A Prince on Paper audiobook

4 stars I've loved all the books in Alyssa Cole's 'Reluctant Royals' series and I was so glad to finally get to the third and final story, Nya and Johan's! We've met both of these characters in previous books and I couldn't wait to get to theirs. Especially Johan. I've been curious about him for a while now. Johan is... not really a prince, but close enough. In Liechtienbourg , his brother is the prince and his stepfather is king. Johan is the one to take the paparazzi away from his family and puts all the attention on him. It's an device that has served them well. Nya's father did something terrible and even though she had nothing to do with it, she still feels like she could have done something more. She and Johan make an unlikely pair but they become friends of sorts. And then comes the best part... the fake dating. Fake engagement to be exact. I love this troupe so much. Those feelings just come full force and neither one can deny it. Sigh. Alyssa Cole is an author I recommend. I love her writing style and I'm looking forward to picking up more from her backlist. This series has been great for me and I loved the way this one concluded. It left me with happy tears and a huge smile on my face!

I mean, it’s 1 am and I have to get up in 4 hours for work, but no regrets! This series just gets better and better! A full review will come closer to release date but this book features some real LOL moments, and MULTIPLE LGBTQIA+ characters, plus some really nuanced relationships and interactions! I HAVE to read Once Ghosted Twice Shy tomorrow 😍😍

Alyssa Cole has done it again, another incredible novel in the Reluctant Royals series! “He'd spent so long running from love at full tilt that when he'd finally tripped and fell, his momentum made it swift and unstoppable.” The third novel in this series has everything you already love from the first two. A beautifully developed romance, amazing sex scenes, a storyline that goes much deeper than you'd expect, with some really timely topics and of course a good portion of humour.Although I'd say that out of all of the Reluctant Royals books, this is probably the one with the least laugh out loud moments. In a way this book feels more serioues and sad than the others do, simply due to getting to see behind Johan's Playboy facade. But I'm not saying this in a negative way. Not at all! I was just as emotionally involved as with the first two and found Johan's struggles to be incredibly believable. And knowing him from the first two books, it was so interesting to really get into his head. In general I loved both characters and their development, both as individuals and together!That said, you should absolutely read all the novels in this series before you dive into this one. You might think you can read them as standalone and while you definitely can, knowing all the characters and happenings of the first two songs will very much increase your enjoyment of this novel!While I truly loved this novel, I have to say I had some issues with the language. A lot of this novel takes place in the fictional country Liechtienbourg, where they basically speak a mix of French and German. Except a lot of it is wrong? I don't wanna go into this too much because I'm not sure if Cole was trying to write a dialect or something but as someone whose mother tongue is German and knows a good amount of French, a lot of the times the words would just not be correct. I really, really stropped in my tracks when it said "Wëllkomm" at some point in the novel. The letter "ë" is not part of the German OR French alphabet, you use it when you need it phonetically, which you don't need in this case. I know this seems nitpicky but understand how frustrating it was to see all those wrong words!Not even to mention that the last name of "the antagonist" is literally "Arschlocher" (German for assholes) which is a name that doesn't exist in German (anymore), understandably. Might seem like a fun gimmick if you don't know the language but is honestly just really annoying when you do.On top of that, there is a character in this novel that comes out as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns. It is briefly mentioned by that person that "our language and our culture are very much focused on masculine and feminine" but "we already have the royal we. The royal they isn't very different, is it?" but yeah, it is. They does not work for singular use in German (and as far as I know in French too) for several reasons, it just simply doesn't exsist. And you can't just say "well we use royal we" and make it work. This really could've focused on how much of an issue it is that there are no genderless pronouns already existing in our language but instead it got glossed over in one sentence. I can only speak from the perspective of a ciswoman who is heavily involved in the queer culture but to me it was upsetting to me that this was brushed off so easily because it sadly just is not that easy. I'm glad that Alyssa Cole included a non-binary character but regarding the language, I had hoped for much more. “I wasn't desire he felt for her in that moment – it was admiration. It was devotion. It was the resounding crack as every one of the rules he'd constructed to keep people away broke beneath the weight of his feelings.” I know I just wrote two super negative paragraphs but that is because I kinda see it as my duty to point these issues out. At the end of the day, while this made me roll my eyes sometimes and generally could've been handled much better, I still loved this novel and nothing will change that.I love this series and these characters and I'd highly recommend this third installment!♦ Booktube Channel ♦ Twitter ♦ Instagram ♦I received an ARC through Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review! The quotes and issues with language are therefore taken from the ARC and might be changed in the final copy!

Reread June 2020 - I loved it even more the second time around. This whole series is absofuckinglutely PERFECT. I think this may be my favourite one in the series! Everything about it was perfect, and the way a character coming out as nonbinary was portrayed and handled by the other characters was amazing. I'm so happy to see accepting someone's pronouns without question being normalized in fiction, especially in romance. I could see myself rereading the whole series on a yearly basis.

ANOTHER BOOK COMING OUT AT THE END OF THE MONTH RELEASE DATE: 4/30/2019 Follow Foxy Blogs at: Foxy Blogs ♥ Twitter ♥ Instagram ♥ Facebook

This was super cute the way he kept calling her sugar bubble made the book for me

She plays dating sims and he's obsessed with fairy tales - how am I not going to love this book?! A Prince on Paper is my absolute favorite in a series of amazing books. I feel like I've loved each subsequent book more than the last, and I loved this one so much it was physically painful (to my heart). I was so excited to finally get Nya's book. She's been an intriguing character to me every since A Princess in Theory, and then I loved her emerging and finding herself in bits and pieces (as seen via group text chats) in A Duke by Default. I don't always slate people into Hogwarts houses while I read, but every so often a character comes along and beats you over the head with how VERY MUCH the epitome of a Hufflepuff they are, and that is Nya. She has been so hurt, but despite that she goes on being honest and open and loving, and I JUST WANT TO HUG HER ALL UP.And then there's Johan, who's also been hurt and is fascinated by Nya because she is so open and honest, and free with her heart while he's locked himself away. He's so obsessed with fairy tales and doesn't seem to realize that he's made himself the princess locked away in a tower of his own making. This is the kind of book I want to throw at people's heads when they say romance novels are trash or guilty pleasures or shallow. There are SO MANY complicated issues and deep themes at play in this book, I can't even begin to touch on them all in a review let alone do them justice. I want to carry copies of this book around and when people make disparaging comments about romance I want to thrust a copy of A Prince on Paper into their hands and say "Shut your mouth, open your mind, read this book, and then we can talk about whether or not romance novels are shallow trash." In this book Alyssa Cole not only focuses on the romantic relationship between two people (which is fantastic, and their chemistry is BAM BOOM POW!), but also on the relationship between Johan and his step-father and half-sibling and how Johan deals with the death of his mother, Nya dealing with the fallout of the emotional and physical abuse the suffered at the hands of her father and finding her own way forward, a non-binary character struggling with how to let their family know about their identity (also, WTG Nya being super the most awesome best), focus on toxic and abusive relationships... Also, the sex scenes are hot and the romance between Nya and Johan is amazing - alternatingly adorable and butterflies-in-the-stomach inducing and heartbreaking, because there is nothing wrong with that and it's also a great element of romance. ;)This is the third book in the Reluctant Royals series, and while it can technically can be read as a stand alone, this series is really best if read in order. To get the full impact of Nya's story, you really do need to read the first book, A Princess in Theory, and there are MAJOR SPOILERS for book 1 in this book. I highly recommend you read this series in order - and don't miss the novella, book #2.5, Once Ghosted, Twice Shy! There's also a final novella coming out about Portia's sister Reggie, which looks like it will be the final book/novella in the series, Can't Escape Love, and if the series continues on trend it will somehow manage to be EVEN BETTER than all the books that have come before. ;)An ARC of this book was provided by the publisher via Edelweiss+ for review.Like this review? Check out more of my reviews on my blog, Elley the Book Otter

This review was originally posted on Addicted To RomanceI received this book for free from Avon in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.*May Contain Spoilers*A Prince on Paper is the third full-length installment in the Reluctant Royals series and I am not sure if this author plans on more books in this series, but if not I have adored every moment in reading these books and I love the humor and endearing qualities that we have seen in this series. I always get a kick out of a well written royal romance, and man no one does it better than Alyssa Cole. Ever since Duke By Default, I have been so stoked for this story, I loved seeing these two characters in the previous books and I had a delightful time seeing them find their own happily ever after.A Prince on Paper begins with our heroine, Nya Jerami, who once fled Thesolo, wanting to be free and find herself in the glamour of New York City. But it just didn't work out that way for her. New York City wasn't quite the experience that she was hoping for and now with her cousin and friend having their wedding in Thesolo, she will be going back home and back to the painful memories. But on the plane ride home, she finds herself in a bed with the bad boy prince....Johan von Braustein. There has always been a bit of chemistry between Nya and Johan but with the distance between them, nothing has really cemented between them until they come to close quarters with each other and for the first time Nya is beginning to find herself and see beneath the bad boy exterior that Johan hides behind. Johan and Nya are both hiding from their pasts. Johan hides from emotion, ever since his mother died he has never been able to open himself up. He hides behind the man the paparazzi knows and to protect his younger brother who is the heir to Liechtienbourg. But secretly he supports multiple charities with his own funds, in a way to honor his mother. But he can't let anyone know the truth, its something he wants to do on his own without any recognition so he can help others without it being tainted by his bad reputation. But Johan has secretly had a love for Nya but hides it until the wedding in Thesolo and he sees a woman of courage and strength that he wants to bring out in the light, a woman who hides a big part of herself. But when they go on a journey together, from the wilds of Thesolo to the city of Liechtienbourg, their love for each other will be revealed and a passion neither of them realized until now...A Prince on Paper is a beautiful romance that delivers in every way possible. I had such a blast with this book and still debating which book in the series is my favorite but honestly....a Prince on Paper is a good match for the previous two books. I loved it just as much as the previous books and I just devoured this story. There is something that Alyssa Cole does with these books that are so amazing and I can't ever get enough of her writing especially in her contemporary love stories. There is quite a bit that we see happen in this story and boy all the diverse themes that we get introduced to including a surprising character that is a transgender but not quite in the way I have ever seen in a romance gave me all the delightful feels.When he looked into Nya's eyes. He saw the bait that was laid down for the follish protagonist in every fairy tale. Love. Shelter. Kindness. He saw it and he wanted it--wanted her--even though he knew the bait was inside a cage of eventual despair. Despair seemed worth it, just then.The romance between Johan and Nya has a mix of unrequited love, royalty mix, road trip adventure, and fake relationship. We first get to see their interaction when they find themselves in the same bed and boy do sparks fly between these two here. Then we skip to when Nya arrives in Thesolo and all of her friends are there including the couple from "Once Ghosted Twice Shy" so it was fun seeing them again for a brief moment. Then we have Nya having to face up to some painful memories and how her father is still trying to torment her. We get a more in-depth look on the crimes that her father committed against Nya. It's so heartbreaking to see her face up to these memories but also how the people in Thesolo treat her, always talking behind her back as if she committed the crimes too. But we see that Nya was a victim and a survivor. But she is still learning about her own strengths and capabilities and trying to find herself. We see how the bantering that happens between Johan and Nya is what they both really need. You see them both come out of their shells and the covers they hide behind and love seeing this unveiling.But when Nya agrees to act as the fake fiancee for Johan, they go on an adventure together. I enjoyed seeing Nya and Johan explore their sexuality with each other while trying to act like what they have is just a temporary situation. But both their hearts are becoming involved with the act that they are trying to play and trying to solve the mystery of who is sabotaging the royal family.  There was a couple that we did meet that are having marriage problems....would love to see their story for sure!!There is so much unexpected emotion that I didn't expect and I swear that Alyssa Cole does this on PURPOSE!! I swear she breaks my heart each and every time I pick up one of her books, but in a positive way. I love how much these two are in tune with each other, the ways they bring out the best in each other and always help each other become better. There is so much intimate growth in their relationship that we see happen and this is a delightful development that we see happen between Johan and Nya. I adored every single moment of this novel and was so sad to see it end because I fell head over heels in love with Johan and Nya.Overall I found A Prince on Paper a delightful fairy tale of true love in the least expected moments, a story of hidden emotion, secret courage and plenty of amusing antics to delight you from head to toe!! A SPARKLING GEM! 

getting an arc of this lowkey made me scream. full review to come.

This series is actual magic! Like, it started as perfection and somehow keeps getting better?! This is such thoughtful, tender, funny, playful, hot romance! And it so wonderful to see the characters grow & heal so much over the course of the book! Alyssa Cole has a gift for creating fully fleshed characters, navigating complicated challenges (the aftermath of trauma, grief, etc) while keeping the tone of the book light and joyful!I especially appreciated the casual queerness in this novel! Johan sleeps with folks of all genders, and there is a lovely side plot about a character coming out as non-binary & having a supportive response from their family. Having more stories where queerness is normalized makes my heart so happy.Representation: Black woman lead, queer male lead (both navigating mental health challenges/trauma healing); non-binary side character.

Feb. 2, 2020, review: Reread for The Lusty Intellectuals podcast and because why not? Water is wet. I still love Nya and Johan. July 4, 2019, review: (I didn't realize this had been marked read already. THANKS, KINDLE!)Still love this book and this whole series. I keep finding new stuff to love about it with each reread. This go-around got me especially hyped for Shanti and Sanyu's story. We know something wonky is going on between them and I. Want. Details.May 1, 2019, review: Of course I was going to reread this once it was released. I love, love, love this book. Nya's character development and growth after dealing with a lifetime of her father's mental abuse nearly had me crying. Johan's protectiveness of the things he loves had me melting. I love both these characters so much and they must be protected.

Whenever I read a romance by Alyssa Cole I think ‘okay, this one is my favorite!’ – and then she writes another book. That’s been my experience with The Reluctant Royals series, novellas included, and her most recent addition about two people used to hiding their innermost selves is a delightful, emotionally satisfying story of unexpected love.Nya Jerami thought that New York City and an lifestyle opposite to her stifling upbringing in Thesolo would be her chance to express her true self only to discover an overwhelming experience that did not live up to her dreams. She’s certainly having better luck with the One True Prince dating app than real life. With the main character Hanjo modeled on playboy prince Johan Maximillian von Braustein (a friend of her cousin Naledi and her soon to be husband Prince Thabiso), she can fantasize that he might take an interest in her even though all signs show him unaware of her existence.Heading home for the royal wedding and subdued by the knowledge of her failed experiment to branch out, she discovers none other than Johan asleep in the bedroom on their shared plane, unaware that he’d hitched a ride to Thesolo for her cousin’s nuptials. In repose, Johan exhibits a far different demeanor to the one she’d expected, looking so lonely and sad it touches Nya’s heartstrings. But once awake, Johan’s usual party boy antics make her think it must have been her overactive imagination to imagine him vulnerableFor his part, Johan is secretly delighted and appalled to have Nya so close. He’d done a more than effective job of keeping her at arms’ length despite his intense attraction to her after being warned off by a friend. As the step-brother to the Prince of Liechtienbourg, a small European principality in the throes of a referendum to overthrow the monarchy, Johan has spent years drawing paparazzi attention away from his sensitive younger sibling. With the future of his family uncertain, and his own brother starting to ignore him, the stress is starting to wear on him. Nya’s appearance could be a boon or a curse. Either way, it’s clear that ignoring her isn’t going to work any more.With gossip at a fever pitch when Johan and Nya arrive for the wedding, a solution to their mutual dilemma appears – a fake engagement. It will enable Johan to keep the eyes of his country fixed on him and boost the support for the monarchy with thoughts of a royal wedding, while giving Nya a chance to escape prying eyes wondering about her return. It will also provide a buffer for the questions about her father, jailed for many misdeeds. Can their tentative friendship, boosted by a mutual lustful attraction, give way to a real life love affair?Like previous installments in The Reluctant Royals series, the author has done a wonderful job in creating a fictional African country full of rich history and culture in Thesolo, and a delightful fairy tale that is told in fragments in this romance at chapter starts. The intricate family structures and relationships that have built since the beginning of the series are expanded in Nya’s story, and her father’s evil deeds, including those perpetuated against her, are exposed. He abused her, emotionally and physically, by poisoning her with her tea any time she made moves he considered too independent. He blamed her for her mother’s death in childbirth, and whenever she talked about branching out on her own she would find herself inexplicably bedridden again. Discovering that her father had used her in such a manner for his own ends is heartbreaking and difficult for her to wrap her head around. The idea that she isn’t weak is slowly filtering into her psyche, building up her self-esteem, so the setback in New York is disheartening. But with Johan by her side, fake engagement notwithstanding, her internal strength starts to shine through.Johan and Nya’s friendship is built on honesty and trust, the ability to speak their minds and not be afraid of the consequences. For them both this is refreshing and cements their growing feelings for each other. Nya is inexperienced with men and sex and Johan is the perfect teacher (once he’s made it clear that this is a friends with benefits arrangement and not to expect love in the bargain). There are plenty of laugh out loud moments as their sexual journey – which begins with some “light debauchery”- moves into steamy and mutually fulfilling passion.While Nya struggles to put her past behind her, Johan is faced with a difficult present. His brother Lukas has been hiding parts of himself, fear of being bullied for being non-binary keeping him from sharing his true self with others. Nya is fully accepting of Lukas and keeps his secrets, but ultimately Johan must face that in trying to protect Lukas he’s inadvertently taught him that being himself is not acceptable, and he has to remedy that in order to rebuild their sibling relationship. It’s admirable that their father, King Linus is accepting of Lukas’s genderfluidity on first hearing about it and offers his full support as I’d have expected a bit more time needed for full acceptance. Perhaps that’s one area that’s more fantasy than reality. Similarly, the country of Liechtienbourg uses a language that is a mixture of French and German, making for some interesting phrases that speakers of both languages may cringe over but it didn’t bother me. Johan’s pet phrase to Nya, ‘Comme tu willst’, is a mixture of French ‘comme tu veux’ and German ‘wie du willst’ both of which mean ‘as you wish’, a cute nod to The Princess Bride and Westley’s favorite saying to Buttercup.While family relationships certainly play a significant role in this story, they don’t overwhelm the romance between Johan and Nya. It proceeds at a measured pace, mixing sensual love scenes with emotional conversation and revelations. They both have secrets that cause them some consternation once revealed, and it’s only the trust they’ve developed that sees them through to the other side. I’m delighted to recommend A Prince on Paper as an example of a royal romance that tackles real life problems while still maintaining elements of fantasy and the delivery of a believable, satisfying happy ending.This review also apears at All About Romance: https://allaboutromance.com/book-revi...A copy of this story was provided by the publisher for review.

Funny, steamy, and socially relevant are accurate descriptors for the Reluctant Royals series, and A Prince on Paper is no different! This installment features a fake engagement between Nya (a nerdy, shy woman working to overcome her traumatic past from the African nation of Thesolo) and Johan (a European playboy prince with a heart of gold managing his own trauma). In some ways this feels like the most dramatic and emotionally intense book of the series, yet Cole maintains a light touch with humorous moments throughout the book, despite dealing with dark issues such as abuse, PTSD, and grief. We also get a narrative that is sex-positive with clear lines of consent, and a casual rejection of toxic masculinity and homophobia, with a great discussion of gendered pronouns in reference to a side-character plot. Alyssa Cole is doing fantastic work here. Nya is the daughter of a manipulative, abusive man who is now in prison for treason. The wounds that she carries from growing up with him are deep and we see them impact her life and relationships, yet she strives to work through it and find healing in a healthy, empowering way. (to be clear, the abuse she suffered from her father was psychological, and possibly physical in terms of being fed herbs that kept her chronically ill and weak) Johan is a sensitive, bi-sexual man who masks his feelings with a playboy persona and uses tabloid exploits to draw attention away from his younger sibling and heir to the throne. He still grieves the early loss of his mother and is determined to never fall in love and risk that sort of loss again. And yet, he can't help but notice the lovely Nya Jerami.I really appreciate what Alyssa Cole accomplishes in this book. She is masterful in weaving together compelling characters, hard-hitting social commentary, and steamy romance, along with a solid dose of quirky laugh out loud humor. Also, THIS is the way to handle a character who is a virgin! Nya is inexperienced, but knows what she does and doesn't want and how quickly (in terms of days and weeks) she wants it. And Johan is more than happy to comply, no questions asked or trying AT ALL to push her past her comfort level. We also get a couple of great passages that highlight the importance of male consent in sexual encounters, just as much as female. And when they do finally have intercourse, it's not overplayed as a huge deal, in contrast to the just as sexy moments that came prior. THANK YOU! Not to mention, there is a beautiful demonstration of mutuality and discovering what pleases the other person, and some sweetly humorous moments of Nya's forays into "dirty talk" including use of the phrase "eggplant emoji". I think this demonstrates beautifully what sexuality can and should look like and how it is about so much more than a single act. I also want to talk about what happens with Lukas (Johan's younger sibling) because I thought that was handled really well. Lukas is gender non-binary and comes out as such through the course of the story. Nya figures this out before everyone else and in a non-pushy way, tells Lukas her preferred pronouns are she/her and leaves the door open for them to share. When Lukas finally opens up to their family, their dad (the king) is supportive and open to learning more in order to understand, and Johan realizes that he had been over-zealous in trying to protect his sibling by pushing them to behave in socially acceptable ways rather than allowing Lukas to be who they are.I basically recommend Alyssa Cole to anyone who reads romance and this is the perfect example of why. I love what she is doing and hope we get more in this universe! There are a couple of side characters introduced here who I would love to see explored in future installments.