Sophie Reads YA: Leah & Kate Rooper

2018 Contemporary Romance Challenge

ARC Review: Just Pretending (The Chicago Falcons #3) by Leah & Kate Rooper

10:00

Just Pretending
Series: The Chicago Falcons #3
Author: Leah & Kate Rooper
Published November 5th 2018 by Entangled Publishing, LLC (Crush)

Goodreads Synopsis
It's not easy being royal. Sixteen-year-old Evangeline wears her crown proudly, but between her duties and her overprotective big brother, the idea of romance is just a dream. But a chance encounter in Chicago changes all that….

Sure, seventeen-year-old Tyler Evans loves playing hockey, but he's more concerned about providing for his dad and little sister. Then he meets Eva--and falls head-over-heels in love—and he has two more problems. One, she's his best friend's little sister. Two, she wears a crown.

But then Eva accidentally mistakes Tyler for a visiting prince, and for the first time, Tyler doesn't feel like a nobody. He knows he has to tell her the truth…but not yet.

His plan? To keep up the royal charade as long as it takes to convince Eva he’s the guy for her. Even if he’s lying to everyone…including himself.

Disclaimer: May cause disillusionment. Those girls looking to find their Prince Charming might consider scouting out hockey rinks.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.

Now, books 1 and 2 in this series were so good, that I had high hopes for this final book, and though I enjoyed it, I felt it was the weakest of the trilogy. In Just Pretending, we follow Princess Evangeline as she travels to Chicago to visit her big brother, Daniel. While there, she meets one of Daniel's team mates, Tyler, but she happens to confuse him with a prince, and though it's wrong, Tyler finds himself playing along, and pretending to be a prince, rather than coming clean about his families struggles as he provides for them. The chemistry between both was really sweet, and it seemed like each understood the other, but we always had the whole secret identity aspect hanging over them like a sword, so when it is revealed, there's obviously a lot of drama and angst.

I did enjoy both main characters, but, like I said, not as much as the previous couples. Ty was really sweet, and I loved how hard he fought for Eva to prove he deserved her, but still I didn't connect as much with him or Eva. Still, I think this was a perfect way to end this companion series, and I'm glad I discovered the books online.

Dates Read:

October 20, 2018

Rating
4 Stars

2018 Contemporary Romance Challenge

ARC Review: Just One of the Royals (The Chicago Falcons #2) by Leah & Kate Rooper

10:00

Just One of the Royals
Series: The Chicago Falcons #2
Author: Leah & Kate Rooper
Published June 4th 2018 by Entangled Publishing, LLC (Crush)

Goodreads Synopsis
Star hockey player Daniel Sacachelli wants only two things: 1) for the Falcons to win next season, and 2) for his secret — the fact he’s actually the prince of Eldonia — to never make its way to Chicago. But if Daniel keeps avoiding his crown, their family will lose their kingdom forever.

Madison Myong can’t believe that her will-they-or-won’t-they best friend Daniel is
really a prince! He’s always seemed more rebel than royal. But now, he needs to clean up his image, fast. Posing as his long-time girlfriend, Madison accompanies him back to Eldonia, intending to give Daniel a makeover fit for a king.

Only, the more royal Daniel becomes, the more Madison misses her best friend. And if she does her job right, she’ll lose him forever...
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.

After loving book 1, Just One of the Boys, so much, when this book became available to request on NetGalley, I don't think I could've pressed the request button any faster. Daniel and Madison were characters I was definitely intrigued about in the previous book, so having their story now told was a dream come true, and with the added royal element too. Daniel has been keeping a secret from all of his team mates, and best friend, and long time crush, Madison. The truth is, he's actually the illegitimate soon of the King of Eldonia, and therefore is a prince. He was happy living in Chicago with his mam, and though he loved his younger sister, Evangeline, he didn't want to have to live in Eldonia full time. However, when his father dies, he has to clean up his act, and portray himself as the perfect prince, ready to take over Eldonia, if necessary. Thinking it would be better to prove his seriousness if he had a girlfriend, he and Madison decide to pretend to be together, but with both of them having feelings for the other, will it work out well? Especially when it's revealed that Evangeline will have to marry some creep if it doesn't work out.

Now, I loved this book, maybe even more so than the first one. Daniel and Madison's characters were so perfect, and hearing from both of their PoV's improved the book so much. The fake relationship and friends-to-lovers tropes are some of my favourites in YA contemporaries, and in this book, having both go hand in hand was really good. I think the authors did it perfectly, and though Daniel might have a bad boy persona, he's really a softy at heart, especially around his sister and Madison. The secondary characters, including Alice and Hayden, all played small roles, and each added to the plot line in their own individual ways.

If book 1 was comparable to She's the Man, I'd say this book has a bit of a vibe of the story line from The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, again a film I adore. I can't wait to read Evangeline's story in the third instalment in this series, because she was a new character who I need to know more about.

Dates Read:

May 8, 2018

Rating
4 Stars

2017 Contemporary Romance Challenge

ARC Review: Just One of the Boys (The Chicago Falcons #1) by Leah & Kate Rooper

10:00

Just One of the Boys
Series: The Chicago Falcons #1
Author: Leah & Kate Rooper
Published October 2nd 2017 by Entangled Teen

Goodreads Synopsis
Alice Bell has one goal: to play for the elite junior hockey team the Chicago Falcons. But when she’s passed over at tryouts for being a girl, she’ll do anything to make her dream a reality…even disguising herself as her twin brother. With her amazing skills on the ice, Alice is sure she’ll fit in easily. That is, until she starts falling for one of her teammates…

Hayden Tremblay, star of the Falcons, can’t keep himself out of the penalty box. Constantly living in the shadow of his older brother, Hayden’s losing his passion for hockey. But when he gets shown up on the ice by the Falcons’ new rookie, Hayden’s determined to teach the kid a thing or two. Little does he guess that “Al’s” surprises on the ice are just the beginning...

Disclaimer: This Entangled Teen Crush title proves that wonderful things can happen when you’re brave enough to go after your dream. Dream hockey player, that is! Warning--a few locker room scenes are included...
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.

When I first heard about this book, I was immediately intrigued. Everything about the synopsis screamed it was a book for me, and I had quite the feeling that it would be very much like the movie, She's the Man, which is perfect. In Just One of the Boys, Alice has always wanted to be a hockey player. But, because she's a girl, she can't play with the boys. (sidenote: this really resonated with me, as I was told when I was 12 or 13 I couldn't play on the football team I was a part of any more, because I was a girl, and we had no girls teams in our area!). However, her cunning plan is to disguise herself as her twin brother, and don the persona of 'Al'. We get two PoVs in this book, and the second is from Hayden, who is the star player on the Falcons. He always gets compared to his older brother, and wants to do anything to get out from under his shadow. When the new rookie player, 'Al', rocks up, he takes him under his wing, and finds himself drawn to him, and 'Al's twin sister Alice when they meet too.

The chemistry between Alice and Hayden was unreal. Whenever they were together, the sparks literally flew, and I loved how open they could be with each other. Yes, there were obviously some tension and angst when Alice/Al was revealed, but other than that, there wasn't actually much drama in this book, which was nice. Hayden's PoV was wonderful too, and I loved his backstory about being treated differently because of his brother, and how he was finally getting his hockey mojo back throughout this book.

Another thing I really liked in this book was the friendship, especially between Alice and Madison, and Hayden, Daniel and Tyler - the others who I believe will have their own companion books! The friendships shown were all legit and real, and it made the book seem even more realistic, and improved the book! I loved this book, and the definitely comparison to She's the Man was apparent. If you love that movie, this is definitely a book for you!

Dates Read:

September 9, 2017

Rating
4 Stars