B
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance
Theme: Arranged Marriage, Mistaken/False Identity
Archetype: Royalty
I don’t know if someone at Avon went “Hey, you know what would be smart? Releasing this book around the same time as Black Panther!” or if it was a grand coincidence, but it’s brilliant synchronicity.
Naledi Smith is a graduate student in epidemiology in New York. She has a tiny apartment, several jobs, two mice she rescued from a failed experiment, and a history of being shuttled from foster home to foster home. She’s been getting these weird emails from the African country of Thesolo, telling her that she’s the long lost betrothed of the Crown Prince, which is obviously a new twist on the Nigerian prince scam, but really, she’s too busy for all that shit.
Prince Thabiso is the aforementioned Crown Prince, and under enormous pressure to just SUCK IT UP and GET MARRIED ALREADY. But he was betrothed to Naledi as a tiny child, and even though her parents fled from Thesolo, and it’s taken quite some time to find her (and he’s been busy with his royal duties and whatnot) when he needs to go to New York for some meetings about new investments into Thesolo, he also decides to pop in on Naledi.
Things don’t really go to plan, and he ends up playing the pauper to get to know her (and no spoiler, when she finds out what he’s up to, she is NOT HAVING IT). It takes a public health crisis, palace intrigue, long lost family, and a best friend who is trying so hard to figure out how to friend correctly for Ledi and Thabiso to sort their shit out.
There are several obstacles: Ledi isn’t used to having people stay in her life. She’s used to them leaving without a backward glance. Ledi doesn’t know what her heritage is, and has convinced herself she doesn’t need or want to know. Thabiso has a lot of anger about Ledi and her family fleeing Thesolo, and also he’s pretending to be someone else when they meet.
I loved a lot about this book. I loved Ledi and how three dimensional her issues were. She doesn’t have a lot of money, so there’s a lot of, “Have I saved up enough to make this tiny splurge okay and safe?” and working working working to make as big a cushion as you can for when things go to hell (and they will always go to hell). Her interactions as a woman and as a woman of color in STEM were very real. She has a best friend, Portia, who comes from money and has enough of it to flit from interest to interest. Portia isn’t great at being a friend, either. She’s loving and generous, but a lot of work. (Portia is a delightful hot mess and I can’t wait for her book.)
(I really like the hot mess best friends.)
Thabiso is…he’s suave and really working hard at being a good Prince and eventually a good King, but he’s also used to having stuff handed to him. Ledi isn’t there for his shit.
I feel like Ledi was bit more in focus than Thabiso. Maybe that’s kind of true for Royal Heirs: they don’t get to have an identity that’s all their own. By design, they get wrapped up in the identity of their kingdom. Either way, he was less of a distinct character than Ledi.
There are also a number of plotlines to resolve, too. The mystery of “why did Ledi’s parents leave Thesolo” moved very slowly and then was suddenly resolved, mostly off stage, which was kinda jarring.
I liked the story of their relationship, though. Normally I’m completely squicked by a “hiding my true identity” story that has sexual intimacy before the Reveal, but this was pulled off well enough that I was only kinda squicked. I liked Ledi learning more about her roots and figuring out where she would fit into Thesolo society. I liked how prickly she had made herself in self-defense.
This story works well as a more realistic version of Wakanda, as a “what if T’Challah, but less superpowers?” book, too. So if you’re craving that story, or more of it, and can’t get to the theater, get this book.
Mostly, I liked reading this story. Cole has a lovely writing style, so even when you’re in the middle of a stressful week at work, you can drink a lot to keep yourself super hydrated, and then sneak off to the bathroom to read more.
This book is available from:
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
We also may use affiliate links in our posts, as well.
Thanks!
I loved this book so much. I think for me the emphasis on Ledi finding out about her roots and her family and her country of origin was really powerful and beautiful. I also adored the humor in the book. “This motherfucker.”
I think both came out in February to tie-in with the US Black History Month.
I adored this book, so relatable even though it’s portraying an unrelistic concept (fake relationship), everyone was so real and 3 dimensional. I also loved Litkosi (Thabiso’s assistant).
“This Motherfucker” for me was hilarious too.
Litkosi was my favorite part of this story. I can’t spoil the rest of the things because I want people to have the charming discovery but Litkosi? Loved her.
Is it just me, or … has someone out there decided to specialize in producing absolutely gorgeous cover illustrations for romance novels with black heroines? Drool.
Further query: Is “Thesolo” meant to be a mirror of Lesotho, or was that a phonetic accident?
The “prince in disguise here in America to find his bride” just continues to call to mind Coming to America and therefore I really want to put a young Eddie Murphy on that cover I’ve been looking forward to this one since the cover reveal here months ago, so I’m so happy to hear it lived up to expectations!
@Louise- now that you mention it my favorite covers from the last year or so have been for Alyssa Cole and Beverly Jenkins latest novels so you are on to something. I could stare at that dress all day
Sounds like I’d love it! It’s a really cool take on the whole fake dating/arranged relationship thing and it seems like a really fun read 🙂
I am excited to read this. I had started to read, but got thrown from the story with a mistake in describing how to work with data (whenever I find a mistake like this, I don’t believe it, have to look it up, discuss it, and see if there is any possible way it’s not a mistake so I can continue on where it makes sense OR have enough time to recognize this particular area was not researched or checked by someone with knowledge in the topic and be okay that we all make mistakes (I have big issues in making mistakes myself I’m trying to work on)). Anyway, I love this review and am excited to read this after I work through my perfectionist issues. 🙂
“She only spoke English but was fluent in shade.” Hands down the best line of many that made me snort out loud. Thanks for reviewing!
I loved this book, this book deserves an A guys 🙂
From the Coming to America leanings to the science to the beautiful imagery! Yes, yes, yes! New fav book! Replacing Nerd in Shining Armor FYI.
I might not be able to keep reading this book because I’m so annoyed at 10% in by how poorly researched Ledi’s supposed public health education is. It reads like she googled some stuff about public health programs and epidemiology without actually talking to anyone who was a recent MPH graduate. (Can you tell I’m a recent MPH graduate? haha). And “disease task force”??? seriously? You form a task force in response to a specific public health threat. There would never be a generalized “disease task force.”
I liked this book, but I kind of wish that the first part of the plotline with him in America had been eliminated and replaced with her just figuring out the disease in Thesolo. There was just a LOT going on and I feel like everything got a bit of short shrift.