"That Prince is Mine" by Jayci Lee is a sweet and steamy romance that makes for a perfect beach read. The story follows Emma Yoon, a Korean royal court cuisine instructor, and Prince Michel Chevalier, a professor in disguise. Emma dreams of opening a culinary school and needs to find a perfect-on-paper husband to save her godmother's reputation. Michel, on the other hand, escapes an arranged engagement to find true love.
Their slow-burn romance is engaging, although some parts felt over the top or unrealistic. Despite this, both characters are likable, and their chemistry is undeniable. The book could have been a bit shorter, but overall, it’s a delightful read with charming characters and a heartwarming story. If you enjoy light, romantic tales with a bit of steam, this one is worth picking up.

A quick read about a prince wanting to escape an arranged marriage who wants to marry for love and a Korean chef/instructor who wants a husband. They only have a summer to see if they can make it work before the prince needs to marry and take over as king of his county, will it work? I'm not telling! :)

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This review is based on an ARC from NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher.

Emma Upon hopes to open her own culinary school one day in the meantime she teaches Korean royal court food to brides who hope to marry into the upper-crust of Korean society. Things are going well thanks to her grandmothers matchmaking business making her future dreams look doable. When another matchmaker pops up and starts plotting against them she knows she must do whatever she can to help her grandmother. She knows she must find someone to marry even if love isn't in the cards. She meets Michel Chevalier and he is definitely not in her cards. Michel is destined to marry someone his parents have chosen for him so he runs to Los Angeles in hopes of finding his own bride. Follow along as these two both want something but isn't sure if the other is quite right. Will the two fall in love and have a happy ending?

That Prine Is Mine by Jayci Lee is a romantic story that follows Emma Yoon and Michel. It is cute and is a good book to cozy up after reading heavy stories.

Emma Yoon doesn't believe that a relationship can last without compatibility and wants to get married to only a man who is compatible with her in every way. Whereas Michel believes in love and wants to marry a woman whom he connects with as a soulmate. Will both of these different people find each other?

This is a love at first sight sort of story. The best part is the Korean cuisine that has been featured in the whole book. The attraction between both the main characters is the main plotline, and though Emma's story has been explored a lot, Michel's story didn't have much depth. The subplot was very interesting, and I would have loved to read about these characters. This book is a fluffy read, and readers who love hallmark movies will definitely like it.

This book is not for me but will probably appeal to another audience. I did like Emma Yoon's connection to her family and her culture, but I didn't connect with the characters and found the story a little stiff. I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher through Netgalley. This is my honest and voluntarily given review.

Title: That Prince is Mine
Author: Jayci Lee
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4 out of 5

Emma Yoon runs a small business as a culinary instructor in Los Angeles teaching Korean royal court cuisine to young ladies striving to marry into the exclusive upper crust Korean families. She has built her business alongside her renowned Korean matchmaker godmother, which brings her one step closer to her dream of opening up a culinary school on her own. But when her godmother’s fellow matchmakers decide to meddle in Emma’s love life in a bid to sabotage her godmother, and indirectly push Emma's dream out of her reach, she must go on a series of arranged first dates and find herself the perfect-on-paper husband to help save both, her godmother's reputation and her dream--even if she's not ready for love. But when she meets Michel Aubert, a professor at USC, after a series of disastrous first dates, she wonders if she might reevaluate her position on love.

Prince Michel Aubert is bound by duty and responsibility to his country, but an arranged marriage is the last thing he wants. If he is going to spend the rest of his life in service of his people, then he at least wants someone he loves and trusts by his side while doing it. He needs to find a woman who loves him for who he is before his engagement to his handpicked bride is announced. Emma Yoon might be just the woman he is looking for.

This was a fun read! A prince in disguise, a girl who doesn’t believe in love, and lots of yummy-sounding food combine to keep the reader invested and entertained. Emma’s cynicism regarding love is understandable, and I enjoyed how she slowly became open to changing her mind about it. The secondary characters were a lot of fun here, and I’d be happy to read more about them.

Jayci Lee lives in California. That Prince is Mine is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

"You are radiant and full of life. You are strong-willed but kind. You are...I have never met anyone quite like you".

To be honest, when I first got this ARC, I thought it was going to be another royal romance (not that I don't love my royalty romances), but boy was I wrong. Michel is not your average royalty man at all😂 A cooking teacher from Los Angeles who helps other Korean women learn how to cook so they can get married off to good suitors, Emma's got her career right on track, with her hopes of opening her own cooking school not being too far away. However, her godmother's matchmaking business has been at risk, especially since other matchmakers are realizing that Emma's love life hasn't been the greatest recently, so to fix things on her godmother's end, Emma starts going on dates with her godmother's chosen matches. Not only does her godmother's reputation get saved when she finds the perfect husband, but Emma's culinary dreams will also come true. After all, in Emma's world, arranged marriages with checkboxes are the way to go. However, when she runs into Michel, a professor at USC (and a secret prince) during one of her disastrous dates, Emma starts to question whether true love comes from picture-perfect suitors or from the man who makes her feel seen. Meanwhile, Michel doesn't believe in arranged marriages at all. Even if that's what royalty wants out of him. He knows he has a position of being there for his people, but he wants to do all of that while experiencing true love. Meaning, he wants someone who will love him regardless of his title in society. In comes Emma Yoon. But, if Emma ends up with Michel, then Emma's godmother's reputation may go down the drain. A lot is at stake here. This is definitely the perfect book to read this summer. SUCH A GOOD BOOK PEOPLE GO READ IT!

This book is so much fun. I love Emma and Michel. Both characters are a mix of confident and shy. The book is a quick read and is a perfect mix of romance and comedy It really pulled me into the story and kept me turning pages. It's a perfect summer read. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

So nice, I read it twice! lol! No, really… I read it a couple months ago (during my AAPI Heritage Month reading spree) and didn’t write my review at the time, so I re-read it a couple days before release, realizing I hadn’t done this yet. How bad of me!

I enjoyed this mixed race, secret identity, royalty romance quite a lot! I’ve always enjoyed Jayci Lee’s books and I think this one might be my favorite (though I’d have to go back and refresh my memory on the other ones because I know I really liked them all, too). She writes very well, with dynamic characters, great chemistry, good steam, and pretty realistic plots - though this one is a lot more far-fetched with the Prince lead character!

Michel is a very good leading man, except for his hidden, secret, royal identity which he keeps under-wraps a bit too long. Emma is absolutely adorable and very family oriented, being so close to her Korean dad and aunties. I loved their meet-cute and how the relationship develops so organically (he frequents the hotel cafe where he’s staying, and where she meets the dates her auntie is setting up for her, from a matchmaking business). I also love that this storyline is so unique and really interesting and I was able to do a re-read a couple months later and it felt fresh again and I was still hooked to my kindle the whole time, even though I knew how it was going to play out.

I definitely recommend everyone reads this one - such a great story, and I don’t often re-read, especially so soon (that’s the mark of a good book). I give it 4.5-stars for creativity and originality and diversity. Well written and definitely worth grabbing!

I received an advance copy from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press (St. Martin's Griffin), and this is my honest feedback.

That Prince is Mine by Jayci Lee is a charming romance between two people who are looking to marry for love. Emma Yoon, a Korean royal court cuisine instructor in Los Angeles, is determined to achieve her dreams of opening a culinary school. Her godmother is a Korean matchmaker who needs Emma to find a husband in order to save face and help her business, and in turn might also help Emma’s business. Her encounters with disastrous arranged dates add humor and tension to her journey. Despite her love-averse nature, her eventual meeting with Michel Aubert sets the stage for a heartwarming exploration of love and duty. Michel is a visiting professor at USC, in international relations, who happens to be the crown prince of a European nation, of Rouleme; but is hiding his royal heritage. Michel is also looking for someone to marry for love otherwise he will have an arranged marriage; with a friend who is like a sister to him. Emma dates Michel thinking it will get him out of her system, except it brings these two closer together. These two were fun together but their miscommunication was frustrating. His bodyguard Sophie and his cousin Gabriel are both super fun supporting characters. I enjoyed learning about the Korean culture, especially in regards to cooking.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.
#NetGalley #StMartinsPress

Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for the eARC of That Prince is Mine by Jayci Lee. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

I enjoyed this cute rom-com. I'm a sucker for books involving food, so this was right up my alley. I appreciated that this book incorporated not only Korean culture with the different types of foods introduced but also French culture. I was rooting for this couple and I'm glad they got their happily ever after.

Love Jayci Lee's books and recommend you pick this one up if you enjoy cute HEAs!

That Prince is Mine by Jayci Lee
Contemporary romance. Diverse, own voices, Asian. Royals away from home, or Royal on vacation troupe.
Emma Yoon is a culinary instructor in Los Angeles teaching Korean royal court cuisine. She hopes to eventually open a culinary school of her own. Emma agrees to go on a series of dates to protect her godmother’s reputation in the matchmaking business but by date five is feeling inpatient. These men aren’t what she wants in life. But there is man that catches her interest at the cafe and he seems just as interested in Emma.
Prince Michel Aubert is an adjunct visiting professor at the University of California. He’s been watching with amusement, Emma’s seeming disastrous and one-time only dates at the cafe with different men each time. He’s like his own chance at chatting with her but he knows he is bound by duty and responsibility to return to his own country. Gathering his courage, he asks Emma for a date and realizes that perhaps he can choose his own bride instead of settling for an arranged marriage back home.

🎧 I alternated between an ebook and an audiobook. The narrative was performed by Olivia Song and was marvelous. There were very distinct voices for Emma vs. Michel and his cousin, that were consistently easy to tell apart. The few phrases in French sounded authentic and were understandable in the moment. The humor, longing and angst were clear expressed while drunk Michel was amusing to hear.
The audiobook was a great experience. I listened to it my usual speed of 1.5.
Between the two formats, I preferred the audiobook because it kept me listening and committed. The ebook had me slightly inattentive at times and I might have been tempted to skip ahead a few pages occasionally.

Entertaining story overall. A smidge too much angst and indecisiveness for me in a slightly longer length than typical. I enjoyed the secondary characters and their intertwined romance and was glad they were resolved too. The body guard was unique and made feelings known simply by using his title which was delightful. HEA twice. Yeah!

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and publisher Macmillan Audio.

I enjoyed this sweet romance. It was the break I needed from thrillers and suspense novels. 

Emma is a woman after my own heart. She loves to cook and teaches Korean Royal Court cuisine. There are a lot of Korean words thrown into the story, but I loved watching the process evolve and want to attend this school to learn how to cook these delicacies. 

Michel is trying to escape an arranged marriage, so he comes to California to find his true love. I wonder why he chose California versus anywhere else since he is a Prince, but perhaps it is because his cousin lives here, and he would have someone in his corner.

I really enjoyed watching the story unfold as Emma and Michel fight their feelings for one another. It does seem rushed, but they do have limited time to discover if they are right for one another. Of course, Emma fights it the most as she believes that her perfect match will be perfect on paper. But she decides to throw caution to the wind and see what happens with Michel.

One of my favorite characters is Michel's bodyguard, Sofie. She is his friend, but she is also there to protect him. From what I am not sure because he is using a different last name, and it doesn't seem like anyone really knows who he is. But that could change at any moment. 

There are some wonderful family dynamics, and the interactions between all of the characters feel honest and true.

If you like "royalty in disguise" romance novels, you might enjoy this one. We give it 4 paws up.

No need to give you the brief plot of That Prince is Mine but in this one, the female character has a godmother who is a matchmaker and the prince needs to find love while he is in LA or he is bound by a prearranged marriage. Yup. You can imagine how it plays out. Their chemistry was spot on and they were just cute together. I also enjoyed the side characters - their friends, family and bodyguard. So it was totally predicable and formulaic but it was entertaining and cute. Pub day is Tuesday. Thank you to Griffin for my gifted copy.

I usually love this authors work, but this one there was just something missing for me. The relationship was good and believable. But there was a lot a food discussion. I get that the FMC is a cooking teacher, but I think the book would a been more streamlined and definitely shorter without the in depth descriptions of almost everything they ate.

<spoiler>I also wasn't a huge fan of the ending. The FMC completely gave up her dream of running a cooking school, with no further discussion about it!</spoiler>

3.5 stars
2 spice

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and the author for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Jayci Lee is one of my favourite authors so I knew that That Prince is Mine was not going to dissapoint. I sped through this book in an afternoon. After finishing Bridgerton, I was just all about the royal romances and this one just took the cake ;) This was a very lighthearted read and you can't help but fall for each of the characters and their unique backstories.

After enjoying all three novels in Lee’s A Sweet Mess series, I looked forward to trying her next novel. That Prince is Mine follows Emma Yoon who runs a small culinary instructor business in Los Angeles that teaches Korean royal court cuisine alongside her Korean matchmaker godmother, Auntie Soo. To help her godmother, Emma decides to find her own husband. On the other side is Michel Aubert/Chevalier, a visiting professor at USC. He is secretly the prince of the European nation of Rouleme and has three months to find his soul mate or he must follow through with his arranged marriage. Emma and Michel meet and hit it off, but there are a lot of secrets between them along with Michel living in another country as royalty.

Their story follows their differences on how their relationship may or may not work. I loved Emma showing Michel all about her culture and all the references to food in the story were amazing. There were a lot of elements minimized in this story as it seemed too casual about how Emma and Michel addressed the possibility of Emma becoming queen if their relationship moved forward. The chemistry that existed between the characters was well-written, although it was very insta-love. It seemed more that Emma was resisting due to creating conflict in the story than seeming natural. Based on the overall experience, it seemed the author did not want to go too deep with the story. Many of the conflicts were solved quickly and decisions/events were not fully explored. Overall, this was a cute and easy romance that brings to life a sweet story about royalty and commoners meeting.

**I give a special thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Griffin, for the opportunity to read this entertaining novel. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

She just wants to open up her own culinary school but when she has to find the perfect husband to save her godmother's matchmaking reputation the last thing she expects is fall for a prince. Emma Yoon wants to open her own culinary school one day but before she does she's been teaching Korean royal court cuisine to hopeful brides of the upper class Korean families. Her godmother, a popular matchmaker, has been helping her make her business successful yet when a rival matchmaker uses Emma's single status to undermine her godmother's reputation, Emma is now forced to find the perfect on paper husband to refute it. Thats when she meets Professor Michel Chevalier..... except Michel is hiding one big secret: he is actually a prince who has run away from his country to to Los Angeles in hopes of finding his own bride to marry with only three months left before he has to marry someone his elders choose... and he wants Emma. Emma and Michel are perfect together but will she still want him when she finds out he's been lying about who he was the entire time... and would she be willing to give up everything to marry a prince? This definitely gave off Hallmark/Netflix romance movie vibes but unfortunately I didn't really vibe with Emma all that much. The story started off cute but then it got a bit annoying at certain points for me. Emma can be a bit insufferable but that's just a vibe from me. I think the story itself is a really simple and easy read and you can just finish it in one quick read. I wish I liked Emma more because I would have rated the book higher, but alas, here we are. Overall, it's a quick easy romance read and I think it can be a good time for readers.

Release Date: July 30,2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Lee does it again! Bringing us another phenomenal story That Prince is Mine by Jayci Lee.
I LOVED Booked on a Feeling and The Dating Dare! I was so excited for another title by Jayci.
TPiM is the absolute best royalty romance story! But Lee writes the best stories anyways so I wasn’t surprised to see how quickly I devoured this one.
The characters are engaging, thoughtful and complex and reflect perspectives from the Korean American experience.
That Prince is Mine is a perfect blend of lighthearted romance and laugh-out-loud moments, all with a delectable backdrop. Jayci Lee's writing style is engaging and flows effortlessly, making it easy to devour this book in one sitting. It's a feel-good story that leaves you with a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Thank You NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this e-arc! 3/5 stars, a pretty typical contemporary romance that was a light read.

this was a pretty much your regular contemporary romance - nothing too new or super unique, but it was cute and a light read nonetheless. I appreciated the way that lee incorporates korean culture in here - sometimes when it's a little heavy handed it can feel cheesy or like the author is pandering, but since lee uses it as a background to establish her main character here, it's not too bad. of course it's a little cheesy at times but it's hard to escape that with a romance. michel felt kinda like a white bread kinda guy to me, and I think I'll have to stop reading royal romances because I find too much to nitpick when it comes to royal families - but I digress. overall, the cover is giving exactly what the book's about, so if you're looking for a light contemporary romance, you've got your book