Reviews

How to Catch a Queen by Alyssa Cole

jcmbank's review against another edition

lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

nikkieliz13's review against another edition

3.0

Rating: 3.5 Stars
POV(s): Dual—Third Person
Relationship: M/F
Genre(s): Contemporary Romance

Overall this was an enjoyable enough story. Sadly the climax and resolution both felt lackluster to me.

Title:[b: “How to Catch a Queen (Runaway Royals #1)” by Alyssa Cole]
Interconnected Series: Yes
Standalone: Yes
Cliffhanger: No
HEA:

Spoiler

Yes

Triggers: Yes

Spoiler

Loss of Parent/Grief

Tags/Tropes:
➢ Arranged-Marriage
➢ Competent-FMC
➢ Overlooked-Outcast-FMC
➢ Royal-MMC (King)

tolutolu9597's review against another edition

5.0

When I say chefs kiss romance this is wtf I meannnnnn? Alyssa Coke just does not miss!!!

_reedmylife_'s review against another edition

2.0

This book started off interesting, but it became boring pretty quickly. It was very slow and it felt like it wasn't even worth finishing. I did end up finishing it months later with the help of the audiobook.

I still did not care enough about the characters and their journeys and the sex scenes were just very cringey.

This was my first Alyssa Cole book, but I will try another one of her books because I think that her writing has potential, but this romance just wasn't for me.

charlottenw1's review against another edition

4.0

At first I couldn't get into the story because it's pretty heavy on the political side of things which the new king needs to be monitoring because Queens are seen and not heard in How To Catch A Queen.

That is until Shanti comes with her boss woman vibes and breaks through the old traditions with the grace of a Queen and a heart of a warrior. Sanyu actually has no idea what's about to hit him. He thinks he knows how to play the role of King with a new wife every 4 months but he never expected the bride he received through RoyalMatch.com.

These two are so funny and as the story moves along and the characters get to know each other, they started to melt my heart. There's banter, steam and tension! I listened to the audio as well and the narrator is so sassy, I love it.

If your looking for a

Royal romance
Arranged marriage
Enemies to lovers

Then you've found it.

blodeuedd's review against another edition

3.0

Arranged marriage story! A woman who really wants to be queen!

Shanti has prepared all her life to be queen, ok yes I admit, a tad weird, I mean how many chances are there in the world to achieve that, but hey this is a romance so a lot more pretend kingdoms. I did not know how to take this ambition of hers, but then, I mean she really went all in for it. She studied, she mastered everything and when she finally got her chance she started to plan how to help her new country.

But, yes not that kind of story. Cut to her being mostly alone for 3 months, moving from her room to the library. No one giving an f or wanting her there. All her plans in turmoil. This is not a queen friendly country. No they have for decades had a queen for 4 months and then a new one and a new one and a new one and a new one.

But then she finally gets a chance and gets to speak to her husband. And he notices her brilliant mind (oh and how fine she is.)

Sanyu, yes i liked him. Not everyone wants to be king and his dad, and their advisor sure did a number on him. First, all those queens, so never any mother for him. An advisor ho kept telling him he was a failure, and a father who was known for his iron fist. This poor guy pops antacids like they are candy. But it felt so real, hell it would be scary to be king and suddenly must know what to do.

And no one told him he was to marry either so resentment there too.

She is the only queen ready to save this country, and together they could be great. But there is a road there and yes some drama on the way. It is fun, it makes you want to smack someone over the head and it felt new. I have sure never read about someone this driven to be queen!

I remember the couple for an earlier book and wanting to read it, and I finally had the chance. Enjoyable and refreshing.

Great narration by Chilton. She gets to portray characters from two made up kingdoms, and she gives the characters different accents so well. She has a nice range with her male and female voices and she truly brings the story together.

sweetmisty's review against another edition

4.0

This is my first time reading Alyssa Cole’s books and im not disappointed. I like how it switched between the main characters, Shanti and Sanyu, showing their perspective of things but also how they react on the outside to other people. At first I was skeptical when Shanti said her goal was to be queen, which reflected a lot of the thoughts and reactions that people had to her dreams in the book. However, she is progressive, socially aware, and compassionate enough to explain something that might be obvious to her in a way that doesn’t make someone feel bad. I really liked that about her. Sanyu was an interesting character cuz he always listened to what the people he looked up to had to say but he wasn’t stuck in his ways. He just wanted to have the right answers to please everyone and he had to learn that it was hard, especially as king. Wonderful writing. Great character development. I can totally see the chemistry between Sanyu and Shanti but they were both so annoying for trying to reject their feelings. Musoke really triggered me cuz his reasoning for being the way that he is (manipulative/sad/annoying) made no sense. It’s giving hopeless romantic lowkey (except he used intangible violence to make himself feel better).

clpaige's review against another edition

emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

balletbookworm's review against another edition

4.0

4.5 stars. I really loved this layered fairy tale about a woman who made her dreams happen (Shanti wanted to become a queen to help people and studied how to do that like you would any job) and a man trapped into his destiny (Sanyu is the new king to a country that only regained its independence from the colonizers 50 years ago and is frozen between tradition and progress). The Royal Match business was a really cute addition to tie future novels together and all our favorite heroes and heroines from the Reluctant Royals series (plus a few future ones) pop up in text messages/chats. Cole really gets into the work of governing a country that wants to catch up to its neighbors and be a great country but remains deeply suspicious/skeptical/angry about what happened under colonialism and isolationist policies.

What held this back for me that half star was a small part of the resolution. There is a character - you'll know him when you read him - that really pushes some awful misogynist stuff as well as toxic masculinity and when the plot resolution happened it just....went away? I would have liked to see this character apologize to Shanti directly, rather than just Sanyu. It's a side thing, since the resolution between Shanti and Sanyu is the main point and is very good, but that little bit felt unfinished to me.

sleepgoblin's review against another edition

4.0

I was a tad disappointed when I realized who this book was about, but that was dumb, because it's very good.