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| Once Upon a Prince by Rachel Hauck |
This title kicks off Rachel Hauck’s new Royal Wedding series.
Let’s begin with the
summary:
Susanna Truitt never
dreamed of a great romance or being treated like a princess---just to marry the
man she has loved for twelve years. But life isn't going according to plan.
When her high-school-sweetheart-turned-Marine-officer breaks up instead of
proposing, Susanna scrambles to rebuild her life.
The last thing Prince
Nathaniel expects to find on his American holiday to St. Simons Island is the
queen of his heart. A prince has duties, and his family's tense political
situation has chosen his bride for him. When Prince Nathaniel comes to
Susanna's aid under the fabled Lover's Oak, he is blindsided by love.
Their lives are worlds
apart. He's a royal prince. She's an ordinary girl. But everything changes when
Susanna receives an invitation to Nathaniel's coronation.
It's the ultimate
choice: His kingdom or her heart? God's will or their own?
And now, my review:
I love Rachel’s way with modern-day fairy tales. Such
delicious fun to follow a prince and a would-be princess on their adventures.
The story is split into three parts, which I enjoyed in that
it broke out of the romantic genre formula. She threw in some great twists and
turns and the story never lagged.
True to Rachel’s previous few books, I loved the odd character
of Aurora and her special gift of wise words and even shoes to our heroine. This quirky, yet
prophetic character, will capture readers’ imaginations.
Loved all the royal references and how our two main
characters were noble and willing to be self-sacrificing, as royals should
be—gracious and servant-hearted.
Our heroine has a hard time opening her heart. She’s hiding.
At first it frustrated me that Susanna (whose name means Lily, by the way—an image used for the maiden in the Song of Songs)
wouldn’t confess her true feelings. But aren’t we like that with God, holding
back? Hiding? Unable to trust and give ourselves fully over to His love? All of
Rachel’s references to our bridal relationship with God are always something I look
forward to in her books. Plus, her prose rocks!
The best theme in the story, though, was that of surrender
to God. Like us, Susanna avoids surrender. Yet, surrender will bring freedom (a
little-known secret of God’s mysterious kingdom) and it leads to finding our destinies.
We surrender to God, and He gives us the desires our hearts because He’s that
good. That was the life-changing message in this story—that of praying with Susanna, "I got nothing. You can have all of me, God."
A great read! I highly recommend this modern fairy tale. It’ll
remind you of a recent movie, but satisfy Christian readers with the deeper
aspect of God’s love for us.
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