A PRINCESS IN THEORY by Alyssa Cole (2018)

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - deep emotion noises This book was so fckin good, guys. If you like steamy, smart romances with emotional depth, intentional theme-treatment & top tier character arcs, you NEED this.

Jun 16, 2025

∙ Paid

‘Is this real life?
…
Natalie sighed. When she spoke, some of the stiff formality was gone from her voice. “Look, I’m not a therapist or anything, but I’m going to advise you to chill. You’re about to get on a plane and have a delicious meal, get you some wine, sleep in a comfortable bed—”
“There’s a bed?”
“There’s a bed, and I guarantee it’s more comfortable than anything you’ve slept on in your life,” Natalie said with a bit of envy. “You’re gonna do all that, and then wake up in a place where you can either tell people you’re not a princess or do what I would do given the opportunity.”
“And what’s that?” Ledi asked.
“Live a little.” Natalie smiled. “Do it for those of us who are stuck at LaGuardia every day, watching the planes fly out and never getting on them. Gate R is fancy, but it’s still in Queens.”’

title: A Princess In Theory

series: Reluctant Royals (book one)

author: Alyssa Cole

published: 2018

publisher: Avon Books (HarperCollins)

genre/subgenre: m/f contemporary romance

setting: NYC, & Thesolo—a fictional kingdom in the snowy part of Africa (sounded like was meant to be in the Drakensberg mountain range maybe?) omg I just realized that Thesolo is an anagram for Lesotho… ok I’m with ya now, Alyssa 😂

main themes/subjects: epidemiology, lab work, part time servers job, a wealthful & small African kingdom, fuckboys, foster system, friendships, loneliness & isolation, chronic independence, love & vulnerability, forgiveness, what a sincere apology looks like, world politics, capitalism, a royal intrigue mystery subplot-line

representation: African MCs, orphaned foster-care raised in NYC FMC & an African prince MMC

tropes: “he’s loved her all along”, fated mates (kinda), prince LI, mistaken/secret identity, steamy STEM

‘Being outwardly friendly while keeping people at a distance was second nature to Ledi. She thought of it as her social phospholipid bilayer: flexible, dynamic, and designed to keep the important parts of herself separate from a possibly dangerous outside environment. It had been working for the prokaryotes for eons, and it would suffice for a broke grad school student, which was only slightly higher on the evolutionary scale.’

my thoughts:

This was such a cute book! I loved it from the beginning but as it went along it built on its layers & got so much more complex than one usually finds in this genre (which is fine, no shade), & the emotional depth & character arcs were all top tier. I was especially struck by how intentional all of Cole’s choices were vis-a-vis character development, story, & world-building. Nothing felt lazy or under-excavated which I really appreciate, even in genre fiction. You can tell that Cole delved deeply into her imagination to create the kingdom & all of the characters & how well their backstories inform who they are & when things are & what is revealed as we get hints & snatches of them.

Ledi was an extremely sympathetic character. I related very much to her people-pleasing, care-first energy from the beginning & felt a lot of empathy for her struggles & her choices. She wasn’t at all like those FMCs who make stupid self-sabotaging choices that put them in situations where it’s hard to feel bad for them but I loved & felt super protective of Ledi the whole time. That’s why I’m so glad Thabiso turned out to be perfect for her because I was worried… 😅 #ProtectLedi

I don’t read a lot of m/f romance because I tend to find the MLI extremely annoying & way too often highly problematic. I was worried about Thabiso from some of his early choices but by the end of the book I was very much on board. Such a sweetheart & the way he cared for & was vulnerable for & patient with & supportive of Ledi was exactly how men should be. Full marks. #TeamThabiso

I also loved loved the world building of the kingdom of Thesolo in the story. I’ve never been to Lesotho but would absolutely love to go because the snowy Drakensberg mountains sound completely dreamy. & that cave scene? OOF. 🥵

i would recommend this book to readers who like steamy, smart romances with deeper themes & more intentional character arcs than are usual for the genre. this book is best read in summer because… it steamy! 🔥💦

‘She’d grown up thinking that she wasn’t wanted anywhere, but there had been a prince a world away who had been waiting for her and had apparently never stopped.
…He’d waited and wanted, and when she’d never returned, he had come looking for her.’

final note: I knew Akwaeke wouldn’t steer me wrong. 🥚🐍✨

CW // death of parents (FMC orphaned as a child), betrayal

spice level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️

season: late summer / early fall

music pairing: a contemporary twist on a traditional Sotho wedding song

Quotes, Notes, & Annotations…

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Stop and Smell the Books to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

A PRINCESS IN THEORY by Alyssa Cole (2018)

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - *deep emotion noises* This book was so fckin good, guys. If you like steamy, smart romances with emotional depth, intentional theme-treatment & top tier character arcs, you NEED this.

‘Is this real life?

…

Natalie sighed. When she spoke, some of the stiff formality was gone from her voice. “Look, I’m not a therapist or anything, but I’m going to advise you to chill. You’re about to get on a plane and have a delicious meal, get you some wine, sleep in a comfortable bed—”

“There’s a bed?”

“And what’s that?” Ledi asked.

“Live a little.” Natalie smiled. “Do it for those of us who are stuck at LaGuardia every day, watching the planes fly out and never getting on them. Gate R is fancy, but it’s still in Queens.”’

title: A Princess In Theory

genre/subgenre: m/f contemporary romance

my thoughts:

‘She’d grown up thinking that she wasn’t wanted anywhere, but there had been a prince a world away who had been waiting for her and had apparently never stopped.

…He’d waited and wanted, and when she’d never returned, he had come looking for her.’

further reading:

The rest of the Reluctant Royals series by Alyssa Cole:

The Runaway Royals series by Alyssa Cole:

Click on the star ratings beside the titles I’ve read to read my reviews/thoughts about the book.

I earn commissions from the sponsored links to my shop on bookshop.org which allow me to keep the majority of my content like Book Reviews & Reading Lists free to all subscribers. <3

‘That was the thing with people getting past your defenses. They were bound to fuck up, maybe a little, maybe a lot. It was what they did afterward that counted.’

All content, graphics, images, & photography © Stop and Smell the Books unless otherwise indicated.

If you haven’t already, consider upgrading to a paid subscription to see more of my expanded notes, annotations, & favorite quotes from this book below. . .

(Also I am being informed by substack that this post is too long to fit all of it into the email so if that’s where you’re reading & you’d like to see the whole thing, click through to the web page. <3)

Quotes, Notes, & Annotations…

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ - deep emotion noises This book was so fckin good, guys. If you like steamy, smart romances with emotional depth, intentional theme-treatment & top tier character arcs, you NEED this.