Book Review: “Once Upon a Prince” by Rachel Hauck

The story is, all-American girl Susanna meets some prince—but of course doesn’t know he’s a prince—and he may or may not like her. It doesn’t matter, because he goes back to Made Up Land, where he can’t marry her because she wasn’t born there. He tells her this days after they meet and pray earnestly together on the lawn of a church. After having just met. My eyes are rolling so hard I can’t see straight. 

I like a good summer read, and I indulge in the occasional sappy Christian romance. But I have to draw the line somewhere. The dialogue was absurd. I was distracted during the male dialogue by the fact that it was OBVIOUSLY written by a woman. Men don’t talk this way. And the prince-turned-king makes a point to state clearly for the reader he’s never been known to take a ‘nip’ of alcohol in his tea, unlike his rakish and irresponsible younger brother. 

But the WORST part was the total lack of believable romance in this romance novel. The heroine shows up unexpectedly to this event, he honors her in front of all his guests, they dance, he whisks her away to a secret room with a fireplace, confesses some feelings, goes in for the kiss… and she’s like, “nah, I have nothing better to do, but no smooches because we could never get married, even though I like you but don’t necessarily want to get married.” And he responds with, “Oh, right, yeah, no problem! Back to the party, huh?” Eyes…can’t…stop…rolling. 

And who would ask a complete stranger of the opposite gender to sit knee to knee on the lawn of a church and pray for them, their anxieties, their struggle with the greater purpose of their life on earth, while holding hands? They’re not at high school Bible camp. They’re in their 30s. No. 

So clearly it is only because I agreed to read the entire book before reviewing it that I turned page after page to the end. Not because—despite the painfully feminine male speech patterns—the pacing and flow are good and it is an entertaining read. It’s the first in a trilogy. HELP US ALL. I got a review copy and I am SO GLAD I didn’t pay for it. But I guess I wouldn’t be too annoyed if I had.