What a cute read. I felt like I learned so much about Korean culture. I really enjoyed that Emma was a culinary instructor.

“Emma dreams of opening her very own culinary school in Los Angeles and to save her/godmother’s reputations, she goes on many arranged dates to find the perfect-on-paper husband (even though she’s not ready for love) but after several disastrous first dates, she meets the gorgeous and irresistible Michel Aubert, a professor at USC and most definitely not her ideal match.

Prince Michel Aubert is bound by duty and responsibility to his country, but he refuses to marry a woman handpicked by his elders. If he must spend the rest of his life in service of his people, he wants to do it with someone he loves and trusts by his side. He only has one chance of evading the arranged marriage—by finding a bride he does love in a few short weeks before the engagement is formally announced. Michel escapes to Los Angeles and assumes the role of an ordinary professor to find the love of his life, someone who loves him for himself rather than his crown. And chance leads him right to Emma, who might just be the woman of his dreams!”

Summarized version of plot: such a good hallmark feel type of read!! If you want to cozy up with a good book on your day off, this is the one!

This sweet romance was a great read. It is a story of a prince (Michael) who is in LA looking to find his true love. He meets a chef (Emma) wanting to be true to her Korean heritage through her dream of a cooking school and in the Marriage mart. He falls first. Both are trying to discover what marriage and love means to them and how to balance it with their dreams and duty. It is an easy fun read with some great side characters - some fun relatives and a badass female body guard. Overall enjoyable and charming.

Thank you netgalley for the ARC.

Thank you so much for the ARC!

I really wanted to like this book, and the premise had potential. The cover is cute!

The instant-love was a bit of a let down for me. There wasn’t much differentiation between the two main characters voices - many many many paragraphs of reiterating their goals to the reader (these were covered in chapter 1, no need to keep rehashing it) and wondering what the other was thinking.

Also, the way the food was described was.. off-putting. For every dish, the descriptions followed the exact same formula.

I didn’t care for these characters, and for how long this book was the ending seemed very rushed and frivolous.

Not my cup of tea, but I’ll read Jayci Lee’s other works - maybe it was just this one that left me disappointed and bored.

Thank you to NetGalley & Jayci for an ARC of this book!

Im literally always obsessed with Jayci Lee!! This was a heartwarming tale about an undercover prince looking for love, and a nearly ‘spinster’ chef who’s looking for perfect-on-paper. My mixed-race heart was entirely so full reading this love story, and yours will be too!!

This book has:
🖤 a secret foreign prince MMC moonlighting as a prof
🖤 an asian chef FMC (way to represent, Emma!!)
🖤 a badass royal bodyguard (we love you Sophie)
🖤 escaping an arranged marriage
🖤 learning to love & be loved
🖤 a side character second chance romance 👀
🖤 all the asian and mixed couple representation I could possibly ask for (I love you for this Jayci 🫶🏼)

Do yourself a favour and put this one on your TBR for release day!! 🤩

I enjoyed this book so much!! I really enjoyed learning some Korean culture and language, and the author made it easy and interesting. I did Google up some translations and pronunciations, but that part was educational as well.

I liked the way that both MCs had a future in mind, but were open to different outcomes. The relationship almost felt like a fake-date trope at first, but the two of them were incandescent! Sexy scenes were top-notch.
The way their family's were involved in their lives was heartwarming.

The conflict was believable, and the reactions were also believable. Loved it, I'll look for more from this author.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc of this book. All opinions are my own.

I will give my thoughts once SMP addresses their readers with an explanation. Until then, all my reviews will be withheld.

I love a book with any royal elements, so this was right up my alley! Emma and Michel are complete opposites, both with arranged marriages in the works. When they fall in love, Emma tries to resist giving in through the very end. However, Prince Michel will literally give up EVERYTHING for her. This is a super sweet romance with lots of characters you’re rooting for!

That Prince is Mine, by Jayci Lee: This was a fun, sweet read, but didn’t have the depth that I loved in Jayci Lee’s other novels. Emma is a Korean-American culinary instructor, who’s reluctantly relying on her godmother the matchmaker to find her a husband. She has a meet cute in a coffee shop with Michel Aubert, a visiting professor at USC… but what she doesn’t know is he’s actually a foreign prince, who’s trying to find the woman of his dreams before he has to do his duty for his country and have an arranged marriage. The premise is VERY fairy tale-like and sappy, but if you can get past that, it’s a cute story and the characters are reasonably realistic.

This book was so cute. The instant chemistry between the to main characters was sizzling. I loved how they both felt tied down by the traditions of their culture and expectations around them, but worked hard to make their lives work for them so they could be happy. The only thing that would make this book better is Emma’s recipes in the back of the book. Such a great read!

•eARC Review•
That Prince is Mine by Jayci Lee
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★

This is my first Jayci Lee read and I enjoyed it so much! I can’t wait to dive into more of her books! If you’re a lover of all things Korean food, he falls first, rom com, matchmaking, insta-love then this is the one for you!

Thank you Jayci Lee, Netgalley, and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC read!

This was such a cute book! I really liked Emma and Michel. They were so cute together and I loved watching their interactions. Emma had a unique perspective on life that I loved reading. And Michel was very swoony.

I’ve learned I’m not the biggest fan of the matchmaker trope—so much time is spent going on about the “perfect match” and all that it entails. I found this book to be the same. Emma’s thoughts on finding the perfect-on-paper husband and how she had to be compatible with her future husband dragged on and on, which I don’t love. I did find it ironic, however, that the little forgotten bit of info at the end ended up being such a big deal to her. Ultimately, though, I did enjoy the book and the characters and how everyone came together at the end.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Emma catches the eye of a European prince!

Emma Yoon is on track saving for opening a culinary school on the art of Korean royal court cuisine for people that want to marry in the upper crust of Korean families. Her success has a little help from her aunt who is a matchmaker for Korean families so to help her aunt out she volunteered for ten arranged dates to hopefully find her match. But halfway through the ten dates she met Dr. Michel Chevalier a visiting expert on international relations.

Little did Emma know that Dr. Michel Chevalier was Crown Prince Michel of Rouleme who was teaching in Los Angeles for three months to hopefully find love before his arranged marriage could take place?

That Prince is Mine by Jayci Lee is a fun and entertaining romance where a Korean-American commoner catches the eye of a European prince and they fall in love!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the author and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks so much to Jayci Lee and St. Martin's Press for the eARC of this book to review. This book was written perfectly and has just the right amount of spice. Looking forward to reading more from Jayci.

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.