Publisher: Omnific Publishing
Publishing Date: May 29th, 2018
Page Count: 246
Source: Accepted for Review
Format: Ebook
Description from Goodreads.com:
After a tragic accident leaves Shelby Ryan permanently injured, she gives up all hope in happily-ever-afters. Shelby puts on a brave face while hiding her pain, but once she returns to school, everything changes. She starts receiving anonymous corny messages from a mysterious Prince Charming, and her nemesis, basketball star and bad boy, Sebastian, shows sudden interest in her.
Hilarity ensues as Shelby tries to uncover Prince Charming's real identity and come to terms with her true feelings for the last boy on Earth she ever thought she's fall for: Sebastian Freaking Birch.
Will she be able to cope with the allure of the texting prince, or will Sebastian be the real-life prince in Shelby's fairytale?
Review:
Texting Prince Charming was such a much needed palate cleanser. At the library I work at I run a YA book club for teens and adults. So lately, I have been reading a lot of fantasies and mysteries, basically darker subject books that cause a lot of discussion. Texting Prince Charming was the book that I didn't even know I needed. It was so nice to read something light, flirty, and romantic.
I will warn you that the corn factor on this book is pretty high, but I honestly enjoy corny romances. It was also pretty predictable and was a classic "girl falls in love with brothers best friend/bad boy who has been in love with her since forever". Thankfully, I still really enjoy those books. What I did like is that we kind of have this love triangle going on with our anonymous Prince Charming. I did think it was Sebastian, but then I got tricked like Shelby did and thought maybe someone else, but it did keep pointing to him. Shelby never thought it was him though. That was one of her biggest character flaws: not having enough self confidence.
This book does touch on a darker subject. Her entire family is killed in a car accident. I know you're probably saying to yourself, "but Becky didn't you just say a minute ago that this was a light, flirty romance?". Yup. I sure did. This was my only issue with the book. A giant tragedy occurs in Shelby's life and it was only six months ago, yet we really don't dive into Shelby (or Sebastian's) feelings or grieving process. We lightly scratch the surface here and there, but it was definitely not fully dealt with or fleshed out. If the accident would have happened a long time ago and Shelby just moved back to town it would have made more sense for how she acts. And, I know, I know everyone deals with grief in their own way, but this wasn't dealt with at all.
Shelby's second character flaw was being a little too self absorbed. Instead of grieving the loss of her family she is too concerned with moving on. She's worried about going to school, because she is scared people will make fun of her, pity her, and judge her. Who in their right mind would make fun of someone for losing a leg after an accident that killed their entire family? And who wouldn't beat the crap out of the person who does? The "bullying" seemed a little convenient and unbelievable, because I just honestly couldn't see that happening in real life. Again, maybe if the accident took place years ago, but not six months after.
Overall:
I really enjoyed this book. It was fun, romantic and light. It was definitely the book I didn't know I needed. Usually I can tell when I need a break from books on more serious topics, but this one kind of snuck up on me. With that being said, the fact that it was such light hearted fun is also why I found flaws within the book. Shelby's entire family dies in a car accident only six months ago, but yet instead of dealing with that grief (in any kind of way) Shelby decides she needs to focus on her social life and moving on. It seemed a bit self absorbed and it didn't make sense when the accident happened not too long ago. Even though this kind of is a big story line fail, the romance made up for it. I found the book to be very fun and refreshing. I wouldn't say it's one of my favorite reads of the year, but it was definitely enjoyable to read.
Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 4/5
**The books cover, description, and info was all found on Goodreads. A link back has been provided. All other work and ideas are of my own creation. This book was sent to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.**
