The Princess Wore Plaid by Karen Hawkins
(The Princes of Oxenburg #3.5)

Release Date: March 21, 2016

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ This was a perfect short story. A play on the Beauty and the Beast fairytale, which happens to be be one of my favourites! Who doesn't want that huge library! Darrac and Tatiana were sweet together. He was a good "beast" with just the right amount of surliness and she had the perfect attitude to tame it. This was a super quick read that left me smiling and happy.

The Oxenburg Princes series is one of my favourites by Karen Hawkins. I cannot wait to read Nik’s story. If you haven't read about these Princes yet the first book is: How to Pursue a Princess (which technically is book 2 in the Duchess Diaries series though the Diary books are only linked by a meddling aunt I believe, so you could just read book 2 out of order if you wanted…)

** I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review **

Original review posted at: http://paragraphsandpetticoats.blogspot.ca/
( )

Good, quick romantic read!

The Princess Wore Plaid by Karen Hawkins is a 2016 Pocket Star publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher, Edelweiss, and as a member of the official street team of XOXO After Dark.

It is always a pleasure to read one of Karen Hawkins’ historical romance novels. This is a novella length story and is a part of the Oxenburg Princes series.

Most of the time fairytales end with the heroine marrying her prince, becoming a princess as a result, and living happily ever after, leaving us all sighing with happiness, because the prince is so handsome and being a princess sounds so cool and because who doesn’t want to be a princess… right?

In this “Beauty and the Beast’ inspired story, Tatiana, a princess, on her way to the Scottish Highlands to meet her cousin, suffers temporary memory loss after a carriage accident. Making her way to an inn, she is taken in by the owner and given a job in the kitchen. Once her memory returns, she contacts her family, but nobody ever comes to retrieve her.

Meanwhile, French Navy Lord Buchan, leaves home once a week to enjoy the outstanding cooking at the inn, which is how he meets the mysterious Tatiana. But, Buchan is a hard man to like due to the disfiguring injury to his leg, which has left him bitter, lonely, and in constant pain. But, he soon figures out that Tatiana is no servant, and believes she is who she claims to be. So, he vows to help her reunite with her family. However, he never expected she would bring him out of his self-imposed exile and give him a reason to live.

Away from her life at court, Tatiana finds herself enjoying being just a woman, letting her guard down, and enjoying the pleasures of cooking, and certain other pleasures the gruff Buchan is teaching her all about.

But, Buchan knows Tatiana doesn’t belong in his world and once her cousin arrives, she will go back to her opulent world of royalty and resume the life she was born to.

Are Buchan and Tatiana star-crossed lovers? Is their HEA doomed from the start? Only time and love will tell.

I really enjoyed this Scottish fairytale inspired story, which examines the effect of removing a princess from her duty bound life of stress and expectations, and seeing her blossom as a person in a completely different environment and perhaps finding true love in the process, creating a kind of HEA in reverse.

This is a cute, imaginative short story which also introduces us to Tatiana’s cousin who will be featured in “Mad for the Plaid” coming this summer.

3.5 stars ( )

I have been enjoying The Oxenburg Princes series quite a bit over the last year. Their stoicism and dry humor in contract to their Tata Natasha's crazy antics has been quite entertaining. Throwing a princess novella in the mix was a great filler while we wait for Nik's story in [b:Mad for the Plaid|27409186|Mad for the Plaid (The Oxenburg Princes, #3)|Karen Hawkins|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1446415566s/27409186.jpg|47456832]. I didn't expect to like it as much as I did... but I loved it. It was a nice quick read with relatable and engaging characters and a sweet love story.

Our Oxenburg Royalty in this story is Princess Tatiana Romanovin, who was injured in a carriage accident and showed up an The Red Lion Inn with a seemingly crazy story of princes and royalty from a country that most people have never heard of. She is put to work as a maid to earn her keep. The experience is humbling and eye-opening for Tatiana, and I respected the way she handled the situation. She learned and did not complain, even when her nails were broken and hands were blistered. She was a thoroughly likeable heroine.

On the surface, our hero was not as likeable. Lord Buchan was severely injured in a battle with the French Navy, suffering severe scarring in his leg and a consumptive ailment as well. The limping, pain and general disability, along with his pride, have made him quite the grumpypants (or grumpykilt as it were). But I found him endearing... particularly that he endured more pain because he wanted to get better for Tatiana, and he couldn't quite stay away from her. I just wanted to wrap him up and make all his problems go away.

I felt like there was a lot of meat to this story for it being a novella, probably because I had such a good connection to both characters. Tata Natasha did not feature in this story, but I don't think her antics were needed to move the story along. I have been looking forward to Nik, the future king's story, so I am excited that we don't have to wait much longer for [b:Mad for the Plaid|27409186|Mad for the Plaid (The Oxenburg Princes, #3)|Karen Hawkins|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1446415566s/27409186.jpg|47456832].

I received an advanced copy of this book from Pocket Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 4.5 stars / 2 flames. ( )

I received a free copy from NetGalley for an honest review. Tatiana is a princess who is stranded in Scotland and is trying to return home. However, she meets a Scottish man who makes her question whether she would be happier remaining in Scotland or returning to her princess duties. It was such a great story of two people who fall in love and how you should follow your heart. I really enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down from the first page. Not all love stories have to have evil lurking around so it was refreshing storyline that really illustrated the power of love. I would recommend anyone who wants a feel good love story to read this one. ( )