Arc received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


This book had solid aspects but overall I was not invested in the main couples romance. The romance itself was fine and cute at times but it felt like it was moving at hyper-speed. The book started off incredibly strong but it ultimately fell a bit flat. There were a lot of sweet moments in the book and I did enjoy the aspects of Korean culture the author sprinkled into the book, especially with food. There were a lot of points in the book where I was incredibly frustrated at the lack of communication especially at pivotal moments that should have had better resolutions rather than a simple sorry and kissing. More often than not this relationship seemed more physical than anything else and I found myself more invested in our side characters romance instead. Another issue I had was that we knew SO MUCH about our fmc Emma but knew barely anything about our mmc Michel. Regardless it was a nice and enjoyable read and I would recommend it to people.
Thank you kindly to NetGalley, Jayci Lee and St. Martin's Griffin for the ARC.

Food, lies, and love equal a royal blunder.

That Prince is Mine by Jayci Lee is a standalone novel and was deliciously satisfying. After Emma finds out she may be the cause of her godmother’s business as well as her business’s downfall, she decides to allow her godmother to use her matchmaking skills to find her a husband. But, she begins to wonder if it’s the right choice when she meets Michel, a random stranger in the cafe, who has watched all of her attempted dating sessions. Will their attraction build up enough or will the lies be the downfall?

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel! From the Korean cultural norms to the meddling imeos (aunties), there was so much to take in and it was a fun ride. From the start, it is a great opening and the character setups are done very well as well as diving straight into the problem. I loved that there was Korean language in the mix, not only for the food, but for people and situations as well.

Another thing that stuck out to me was the fact that it has a heady focus on the stress of being an almost 30 year old single Korean woman and how other generations view it as a problem. The pressures of getting married and how it can affect the family or at the least the mothers with their friends, is so prevalent and so relatable. Even the gossiping amongst the older ladies and how it can make or break a business. This stands out a lot as it is something so common in Korean culture. For example, the stress of needing to maintain a perfect image when you are in the spotlight, otherwise, you can lose everything and people will turn their backs on you without any hesitation. It’s also very clear how the double standards are brought up for sons and daughters, which is something great to acknowledge.

Finally I really liked that the relationship was not only biracial, but also dealing with royal and non-royal experiences. The struggles of trying to figure out where you fit in in the world and how to play your part when you want to be yourself are some deep themes.

I highly recommend this to anyone who is ready for a Korean American and European prince relationship. Additionally, if you love hidden identity, family obligations, cultural standards and nuances, as well as a bit of a sweet and spicy relationship, this is for you.

Other books to check out: Booked on a Feeling, The Dating Dare, A Sweet Mess

*This was an honest review for a complimentary copy of That Prince is Mine from Jayci Lee via NetGalley

Absolutely charming!!! That Prince is Mine is like holding a rom com movie in your hands. Emma and Michel are from wildly different backgrounds and families but they share the same need to please their family and both are under the pressure of being married to the just right person. For both this means arranged marriages. When Emma and Michel devise a fake dating plan the helplessly falling in love is not far behind. I loved the connection and desire they had for one another as they navigated their new relationship and a not so hopeful future.

This was cute! I don’t typically read a ton of contemporary romances but the premise sounded fun - I loved learning more about Korean culture through traditional dishes, all of Emma’s recipes had me so hungry! I also loved that this had dual POVs and that the chapters were on the shorter side, I feel like it contributed to how well paced it was. If I had a couple of criticisms it would be that the “incompatibility” schtick got a little repetitive for me, and that Emma behaved pretty childishly at times. Overall though I did enjoy it, Emma’s failed matseons were funny and I was here for the open door spice! This was a fun romcom that I think many will appreciate!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Publishers for an ARC of That Prince is Mine!

I’ll start off by saying this is a super fun concept! Emma, a culinary instructor, is appeasing her godmother by going on matseons, arranged and hand-picked dates, to hopefully find an arranged marriage to go into. Michel, the crown prince of Rouleme, is in LA to clear his head and find a woman to marry to be his queen. This is SO interesting, as I’ve never read anything like it!

Emma is a beautiful soul who loves to serve people and help others feel joy, and Michel is a man craving to be known for more than his status, who is gentle, kind, and so thoughtful. I loved getting to see how Emma brought out more of Michel and helped him to find joy in life. These two characters are so sweet to each other, and I loved seeing their relationship grow and blossom! Michel fell for Emma SO quick and I love how much it was clear he loved her without even having to say it.

My only complaint is I just felt a bit annoyed by how much Emma was trying to convince herself Michel wasn’t worth is and convincing herself to find reasons to not like Michel. I just found myself so frustrated at her for not being able to see what an amazing man she had in front of her!! But when I say that Michel swoons for Emma and genuinely is obsessed with everything about her, I also swoon for him!!

That Prince is Mine comes to bookstores on July 30th, 2024. An ARC copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a sucker for royal romances and this book was a fun read with the perfect amount of steamy scenes. Emma Yoon is scarred from her parents divorce and set on finding a practical, compatible match. Michel is the crown prince determined to find true love before he has to go ahead with his arranged marriage. These two meet and can’t seem to stay apart. The book gets you involved in Emma’s family and her dream of starting her own Korean royal court cooking school. I really enjoyed the backstory and foodie aspect of the book. Overall, a fun and quick romance read that would give any hallmark movie a run for its money.

Professor Michel Chevalier is visiting Southern California to teach International Relations for the next three months. The posting is a ruse. The esteemed lecturer from the small European nation of Rouleme is actually Crown Prince Michel, who is secretly hoping to find true love in America, and escape an arranged betrothal back home.

Emma Yoon is a young culinary instructor who specializes in Korean royal court cuisine. Her godmother is a professional matchmaker who plans to set up Emma as an example of her matchmaking prowess. Emma’s “matseons” (blind dates) take place in the charming café where Michel likes to take his coffee. These two spend more time eyeing each other than would be considered casual. It doesn’t take much for Michel to convince Emma to give him a dating chance!

That Prince Is Mine feels cute, safe, and comfortable. Emma and Michel circle each other with indirect intent. Emma tells herself that their differences prove incompatibility but her brain must disagree because the more she sees of Michel, the more he feels like forever. Michel already knows Emma is “the one” but he is waiting for the right time to tell her, first, who he truly is, and second, that he wants her at his side forever, too.

The matchmaking godmother, an overprotective big brother, a couple of meddling royal cousins, and a heartbroken royal bodyguard, all provide some lukewarm and arbitrary diversion to Emma and Michel’s sweet and classy courtship. Emma’s delectable cooking provided fun cultural interest. The biggest obstacles to their eventual happiness were their own misgivings. A happy ending was never really in doubt as the two of them were obviously hopelessly stuck on one another.

This review is based on a publisher ARC graciously supplied via NetGalley.

Damn! This is a great royal-commoner romance story. Fans of “The Prince and Me” will enjoy this updated, multi-racial, royal posing as a commoner tale. There are some open door scenes, but not too spicy.if you’re a fan of Korean food, don’t read on an empty stomach,
Thank you St. Martin’s Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Emma is trying to get a commercial building for her dream business teaching people how to make Korean meals for high court. Her godmother, who sends a lot of business Emma’s way, is concerned that if her business being a matchmaker suffers because her own goddaughter hasn’t made a match, then Emma’s business will suffer too. They agree to seriously find Emma a mate. At the beginning of her dating journey, she meets an undercover Prince that was not set up by her godmother. She must continue to hang out with him to convince herself how horrible of a match they would be.

I think this had potential, but I really struggled with it. The dialogue was very unnatural. Often times I would have to go back to re-read what they were saying to see how they were offended. I guess I expected a little more maturity from people in their late 20s early 30s.

There wasn’t enough development of the characters, it’s basically a mention of their backstory over and over, the authors knowledge of Korean cooking, and repeating ad nauseam thoughts that should have been subconscious and shown in actions rather than the same sentence repeated.

Ex. 1) I’ve got to prove why we’re incompatible because it’s impossible to stay with someone forever if they’re not perfect for me on paper.

Ex. 2) I can’t tell her I’m a prince yet cause she’ll change and not love me for who I am.

These two examples comprise 25%+ of the book at least.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the arc!

Thanks so much for letting me read your book! I overall really enjoyed it although I do feel like if someone wasn’t interested in the korean culture they probably wouldn’t be much of a fan with the details. However as soon who married into a Korean family I learned some interesting and new things from the book! But anyway focusing back on the book I enjoyed the connection between them and seeing them together. I do wish it would’ve focused a little more on the relationship outside of the romance scenes and the royal stuff. I enjoyed the descriptions and I even enjoyed the writing style once I got used to it. Definitely a new author that I want to check out and see what else I can read!

Such a cute book. I really appreciated that the author put easy to follow pronunciations in the beginning. As someone stuck in the Midwest, I don’t have much experience with other languages and truly appreciated being able to respect the language. Even in my own head while reading.

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.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this one at 34%.

This book had the making of being one of my favorites but it fell short. I really like the aspects of Korean culture that the author added. I felt it worked seamlessly into the story rather than distracted or act as a lesson. This is not a YA romance but I think the writing style leaned too closely in that direction for my liking.

The story from the parts that I did read were cute, but it lacked any real substance.

Rated 2.5 stars rounded up to 3 stars. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC ebook.

That Prince in Mine starts with the cutest meeting and the start of a fast relationship, yet it misses the mark. The MMC is lovely, and the culture in the book is appreciated. However if feels stuck in parts. I do love the descriptions and the settings. Jayci Lee definitely can put imagination to paper beautifully.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

This was a cute light fluffy read that was pretty enjoyable. Overall.
Love the movie the prince & me and this had similar vibes.
I really enjoyed the Korean culture aspects.
The main characters were a bit cringey though and had some moments that had me shaking my head, so docking some stars for nonsense.

I loved Emma and Michel. Emma is so funny and kind hearted. I liked learning more about the Korean culture. Michel is very swoony. I loved that as a prince he wasn’t all snooty. He was quite endearing. This book has lovely writing. It’s a funny and heartwarming story. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced free copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Thank you to @netgalley for a copy of this eARC in exchange for review.

I loved the representation of a Korean woman working in the culinary arts and looking for their person but sticking true to themsleves. Everything was sweet and wholesome...until about 70% of the book when the truth comes out from Prince Michel. The premise of the story would have been a home run but without any of the cute parts, there wasnt really much to the plot. The book hinged on the one critical plot point and to have gone through the entire book to reach to this point i had wished for me. Maybe adding side characters to follow as well or finding out about the conflict earlier and having a continuation to the story would have allowed for a bigger picture to learn about.

I am a sucker for stories about falling in love with a secret prince. It’s a tale as old as time. However, I found myself really enjoying this book in particular because the female main character is Korean-American. As someone who is half-Korean, there were so many things that made me giggle, like the details that we are all too familiar with explaining to people when we are introducing them to Korean food and culture. And if the love interest doesn’t ask you to start calling him oppa out of jealousy, is it really a love story? All in all, this was a wonderful, refreshing book to read and it healed a part of me that was yearning for my own relatable princess story.

**Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.**

Firstly, I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for sending me this free ARC in return for an honest review.

This is your typical light and fluffy romance read. I landed on a 2.5 stars for many reasons. This wasn’t particularly a “bad” read, but there were a few things that I didn’t love about it. Unfortunately I almost DNF’d this in the first 50%.

Here are my problems:

⭐️ First and foremost, there were many times that I got the ick from the FMC and occasionally the MMC. Particularly, the FMC is 28 (or 29; I can’t remember exactly) and reacts as a 13 year old would in her first adolescent romantic relationship. There is one scene that exemplifies this most accurately. The FMC & MMC are speaking about ✨serious matters ✨ during which the MMC asks a question to the FMC, who proceeds to blankly stare, stand up, and lock herself in the bathroom, cry, and demand he not speak to her. She then wants to speak to her “friend” (who she has known for a very short time) for girl advice. I just don’t know why they could not speak maturely as adults in serious relationships do.

⭐️ His obsession with her shoulders.. ????

⭐️ all of the characters had little to no depth

⭐️ instalove

⭐️ borderline incestuous relationship with godbrother. I can’t count the number of times he called her “brat”


Now I will say, there a few things I did enjoy. One of which was the representation of Korean culture. I loved the vivid food descriptions as well.


Overall, this was just average. I didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t an enjoyable read for me.


Read if you love instalove, Korean culture/representation, light/fluffy romances.

This was an cute and which read - it’s definitely is a original idea and i enjoyed the prince and me (movie) like moments - but the ending felt a bit rushed to me, which ruined the overall arc for me.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book!
All thoughts and opinions are my own.