book was bad it was just boring. I'm sure plenty of people will like it i just didn't.

I wanted to love it, but I just couldn't. Long lost twinces......Royal crowns.......and scheming nobility, what's not to love you ask? The predictably and the pacing.

Sad to say I did not make it through the early chapters on this. I found the writing extremely jittery, and the question of “how did Canada end up with a royal family?” was distracting me from all the character work.

I’d love to review this but will not be doing so until the HarperCollins Union’s demands are meant and fair wages, diversity initiatives and union security are implemented.

This book really just took me for a ride. I loved the build up, the character development, and the writing. I would definitely read more from this author!

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: A Tale of Two Princes

Author: Eric Geron

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 4/5

Diversity: Gay MC, Queer (mostly identified as gay, but also as queer) MC, Gay characters, MM romances, Black non-binary gender-nonconforming character, Queer characters

Recommended For...: young adult readers, contemporary, alternate reality Canada, queer, LGBT, romance, retellings, Gay, MM romance

Publication Date: January 10, 2023

Genre: YA Contemporary Romance

Age Relevance: 14+ (cancer, parental death, homophobia, death, anxiety attack, animal slaughter)

Explanation of Above: There are mentions of cancer and parental death. Homophobia is shown and mentioned throughout the book. Death is discussed and talked about. There are a couple of scenes where an anxiety attack is shown. There is a mention of animal slaughter with cows once in the book.

Publisher: Inkyard Press

Pages: 448

Synopsis: Edward Dinnissen, Crown Prince of Canada, loves getting the royal treatment at his exclusive Manhattan private school and living in a fancy mansion on Park Avenue. But despite living a royal life of luxury, Edward is unsure how to tell his parents, his expectant country, and his adoring fans that he’s gay.

Billy Boone couldn’t be happier: he loves small-town life and his family’s Montana ranch, and his boyfriend is the cutest guy at Little Timber High. But this out-and-proud cowboy is finally admitting to himself that he feels destined for more . . .

When Edward and Billy meet by chance in New York City and discover that they are long-lost twins, their lives are forever changed. Will the twin princes—“twinces”— be able to take on high school, coming out, and coronations together? Or will this royal reunion quickly become a royal disaster?

Review: This was a cute book and I loved the alternate reality of it. The book, which follows two twin princes as they navigate suddenly finding each other and handling the passing of the monarchy from one twin to another, takes place dually in Canada (where the monarchy reigns) and America. I liked the story, it reminded me a little of the Prince and the Pauper, but also had a lot of Princess Diary and Sister Sister vibes to it. The book had a great feel to it and it flowed pretty well. The character development was great as was the world building.

However, I had a couple of issues with the book. I thought that the character of Pax was a bit too stereotyped in a few places, but I’m not an ownvoice reviewer in that aspect so please refer to ownvoice reviewers about their thoughts on the character. I also absolutely hated everyone in this book except for Billy (and Pax mostly). Every character rubbed me the wrong way and I couldn’t help but feel for Billy the most, even though he was blamed the most. It infuriated me to say the least and I don’t know if it was my personal feelings on the matter or the book’s writing that caused me to feel like this.

Verdict: It was good!

I gave this a four out of five stars. I liked the relationships, family, and friendships in this story. I liked seeing nonbinary rep in this book. This is a story about twins that got separated at birth and one of them learns they are the prince of Canada on a trip to New York.

A fun, but occasionally over the top contemporary YA fiction novel. In A Tale of Two Princes, you get a look at what might happen if a royal figure came out as queer. Edward is the crown prince of Canada, which, in this universe, has become a monarchy under the rule of his parents. He's been trained to take over as king since he was born, and he's in the closet due to concerns that it wouldn't be accepted. Billy lives on a Montana ranch with his mother and sister. His life is all about the ranch and his violin. He's out and proud. Their lives are separate until... a chance run in leads to the startling discovery that these boys are identical twins! The story unfolds as Billy adapts to this new life as a prince, and Edward learns to take a step back.
This is a fun premise, with a main character finding out that not only is he a twin, but also royalty. Very wacky. You can't help but like Billy- he tries so hard to fit into his new life. Edward was a little harder to connect with, since his character starts out trying to sabotage his newfound brother (of course, that in itself is relatable, as he's losing something that he's worked for his whole life). Obviously he redeems himself by the end. I enjoyed Pax and Mack the most out of the characters. I didn't really feel that the romance elements were super necessary in this novel, but I get why they were there. The main message about acceptance worked well. The novel is campy for sure, but pretty enjoyable overall.