I am but a simple woman. Give me even the slightest whiff of antagonism between characters and I am there with all the bells on my person. The Princess Plan delivers on snarky banter as a form of foreplay between two main characters that I really enjoyed. However, there are a few things that kept me from feeling satisfied in the romance department.

The two princes of the fictional kingdom of Alucia are in England to 1) negotiate a trade deal and 2) find a wife for crown prince, Sebastian, for the purpose of popping out heirs. When Sebatian’s right hand man and BFF of the last seventeen years is found murdered after a fancy masquerade ball, it sends all sorts of political relationships into turmoil. To make matters worse, Sebastian is disheartened by the lack of progress by the authorities and is growing increasingly irritated by a well-known gazette printing potentially harmful rumors. I’m sure you can imagine his haughty princely surprise when he realizes the person in charge of supplying rumors to the gazette is Miss Eliza Tricklebank: a mouthy, clock-repairing spinster and a true she-ro.

Since Sebastian is a high profile visitor to England, he can’t easily infiltrate ladies’ drawing rooms to investigate gossip, but Eliza can and soon, this murder investigation gives way to romance. Because of course.

This is very much a Cinderella story with a mystery thrown in to, I suppose, spice things up. Eliza doesn’t come from money and though her father is a respected judge, her life is spent caring for him, fixing clocks, and helping her sister publish Honeycutt’s Gazette of Fashion and Domesticity for Ladies.

Eliza is twenty-eight and very much “on the shelf” in society. She has no fucks left to give and I’m here for it. Here are a few “Best of Eliza” moments:

When she and Sebastian first meet at a masquerade ball:

“Is that not what you intended? To be easily seduced in a dark passageway?”

She snorted a laugh. The ridiculous confidence of men who believed that if a woman came near, they wanted to be seduced! “I intended to drink some punch and avoid the ballroom hostess. She lifted her hand, wrapped her fingers firmly around his wrist and pushed his hand away. “You think highly of yourself, sir. But I should explain that merely because a woman is standing in a passageway, having drunk a bit of rum, does not mean she desires your advances.”

When she kicks Sebastian and his brother out of her home:

Eliza’s mouth dropped open. She’d never wanted to punch a man in the mouth, but oh, she wanted to punch him. Take a good swing and watch him tumble onto his princely arse. She didn’t care how important or handsome or royal he was, she was infuriated that he thought he could speak to her in this manner, as if she were some lowly chambermaid who had failed to dust his crown properly.

Her hands found her waist. “You have no call to be so rude.”

His hands found his waist. “What did you say?”

“I’m sorry, did you not hear me? Then allow me to speak plainly–you are rude. And for your information, it is not the judge’s gazette. In fact, he has nothing to do with it. Furthermore, I will not wake him merely because you command me. The absolute nerve.” She folded her arms.

His autumn green eyes widened with surprise. “Do you have any who you are speaking to? I could see you punished dearly for your impertinence.”

“Ha,” she said. “This is a free country, Your Highness. And while you may be someone’s prince somewhere, you are not mine. I am not a child, I am not impertinent, I am the master of this house and I said no, you cannot see my father now, and frankly, I will thank you both to go now.” She threw out her hand and pointed to the door. That was when she noticed Poppy standing there with a tea service, her mouth agape. “Poppy, do step aside. I should not like to give the slightest impediment to the immediate departure of these gentlemen.”

When Eliza informs Sebastian that she’ll be doing some investigating of her own:

“I’m very sorry, Miss Tricklebank, but I can’t leave this to you.”

“Oh dear. Did I mistakenly ask your permission? I assure you, that was not my intent.” She smiled again, her eyes sparkling with delight.

Eliza will literally laugh in a crown prince’s face and grouse about the fact that she was dragged away from finishing her teacakes. There’s a moment when she’s been sent to stand with a group of wallflowers and knows she doesn’t belong, because she’s not a wallflower. Yes, she’s unmarried. Yes, she’s past her prime in society’s eyes. But there’s a lovely confidence Eliza possesses that she is who she is and everyone who doesn’t like her can fuck off into the sun.

Despite Sebastian’s rather rude behavior early on with Eliza, I, too, liked him very much. He’s dealing with the loss of his best friend, a kingdom on the verge of war, making trade agreements with England, and the search for a wife. It’s a lot for someone who is rather antisocial and would prefer transcribing military documents than attending balls. He’s kind of…a nerd. A hot nerd who loves taking long baths.

Rather than take the jaded approach to marriage that we often see in romantic heroes, where finding a wife is a cold, business arrangement, Sebastian has no problem admitting he wants a companion.

The problem with all these women, he mused, was that he looked at the task of finding a potential mate as another in a long line of tasks: meet with the English officials about the trade arrangements; form alliances with rich, important men; select a woman from the many presented to marry. It seemed an easy enough task, but there was a part of him that yearned to find one who was compatible with him in some way. One whom he could trust. One who could be a friend and lover before she was ever a queen. Was that possible?

Never once does he try to change Eliza or make her feel ashamed of her station in society. Sebastian is a good guy who feels lonely sometimes and wants people around him that he can trust in times of need.

I do want to note that early on in the book, Sebastian does have off-page sex with another woman. Though it didn’t bother me, there are some readers who have strong feelings about seeing either main character involved with anyone else.

As much as I loved Eliza and Sebastian, there weren’t nearly enough pages of them together. They don’t truly meet until 100 pages in and after that, there are many, many scenes of Sebastian brainstorming with his brother and advisors and with Eliza conspiring with her sister Hollis and her friend Caro. There’s also a mystery to solve, which honestly halts the romantic development. With such great banter and amazing chemistry, it’s criminal not to have most of the book be scenes with the both of them.

So, I was disappointed. They get an HEA and they find the killer, but because their moments together were so limited, I felt robbed in a way. To make a sexual analogy, the book is a lot like edging without any final payoff. The attraction builds and builds and builds, but there’s always something thrown in to distract or keep the romance from truly going anywhere. I’m unsure if I believe their HEA entirely, given that ending up together means Eliza will one day be freakin’ queen of Alucia. The pressure and amount of responsibility of that role and it being closely tied to Eliza and Sebastian ending up together is what gave me pause. It’s clear that they like each other, both romantically and as people, but I could have done with less “everyday” scenes in favor of seeing Eliza and Sebastian actually in the same room together. I needed to see more of their personal relationship on the page to buy into their commitment to the future; they spent too much time apart for my liking.

The characterization is there and romance readers will delight in the snark-fest, though the romantic resolution doesn’t feel fully realized with all the extra plot threads weighing it down. This is the first book in London’s Royal Wedding series, and there are enough interesting characters for sequel bait that I’ll give the next one a peek. I, however, remain cautious and if I sense another mystery afoot, I may ultimately decide to pass.