Royally Lost... I Mean Totally Lost

I most recently finished the charming tale Royally Lost by Angie Stanton. I picked it up in a bookstore, having never heard of it. From the description on the back, it sounded vaguely interesting. And interesting it was. The basic plot concerns an American girl on holiday with her family, on a river cruise down the Danube, visiting many famous European cities. She meets a "mysterious cute boy" who just happens to be the runaway prince of "Mondovia", a fictional constitutional monarchy. They run around Europe, kissing in churches, avoiding paparazzi, and trying to not have their fling discovered by the girl's parents. The plot was fine. It was the writing that I had a problem with. Written in a third person POV, the author switches between Becca (the American girl) and Nikolai (the prince)'s views. Facts are reiterated over and over ("she couldn't believe she was hanging out with a prince!" etc) and the writing is weak. The style is reminiscent of an essay written by a freshman girl who has a particular proclivity for pink. With better word choice and syntax, as well as a better shaping of ideas and characters, this could have been an excellent book. However, as is, it's more lost than the characters are.

(picture from goodreads.com)

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