To Win a Prince

I loved reading To Win a Prince, Toni Shiloh’s sequel to the wonderful In Search of a Prince. The book can be read as a standalone. That said, knowing the history of what happened during In Search of a Prince meant I was more invested in the characters from the start. This story contains spoilers for In Search of a Prince, and the books are best read in chronological order.

I adored Iris, who is Bree’s best friend from the first book. When Bree discovered she was a princess, Iris traveled with Bree from the USA to the African island country. Bree is now the queen, and Iris is living permanently on the island. Iris is setting up a sustainable fashion business to help the local people earn good money and raise their standard of living.

I didn’t like Ekon in the first book, and it was interesting to unpack his story and understand why he had made certain decisions. Ekon is living out the consequences of his past actions, which places him in Iris’ world, and working closely with her.

I loved how Iris wasn’t prepared to settle and, despite being attracted to Ekon, she was determined to only marry a man who shared her faith and values. Ekon’s inspiring faith journey of forgiveness and redemption played an important role in their developing romance. I recommend To Win a Prince to contemporary romance readers who like royalty romances in an African setting with a strong faith element in the story.

Many thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy.

It's always refreshing to read a story that isn't set in the USA/England, even if the setting is a fictitious African island! I enjoyed how faith-centered this story is, but still with characters that are realistically flawed and relatable. I hadn't read the first book in this series, and, while this didn't stop me from enjoying this as a stand alone novel, it did give away a lot of spoilers about the first book. So I'd recommend reading them in order! For fans of princess novels, like those by Rachel Hauck.

Making up fantasies in your head about a guy your really do not know at all. . . bad idea! But that's what our heroine did and continued to do. . . I appreciated the mental berating she gave herself on multiple occasions. The best part of this novel was that he does change yet his salvation is not because of her. Sure she helped plant a seed or two but it was obvious that the Lord spoke to him through various avenues. I liked reading the man's perspective as well.

I knew this was a 'redeeming' trope, and that the guy wasn't even saved. Not something I enjoy to read. I might not have bought this book except I really liked book 1, and there was a pre-order deal on the ebook that was too good to pass up. I'm so glad I took a chance on this book. Even if I had paid full price, I would have been very happy with my purchase (and I now wish I had bought the physical book not just the ebook). This time Toni writes from both the hero and heroine first person point of view. I really enjoyed that. It's clear and well done. You can see how the girl let herself get carried away, and what girl hasn't at some point got lost in a fantasy about a guy? It's a good warning for those who forget to check if the guy's a Christian. I loved how Toni makes the heroine stop chasing the guy when she comes to her senses. She does witness to him, but someone else leads the guy to Christ. It was great to see other Christians there to influence the hero, and I enjoyed his spiritual journey. It was a great redeeming story, and one I would recommend. There was a sprinkling of things I wouldn't have done in the book, a word choice/background story here and there, but those were rare and easier to pass over than the ones in book one. This can function as a standalone, but I hope to see future books about this fictional African island. A great and easy read.