How to Find a Princess audiobook

Makeda may not know what she wants from life but she knows exactly what she doesn’t want, and that’s being a princess. The family folklore according to which her grandmother had a fling with the prince of the tiny kingdom of Ibarania was fun to entertain until it became her mother’s obsession. So when, in one day, Makeda loses both her job and her girlfriend, the last thing she needs is for a so-called investigator to try and convince her to travel to Ibarania with her to claim her title as the lost heir.This sapphic retelling of Anastasia is a Grumpy/Sunshine romance with Grumpy being a former Sunshine tired of being used as a doormat. It’s also, for a while, a fake romance, confusing both parties, as should be, with the added bonus of only one bed and a lifeboat. It’s definitely an opposites attract romance, all book long.Makeda lives in a perpetual state of anxiety, even though she probably doesn’t realise it. She wants everyone to be happy all the time because when people aren’t happy, they either laugh at her or leave her. Her whole personality is being helpful and who cares if she always puts everyone else’s dreams before her? She doesn’t have dreams anyway. Beznaria is the opposite. Not that she’s happy all the time, but she’s running too fast for stress to catch up, at least most of the time. Among her other strategies: go for what you want and never never give up. She’s at once incredibly cool and old-fashioned (the type to demand a duel to right a wrong). I’m actually impressed Makeda resisted her for so long.This was my first book by Alyssa Cole and I didn’t expect to laugh so much. Bez gets the best lines, and I’ll go against my rule of not taking sentences out of context with two quotes, one that made me laugh: “The coffee grinder apparently had more settings than Bez’s vibrator because the noise grew even louder.”The other I found surprisingly touching: “Her past relationships had made her think she would be bad at every relationship, but maybe she just hadn’t learned how to be good at them yet.”Both perfectly Bez.Despite a rushed ending, I’d recommend this book to anyone looking for a light-hearted, funny and tender romcom.I received a copy from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

3.5 Stars“How to Find a Princess” is a pretty sweet slow-burn romance. I had never read anything by Cole before and I feel like this was a nice introduction. This is also the second in her Runaway Royals series, however, I didn’t read the first but I never felt I was missing anything here.Makeda Hicks is a people pleaser who has just been let go of her job and dumped by her girlfriend all on the same day. On top of that, her grandmother is wanting her to claim her lost princess status from a small country where she is rumored to be the missing heir. Makeda has no interest in being a princess. Her mother made a big deal of it when she was younger which caused her a lot of embarrassment and pain and their relationship is strained because of it. Beznaria Chetchevaliere is an investigator with the World Federation of Monarchies and she’s on the hunt for the lost heir. The runaway heir happened on her grandmother’s watch and has been cause of the family shame for years. When she sees that Makeda could actually be the princess she’ll do whatever she can to restore her family’s honor and return the princess, whether Makeda wants it or not. Makeda and Bez are complete opposites. Makeda has been a people pleaser all her life but she’s finally done with that. Pleasing everyone but herself is finally drained all her care and she’s ready to put her foot down. Bez, on the other hand, has never worried about anyone but herself. She’s quite happy doing and saying what she wants and doesn’t really concern herself with the fallout. I really liked them together and how their personalities played against each other. It was entertaining when they were sniping at each other and finally, when they were flirting with each other. I liked this overall but there were a few issues for me that tempered my enjoyment a bit. In the beginning I really felt like Bez and Makeda’s grandmother were lying and manipulating Makeda to get her to do what they wanted. She stated several times that she wanted nothing to do with the being a princess and they refused to accept that. Bez also lies by omission quite a lot, almost right up until the end when she starts feeling guilty, and the lies could’ve really made things tough on Makeda in the future. While she did decide on her own to go, their attitudes about it kind of rubbed me the wrong way. The ending also seemed really rushed to me. I really didn’t feel like we were coming to the conclusion when all of a sudden, I was at the end. I still had questions about certain things that were never explained and that took away some of my joy.Aside from that, I still enjoyed this. I don’t want to say this is campy, but it is kind of over the top and light-hearted in that way. It’s angst-lite and fun and sweet and would be a good, entertaining beach read. There are a few tropes here too: fauxmance, forced proximity, only one bed.I received an ARC from NetGalley and Avon in exchange for an honest review.

Ahhhh this is such a sweet and fun rom-com. I laughed out loud at so many points - especially the scenes with Makeda's fabulous grandmother! - and loved the heroines' adventures in the land of only-one-bed in a fake-married trip across the world. This is my very favorite Alyssa Cole novel yet, and that is REALLY saying something! And the ending was just delicious.

4,5*

3.5 stars for How to Find a Princess. We loved the premise for this one - a queer Anastasia retelling? Who would be a princess for a Mediterranean island nation whose monarchy is the result of a slave uprising? Yes, please! This book focuses on Beznaria Chetchevaliere who we met in How to Catch a Queen. She's been sent on what is intended to be a fruitless mission to find the heir to Ibarania, and she thinks she's found the princess in Makeda Hicks of Atlantic City, New Jersey. So far, so good! What was harder for us was relating to either of the main characters. Makeda is a "giver," and she spends most of her time helping others - whether they want her help or not. After losing her job, her apartment, and her girlfriend, Makeda has moved back in with her grandmother and is working on enforcing her own personal boundaries. Unfortunately Bez seems to be an expert in breaking through other people's boundaries. She refuses to take no for an answer, whether that be from Makeda to her grandmother to her employer.We enjoyed the book, but have preferred the other entries in Cole's royal romances.8-Word Summaries:Laine: Maybe-princess and bodyguard kissing on a ship.Meg: Sexy transatlantic boat trip with a fake relationship.This objective review is based on a complimentary advanced reader copy of the novel.

I'm in love with Alyssa Cole romances, and this being sapphic??? *chef's kiss* I knew I was gonna love it before even reading it.However, if it weren't for that plot twist at the ending, I mightve marked this as 4 stars since the last third was starting to peter out a bit. But what a twist!!!

This was a solid 3.5 Stars round up I liked both main characters and quite liked Bez from the first installment in this series. This is a slow build and feels awkward.All romance books have silly manufactured devices this felt more complicated than necessary.I look forward to AK's story which I assume will be the 3rd installment in this series.

This was probably my favourite Alyssa Cole book so far, and that's saying a lot!

So, I suspect that I say this with every Alyssa Cole book I read, but seriously, this book is my favorite!!! Badass damsel rescuer and all around agent of chaos Beznaria entirely stole my heart with her magnificent firefly brain, dreamy charm and deep desire to protect folks who need it! And holy moly, do I over-identify with Makeda, who worries she is a doormat with her constant need to care-take, but who learns with time and practice that she is in fact a multi-tool with helping super powers that just need to be deployed thoughtfully? Yep, I sure do! Also, Bez’s family is a delight and I want to be Grandma Ora’s bestie- the author writes such wonderful side characters! (The fact that a huge chunk of this review is just me repeating phrases that the character use themselves goes to show just how brilliant and thoughtful and fun and wise this story is! Also, have I mentioned yet that it is Very Hot? Because it sure is! *fans self*)Go read this swoony sapphic read right now so we can gush about it together, please and thank you!

I enjoyed How to Find a Princess. Alyssa Cole is such a good writer that even the parts I struggled with were really good. In fact, the anxiety and frustration I felt about Bez and Makeda was largely because of how real Cole made them to me. I think some people are going to find How to Find a Princess a challenge to get into, and it definitely benefits from a second read. Once I was comfortable with the story, I could appreciate how Bez and Makeda’s relationship developed with much less of the anxiety I experienced on the first read. And once they got on the boat and pretended to be married, the book hit it’s stride.I adored Beznaria Chetchevaliere in How to Catch a Queen, and was excited to get her romance. Makeda Hicks is a worthy love interest for her. Bez is a delight, but sometimes she was also stressful. I think she’s the first “too much” character that really felt like the people I know and love who are “too much.” I wouldn’t want Bez to be any less, or any different. I was frustrated with her and for her because she was given so many opportunities to be honest and vulnerable with Makeda, and she deflected instead. But once she did let herself be vulnerable, it as delicious.Makeda feels like she has been weak and allowed herself to be walked on. As Bez comes storming into her life, she is deciding to be stronger and better at saying no. It helps that she doesn’t want what Bez is offering. I love that it she doesn’t learn that she is stronger than she thinks from Bez, but Bez reinforces what Makeda is learning about herself.As a life long difficult person, I have an affinity for the difficult characters. Bez does lie to Makeda, both to get her own way and also because the situation is slipping out of her control and she doesn’t want to worry Makeda. I related to Bez so much – the hideous mix of good intentions and not wanting to look bad. I adored the compassionate way that they dealt with each other’s insecurities and vulnerabilities. Bez and Makeda earned my whole heart by the end of the book. They danced so awkwardly around each other I wanted to smack them, but they got where they needed to be in the way they needed to get there.I received this as an advance reader copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.