Jayci Lee is one of my most favorite authors and I was excited to see her come out with a new book. She met my expectations and more. This is an adorable nomnom romcom. Korean cuisine, royalty, opposites attract… so many of my favorite things.


WHAT I LOVED MOST:
He falls first. Michel is such an adorably hopeless romantic. He has the perfect balance of swoon and squishy.
Chemistry. Emma and Michel’s sizzly slow burn was palpable. Each moment between them had me squeeing.
Banter. The witty and flirty banter between Emma and Michel was *chef’s kiss* but I also really enjoyed the banter between friends and family. Jayci Lee is a banter queen.
OMG The Last Bookstore Scene. IYKYK. PS-You’ll want to know.


FAVORITE QUOTES:
“Jeongseong wasn’t a cheeky sentiment like a “sprinkle of love.” It meant working hard with a generous heart. It was a pure and true intent to do your very best— to imbue the best of yourself into something.”

“Android Hyun Bin chastised me for having a caffeinated drink late in the afternoon,” Emma said the first thing that popped into her head to fill the silence.”

“Why not?” His eyebrows drew together. Oh no. His earnest, perplexed face was one of her favorite Michel faces.”

“His voice and accent remained exquisite but it no longer reminded her of sugar and butter. Now it sounded like ice cream that was too frozen to dig a spoon into.”

This is a 100000% recommended read. It’s cozy, steamy, and might make you hungry. Thank you to Netgalley and Jayci Lee for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I liked this one. I'm not usually a huge fan or royal romances or hidden lives, but the story made sense to me. I liked Emma and Michel and their friends and family members. The romance was sweet, and I liked the piece about Emma's job and how it fit into the story.

I can't help it - I couldn't finish this one. I rarely do not finish books. The instant love was off. The dynamic between them was forced. The dialogue and writing was so formal. I did not like this one.

I went in with high expectations from having read Jayci’s previous books and this one unfortunately fell flat. Didn’t have the same depth and awesomeness as her previous books.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC. ~I was given this book and made no commitments to leave my opinions, favorable or otherwise~

I went in anticipating a lot more depth from a Jayci Lee novel. The last few I have read were well developed characters and a more established plot. Unfortunately with this story, the ultimate concern is Emma finding out who Michel really is. You wait a long time for that moment and then you’re anticipating some climactic issue, but it fell flat. The stress is he wants marriage right then and she does not. It’s a cute story, like something to fill the time. But it’s not a “last with you a long time” story.

Much longer than it needed to be... Not enough depth, didn't really care about the characters and the plot was dull. The romance had potential but unfortunately fell short.

I'm giving this a 3 star review because I've loved Jayci's books in the past.

This was not it for me. I loved the idea of a prince in disguise (Hello, The Prince and Me). There are so many ways this book could have gone and it just... didn't go anywhere. The multicultural aspect is great, however. The dialogue was just... not great. It felt forced & unnatural.

I couldn't personally connect with the characters either.

This romance is so sweet you'll get a toothache. Instalove is not for me!

I'll still ready Jayci Lee in the future!

Not my favorite book. It had cute parts but the cute parts aren’t enough for me to truly like the book.

That Prince is Mine

Publish date: July 30 2024

This is my second ARC book from @authorjaycilee and I really love the Korean characters and references of her books, especially the foods and culture about Korea

I rarely highlight books nowadays because I'm always changing my e-readers, but I can't resist annotating this book! As someone who loves Bridgerton and likes rewatching Princess Diaries thank you for writing this book

I feel so giddy and was smiling ear to ear while reading Michel just raised my standards about men. He literally proved to Emma that she deserves the best and he will stop at nothing to give it to her. The attraction turned to love scenes are so satisfying I finished half the book in one sitting. I love the second lead characters too hoping for a side story for Sophie and Gabriel!

Thank you @stmartinspress and @authorjaycilee for the ARC copy it's a great read and I can't wait for it to be released so that it can receive the recognition and hype this book deserves.

Reviewed for Net Galley:

In had a hard time getting into this one, unfortunately. The undercover prince story line had the makings of a great idea, but fell flat for me.

2.5/5 ⭐️

Thank you to St. Martin’s Griffin for reaching out to me to exchange an honest review for an ARC of this book!

I have absolutely adored Jayci’s books in the past so it is really disheartening to say that I am slightly disappointed by the outcome of this book. I adore the premise of it- it’s just the fairytale story that the average Asian American fascinated with western culture would dream of- having royalty swoop in, willing to risk everything for them. I was expecting Crazy Rich Asians but I was rather annoyed at the final 30% of the book. It felt lacklustre… especially the ending/resolution of conflict. I’m also just unsure how I feel about the character’s decisions. All of that… after how many MONTHS of dating? I’m just not sure. There were a lot of cute moments and I thoroughly enjoyed the first portion of it…. but it just lost me the deeper I got into it.

This has a very interesting premise, and I really wanted to love the multiculturalism of this story. But it ended up just not being my cup of tea. My main issue with this book was the dialogue. It felt unnatural to me and took me out of the story too often. But the story setup was interesting enough and I’d still check out other books from this author in the future.

I hate to say this, but this was not it for me. I usually love Jayci Lee. The way she incorporates food into her contemporary romances has my mouth watering. The one thing I enjoyed about this book was learning more about Korean culture, but that's about it.

The romance fell flat for me. I was just bored, and it left me skimming through some of the lengthy paragraphs because I was so uninterested. It bordered on insta-love. It was definitely love at first sight for the MMC, while the FMC was not interested in a love match at all. I felt little to no attachment to the main characters which put a damper on the entire book. I had a few laughs, and I really can’t say anything bad about Jayci’s writing.

It honestly could’ve been the mood I was in reading it. It was a sugary sweet romance. Kind of like a hallmark movie and maybe I just wasn’t in the mood to read a softer romance. The spice was a bit unexciting that I even skimmed over that. Since I wasn’t invested in the romance, the tension wasn’t there for me.

4.5 Stars That Prince is Mine is a delightful opposites-attract, hidden identity, royal romance. The main characters were so sweet together and I really enjoyed their banter. I always appreciate when a book has dual POV so you can read how each character falls in love with the other. Though somewhat predictable, especially when it came to the main conflict and third act breakup, this was a great easy read.

I'll start by saying, while my rating might be lower, I believe a lot of people are going to love this book. That Prince is Mine is cute, cozy, and reads like an easy, silly rom-com.

The representation of Korean culture and food was so refreshing (and mouthwatering!) to see. I loved reading about the complex social dynamics between Emma and her family, and later Michel and his family. Sophie is also the coolest character and I loved her so much.

I think I was lost somewhere in the insta-love moments. The timeline moved so jerkily that it was taking me out of the story a bit. Michel and Emma also, despite being well-educated adults, communicated in a way that didn't feel realistic to me. There was so much miscommunication and so many moments where it felt very juvenile between the two of them. Their immaturity made it hard to root for them at times, and there were some scenes I was just skipping through because I knew it would be resolved in a handful of pages.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me the ARC for That Prince is Mine. I look forward to seeing the great things others will have to say when this book hits stores!

Sadly, I had to DNF. I just can’t bring myself to read a book that is written in third person. This makes me really sad because I was so excited to read it.☹️

I’d give this book 3.75 stars. It started out a bit slow and the pacing of the romance was just way too fast. I was skimming a lot to get to the point. However, I did find myself rooting for Emma and Michel.

Emma is a 28 year old woman who wants to open up a culinary school, but is making do with teaching young woman how to make Korean royal foods while her aunt is the one who set up these woman to get married. Her aunt then tries to play matchmaker for Emma, when Emma meets Michel, who is a prince but he doesnt disclose that to her right away. Throughout the book, you see them start falling for each other but you also can see Emma’s worries about love and the sacrifices they must make to be together. It reinds me of long distance relationship. At the end, I cried a bit because of Emma’s talk with her dad regarding love and Michel. She was self sabotaging their relationship due to the limited time. I’m glad it worked out in the end.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the arc.

I like all the characters, especially Sophie and Gabriel! And I love that Emma always escape through cooking her favourite foods! But I just couldn’t see the chemistry between Emma and Prince Michel. I thought that they were too instalust and all the spice scenes just felt like plot fillers… and also the conflict just got super repetitive and so it was a little boring. I think I was more invested even in Sophie and Gabriel’s relationship more than Emma and Michel’s.


Thank you author, publisher and netgalley for the arc though. I’ll always be honest in my opinions.

Thank you to NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

I've been a fan of Jayci Lee since "The Dating Dare" and I keep reading more of her books. I really like that this was a quick, easy, and lighthearted read. I was able to learn more about Korean culture while also reading about two authentic characters who fall in love. They were likeable, and the development was enjoyable to witness. The ​only thing I didn't love was that I felt like the ending was rushed.

Sadly, this one didn’t work out for me! It was cute but it felt incredibly long and drawn out and I didn’t really get a lot of personality from the characters. The romance was sweet but nothing extremely memorable for me. I did love all the descriptions of food!

Thanks to the publisher for allowing me to be an early reader. All opinions are my own!