This audiobook was cute. Emma has a love for cooking and dream of starting her own culinary school. She must go on several dates to find a husband and get her dream. She meets Prince Michel.
I liked this one. I liked the connection between the hero and heroine. The plot was well developed. The narrator did a great job bringing this book to life. At times, I did find my attention wandering a little bit but overall it was an enjoyable listen. Huge thanks to Macmillan audio and Netgalley for allowing me to listen and review this book!

Title: That Prince is Mine
Author: Jayci Lee
Narrator: Olivia Song

A cute rom-com fairy tale come true for main character Emma Yoon, That Prince is Mine is a quick and cozy read about a Korean-American woman and a royal prince who fall in love despite their vastly different backgrounds.

What I loved:
* I know nothing about Korean culture, and so I loved seeing that sprinkled throughout, especially the food descriptions. I feel like it helped expose me to new things.

* Girl meets prince and falls in love. Even if Emma didn't fall in love immediately, this is a great escapist fantasy theme.

* This book was really cute. Superly cute. Very cozy and charming, which made it easy to read through like butter.

What I didn't love:
* The narrator choice. I think this was my biggest hang-up. The narrator was fine, but her Emma voice sounded too young, which made me very uncomfortable listening to the spicy parts. And Chevalier's accent didn't sound natural, so I kept imagining a cartoon in my head. Hindsight, I would have opted for the e-book version instead.

* I didn't love the characters. This might have gone into them being a little too cute. I think they didn't have enough depth for me to feel committed to their happiness. If anything, I was rooting for the bodyguard the whole time. BTW, I would totally read a spin-off book about the bodyguard.

Overall, would recommend for those who like really cute romances. 3/5 stars.
Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the digital audiobook for an honest review.

In this delightful romance, Emma Yoon is a Korean royal court cuisine instructor with a practical plan to find a perfect husband through arranged dates. Her goal is to support her godmother's matchmaking business and open her culinary school. However, when she meets Michel Aubert, a charming professor, and a secret prince, her carefully laid plans are thrown into disarray. Emma and Michel must navigate cultural expectations, hidden identities, and personal ambitions as their relationship blossoms. The story is a charming blend of romance and cultural exploration, featuring engaging characters and a satisfying emotional journey. It's a light, enjoyable read that leaves you rooting for love to conquer all.

This had such a promising, cute Cinderella story premise and ended up being almost painful to read. Here are my biggest critiques:

-The chemistry/relationship felt very superficial. I couldn't figure out what drove their connection other than pure carnal attraction

-Both characters were one-dimensional with their personalities revolving around their occupations

-There was way too much smut (seriously, it felt like they got freaky in every chapter) and that's something I don't mind when I feel like there is a strong emotional connection.

Overall, I'm pretty disappointed. Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review

This started out so cute and then fell apart at the end for me. I loved the incorporation of Korean tradition and customs into the story and the bonus of a royal pretending to be anything but a la Roman Holiday was intriguing. I enjoyed watching them fall in love and try to work out their differences. The writing flowed well and made it easy to get caught up in the story and then the ending got so cheesy that it ruined it for me, a trend I have noticed has bothered me with this author in the past. I get that the happy ever after has to happen a certain way, but it was overdone and made it hard to rate this higher than a 3.

This is such a cute story! I loved getting to know the main characters and their different backgrounds and cultures, especially the Korean cuisine. Michel fell fast and hard for Emma and I absolutely adored him! They had great chemistry and were both really relatable even though they were going through crazy circumstances.
This audiobook is perfect if you’re looking for a light romance full of humor and entertaining side characters. Olivia Song did a fantastic job narrating.

Listen if you like ⇣
🤍Romantic comedy
💚Opposites attract
🤍Prince in disguise
💚He falls first
🤍Love-averse FMC
💚Foodie vibes
🤍Slow burn
💚Obsessed golden retriever MMC
🤍Third person POV
💚Spice

This was fun and I loved that the main characters were different. It was interesting to read about the food she made and his little country he ran. I need to google it and see if it's real. The match making dates were amusing. My fav was when she was trying her hardest to gross him out and leave! The prince was a delight and all those around him made good characters too

Reading this one was odd for me - I definitely enjoyed it while reading it, but I don't think it will stick with me. Overall, it was just fine.

I always love a romance that has some sort of cultural representation - particularly when that involves detailed and delicious descriptions of food! Additionally, I do think the setting of this book, LA, was really brought to life - it was descriptive and really helped you visual the area.

However, if I heard our FMC say one more time about how she was with the MMC just to prove incompatibility one more time...like we get it - it didn't need to be harped on that much. As such, I feel like the relationship wasn't truly developed - because we were only getting their motivations (prove incompatibility and choose his own spouse) over and over again. It felt like the feelings were developed out of thin air because so much time was given to the other motives.

Overall, I did enjoy the narration and don't think that contributed to my "just okay" feeling.

✨ALC Review✨ Another cute, solid romance. This one is about Michel, a European prince who has come to LA to find his one true love, and Emma, a Korean-American woman determined to marry a “perfect-on-paper” man. She doesn’t want love to destroy her like she has seen it do with her parents.

Michel sees Emma in the cafe at the hotel where he’s staying and immediately takes note. She’s gorgeous and elegant. She’s having little blind dates with men her match-making aunt is setting her up with. The name for these blind dates is Korean and I listened to it, so I’m not sure how to spell the word.

Anyway, after one terrible blind date, Michel sends over some madeleines and we’re off to the races.

Michel keeps his royal status hush hush for a while to make sure she likes him for who he is and not for his crown. Eventually she’s going to have to decide if leaving everything and everyone she loves in Los Angeles is something she can do in order to be with Michel.

I did think this story was a tad too long. I ended up listening to the last half at 2x the speed which I very rarely do. Overall though, good book. I very much enjoyed learning about some Korean culture and traditions. And it made me want to eat Emma’s carefully prepared cuisine!

I was given an ALC by #netgalley and @macmillan.audio. My thoughts are mine alone.

#romance #romancebooks #contemporaryromance #royalromance #booksbooksbooks #bookreview #bookstagram

Usually I am a Jayci Lee superfan but for me, this novel was just okay. Despite the spicy bits, the romance itself is what I'd expect from a Hallmark romance where the 'girl Friday' meets the handsome prince in disguise.

Cute but generic if readers are expecting a big more depth.

This is a 3.5 star rounded down for me. This was a light hearted read - perfect for the summer. I am always up for a royal romance. This book introduced us to Emma, a Korean Royal Court instructor and Michel - who is a visiting professor who is the crown prince of another nation. We have arranged marriages, unique characters, a sweet and easy romance, he falls first, Korean food and culture (I love food in books). With this said, I just wanted a little bit more depth to the story overall. Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillian audio for this audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.

Macmillan Audio ALC
I’ll start with the narration being my favorite part of this book. Song was able to capture Emma and Michel so well that I kept listening. I also liked the Korean food and culture here with Emma’s character. Everything was described with delicious vividness. But I did not like the characters together. I am not a miscommunication lover and I spent the entire book thinking just talk to each other - especially since this is a royal romance. I was frustrated for most of the story and that ruined my enjoyment of it.

This audiobook was just okay to me. The story wasn't quite interesting enough to capture my attention for the long haul. I enjoyed the culture but the actual relationship seemed a bit contrived. As for the narration, I loved the narrator for the FMC parts. BUT this is a dual POV story, so an actual British male would have been a lot better for the MMC's parts.

Title: That Prince is Mine by Jayci Lee
Narrator: Olivia Song

The narrator for this book was SO good, I thought Olivia did a great job with her voices. It was very clear who was who.

Unfortunately, the story itself was a little eh. It was too much indecisiveness for me. The side characters had their own little love story too that was cute! Double happy ending. Even though it felt like it took forever to get there.

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an ALC of this title!

I really wanted to love “The Prince is Mine” by Jayci Lee, but it just didn’t hit the mark for me. The story felt predictable and lacked the spark I was hoping for. While the premise had potential, the characters felt a bit flat and the romance didn’t quite sizzle. I found myself losing interest halfway through and struggling to stay engaged. Overall, it was an okay read, but not one I’d rush to recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me this book for free in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own. I also was granted access to the audiobook.

This was a delightful novel that takes a spin on the small town girl falling in love with a royal. Jayci Lee knows how to write a good romance. This book was sexy and fun. I loved reading this book and witnessing Michel and Emma falling in love.

This book was narrated by Olivia Song, whose voice may be familiar to you if you have listened to some of the books by Colleen Hoover. She was a great fit for this audiobook.

Overall this book was so adorable and swoonworthy and was really cute. I highly recommend this book and can't wait to see what Jayci Lee writes next!

PS: this book may make you hungry, so be sure to have some snacks around!




Many Thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.

********


If you are interested in seeing more of my reviews and other content feel free to connect with me here <3:

https://linktr.ee/bookreviewsbyjules (links to my Instagram, Goodreads, TikTok, Storygraph, My blog and Substack newsletter, etc)

If you are a publisher or author who has questions about my reviews (as well as questions about my stats, reach or engagement), please free to email me. I am also open to requests for book reviews from authors or publishers. Thank you again for taking time to read my review, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Emma Yoon’s godmother is a renowned Korean matchmaker but Emma has no problem being single. When clients begin to question her godmother’s skills, Emma offers to begin the process of finding her own match. Prince Michel Aubert desperately wants to avoid an arranged marriage. He hopes that quickly finding someone on his own terms is a much preferable solution. When Emma and Michel meet by chance at a cafe, sparks fly, but she has no idea of his true identity.

That Prince is Mine is a stand-alone. This royal romance contains a good mix of both sweet and spicy scenes.

Secret identity romances always get pretty angsty especially the longer the deception holds out. When the secret keeper turns out to bea royal that adds an extra layer of chaos. The MCs have very opposite lives but are both looking for the same thing (marriage) even if it’s not for the same reason. There’s still tons of chemistry between them and plenty of great banter. I LOVED all of the food descriptions!

The audiobook is very well done. Olivia Song does a fantastic job bringing the characters to life. There are so many different unique voices.

I have read a couple other of Jayci Lee’s books and do really enjoy the vivid style of her writing. I look forward to reading more other work in the future.

I voluntarily listened to and reviewed an advanced copy of this audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I like learning in books, no matter what genre. I did not expect THAT PRINCE IS MINE to teach me so much about Korean royal court cuisine. Also, silly me, after reading the book blurb, I thought that the FMC Emma was the cook for the Korean royal court and fell in love with a crowned prince of a different nation in disguise, not a chef of Korean royal court cuisine wanting to open a culinary in Los Angeles. I expected rival courts. What I got was a local chef who makes excellent food and a prince who falls head over heels for her. It wasn’t what I expected, but I am now a Jayci Lee fan!

Emma and Michel’s banter was witty, and I giggled a lot! Don’t let the cute cover fool you—this book has chili peppers! It also has excellent side characters.

If you listen to audiobooks, Olivia Song’s narration is terrific. Just like the book, she makes it fun and entertaining.

THAT PRINCE IS MINE is a fun romcom that you will enjoy if you are a royal romance reader. I had a lot of fun with it!

Thanks, Macmillan Audio, for the ALC!

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this advance copy! This book was really fun. Emma was a bit juvenile at times, but overall I enjoyed this book. That Prince is Mine is very wholesome and lighthearted with an enjoyable plot and a little bit of spice, which was appreciated! The characters were all so great and I would love to read more about them if this were a series.

mma teaches classes on Korean royal court cuisine, who hopes to one day settle down with a nice Korean man with similar interests. Michel is the crown prince of a small country, who is posing as a university professor in the hope he will find true love before he is forced to marry for political reasons. Emma's professional matchmaker god mother convinces her to seek out a husband, meeting all of her dates at the cafe Michel happens to frequent. Michel convinces her to date him and spends the rest of the book trying to convince her that they are made for each other.

I found this book refreshingly realistic. The author brought up real problems concerning their differences and the problems they caused, as well as how their differences could make a relationship stronger! I also loved that the supporting characters were given some background and story lines as well.

This book has some fluff and a bit of spice, but is all around a perfect weekend read! I would love to read more books from this author!