The Princess Trap — Talia Hibbert

TITLE: The Princess Trap
AUTHOR: Talia Hibbert
RELEASED: February 8th, 2018
GENRE: Contemporary
AGE RANGE: Adult

SYNOPSIS: He’s reckless, dominant, and deliciously dirty. This prince is no fairytale.

Prince Ruben of Helgmøre knows exactly what he wants—and his current obsession is Cherry Neita. Everything from her rollercoaster curves to her fearsome attitude commands his attention.
And best of all? She has no idea who Ruben is.
Until the paparazzi catch them in a dark alley, her scarlet lipstick smudged, and his hands somewhere naughty…

All Cherry wanted was a night or two with the hottest man she’d ever seen. Turns out, that man is actually a prince, and now he needs her to play princess.
Well, princess-to-be. One year as his fake fiancée, and he’ll make all her problems disappear. Easy. Right?
Wrong.

The closer Cherry gets to Ruben, the brighter their passion burns. But the royal family hides dark secrets, and their palace is a diamond-studded trap.
Can true love bloom from false beginnings? Or will this fairytale end in a happy-never-after?

{GOODREADS . AMAZON (free on kindle unlimited!)}

I’ve accepted it: I’m 3/3 on Talia’s books now and have devoured each of them in 24 hours or less, and have given each of them 5 stars. To say that she has become my favorite adult contemporary romance author would be a tremendous understatement.

The hurricane was a woman. A woman with laughing eyes and a heart-shaped face and a figure that could kill a man. A woman whose dark, springy curls gleamed like midnight, who had incongruously chubby cheeks and brown-sugar skin.

First, there’s what initially drew me to Talia’s writing: the diversity in her character casts! As far as I’m aware, almost every single title she has written features a plus-size black woman, and the men are often unique in their own way as well; in this case, Ruben is bisexual and this is actually a very important facet of his character arc, which I positively loved seeing. (Hello, bi rep, all day long, please!)

Dragging Cherry into his life felt like dragging a princess off to his lair. He was almost certainly the dragon in this fairytale.

Of course, at this point, I’m under the impression that a Talia Hibbert title wouldn’t be complete without a healthy dose of angst (and I am such a freaking sucker for it!), and this one does not disappoint. I haven’t read the fake dating trope much in my life, but I love how it’s executed in this one, and the gradual buildup between the two leads is absolutely precious and pays off so well.

“Always slaying dragons? And coming home half-dead, thinking no one will care.”

More than anything, though, I loved Ruben’s character. He’s been through so much trauma in his life, and all he wants is to protect others from experiencing the same things he’s suffered, but he keeps finding himself in circumstances he couldn’t have predicted or prevented. He is selfless to a fault, and just so damn sweet that you can’t help but want to squeeze him.

“I have a theory,” he said, his voice mild, “that under the right circumstances, you would be capable of murder. I should add that this aspect of your personality is one I appreciate.”

Of course, the romance isn’t just angsty and sweet. It’s full of adorable banter, loads of mutual respect and care, and (of course) steamy scenes, which are always written well and never come off as cheesy or over-the-top. There’s a slight dom/sub dynamic going on and there are brief moments of conversation where they establish comfort levels and so forth, and as I’ve come to expect from Talia’s books, consent is not just sexy, but it’s a bare-minimum requirement at all times.

All in all, another successful Talia Hibbert read—and now I can’t wait to dive into the next one!