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!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC.
I love royal romances, but I just didn't enjoy this one like I thought I would.

(3.75) this book was huuuuuge in the cheese ball category (and not in a bad way). the prince and me was and is one of my favorite films, so sign me the *heck* up for a normie and secret-prince romance!!
this was so corny that i did occasionally cringe, but being that i am recently in a relationship i was giggling and kicking my feet about it!!!
there were a couple of things i wanted more out of, mainly that every conflict wrapped up neatly and quickly. i felt like there wasn’t a lot of tension because i didn’t have time to sit with any roadblocks. a few others being [spoilers ahead]: what. happened. to. the. culinary. dream?? why did both sophie AND emma give up their lives for men (i do not care about the circumstances or sacrifices said men said they were going to make)? what happened to sarah? and tbh i still don’t really get why gabriel was an asshat when he could’ve just been cold.
anyway, again, huge cheese ball, and i’m not complaining

I didn't mind this book, but it was just missing... something?

Emma and Michel were sweet, and I'm a total sucker for anything involving secret royals or chefs, so this book having both really appealed to me. I came away with a list of Korean foods to try, but not much else. The story felt a bit simplistic, with the only real conflicts being Michel telling Emma who he was and Michel wanting Emma to move to Rouleme for him. It was a light read, definitely quick to get through and I didn't particularly dislike it, it was just okay.

This was the first book I've read by Jayci Lee, and while I would read something else by her if it looked interesting, I'm not actively seeking more of her books out at this point. The writing was a bit wordy in places, but nothing too crazy. Overall, this book was fine, it just didn't stick out to me.

Thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for sending me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

DNF

I’m sorry, but this was incredibly bland and boring. I love the royalty trope, but this was a disgrace.

Watching paint dry would be more fun.

I have always been a sucker for Hallmark-esque romances involving royals in disguise, so I knew that this was going to be a fun read for me the second I read the description. Emma and Prince Michel were such a cute couple, from an awkward meet cute to their steamy physical chemistry. I did find it a little frustrating that the majority of the conflict came from Emma and Michel making assumptions about each others feelings and not actually communicating their own feelings and intentions. I would have loved to learn more about Emma's heritage and Korean royal court cuisine as a concept.

I really loved that the author included a guide to pronunciation of Korean vowels at the start of the book! I found this super helpful as my prior exposure to the Korean language has been very minimal and I did not want to be mispronouncing words as I read.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading That Prince is Mine. It is a fun and cute love story with a fair amount of spice.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC to review.

I liked the premise of this book and it was executed well enough. It did feel a lot like those Netflix Christmas movies and maybe not in the best way -- totally unrealistic and a little bizarre. But if that's your cup of tea, so be it.

This was a sweet and fluffy romance. I feel like the plot wasn’t really there and the story was lacking. The characters didn’t have too much depth and I often felt a bit bored.