The Royal (Game of Chance, #2)
Susan Stoker
In this modern Cinderella story, New York Times bestselling author Susan Stoker weaves a tale of stepfamilies, stalkers, and a suspenseful, sweeping romance that proves true love can conquer all. Former military man and member of a royal family Callum Redmon can’t deny his sense of responsibility. So when his cousin’s latest love interest claims to have a stalker, Cal reluctantly meets with the young woman and her mother. He wants to write off the situation as a complete farce—if only his feelings for another member of the household could be as easily dismissed. Since her father’s death seventeen years ago, Juniper Rose has been at the cruel beck and call of her stepmother and stepsister. Her fantasies of escape mean leaving behind her father’s beloved home, but enough is enough: when Cal offers her a way out sooner rather than later, June takes the leap. Cal’s home in Maine with his military brothers seems like the safest place to start fresh. But as Cal and June’s fairy-tale romance blossoms into something real, they find that the dangers stalking them may have been real all along.
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0 0I fell in love with Juniper Rose aka June immediately. She is such a kind soul. There is no judgment from her, even on those who deserve to be judged. She has been treated horribly for all of her adult life, well over 10 years, yet doesn’t use that as an excuse for anything. Not only has she been in an actual Cinderella situation with her step-mom and step-sister, cooking, cleaning, running errands, the whole shebang, but they also fat shame her and ridicule her at every turn.
Cal is a former POW, but he’s also part of a royal family which caused his captors to use him as an example while he and his friends were imprisoned. He has many scars from that time, both internal and external. He’s loyal to his buddies, first and foremost, but is still expected to at least attempt to do the bidding of the King and Queen of his country of origin. That’s how he finds himself investigating a bogus stalking claim from one of his cousin’s online “friends”, June’s step-sister. A woman obsessed with being famous and looking to bag a royal husband.
Not much time is spent with the steps as Cal catches on quickly. He also sees the situation June is in and wants to help her. June is ready to leave behind the only home she’s ever known; she’s been saving and planning and now she has her prince to help her take charge of her life.
I love these two together and I adore how much they lift each other up. Over and over June attempts to get through to Cal that his scars only remind her of his strength and in no way deter her from her physical and emotional attraction to him. There are some rocky points when they are both unsure of their standing with the other, but that all eventually works itself out.
While I’m tempted to label this as a romantic suspense, it’s not really. June and Cal are unaware that June is in any danger. The reader is aware of the danger, but also aware of who is responsible and who is the threat. It made the culmination of the threat a bit anticlimactic, which was unfortunate. Yet, all in all, I was immersed in this story and its characters. Cal and June gave me the warm-fuzzies and I love that.
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