Title: Reluctantly Royal Series: Royals Gone Rogue #1 Author: Erin Nicholas writing as Erin Nicolle
Genre: Contemporary Romance Tropes: Royal/Commoner, Marriage of Convenience Age Gap, Woman in STEM, Opposites Attract Release Date: March 14, 2024
BLURB
A marriage proposal from a deliciously handsome and wickedly charming prince sounds like a fairytale.
But for a nerdy scientist with severe social anxiety, it’s a horror story.
Prince Torin O’Grady, with his mischievous blue eyes and cocky grin, is always in the spotlight. And he needs to marry me to inherit the crown.
But we have nothing in common. He’s a future king. And I’m perfectly happy slogging through mud in my work boots.
So why can’t I stop thinking about him?
Maybe because he won’t stop texting me. And sending me gifts. And making me feel like everything I find awkward and weird about myself is special and amazing.
And there’s also that little detail of him offering me my dream job and telling me that together we can change the world.
Well, I could probably 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 for him.
And if I have to marry him temporarilyto get what we both want, then fine. It’s for the greater good.
It has nothing to do with the way he kisses me. Or that dirty mouth. Or the royal treatment he gives me in the bedroom.
Fine. Maybe it does. Still, it’s only a year. Then I can turn in my tiara and come back to my normal, boring, behind-the-scenes life.
But Torin is determined to turn me from reluctantly royal to royally his.
Erin Nicolle is the new pen name for NYT and USA Today Bestselling romance author Erin Nicholas. While Erin Nicholas is known for her blue-collar book boyfriends and big, boisterous found families in small towns, Erin Nicolle writes rich and royal rogues. But they both love a dirty talking cinnamon roll, a grump who is reluctantly wrapped around a feisty finger, and a gruff, protective guy who falls first and hard.
A marriage proposal from a deliciously handsome and wickedly charming prince sounds like a fairytale.
But for a nerdy scientist with severe social anxiety, it’s a horror story.
Prince Torin O’Grady, with his mischievous blue eyes and cocky grin, is always in the spotlight. And he needs to marry me to inherit the crown.
But we have nothing in common. He’s a future king. And I’m perfectly happy slogging through mud in my work boots.
So why can’t I stop thinking about him?
Maybe because he won’t stop texting me. And sending me gifts. And making me feel like everything I find awkward and weird about myself is special and amazing.
And there’s also that little detail of him offering me my dream job and telling me that together we can change the world.
Well, I could probably 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 for him.
And if I have to marry him 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 to get what we both want, then fine. It’s for the greater good.
It has nothing to do with the way he kisses me. Or that dirty mouth. Or the 𝘳𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 he gives me in the bedroom.
Fine. Maybe it does. Still, it’s only a year. Then I can turn in my tiara and come back to my normal, boring, behind-the-scenes life.
But Torin is determined to turn me from reluctantly royal to royally 𝘩𝘪𝘴.
She presses her lips together, takes a breath, then asks, “What else do you want?”
I decide to be honest. “I want to whisk you away on my private plane to an actual palace and give you everything and anything you could ever want or need.”
Her eyes widen. “You don’t even know me.”
I tuck my hands into my back pockets. To try to look casual. But also to keep from reaching for her.
“I’ve read all about your work,” I tell her. “I started by just wanting to know about that job you said you hated so much. But then I kept reading. I know all about you.”
She’s staring at me. She’s sitting up straighter now and even in the pale light, I can see her shock.
“You…read about me?”
“Not just about you. I read all of your papers. Your work in college. Your dissertation. The articles you’ve published. I even stumbled upon some social media posts.”
“I…Oh…” She shakes her head. “I thought you wanted to sleep with me.”
I chuckle softly. “Oh, Abigail, I most definitely want to sleep with you.”
She swallows hard.
“I wanted that before I knew you are a damned genius who could come to my country and revolutionize agriculture and completely overhaul our economy.”
I can see that she’s breathing faster now.
“So you want to hire me?” she asks. “Which means we can’t sleep together because you’ll be my boss.”
I step up on the first step.
“I don’t want to hire you. But I do want to bring you to Cara to do your work.”
“I don’t understand.”
I step up onto the next step, but she doesn’t back up. There’s only a step between us now. “I want you to marry me.”
Her eyes widen. But she says nothing.
“Be my princess,” I go on. “You’ll have influence and resources. You can do anything and everything you’ve ever wanted to do.”
She’s staring at me. Then when she realizes I’m done talking, she laughs.
“Marry you? Is that how things work for you? You just smile that smile, waltz a couple of waltzes, and women just say yes to anything? Even marriage?”
Well…
“I’ve never asked anyone to marry me before, so I don’t really know,” I answer.
She’s still smiling. “Thank you for the offer. But I’m not going to marry you.”
“As princess of Cara you can see your plans in action. Right now, they’re all just on paper. You’re not actually doing any of it. Don’t you want to see it come to life?”
Now she’s not smiling. She’s just watching me. She takes a deep breath. “Of course I do.”
“This is the perfect way. There’s no red tape. Nothing between your amazing brain and making it all happen for real.”
“What’s the catch?”
“No catch. My country needs a prince and princess in place before my grandfather steps aside. The country deserves to know who will be there to step up and take care of them. My grandfather needs a successor in place before his heart gives out.”
“He has a bad heart?” she asks.
“He’s already had three heart attacks. I really need to get married to give him and the country peace of mind.”
“So you’re serious about finding a wife?”
“I am.”
She steps down a step.
“Abigail.”
“Yes?”
“If you step down one more step, I’m going to kiss you.”
She wets her lips.
“So if you want to just keep talking, you need to keep your sweet ass right there on that step.”
She looks down at the step that would start the kissing.
“And if you don’t want to keep talking…or anything else… you need to go back inside.”
She’s staring at me. But she seems more fascinated than anything. “Okay. I understand.”
“Good.”
Two heartbeats pass.
Then she steps down onto the step right above mine.
I groan and cup her face, bringing her mouth in against mine.
BLP REVIEW – Tracy
While Erin Nicholas is better known for The Landry Family and the small town of Autre – some of my favourite books and series – I’m so looking forward to what’s to come from her alter-ego, Erin Nicolle.
I adored Torin & Abigail. We’d met Torin previously on his trips to visit Fiona and Saoirse in Autre, while Ani had been introduced via her sisters’ stories.
We knew a bit about Cara. That they needed a new king ti take over from Torin’s grandfather as he’s getting older and his health hasn’t been good but the level of expectation on Torin from the old boy was a little more than anyone expected I think!!
I liked how Torin knew Abi was the one for him and even though she seemed set on the end date of their he never listened to sight of the future he wanted with her. Torin grew up quite a bit throughout the read and for me, he was gonna be a really great leader…. if he has the right partner (hint, hint… Abi) by his side.
Then there’s Abi. For someone with social anxiety she definitely bloomed in this book….. her confidence, self belief and understanding of what she could do if she set her mind to it all developed during her first few months with Torin as he was so supportive and proud of her, which he never failed to convey.
This pair were made for each other. They were sweet, funny, engaging and smoking hot in equal measures and I’m hoping we see more of them in future ‘Royals Gone Rogue’ books.
A really fab start to a new series and I can’t wait to see what Erin has in store for Torin’s brothers (and hopefully their best friends/bodyguards!!! 😉)
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** My thanks to Erin for an advance ecopy of Reluctantly Royal. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I’ve also got my kindle copy on pre-order. **
Erin Nicholas is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over sixty sexy contemporary romances and rom coms. Her stories have been described as toe-curling, enchanting, steamy, and fun. She loves to write about reluctant heroes, imperfect heroines and happily ever afters. She lives in the Midwest with her husband who only wants to read the sex scenes in her books, her kids who will never read the sex scenes in her books, and family and friends who say they’re shocked by the sex scenes in her books (yeah, right!).
While Erin Nicholas is known for her blue-collar book boyfriends and big, boisterous found families in small towns, her alternate pen name, Erin Nicolle writes rich and royal rogues. But they both love a dirty talking cinnamon roll, a damn grump who is reluctantly wrapped around a feisty little finger, and a gruff, protective guy who falls first and hard.
And Erin also writes spicy, why choose rom coms as Emma Foxx with her author bestie, Erin McCarthy (yes, another Erin)!
You can find all three pen names on Amazon, Goodreads, Instagram and Tik Tok!
Book Loving Pixies 