Review: Hesperia Loves Books Review: Royal Romance with an unique twist!
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 28, 2014
3.5 Stars....After several delayed release dates, the highly anticipated book, Finding My Prince Charming by J. S. Cooper is finally live.  Readers were snapping this book up the moment the release went live.I was one of those readers.  J. S. Cooper has become one of my favorite go to authors.  I am always recommending her books to friends and fellow readers.  Her books are well written, entertaining, with characters that are easy to connect with.  The plot and story lines are well thought out and delivered to perfection.  The writing always has a smooth flow and before the reader realizes it, they are at the end of the book in record time.Finding My Prince Charming is not a stand alone book.  It ends with a cliffhanger.  The sequel, Taming My Prince, will be released at the end of July.  Finding My Prince Charming is somewhat short, with only 108 pages.My overall reaction to Finding My Prince Charming was quite different from previous J. S. Cooper books.  There were many things I liked in this book and there were just as many things I did not like about this book.  This seems to be the same reaction with many J. S. Cooper fans.Finding My Prince Charming is a story about a common young woman accidentally meeting a European Prince.  At the chance meeting she is unaware of his royalty.  She is also unaware that he is her Professor.  They have a one night stand that turns ugly once the sun comes up.  The humiliation continues when they discover the connections go beyond the one night fling.Once they realize they are student and professor they try to stifle their attraction to one another.  They work very hard at portraying the proper student/ teacher relationship.Their attraction cannot be denied.  When the opportunity arises on a business trip they give into the attraction and all hell breaks loose.  The paparazzi catches wind of their relationship and exposes their affair to the world.  This could be very destructive to the reputation of the European prince.  It forces them into a fake engagement ( for one week only) so that he can show face to his family and his country.Exposure to this relationship is not an accident.  The Prince has manipulated this young woman and the press.  He has an agenda.  This agenda will give him the uncomplicated affair he wants and redemption with his people.  It will get the royal family off his back about carrying on the family lineage.It is a Royal romance reader’s love.  We all love the Cinderella fairytale.  We all want the prince to fall hopelessly in love.  We all want the happily ever after.Finding My Prince Charming ended on a cliffhanger.  There is a hard road ahead for this couple before they can find their happily ever after.There were so many things I liked and disliked about the story….• I liked the overall theme of the story.• While I found the prince, Xavier, very sexy, he was not charming. I  felt like he was a complete ARSE.  He was arrogant, self absorbed, cold, and harsh.  He treated Lola very badly, even in the intimate moments.  I honestly felt he had no respect for her even though throughout the story he was captivated by her openness, her honesty, her innocence, and her intellect.• Lola was another contradictory character.  She was a nave, young college student.  She wasn’t completely innocent . But she was not overly experienced and worldly. She had a good sense of self worth.  She had drive and ambition.  She was smart.  She had quick wit. She was not always a pushover. She stood up to Xavier when he demeaned her after a one night stand.  She reacted to him with a snarky attitude.  Hoorah for her! At times her contempt was truly felt by the readers.  At other times she was a complete pushover.  She allowed Xavier to continuously demean her.  She overlooked his arrogance even though she clearly hated it.  She went against her natural instincts and let herself be verbally insulted.  I had a hard time accepting this.• Anna, Lola’s best friend, was an idiot.  She came across as a self serving bimbo.  She really didn’t display any qualities that were truly likable.  She acted like an immature teenager rather than a young woman attending college.  She did not have the BFF qualities that Lola needed.  She really wasn’t supportive, overly concerned, or seemingly Lola’s sidekick.  She didn’t add a lot to the story.• I loved Sebastian, Xavier’s younger brother.  He was friendly, fun, and had an intriguing personality.  I would like to find out more about him.• The relationship between Xavier and Lola gave me mixed reactions.  At times I liked their banter but it seemed to fall short.  The build up of sexual tension and chemistry seemed rushed.  At times it seemed to be missing in crucial scenes.• The pacing of this story seemed a bit off.  I found myself going back to previous scenes and pages to clarify what I was reading.• The overall story was good.  I definitely want to find out what happens next.I would recommend Finding My Prince Charming by J. S. Cooper.  It is a modern twist of our favorite fairytale.  I am sure J. S. Cooper has some surprises up her sleeve with the next book, Taming My Prince.