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The Secret Princess by Beth Harbison, Elizabeth Harbison

liralen's review

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2.0

I am reminded of [b:Princess in Denim|294758|Princess in Denim (The Princess & The Pauper) (Harlequin American Romance, No 719)|Jenna McKnight|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1173473964s/294758.jpg|286011], which is not a compliment (to either book). In Princess in Denim—a princess-and-pauper story—the heroine agrees to take her princess-friend's place on a trip back to the princess's home country (apparently there were no such things as cameras in the 90s, because nobody's ever seen a picture of said princess). Judging by the cover, she wears hideous denim jackets. And (take note; this is the important part) when the pauper becomes the princess full-time and ends up marrying the king of the country next door, she suggests that he take care of running 'her' country, too, since he knows how to do that sort of thing.

That noise you hear is the reader beating her head against the wall.

Anyway, The Secret Princess is no princess-and-pauper tale. It's more Anastasia—the princess was forced to flee with her family when she was an infant, but now the prince (that is, the son of the people who overthrew the princess's parents) wants to put the rightful person back on the throne. She wears a hideous denim dress. (Granted, the story does not say it's hideous, but denim dresses that aren't are few and far between.) And—again, take note; this is the important part—she is only ever meant to be a figurehead. That's the entire reason the prince wants her to be on the throne: so that he can run for an elected government position and actually run the country.

Nobody seems to have a problem with this—or with the fact that there are still some people trying to kill the princess to keep the prince (or 'prince') on the throne—or with the fact that they spend a week getting to know each other in the stiffest way possible (get your minds out of the gutter) and then decide that they're wildly in love and will be getting married ASAP.

Siiiiigh.
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