Blog Tour + Review: A Royal Christmas Fairy Tale

Thank you to Trish Collins at TLC Book Tours for inviting me to be a part of the blog tour for A Royal Christmas Fairy Tale by Karen Schaler!  I was provided with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

 

A Royal Christmas Fairy Tale

Karen Schaler

Published October 5, 2021

From "A holiday publishing darling" (Entertainment Weekly) and Emmy Award-winning writer of Netflix's hit rom-com A Christmas Prince comes this heartwarming, feel-good Christmas romance about the power of believing in yourself to find your happily ever after...

A charming Christmas village, a storybook castle, a royal ball, and a gorgeous prince are the last things New York City reporter Kaylie Karlyle expects to find on her holiday freelance assignment to Europe. But when the family she's interviewing turns out to be the royal family of Tolvania, Kaylie has a meltdown when the quirky queen wants her to write a Christmas fairy tale for the spunky, young princess. Kaylie must battle the princess's father, who doesn't trust the media, and her own insecurities about writing anything beyond the news.

To spark inspiration for the fairy tale, the queen recruits the prickly Prince Alexander to show Kaylie the family's most spectacular royal holiday traditions. And sparks definitely fly when the only thing Kaylie and the prince agree on is that they're both more "bah humbug" than "ho, ho, ho."

But somewhere between sleigh rides and snow angels, merrymaking and mistletoe, upside-down Christmas trees, and a legendary Christmas crown, Kaylie and the prince open their hearts to Christmas and start believing in themselves and each other. It's a real-life fairy tale in the making until Kaylie discovers a secret about a royal Christmas heirloom that jeopardizes everyone's happily ever after. Can the magic of the season save this holiday happy ending? - from Goodreads

Just before Christmas, investigative reporter Kaylie is given the opportunity to travel to Europe and write a feature story about one family's Christmas traditions.  When she arrives, she's stunned to find out that the family is actually the royal family of a small country, and the queen also wants her to write a fairy tale for her granddaughter, the princess.  As the prince shows her around, Kaylie begins to realize things about her life, love, and the Christmas season.

I've only started reading holiday-themed books in the last couple years, so coupled with the royalty tie-in (which is something I can never resist!), I was really excited to read this book, and Karen Schaler has delivered a sweet and heartfelt Christmas story.

Kaylie has a picture in her head of how she wants her life to go - concentrate on her career now and the rest will fall into place later.  Her family isn't big on celebrating Christmas, so she always offers to work the holiday, and this year she is off to Tolvania to interview the royal family.  I loved Kaylie's commitment to her career, but it was also nice to see her start to consider other options as she gets to know the royal family and their traditions.  Prince Alex is her guide, and I admired the way he protected his family.  They suffered a tragic loss a few years ago and seem to have lost their Christmas spirit.  He's also, understandably, wary of the press, and sometimes Kaylie's actions made him wonder about her motives.

This book had so much Christmas spirit!  I loved learning about all the traditions of the small country.  Upside down Christmas trees, a Christmas crown, cookies, and singing - there were just so many!  Reading this story would definitely get someone into the spirit of the season.

Although a bit slow-moving and predictable (maybe even a little cheesy) at times, this book really encompasses what I enjoy about holiday-themed books - it's sweet, charming, and uplifting, and the light royal romance is a nice addition!

4 stars

 

Goodreads:

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Thriftbooks

Author Links: Website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube