I thought this was very good and I will have to add this to the shop shelves. Thank you for the chance for us to review.

What a cute little rom com featuring an undercover Prince working as a professor and a woman aspiring to be a chef.

Emma feels she is destined to end up in an arranged marriage but wants to defy the traditions of her family and begins dating to find love.

Michel, a professor at USC is also in search for love and a wife that he has no doubt he can spend the rest of his life with.

Can a dash of sugar and spice and the introduction to the family jewels solidify a marriage match for love? Guess you’ll need to read the book to find out!

I had a really hard time connecting with this book. I've really liked this narrator for other books, but I don't think she was right for this one.

This was quite a fun and light novel, and I loved it- it moved at a good pace, we have some banter, some cooking, and a fake European monarchy, I'm here for it! In 2024, more than ever, we need lighter novels that let us get lost and escape for a while, and Lee does this SO well.

This was a little bit of a swing and a miss for me so I rated this three stars. For me, a three star review means I acknowledge this book is capable of being a four or five star review for someone else!

In That Prince is Mine by Jayci Lee, Prince Michel travels to California to escape his royal duties and an arranged marriage. While there, he meets Emma, a culinary teacher specializing in Korean Royal Court cuisine. Michel hides his true identity, and as he and Emma spend time together, they form a connection that challenges Emma’s ideas about love and the "perfect" partner.

I felt the connection was a little too quick and didn't fully connect with the characters.

I still recommend reading this if you haven't already done so! Jayci Lee has other books I've absolutely loved!

That Prince is Mine
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Author: Jayci Lee

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Macmillan Audio and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: 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.

My Thoughts: This was a cute story. I have been a fan of Lee’s works for a while and personally love them. Emma Yoon runs a small business as a culinary instructor teaching royal cuisine. She wants to open her own culinary school. She has a close relationship with her godmother, a matchmaker, and would do anything to make her godmother happy. Her godmother has a series of dates set up for Emma to find a husband, not necessarily love at first. Most end in disaster. Prince Michel Aubert is bound by royal responsibility, including an arranged marriage. However, if he finds love first, he can escape the arrange marriage aspect of the responsibility. Emma might just be the woman he is looking for, however, Emma is re-evaluating how she feels about “love.” This follows the tropes of royal romance, opposite attract, arranged marriage aspect, and food incorporation.

Emma believes that marriage will only work between two people if they are compatible, as she feels two people will eventually fall out of love and if they are not compatible, they is nothing to fall back on and the relationship will end in divorce. Michel is a prince under the guise of a professor at USC. He is in America searching for his soulmate, as he believes in true love. There was an immediate attraction between Emma and Michel. They started dating for different reasons, he believed she was his soulmate and she wanted to prove that they were not compatible. This even carried an insta-love aspect. The characters were well developed, likable, were witty, had chemistry, and were intriguing. I did love the supporting characters and the side romance that developed there. I would have liked to see a little more backstory built up, even saying that, the characters were well thought out. The author’s writing style was complex, funny, passionate, and creative. I do think the third act breakup could have gone a tad differently, or not at all.

The narrator, Olivia Song, did a good job with voice variation matching character distinction. The pace and flow were spot on to listen at 2x speed with no issues of following along. Even with the plot shortcomings, overall, I really did enjoy this story and thought it was a cute read. Again, I love Lee, so I will always pick up the next novel of hers. I would recommend this for anyone who enjoys an adorable love story.

Not for me.
There was no depth to any of the characters.
The romance was not felt.
I didn’t feel any connection between the two characters.
I didn’t love the matchmaking and how it was so important but at the end it suddenly didn’t matter anymore.
I don’t know if it was just the narrator or if it was intended by the author but Michel is the MMC’s name and it’s pronounced “Michelle.” For myself as an American, Michelle is a woman’s name so maybe it’s just me but whole time I’m thinking of it as a woman’s name. Threw me off for the whole book.

This is a great book for fans of light-heartedness, humor/banter, and books that are more emotional romance stories. It felt flat and predictable at some points, but the prince whisked me away and kept me reading.

Thank you for my copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is a delightful read for fans of lighthearted, humorous, and emotional romance stories who will be swept away by the charming tale of a strong-willed Korean royal court cuisine instructor and a dashing prince who must navigate the complexities of love, identity, and happily ever after.

This book was somewhat hard for me to get through. I think the idea of it was cute, well intentioned, and had some great romance. What I found was that it was very predictable—so if that’s your thing you might love it!

I really enjoyed the dating dare so I was excited for this book, I definitely think this fell a little flat for me as the characters seemed to surface level for my liking. I want all of Emma’s dreams of cooking to come true. My favourite parts were when she was talking about a recipe or teaching classes. Michel was not my favourite, seemed like he decided on the first pretty woman he saw to fall in love with her and get what he wanted.

Did I love? No. Will I read the next Jayci Lee book? Absolutely will eat it up.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I listened to this book and LOVED the narrator. She gets 5 starts!

The story was cute. A visiting Price of a small country (Michel) is working as a visiting professor at a college. He meets a lovely woman at the hotel cafe and needs to get to know her. The woman is Emma, a young professional who is going on Matsons (match making dates) to find her husband. When they meet, they both feel an instant connection. He is to be the crowned Prince and her life is in California. How will they work everything out?

Thank you for the copy, this is my honest opinion.
#MacAudio2024

I had a hard time getting into this book and decided to DNF at 50%. The idea was cute, but it just felt like it dragged too much.

3.5 stars. Cute, steamy romcom. I loved the Korean food tie in with Emma being a culinary instructor. My one complaint is the accent of Prince Michel. It made him sound like a pompous ass which was not his character at all. It definitely didn't seem like a French accent which I believe was his native language. Overall cute story.

This was very adorable! To my liking, a tad too dreamy and instantaneously romantic; however, this may vary depending on your reading preferences. I believe that this is the ideal little romance for the age group. My mouth was watering from the descriptions of the food, and the characters were adorable.

💭 MY THOUGHTS: My favorite thing about this book was how much Emma’s Korean culture was a part of the story. Emma believes in living by the jeongseong principle (“the faithful and true heart to do all the effort possible”) and that shines through in her passion for cooking and teaching Korean royal court cuisine. I had never heard of it and really enjoyed the descriptions of so many delicious dishes.

On the love front, her Imo godmother is a Madame Ddu (matchmaker). Emma felt pressure to agree to an arranged marriage since she’s almost “spinster age”.

🎧 The book was narrated by Olivia Song. First and foremost I will say that accents on audiobooks are tricky. Michel, the prince, and his cousin and bodyguard all have accents from a made up country so there’s no right way to do the accent. But I did find that Michel’s accent changed over the course of the book and was a bit over done it felt more like a theater performance which took me out of the story at times. I’d read not listen to this one.

Read for:
💙 He Falls First
🤴 Secret Prince
🍜 Korean Culture
‼️ Dual POV

⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️ / 5

The story reminded me of The Prince and I in a good way because I really like that movie. I think the story is predictable, but it's fun. I didn't love the narrator for the audiobook though. There words that were pronounced weirdly, and Gabriel/Michel's voices were so irritating.

Cute, easy read. Narration utilizes different voices well to create a fun experience. Will be keeping an eye out for more from this author.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.

Emma Yoon's business is to teach the art of Korean royal court cuisine to young ladies hoping to marry into the upper crust of Korean families. With her godmother's help in passing matchmaking clients her way, she's doing quite well, though she is unlucky in love herself. Because of her unmarried status, her godmother's reputation is in question, so Emma decides to allow her to make her a match, though she's got her eye on the man who is always in the restaurant when she's meeting her potential matches. Michel Aubert may be a professor at USC this semester, but he's also the crown prince of a small European nation, who will soon have to find the perfect bride to be his princess. He's prepared to spend the rest of his life giving his all to his country, but he wants something for himself first, and that doesn't include an arranged marriage. Will he be able to convince Emma he's worth it all, and has he found his perfect princess?

I really enjoyed this book, especially the dual POV. Emma and Michel were very different characters, with different backgrounds and life experiences. However, they were still perfect together, and really complimented each other. I did hate how long Michel kept his identity a secret, and the fact that he was due for an arranged marriage on his return home, but they talked it through, and Emma proved she was a princess in every way.

I enjoyed this one. I've somehow fallen into a hole of books, especially rom-com type stories, that have to do with baking or cooking, and I love it. I feel like food does bring people together, so it's a good element to be involved in romance stories. I enjoyed the overall writing style, the characters, and the overall story. Emma had some past relationship related trauma from her childhood that I feel so many people deal with with her parents' divorce and not wanting to end up that way, which I feel made sense for the story. She was a bit more two-dimensional than Michele, in my opinion, as it felt like he was just so focused on finding someone to fall in love with and lacked a little grit. I know with royal characters, they can feel that way a bit because they haven't really had to go through a lot of tough things, but I wanted a bit more from him.

I also felt like this one was a little long for what it was. There was the continued story of Emma saying, "This isn't going to go anywhere," and always looking for an out, and it started feeling a little overused. I wish that something else had come up sooner to cause more drama, but it wasn't so annoying that I didn't enjoy my listen. I did really enjoy the side characters, too. Auntie Sue had some pretty funny dialogue, and the dynamics between the characters worked well.

I would recommend this one to rom-com lovers and if you love books that have a food theme!

Tropes:
Royal romance
Culinary instructed / Middle class, Asian-American FMC
Prince / visiting professor in California
Contemporary romance

3⭐️