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I absolutely loved diving into this enchanting world filled with charm and whimsy. Following Princess Zoyechka on her journey to find a husband among a diverse pool of suitors was captivating. Each character brought something unique to the table, making the competition feel real and engaging. The writing was vibrant, balancing humor and romance while introducing an intriguing spy subplot that kept me on my toes.

The themes of self-discovery, friendship, and the tension between personal desires and royal duties added depth to the story. The clever tropes, like “princess in disguise” and “enemies to lovers,” made it a delightful escape. I found myself rooting for Zoyechka as she navigated the complexities of love and loyalty, eagerly flipping pages to see who she would choose. This book left me wanting more!

A Royal heir has come of age to marry. Due to the terms of the treaty the throne has with all the nations within the empire, one woman from each country is sent to win the heart of Prince Zadkiel. Over weeks of interacting with each contestant and watching them interact with each other and others, the Prince will decide on who will make a good future empress and who will make him happy. It isn't as easy as it would seem. 
I had not read the first book in the series first, but I will go back and read about the Prince's mother's Competition. But let's focus on this competition. 
12 women vying for the title of empress makes for a boring premise….Not! Cat fights are the norm as a few "spirited" contestants will do nearly anything to be the one chosen. The Prince comes from royalty, but it is a royalty that is rare. They are a loving family who tries to respect everyone from all walks of life. It doesn't mean they are ideal, but they are wanting to change how royalty acts. That doesn't mesh too well with a few of their subjects who want to subjugate others. 
Zadkiel has some of the funniest scenes with these contestants. I could see these on screen in my mind and would laugh out loud. The Prince is not uptight. Yes, he can be proper when the moment calls for it, but he can be a fun-loving guy when he's in private. I mean he literally runs from some of these women when they get a little too possessive of him. 
Then there is his family. They have their own unique personalities that have you wanting to know them all so well, including the emperor and empress. The characters are wonderfully crafted enough to have me wanting to jump into the pages and have fun with them. 
Then there is a mystery. It is not the focal point of the story, but it drives some of the plot from wherever it is hiding. I'd forget about the mystery as I focused on the great characters. Then it would raise its shrouded head and have me wanting to get in on the hunt. 
Oh, let me mention the world the store is set in. It seems to be set back a few hundred years ago but with races such as dwarves, pixies, and elves like we read in most fantasy stories. It is a mix of the world we know and that of the worlds we'd love to know. 
This is a great read. I'll be going back to read book 1 and will be looking for the next books to come out. I want to get to know them all so much more.

Thank you to Netgally, the publishers, and Zoiy Galloay

When I requested this book I was unaware that it was apart of a series, one that requires you to read the previous books for this one to make sense. I am unable to read all the previous books along with this one before the publish date. Therefore, I will rate this a fair 3/5 stars and will adjust the rating and review when I am able to read all the books in the series along with this one.

3.75/5 stars! If you tell me there is an assassin in a book, I am 1000% on board. This was my first read by author Zoiy Galloay and I wasn't disappointed. This felt like a slightly more deeply developed Two Princesses of Bamarre, which was a fan-favorite of mine when I was a teenager. I did feel like the premise was a bit of a lie because it made it sound like there'd be a bit of spice, which was lacking. That being said, it was an easy book to enjoy and quickly picked up pace after a slow 15-20% start.

I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

It took me long - too long. I always struggle when I can't finish a book, especially when I committed to do so. However, I could not go on. The characters didn't catch my attention, I felt nothing for them - except for the "good" queen who killed her brother for being a bastard to take the throne... seriously? I don't know if at some point the characters will notice that she is evil - but after a few chapters of her being praised for being so good and wise and so on and so forth (the prince clearly has some sort of Oedipus syndrome) I was pissed. She is a bloody murderer! Psycho queen aside, everyone else was simply not smart enough nor interesting enough. Which is sad, I had really high hopes. I also think that there is an audience for this, I am just not it. On the positive side, the world seemed quite intriguing, a little less ifo-dumps would have helped it along.

I enjoyed this book so much! It was a very nice continuation of the series. The writing was well done and the romance was so cute! I would highly recommend this book.

Takes place about 18 years after the he first book.
It follows the son of the girl from the first book
It's time for his matchmaking competition.
Nobody was really likeable. I think he shouldn't pick any of the girls

Too many POVs, and they are not done well.

Badly written: weird grammar mistakes, scenes/chapters that add nothing to the story, careless decisions that do not advance the plot.

A mess.

Not my type of fantasy! I’m personally a duck up for male pov’s but I just could not stand Zandkiel. Most of the time he came like a spoiled prince instead of the Heir to the Throne.
Loved Grace, she’s perfect!

Did not finish, sorry. Did not finish, sorry. Did not finish, sorry. Did not finish, sorry. Did not finish, sorry. Did not finish, sorry. Did not finish, sorry. Did not finish, sorry

I DFN!’d this book as it was not for me. Nothing captivated my attention or appalled to me unfortunately.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

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!

Still having a good time with this series. This book felt longer than the last one, but I think that's because there was a bit more intrigue put in. Instead of someone coming directly after the prince, there are questions about different cities breaking off from Velazian rule, the dwarf slave trade, and who may be betraying the royal family.

Listen, this isn't groundbreaking. It's not going to be the best thing you've ever read. HOWEVER, it's honestly a fun time and I enjoyed my time reading it. I looked forward to picking it back up each time and I'm still questioning who to believe. I will absolutely pick up the next one.

Having read the first book in the series I was hoping for something better this time.

Unfortunately, it was much the same.

The story read very much like a series of Love Island.

The story also did not finish, leaving with a cliff hanger, presumably to encourage you to read the 3rd book in the series.

I will not be bothering.

I’ve received this arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts and opinions are my own!

This book is the fantasy version of the bachelor and it definitely reads that way. I haven’t read the first book in the series, which is his mother bachelorette style, but there are mentions to the story frequently in this book that implies there was more action in that series than this one. If you read the selection, imagine it’s like that where each lady is given a date but through competitions and such you can gain more time with the bachelor. There are more points of view in this book and unlike the selection where you are certain who is going to win, it’s unclear in this book.

My gripe with this book is that is very slow, while there is hints of plot and room for action, it ends as quickly as it starts. My other thing is that this is not a one and done book, by the end of it he hasn’t even eliminated any of the contestants or whittled then down at all!

Overall if you are a fan of reality tv and fantasy, then this might be the book for you. I will be reading the next book if only to figure out who the prince ends up with.

I very much enjoyed The Royal Matchmaking Competition, it reminded me a lot of The Selection with some more fantasy elements mixed in. The big twist was nice and kept me on my toes - I really enjoyed the ups and downs of the story and overall think this was an enjoyable read.

1 prince and 12 women, these women compet for the princes hand in marriage from human to elves to a dwarf, but they dont know that there is an assassin awaiting to kill the whole royal family and wanting to take over the entire kingdom, this book had ups and down for me, i felt like it reminded me so much of another book ive read, so many things kept making me drift back to the other book, this was an enjoyable read though

One prince charming searching for his true love.

Twelve beautiful damsels, elves, a dwarf & a commoner competing for the prince's hand in marriage.

One shadow lurking behind the scenes, trying to assassinate the royal family and take control of the empire.

I love Bachelor type romances and this was no different. 12 young ladies competing to be Empress is so much fun. Add to the story the intrigue of possible war and the story is so much more addictive. A must for romantasy readers who love a little bit of suspense.

Thank you to @netgalley and @ zoiygalloay for letting me preview this title.

I DNFed this book at 36%. I really wanted to like this book, but I just didn’t. The premise sounded cute, but I didn’t like how it was executed.

There are a lot of characters in this book. It was hard to keep track of some of them. There were a few that I either loved or hated, but most of them were “meh” for me.

I have read several books since starting this one and keep trying to come back to this one. This book just did not pull me in. I wasn’t really invested in any of the characters. There were cute parts here and there, but not enough to keep me hooked.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC to me in exchange for an honest review.

I have to admit that I missed the memo that this was part 1 of a duology. Or better said, when I started reading this book and up until about ninety percent into the book I was convinced that just like Qloey's story this was gonna be a stand-alone. That did impact my reading experience a little, since I was waiting for something that obviously only happens in the next book. However, I'm still glad that I got a copy of this book via Netgalley.

The first book in the series was an amazing mix between politics and romance. The ending felt a little rushed, but luckily we hear a lot about the falling out in this second book. This book follows Qloey's eldest son. Twelve girls have travelled to the palace to win his hand and it's clear that the politics of the past and current is gonna have a huge influence on the competition. And it's also clear that some past dangers might not be gone entirely.

Since this book is the first part of a story-arc that spans over two books the pacing is a little slower than Qloey's story. And while that's a little annoying in the beginning, since I was really waiting for things to get a little more dangerous and the politics making a more prominent appearance, I did like that we get some more time with the girls and really get to know them. Some girls are clearly more interesting characters than others, but that's unavoidable.

The moment the danger and the politics do show up things become infinitely more interesting. Partly because we see that Qloey's rule is not without consequences, but also because the competition and the outside politics are starting to influence each other. It's almost a pity that this time we don't get the complete story at once because I'm insanely curious to discover what's truly going on and where all this will lead.

I will make sure to keep an eye on the release date of the sequel!