Wear It Like a Crown

I don’t think this book needs any more positive reviews, it’s doing quite well all by itself! I do have to say, however, that I had been reading with rapt attention,and entertained. Two stories intertwine. There is the predictable love story with a fairytale element, but then there is the pursuit of justice, as Leo comes to confront his past and own it. I am glad the author didn’t cut off her fine tail, where she might’ve, the declaration of a happily ever after. I am glad she pursued the entire thing and had bad guys get cold out in public while both Leo and Joshua navigate the world in the public eye. That part was as satisfying as the love story, if not more so. I thoroughly recommend this book.

I was totally surprised how wonderful this book is. It leaps from heart wrenching to total happiness within a page and does it repeatedly. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is contemplating falling in love, or is already lucky enough to enjoy it.

This was a fantastic book, although I found some of the steamy scenes a little absurd, but other than that I loved it. It did end rather ubruptly and I’m hoping that there will be another story or book with these characters. Maybe dealing with the fallout of choices a little more. I really enjoyed reading this and will likely be looking into more by this author to try and support them in some small way.

Well written and executed gay romance which takes the time to consider that each human being has a personal story that may differ from our assumptions. This was a quite enjoyable, but thought provoking, journey into true romance.

OK, I loved this book. I loved that it was LONG, because all y’all really need to develop an adult attention span. For me, novellas are rarely satisfying, because they purposely skim over things that need depth. Here, I wallowed in the many pages, savoring the deep dive into Joshua and Leo’s minds. I adored the exploration of the interconnected friendships of the five gay, bi and straight modern young men. Yes, there were times when I snarled to myself: get the hell over it, Leo. But, I am a cynical old man, however romantic. One gets impatient with the maunderings of youth—even though I maundered rather a lot in my own youth.I loved that the book spent very little time in Buckingham Palace, or with Joshua’s royal family, because the point of the book was the group of twenty-something men who form the emotional core of the story. The fact that Joshua lives independently in a chic flat in a great neighborhood might seem unlikely, based on what we know of current royal practice—but then again, this is a different royal family, more like today’s other European royals, who live relatively normal lives about which most of us know nothing. Queen Louise and Princess Emma, however brief their roles, were awesome and surprising, and I confess I would have liked to spend more time with them; but hey, Zarah Detand could always write a sequel. Happy ever after is a bloody long time, after all.The author was very good on the careful reveals—building fragments of knowledge until we finally got the whole picture. I appreciated that Joshua was truly smart and good; and that, despite his dark curly hair, one could replace him with either of today’s actual royal princes if one wished. Part of the fun in these “different reality” stories is slotting in real-life royals with the clever fictional ones. I adored Leo, whose apparent lack of self-pity masked a deep shame that has crippled him emotionally without his own realization. Quite unexpectedly, Leo becomes a conduit for understanding how vulnerable all LGTBQ young people are, in spite of the improvements in the world today.Equally welcome was the fact that the on-page sex is limited to critical moments in the narrative—so that it was not only hot, but emotionally on the nose. Corollary to that was my happiness that all of this was focused on the young men and their feelings, and not idiotic leering over body parts.“Wear it Like a Crown” is in fact part of a small sub-genre of gay romance fiction—British Royal Coming Out romance. Who knew, right? The most popular of these books right now, because it is from a mainstream press and is getting big promotion, is Casey McQuiston’s charming “Red, White and Royal Blue.” Most interestingly parallel is Lilah Pace’s two-book series, “His Royal Secret” and “His Royal Favorite,” which spend a lot more time deep inside Buckingham Palace dealing with fallout among the fictitious royals. Oddly enough, the queen in that one is also Louise.None of this works, of course, unless the author knows what she is doing, and Detand is pretty darn good. The book has its flaws, but nothing that derailed my constant pleasure as I read through it. Although it is about Leo and Joshua, it is also about Nate and his friendship with Leo; and about Tristan and Mo, and their devoted love of their friend Joshua. I hope millennials are, at least some of them, as endearing as this group of guys is.

4.5 stars. I'm not a fan of the royal romance trope but almost everything about this book worked for me. Would recommend if your even slightly interested.

I was kept intrigued throughout the entire book. Sometimes the story would soften or slow down then in an instant it would pick right back up and grab ahold of you once again. Loved it.

Really enjoyed the complex story between these two flawed people and their friends. Fingers crossed that there’s a sequel!

f you like slow-burn romance, you will wallow in this novel. Zarah Detand is the queen of the slowest of slow burns, and this story draws out the tension so deliciously that it is like bathing in treacle. It is an unlikely story of cross-class love, involving a British prince, in the vein of Casey McQuiston's Red, White & Royal Blue but I liked it much better than McQuiston's story. It is a sweet love story, with a host of supporting characters who are all wonderful friends to each other. The mood is dreamy, the inner emotional life is swoonsome, the sex is hot (my favourite part was the first-time about 50% through, the pining that surrounds it and the doubts that follow it), the angst is very low-key, the bad people are in the tiny minority.

I can't express how much I loved this book and WHY hasn't it got more reviews?! The story is just perfect and full of realistic touches. Leo and Joshua come together so gradually and their developing feelings are utterly believable. The descriptions are lovely and the quality of writing carries you through the story beautifully. The relationship between Prince Joshua and his close friends, Tristan and Mo is enviable - I think I'm a bit in love with them too, and of course, Nate! Definitely a book I'll read again and again.

Right from the start, you can’t help rooting for Joshua and Leo. You are desperate for Leo to let Joshua know the truth and you might even pay attention to the footie.I won’t spoil it but I’ll tell you I kept finding excuses to curl up for another reading session - that means that it’s a great book.

Once again Zarah Detand knows how to appeal to queer romantics with this tale of a newly outed Prince and his lover with a secret past.It fulfils everything we could want in a romance, and as always Detand creates characters that we really care about. We really want these guys to be happy.Loved it.

Had real trouble putting this down so I could grab some much-needed sleep. There was nothing I disliked about this book at all. Kept me enthralled from first page to the last.