A popular, young royal couple can't produce an heir? INCONCEIVABLE!
When Ozarks native Hatty goes “whole hog” during karaoke, she catches the eye of Prince John. He isn’t what she expects the heir to a small European nation to be: he's affable, witty, and isn’t put off by her tell-it-like-it-is demeanor. Their flirtation should be short lived, but a force stronger than fate—Hatty’s newspaper editor—assigns her to cover the royals. After spending time together, she and John soon begin dating, and Hatty finds herself making headlines instead of writing them.
But challenges loom that are even more complicated than figuring out how to mesh Hatty's journalism career with life at Belvoir Palace. Hatty and John soon find themselves embroiled in an unusual sex scandal: they can't produce an heir. Tabloids dub Hatty a “Barren-ess,” and the royals become irate. Hatty politely tells them to shove it. But beneath her confident exterior, she struggles to cope with a heartbreak that invades her most intimate moments with John. Pressured to choose between invasive medical procedures and abandoning John’s claim to the throne, the couple feels trapped until a trip to Ethiopia shows them happy endings sometimes arrive long after saying “I do.”
Team Reviews:
Katie:
This is a fun, light read. It has a cute romance, but also has a powerful message that comes through in the second half of the books.
A couple of nit-picky things first: I felt like the political system was poorly set up. It came across like an Americanized presidential system, rather than a monarchy. With the countries supposed origins in England, moving away from the three tier parliamentary system, especially while still in Europe where this system grew to be the major political set up for Monarchies, felt off.
Also, all the Australian references bordered on offensive with how cliche and stereotyped they were.
There were parts that were so cheesy I literally cringed.
Those things aside!
The story itself is kind of two stories coming together as one. In the beginning you have a great romance, well written, with a solid voice, even a little cheesy at times. The writing is good, with some telling, but not enough to be distracting.
Then the second part hits. The pace is... it feels like I'm skimming over things. Hatty and John are married, and suddenly their relationship is no longer important. Yes, she's struggling with concerns about infertility, but I have fertility issues, and although my husband frustrated me at times with his lack of understanding, our relationship remained central to our lives. The writing here didn't help it; it's almost like a different author stepped in to take over. The scenes became very clinical and moved in the blink of an eye. It was like I'd start reading a scene that I wanted to move me, and it ended a second later. I don't want to criticize, because the topic is something that's near and dear to me and I believe should be discussed, but the execution came up short in places.
Then Hattie hit rock bottom and the writing and pace returned to how good it was in the beginning. It's probably debut author "jitters." But the last portion of the book definitely improved.
I will admit, going in I was very concerned about how the succession would be handled with throwing adoption in the works, since an adopted child cannot be next in line. Without giving out spoilers, Wren handled this very well, and I appreciated it enormously.
Quote that says it all for me:
To tell the truth, it was a punch in the gut... By rote, I squashed my grief, longing, and heartache, making them compact enough to bury in the recesses of my heart.
And:
Another punch. The grief threatened to erupt, but I suppressed it. At least... I wouldn't have to watch her body bloom into fertile fullness... But my line of thinking wasn't about them; it was all about self-preservation.
Those quotes are pretty much the anthem of infertile/limited fertility women. I have felt EXACTLY THIS while struggling through my own limits and fight with my body to conceive baby #2, and I've seen so many women I love feeling exactly this. I've seen it in their eyes when other women seem to glance at their husbands and fall pregnant. When teenagers fall pregnant. It's this deep pain that tears at the heart and makes it impossible to even LOOK at a pregnant woman without the pain resurfacing, or hear a pregnancy announcement and have to hide to cry your eyes out.
All up, this was an enjoyable read with a message that should definitely be talked about more. I wouldn't call it a "clean read" as there is some sex scenes, but they're not explicit, but rather tastefully handled.
I recommend it to all women, especially those who know someone who is struggling with having children, not just those in the throws of infertility.
Jackie G:
Easy read
This book reads like a fairy tale dream I would have as a little girl. Tegan has expanded on that idea and brought a very real problem that many people struggle with everyday to light. A very good easy reading book that will help to educate you on infertility.
