A Royal Christmas: A Christmas Novella by Melody Carlson

My thoughts:  I found A Royal Christmas to be a bit of fairy tale story of a modern college student whose life of living in a stinking apartment as a financially struggling law student whose life is given a complete turn around as she becomes queen to a small principality. A rags to riches tale that includes friendship, classy castle life, Christmas fun, budding romance, and dastardly intrigue. 

The story moves quickly and in a couple weeks time our "Cinderella" is crowned queen to succeed her deceased father who was the reigning king. What's interesting is her mother and the king never married as the then-reigning-king didn't approve of an American for his son. Also interesting is that an American who has nearly finished law school should take upon themselves the role as a new queen of another country. This raises international law and citizenship issues. But then, this is, of course, a "fairy tale" type of story.

I anticipate Melody Carlson's Christmas novellas every year and was delighted to have the opportunity to read an advanced release copy of this year's story - A Royal Christmas. It didn't quite bring me the joy I usually have for having read her books, but it still is a nice story. It had Christmas cheer as well as spoke to the real meaning of Christmas. 

About the book: Adelaide Smith is too busy for fairy tales. She's been working hard to put herself through law school and now that the end is in sight, she's determined to stay focused on her goals. Then she receives a letter notifying her that she has been found through a DNA registry to be a direct descendant of King Maximillian V, the ruler of a small Eastern European principality called Montovia. She's understandably skeptical. This is the stuff of cheesy made-for-TV movies, not real life.

Although the pieces of this surprising family puzzle seem too good to be true, curiosity gets the best of her. At the king's invitation, Adelaide embarks on a Christmas break trip that is chock-full of surprises, including a charming village, an opulent palace, family mysteries, royal jealousies, a handsome young member of Parliament—and the chance at a real fairy tale romance with a happily-ever-after ending.

Spend this Christmas with bestselling author Melody Carlson as she whisks you away to a royal holiday you'll never forget!

DISCLOSURE: I won an ARS copy of this book from the Librarything.com Early Reviewers Program. Reviews are requested but not required. Opinions are mine, alone and freely given.