Emma believes that being with someone who is perfect for her on paper is better than falling in love with someone. Love can be messy and complicated and it risks fading. Letting a matchmaker find someone for her seems more logical and safer. When she accidentally falls in love how will she handle it and will she push him away in favor of a more compatible relationship? This is my first Jayci Lee book but I can promise you it won’t be my last. This book was funny and cute, it was thoughtful and steamy. I loved the banter between the characters. The build up before the more romantic moments was perfect. I really enjoyed all of it. I can only hope that this book will lead to more with the side characters as an interconnected standalone series (wishful thinking 🙃), because I loved it. The audio narrator was great as well. She was easy to listen to and her voices were not distracting.

Ok the book is excelente,
UPDATE
Audio got fixed and omg perfection!!!!
Love it so damn much.
This was such a cute book.
The couple and all their interactions to die for 😍
The korean add on perfection as well , now im just starving and hungry 🤣. But we’ll definitely will recommend

I want to thank everyone for the early copy of That Prince is Mine.

Having read one of Jayci Lee’s other books, I was excited to jump into this one but it unfortunately felt flat for me. I think my biggest take away was how much I disliked the male main character. He was instantly in love with the FMC, before he even knew her name, and it all felt fake/calculated towards them both just finding a spouse.

I unforunately DNF’d this book.

That Prince is Mine by Jayci Lee

Emma is a Korean cuisine instructor. She has not been lucky in love. Her aunt, a matchmaker, wants to have her chance. Michel is a prince. He is on the search for the woman he loves who is willing to stand beside him in his royal responsibilities. They meet while he's a professor at USC.

It's a light and fluffy romance with a little spiciness.

Thanks, Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the advance reader copy.

Well this book was not for me. I’m not sure what I expected when I saw a tag line of sweet and sexy but it was not this story. The relationship is more insta-lust than insta-love and I did a lot of skipping through the spice which is difficult to do on audio. The story also didn’t feel fresh other than the Korean culture aspect. It felt very much like an adult version of The Prince and Me but with cringy spice. While the narrator did great with Emma’s voicing, I was confused as to why Michel and his relatives all had British accents but spoke French.

I received an advanced copy of this audiobook from NetGalley. The thoughts and opinions in this review are more own.

Content Notes: Multiple descriptive open door scenes

While I was surprised that there was no male voice for the MMC pov it was still a good audiobook. I loved Emma and Michelle and was happy for them. I am always a sucker for a Cinderella vibe fairy tale but I also like the fact they were culturally different. Glad it was an audiobook because I wouldn’t have been able to pronounce most of the words. 😅

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for the eARC and ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Story: 3.5⭐️
Narration: 3⭐️
Overall: 3.25⭐️

The synopsis of this book gave me “The Prince & Me” vibes which had me feeling nostalgic and looking forward to reading it. For the most part, it delivered on that with some added spice, but also fell somewhat flat for me.

One thing I loved was Emma’s foodie personality and that she was an instructor of specialized cuisine from her Korean culture. So many of the food description sounded delicious and full of flavor. Honestly, I was more interested in that than the romance element.

The relationship between Emma and Michel felt very instalust/instalove, and I think that was partly due to feeling like I was dropped into a story that had already been going on for a while. Michel had been watching Emma for quite some time in the cafe before they spoke. I did enjoy the interactions between them as their relationship grew, but I just didn’t feel much of a connection.

Additionally, this book was far too long with not a lot going on to make the extra pages needed. I think it could’ve been significantly trimmed down without losing the heart of the story.

Narration: I didn’t love the narrator’s style for this performance. It sounded stiff and stilted to me, very formal delivery in more than just Prince Michel’s POV. I wasn’t crazy about the different tones of voice for different characters either, particularly the male characters. She did invoke emotion well in particular important moments, so I appreciated that. I thought her performance of Emma was definitely the strongest part overall.

An adorable lighthearted read with a European Prince and lots of food. A favorite trope of let’s get it out of our system and then they fell in love. Also a hero that sacrifices himself to be with the love of his life. The book was full of many swoon worthy moments had a bit of spice that I was not expecting but appreciated.

I really loved all the nods to Korean culture in this book! As someone who loves to cook I enjoyed the fun nods to food. Some of the Korean words were pronounced very awkwardly which really annoyed me haha. I thought it was a little too long as well. Thank you so much for the ARC NetGalley!

I love a Royal Romance so was really excited for this one. I do feel like parts of it did not live up to my expectations, the spicy scenes seemed awkward or forced at times and of course there is a massive miscommunication trope. Their romance was supposed to have a deadline, and even though Michel wanted to extend that, he never voiced it and acted kinda annoyed that Emma was going about planning her life and looking for a commercial kitchen. There was some family drama on Michel's side and I enjoyed the romance between his cousin and his bodyguard more, tbh.

3.5/5

Emma is thrilled when she meets Michel. But what she doesn't know is that Michel is a Prince. When Michel tells her the truth, Emma needs to determine whether she is the woman who can help him lead his country in future. I do love a good royal romance and this one was pretty good although I did feel that maybe it needed a little more to get it over the line to be amazing. The audiobook also cut out at the end of chapters 9 and 10 so I feel like I missed a bit of the story.

First off, thank you to Macmillan audio for the audiobook copy!

Unfortunately, I learned very quickly that this story wasn’t for me. I was hoping for some manner of royal charm, as well as some comical takes between characters with such very different life circumstances. I just.. didn’t think this was funny at all. But more than anything, I felt like the romance was terribly forced. I might just not be a fan of the arranged marriage execution in this one, but ultimately it fell very flat for me.

This is a really “cute” book that has a fun premise which I was excited for some Asian American representation. However. It was just” meh”.

I am so thankful to have gotten the audio ARC for free from Netgalley and MacMillan Audio so I can leave my voluntary and honest review.

I am wondering if I would like this book better had I not listened to it.
The narrator’s natural voice for the FMC is fine albeit really slow. But you can speed things up so that’s easily corrected. However, her choices for other characters as hard to listen to, especially male characters.

That being said, the book just wasn’t as well written as I would expect it to be from this author. The dialogue just wasn’t natural and the more spicy scenes were uncomfortable or simply made me laugh.

I just can’t recommend this title, especially the audiobook at this time. It’s also way too long for the actual content as the story is lacking action or meaningful subplots etc..

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars and I rarely round up.

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

As a millennial who rewatched The Prince & Me (just the first film, we don’t acknowledge the sequel in this house) more times than I can count, I was so excited to dive into this royal romcom. I really enjoyed the conversations about family, expectations, compatibility, and arranged marriage. The scenes where Emma was in the kitchen teaching were my favorite, even if all the talk about cooking and baking made my stomach growl.

There were lots of cute, swoony moments that had the classic romcom feel - you can never go wrong with a bookshop date - but for me, this story dives deep into insta love territory, and that’s just not a favorite trope of mine. I need the love interests to spend a decent amount of together before they starting thinking of the figure and Michel was just a bit too eager when he started dreaming up their future in the first 15% of the book… He needed to calm down a bit and let those feelings simmer for a hot minute. I recognize that Emma and Michel’s situation was a bit unique… yes, he’s a prince in disguise, but because they were both facing a ticking clock with arranged marriages in the works. For the story, it makes sense why their romance would move quickly and rely on insta love, but I struggled buying into their chemistry because it was SO quick.

The audiobook was enjoyable and Olivia Song’s narration was quite heartfelt and lovely.

Even though insta love isn’t a favorite trope of mine, I do think this story is worth picking up if that’s a trope you enjoy because there were many moments of tenderness that were quite lovely. If you grew up pining for Prince Harry or William and watched The Prince & Me or The Princess Diaries on repeat, That Prince is Mine might be the royal romcom your TBR needs!

♡𝐀𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 &| 𝐞𝐀𝐫𝐜 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰♡
2.5 🌟
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𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬 :
•interracial romance
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The premise of this story and the cover art is what caught my attention and made me want to read this story. 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. 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. I just think this book isn't my cup of tea. It wasn't keeping my attention.
The audiobook is good, but I feel like if it was a DUEL narrator, it would have made it 100% better.
𝙳𝙽𝙵 @25%
𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐
𝙱 𝚄 𝚃 𝚒𝚏 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚘𝚏 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 . . .2.5 🌟
𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 July.30
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Thank you, Netgalley, St. Martin Press for the (eArc)-eBook, and MacmillanAudio for the (ALC)-audiobook for my honest review.

Thank you so much to netgalley and macmillian audio for the alc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I will start by saying that I did enjoy this audiobook! I liked the narrator and it was an easy listen.

However, I was not a fan of this book. It felt way too long for a romance and I did not like any of the characters. I did enjoy the different foods incorporated and the different Korean ideas sprinkled in. I am not familiar with Korean food or culture but this book had a decent amount so I feel like I learned a bit.

I didn't feel much connection between the main characters and it just felt too insta love for me.

I hope others love this one but it was not for me!

Fantastic narration that seemed to get Korean pronunciations (mostly about food) correct! BUT I'm not a native speaker, so that that with a grain of salt.

The story itself is cute, royal & culinary inclined. Like watching a Hallmark movie with a few twists thrown in. The food descriptions are so so good here!

I love a good royalty rom com and this is no exception!

Emma is such a wonderful female lead and I really enjoyed the male lead Michel as well. Their romance is sweet and there are definitely some swoon worthy moments.

To me, the best part of this book was that each character stands out alone, and they don't need each other to complete one another. They exist as two wholes who comes together and support each other.

Thank you netgalley and Macmillan audio for the free ALC. My opinions are being left voluntarily. I really enjoy reading Asian romances full of so much family. Who add Important pieces to the story. I enjoy her writing and forget she writes open door, which is the best surprise. I found it a bit on the longish side and definitely think it could have been a tiny bit shorter.

The narration was so well done.

4.5/5

4/4.25 ⭐️

I really enjoyed this story. it is more of a lighthearted read, the topics don’t get too in depth and there isn’t any really heavy topics.

You’re following Emma and Michel and i felt like Emma’s character had a lot of depth. It was hard not to relate to her in some way and enjoy her character. Michel didn’t feel like he had much depth to me. You learned basically who he was - but not much else about his background.

I really enjoyed the romance, and I would love a book about Sophie and Gabriel. I wished the book was dual POV and not third but still enjoyed it!

i really enjoyed the narrator, as a primarily audiobook reader It added to the story to have the narration!