The Royal Runaway

Contemporary/Mystery with hints of romance. This is a hard book to categorize. It feels like most of the story is about Thea - her identity, her anger and grief over being left at the altar, the expectations on her from her family, etc. There's also a strong mystery/suspense piece of what happened to her fiance, who she can trust, etc. There is a romantic piece of the story but it's a back-and-forth, we-should-no-we-shouldn't sort of tug of war between two characters drawn to one another but hyper aware that they shouldn't be. I enjoyed watching Thea sort of find her place/voice/way through the story. (Language, astrology/tarot references)

Overall, I loved this book by Lindsay Emory! It is a fresh take on romance - it’s a great mix of mystery, suspense, and romance. Personally, when I read books for fun (i.e. not a textbook or reference material) I want it to be fun and captivating- and The Royal Runaway definitely delivered! It kept me engrossed the entire time I read it - couldn’t put it down! Another awesome read by Lindsay Emory!!

Such potential here, but I couldn't help thinking how a brilliant writer like Mary Stewart would've handled this: used her lyrical skills to give us a visceral sense of the various locales where the action takes place; created a hero who wasn't just harsh and edgy, but also romantic; likewise, created an intelligent heroine who, no matter how naive, would've learned from her mistakes; and eliminated sloppy plot points (you're suspicious of somebody but a few pages later you're jumping into a car with her? You avoid potentially poisoned food but never consider that water might be, too? Etc.) This felt like a draft of a good idea which, with about three more thorough edits would've made a sharp book.

The books I enjoy most these days are stories that provide an escape. The Royal Runaway fit the bill perfectly. It is a great mix of romance and mystery, and Princess Thea is a thoroughly loveable central character. Great read!

I am obsessed with this book. It has everything I like: royal gossip, fierce princesses, history, intrigue, hot Scots, kissing & dead bodies! Lindsay Emory’s voice is a force unto itself and her world-building in this book is a masterclass in creative expression & geeking out. I wish I could visit the country of Drieden.

Just a fun beach read, nothing deep and thought provoking. I mostly read non-fiction, but this was a pleasant change. I did wonder why the main character was stupid enough to trust people she shouldn’t, but that’s just part of the story. I never could decide how to pronounce the name of the country.

Not bad, not great. I read this book in just a few hours. It didn't require any deep thought on my part, but it was cute and entertaining and well written. I confess to being a bit of a closet fan of all books about princesses.

This is such a fun read, and hard to put down. Loved Princess Thea's evolution from dutiful to driven. The book is romantic, funny, and intriguing all in one! Can't wait for the next book! Well done, Lindsay Emory!

Nice read not a page turner for me personallyFound it bit beige .If you love fairytales for grown ups this is boom for you

Après mes lectures en fantaisie, j’avais envie de retrouver un univers plus contemporain, et The Royal Runaway a été une parfaite transition. Encore humour, romance et action, je ne me suis pas ennuyée à découvrir ces personnages et les suivre dans leur périple.Cette lecture a tout bonnement était un très bon moment de détente et de rire. Les personnages ont chacun une part d’humour parfois hilarante, et l’auteure a su se jouer des situations pour nous arracher des sourires, même dans les situations les plus délicates. De plus, Nick et Théa sont sans cesse en train de se lancer des piques. Bien que l’attirance soit assez rapidement flagrante, ils vont rester chacun sur leur gardes, non seulement parce qu’ils ne travaillent pas pour le même gouvernement, mais aussi parce que l’ombre de Christian pèse sur eux. C’était un point très positif pour moi, une romance qui ne va pas trop vite et qui ne prend pas le pas sur l’action principale de l’histoire.Pour finir, l’auteure touche à notre âme de petite fille, en nous dépeignant une princesse des temps modernes, tout en parlant à l’adulte en nous, car elle la confronte à l’abandon le jour de son mariage, à l’espionnage et au blanchiment d’argent… Ce roman fut donc une bonne lecture que je recommande à toutes celles et ceux qui souhaitent participer à l’enquête sur la disparition de Christian, tout cela en compagnie d’un très bel Écossais ! (car oui, pour ne rien gâcher, Nick est écossais !!)

Ok, every once I a while I need a romantic escape. This story filled the need perfectly. I’d put it in the grown up Princess Diary category with a nice bit of mystery adventure on the side.

I started this book thinking it would be just another princess/bad boy story but I was surprised by how gripping the plot really was, far from the overt romance and actually more of a crime/investigation story.

Princess Theodora Isabella (Thea to friends) is about to get married to Christian Fraser-campbell. The whole nation have been awaiting this day and are all ready to watch! Except for, Christian never arrives. With no understanding of this, Thea is left overwhelmed and broken.Thea's grandma decides she needs to be exciled for four months to allow to commotion of what's happened to die down and to allow Thea to fix up and compose herself.Thea knows this is also where naughty, non abiding royal ladies are sent to be 're taught' of how to be!When Theodora returns, she attempts the happy charade and bravely assumes her pre position as the nations happy, prioritized princess.Thea knows she needs more to life than this, she needs freedom too. She doesn't want to ditch her royal duties but feels the need for more.Thea decides to sneak out one night and manages to do it without being spotted by the Royal guards!Thea meets a very devilishly cliche handsome Scotsman named Nick.They flirt, show signs of lust and chemistry and have a very passionate kiss. Thea is potentially wondering if this was her perfect man, that is until, she discovers Nick is actually a spy who has waited to dupe her purposefully! Nick has paid someone to take photos of the two of them kissing, his plan is to blackmail the Royal princess. Thea knows she cannot let these pictures escape after recent events, not only has she snuck out without any personell, she is also in a common bar and worse kissing a stranger of whom is not a royal member!Thea naively trusts Nick after everything when she discovers he is Christians brother and all he wants is help finding out what happened to Christian the night before the wedding, when he disappeared.They both join together to try and figure it all out. Whilst doing this they realise a royal guard, maybe more, is trying to harm Thea, they want her dead.Nick and Thea make a run for it. They both know there is more to Christians non arrival to his own wedding and they're determined to find out exactly what it was, even if it puts them both in danger.With the bad guys still chasing them, they both discover something. A secret that's been held, a secret that changes everything..This book has dabs of romance, banter, twists and adventures.Thea manages to find a balance between protecting her country and keeping herself happy too. You see her become a shell of herself at the start to her picking herself up and dusting herself off, which is empowering for herself!Unearthing family history and discovering truth and treason, Nick and Thea work brilliantly together, even with their petty squabbles and their under desired lust for one another!Thea's character, although a little naive, comes across as a strong woman with good priorities, even if they're in the wrong order at times!Nick's character was kind of cocky, quite arrogant, very self assured but quite witty too.This book was a fun, mysterious and an enjoyable quick read. It's definitely not your cliche romantic novel. I would recommend perfect for a rainy weekend stuck in the house!

When I went into The Royal Runaway, I went into it with expectations.I was expecting it to be a trashy, erotic royal read that was all romance and little else. What I got instead was something so much better - what I got was a humorous, action-packed, suspenseful and mysterious royal romance that I devoured over the course of a weekend.I would've finished this novel in a day if I weren't so busy, considering that with the short chapters and the fast pacing to the story, The Royal Runaway is an overall quick read to read, and with its original storyline and entertaining characters, I was left not wanting to put this book down.Teri Wilson was not wrong when she described this novel as 'The Princess Diaries meets James Bond' - Theodora and Nick's story was the perfect blend of action and comedy, and Lindsay Emory delivers a standalone that was so well-written and completely unpredictable, I was kept consumed until the very end. But whilst I enjoyed the storyline itself and found it to be a gripping and riveting plot that hooked me in from the very first bombshell, it was the lack of chemistry between these characters, and the overall abruptness and lack of development to them that left this book feeling lacklustre.The Royal Runaway also felt like it was a second-in-a-series to me, so much so that I actually stopped to see if one of Thea's sisters - namely Caroline, as she has her own little shocking and intriguing subplot here - had a story of her own. To my disappointment she doesn't, yet the fact that there felt like there was a story already told in this one - that Caroline has a story of her own - left me feeling like I was missing something, and that feeling did not go away as I read this story.So as you can see, to me, The Royal Runaway wasn't perfect... but it also wasn't completely bad either.Despite my 3.5 Star rating, I'd definitely recommend this novel to those looking for a tame royal romance with a heavy dose of humour, and an even heavier dose of suspense and mystery, because putting those flaws aside - which are just my own opinions, and something not everyone will agree with - this standalone was an amazingly light-hearted, enjoyable, and unpredictable romance, one that has made me very excited at the prospect of more to come from the royal world of Drieden.

Princess Theodora of a Kingdom of Dreiden having been jilted on her wedding day, has been sent away until the scandal dies down, and so the adventure starts as she realises she can't trust anyone and attempts to find out what happened to the man she was to marry.It took me a fair while to get into this read, it's an ok light read but the characters and plot didn't ensnare my attention and keep hold of it.

This book ' The Royal Runaway: A royally romantic rom-com! ' reminds me film ' The Princess Diaries ' ,so I was not surprised by twists and humour.The story in this book nicely written,easy to read and more like fairytale.This style of books loves my oldest daughter,so she enjoy reading it and found it great for her holiday,funny,light and interesting.

This read it really fun.I read a lot of books with heavy and detailed plots and I like this sort of book for a more breezy read.It's humour is there - I love that in a book - and anyone who loved the princess diaries books or one out last year called 'The Royals' will likely enjoy this.

It's a nice book, trouble. Is that's not such a good thing, it's just nice. It's not anything special but not awful so will suit a holiday read etc if you want some frothy like reading.. Its not what I'd call a page Turner but isn't badly written it just lacks sparkle.

An enjoyable romantic novel with a good mystery element.The main character Thea is compelling and interesting, her families dynamics and politics are entertaining to read.A great one off book to read whilst holidaying somewhere.Escapist fun.

It took me a while to get into this story.Princess Theodora of a Kingdom of Dreiden was jilted on her wedding day.This Island supposedly on it`s own near the UK.Yes their was intrigue and romance but all too zany for me.Well written as a sort of spy story.Murder and love do come into it.I felt no better about it even when I got to the end

I really liked reading this book. It is an adventure laden story about the Princess who was jilted on her wedding day. The book was both full of intrigue and suspension making you just want to keep on reading and get to the end. Good job!

I really enjoyed this book .It is full of adventures for the The Royal Princess who was jilted on her wedding day. Full of intrigue and suspension.

This took so long to read and I was so bored.Thea and Nick were very flat to me, the mystery wasn't all that interesting. I was kind of just reading this just to finish it...