Series:
Royals in the Headlines (Book 2)
A QUEEN BY CHANCE!
When Breanna steps in for her twin to become the king's
convenient bride, she's confident of her plan to escape their arrangement. But
her attraction to dutiful, guarded Sebastian throws a wrench into the works!
Sebastian's only priority is to his people, but stunning Breanna challenges him
to be both -- a man and a king. Can she tame single-minded Sebastian, and show
him there could be more to their royal marriage…?
Good marriage-of-convenience story. Sebastian needs a
wife, and his one attempt ended badly when he realized the woman he cared for
was more interested in his crown than in him. Rather than try for a love match,
he plans to pick someone who wants to be a queen from the leftovers of his
brother's bride lottery and treat it as a professional relationship. So he
picks a name from a hat and heads off to propose.
Breanna and her twin sister, Anastasia, are the daughters
of wealthy and very controlling parents. The women have plans for their lives
outside the advantageous marriages their parents want for them. Though Breanna
is the younger of the two, she has the steel will and a plan to get them out
from under their parents' thumbs. Those plans derail when Sebastian arrives
with his proposal to marry Anastasia. Breanna, who is very protective of her
sister, offers herself instead since the sisters are interchangeable according
to their parents. This will enable Breanna to help Anastasia escape and pursue
her dreams.
The first meeting between Sebastian and Breanna is a
little awkward. Sebastian knows nothing about the woman he picked, and Breanna
knows it. She is determined to save her sister and does a great job of making
her point that she is an easy substitute for Anna. She believes that the length
of a typical royal engagement will give her time to find a way out of the
marriage so she can pursue her dreams. Imagine her shock when Sebastian states
that their wedding will occur in three days!
Sebastian has a preconceived idea of what Breanna expects
from their marriage and has no idea that all of his knowledge comes from her
parents. The beginning of their married life is awkward because of it until they
begin to get to know each other. Breanna is surprised to learn that Sebastian
has been in training for his position since he was ten years old. She's
horrified by how his father taught him that his life belongs to the country and
that he doesn't rate a personal life. I enjoyed seeing her attempts to break
him free of his self-imposed restraints. I liked Sebastian's protectiveness
toward Breanna. He does a lovely job of standing up for her against her parents
on their wedding day, shocking Breanna. She never felt like she mattered to
anyone before that point.
I liked seeing Sebastian and Breanna get to know each
other. Neither expected the sparks of attraction that flared between them, and
each discovered that they wanted more from their marriage than just a royal partner.
I laughed out loud when Breanna put her foot down and cleared Sebastian's
schedule so he would have a vacation. I loved it when he overheard her talking to
her sister about her dream honeymoon and immediately changed his plans to make
hers a reality. The time they spent away gave them the chance they needed to
explore their growing feelings.
They hit a bump in their road when Sebastian makes a
boneheaded mistake regarding her hobby. His intentions were good, but the
results were not what he had hoped. It takes honest conversation and looking at
things from the other person's perspective to get past the hurt and anger. I
loved his big moment at the end. It was emotional and sweet. The epilogue was
good and showed Sebastian and Breanna a year later. I loved seeing the
difference in their lives.
I detested Breanna's parents and their attitude towards
their daughters. I hope they got exactly what they had coming to them.
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