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⭐️

I enjoyed this! It was cute and I loved watching the characters fall in love despite the odds. I'm a huge foodie so I absolutely loved the big culinary/food aspect in this one. I would love to go to one of Emma's cooking classes!

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator, Olivia Song, made the characters shine. I also loved the authenticity she brought to the pronunciation of the Korean dishes.

All in all a fun read, though make sure you have a snack on hand cause it will make you hungry 😂😂😂.

A huge thanks to MacMillan Audio and Netgalley for the ALC. All opinions are my own.

I did like the story line of this book, but really did not like the narrator. The accents were weird and off putting and I really disliked the "male" character's voice, super cringy. The storyline was really really ridiculous, which I expected, but I would've enjoyed the book more had I read the paper version instead of listening to it. Hard pass on the audiobook version of this book, definitely better to read the actual book (or kindle) version.

3.5⭐️
Emma Yoon is a successful Korean royal court cuisine instructor Who was finally decided to let her Korean matchmaker godmother find her the perfect on paper husband… just when she accidentally meets Michael Aubert, a visiting professor at USC… who just happens to be part of his own royal Court!

This is a cute very Hallmark like romance, where Emma needs to decide if right on paper will be right for her in real life!

The audiobook is narrated by Olivia Song and she does a great job with the different accents for the characters. Her voice work really carries this OK story and brings it up another notch.

This was super cute! A little fluffy and insta-lovey for my taste, but that's just down to what kind of reader you are. I think for the age group this is a perfect little romance. The characters were adorable and the food descriptions had my mouth watering.

That Prince is Mine by Jayci Lee is a cute royal romance book. Overall, it was easy to listen to and follow along. I enjoyed both characters and felt they had good chemistry. I would recommend this one.

3.5 stars
That Prince is Mine is exactly what the cover and title depict it as. A middle class Asian-American woman unknowingly falls in love with a prince who would do anything for her. There's some insta-love, and at times the plot stalls, but overall, it was really adorable. Michel is pining after Emma from day one, and although over the top at times, it's cute. I did have a couple issues with the story. I found it lost momentum in the middle, was oddly enough a little too pro-arranged marriage for my liking, and Emma's reaction to finding out Michel is a prince was really subdued, but otherwise, I had fun. If you liked Crazy Rich Asians, you'll love this book. It's very similar but with less drama and more pining.
Thank you to the publisher and Macmillan Audio for the eARCs in exhcange for an honest review!

I thought this was a very cute and fast-paced story.

Read this one if you enjoy:
> Royal MMC (hidden identity)
> Insta-attraction/love
> He falls first
> Loveable side-characters

The premise of this story was the classic "royal pretending to be a common person". I liked the California setting and the occupation of a visiting professor really made sense for the MMC's overall character. I thought the initial meetings between the two MCs were cute and quirky - for the MMC to be a bit shy and not totally put together was endearing and not what I had expected from a character who was really a prince. The FMC was fun - I loved the representation of Korean heritage and tradition that was woven throughout the entire storyline.

At times, the storyline did feel a little predictable and surface level - the conflict was pretty easy to see coming and the overall plotlines were generally along a predictable path. I did like the way that Jayci was able to give a variation on the storyline mainly with the family dynamics and supporting characters. There were some great supporting characters in this book that I really enjoyed and definitely took the story to the next level.

The narration of this audio book was excellent. There were a lot of characters with different nationalities and ethnicities that gave the narrator a lot to work with as far as different accents and nuances to character's voices overall. There were a couple of characters who I "heard" their voices a bit differently in my head than what was narrated, but I really enjoyed the audio listening experience. Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the eARC of this book. All thoughts are my own.

This was a cute romance. I enjoyed reading about the multi cultures of Emma & Michel who were both very tight with their respective families and didn’t want to hurt anyone with their relationship. Emma was just a fun character. She was so loyal to her family and put them above herself at times. I’m happy that her character evolved throughout the book and eventually stood up for herself. I also enjoyed how Michel was genuinely a good person and so what on the shy side even though he would eventually be running a country one day. Their relationship was fun to watch evolve as was their personalities. There was definitely a lot of growth from both characters in this book from beginning to end.

The narrator did a fabulous job as well!

***Thank you Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for an ARC copy in return for an honest review***

This was a cute romance story, although some parts seemed a bit far-fetched (most of them related to Michel's prince status). Sometimes it felt like this book wanted to be a naive Christian romance, but then bam there was some heavy sex thrown in at various points in the book.

"That Prince is Mine" by Jayci Lee is a charming and romantic tale that sweeps you off your feet. Emma Yoon, an ambitious culinary instructor with dreams of opening her own school, finds herself in a whirlwind when she meets the dashing Professor Michel Chevalier—who just happens to be a prince in disguise.

Emma's journey to protect her godmother's reputation and pursue her own dreams is filled with humor, heart, and delicious descriptions of Korean royal court cuisine. Michel's quest to find love on his own terms adds an irresistible touch of fairytale magic to the story.

Jayci Lee weaves a beautiful narrative about love, duty, and the courage to follow one's heart. "That Prince is Mine" is a feel-good romance that will leave you smiling long after the last page.

This is such a charmingly hilarious contemporary romance. The story follows a Korean cuisine instructor who’s given up on love and the Prince of a small European nation who’s desperately looking for it. They have a wonderfully hot meet-cute, but unfortunately she was on a date set up by her Korean matchmaker aunt. This doesn’t deter our MMC, regardless of how hilariously bad he is at flirting.

This is such a fun and delightfully romantic story, and it’s performed by Olivia Song who truly brought these characters to life. I truly enjoyed sitting back and letting Jayci Lee and Olivia Song take me away.

Prince Michel (from a made up country in Europe) is pretending to be a professor at USC so he can find a love match in America and avoid being matched up with a wife he doesn’t know. Emma Yoon, a Korean cooking instructor, in an attempt to find someone she is compatible with but not in love with, has asked her auntie to help her find the perfect man on paper. The two meet randomly at a cafe and hit it off, much to Michel’s delight as it helps him with his goal, but not so much with Emma who finds herself falling head over heels for him. As one can imagine, this rom-com is full of comedy and some tears as the two try to figure their futures out. Important to note, this is more adult than young adult in terms of the romance scenes.