Books for Christian Girls: "Once Upon a Prince" by Rachel Hauck

About this book:

“Susanna Truitt never dreamed of a great romance or being treated like a princess---just to marry the man she has loved for twelve years. But life isn't going according to plan. When her high-school-sweetheart-turned-Marine-officer breaks up instead of proposing, Susanna scrambles to rebuild her life.
The last thing Prince Nathaniel expects to find on his American holiday to St. Simon's Island is the queen of his heart. A prince has duties, and his family's tense political situation has chosen his bride for him. When Prince Nathaniel comes to Susanna's aid under the fabled Lover's Oak, he is blindsided by love.
Their lives are worlds apart. He's a royal prince. She's an ordinary girl. But everything changes when Susanna receives an invitation to Nathaniel's coronation. It's the ultimate choice. His kingdom or her heart? God's will or their own?”

Series: Book #1 in “The Royal Wedding” series.

Spiritual Content- Scriptures are mentioned, quoted, & read; Prayers; Church going; Many talks about God; ‘H’s are not capital when referring to God; Many mentions of God & Jesus; Mentions of prayers & praying; Mentions of churches, church going, ministers, & hymns/songs; Mentions of Christmas & hymns; A few mentions of those in the Bible; A few mentions of faiths; A few mentions of miracles; A couple mentions of Heaven; A mention of thanking God; A mention of a Christian group;

*Note: A mention of a woman seeing an angel or a demon from time to time; A mention of a she-devil; A mention of Medusa.

Negative Content- Minor cussing including: a ‘be jacked’ (a replacement for the d---- word), a ‘blooming’, a ‘dang’, a ‘flipping’, an ‘idiot’, an ‘OMG’, a ‘shut up’, a ‘son-of-a-gun’, a ‘what the heck’, two ‘darn’s, two ‘jackals’s, two ‘jack wagon’s, two ‘sucker’s, two forms of ‘what the blazes’, three ‘blasted’s, three ‘shoot’s, four forms of ‘blast it’, five ‘oh my gosh’s, and seven ‘stupid’s; Mentions of curses & cursing (said, not written); A bit of sarcasm & eye rolling; Mentions of terrorists, wars, fighting, & bombs/explosions; Mentions of threats; Mentions of Susanna’s parents fighting & “failed divorce”; Mentions of another (possible) divorce; Mentions of lies, lying, & liars; Mentions of gossip & rumors; Mentions of a pipe, smoking, & the smoke; Mentions of drinking & alcohol/wine (mainly at a social gathering); A few mentions of a flask, whatever is in it, & a drunk; A few mentions of tattoos & piercings; A few mentions of jealousy/envy; A couple mentions of drugs; A mention of a murdered family; A mention of a serial killer;

*Note: Mentions of brand names & pop culture references; Mentions of singers & songs; Mentions of a designer brand; Mentions of Disney; A few mentions of Starbucks.

Sexual Content- a thumbs-to-lips touch, a (brotherly) cheek kiss, a cheek kiss, and a border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed kiss; Wanting to kiss (border-line barely-above-not-detailed // semi-detailed at one point); Quite a bit of Touches, Hand holding, & Dancing (barely-above-not-detailed); Noticing & Smelling (barely-above-not-detailed); a ‘sexy’, two ‘babe’s, and five ‘hot’s; A woman tries to get near Nathaniel & give touches (barely-above-not-detailed, he pushes away her advances); Mentions of rumors of a couple sleeping together (nothing happened, though, our main couple is thought to have had a one-nighter); Mentions of kisses & kissing; Mentions of romances, dating, dates, breakups, exes, girlfriends, & boyfriends; Mentions of flirting & flirts; Mentions of blushes; A few mentions of young women (not) getting pregnant outside of wedlock & rumors of it happening (also a mention of having to have intimate relations to become pregnant); A few mentions of mistresses & a woman gossiped to be one; A few mentions of jealousy; A couple mentions of a (possible) affair; A couple mentions of a female assistance spending a lot of time with her (married) boss; A couple mentions of chaperones; A couple mentions of crushes; A mention of a girl living her with boyfriend; A mention of sleeping around; A mention of a creepy man’s wolfish grin; A mention of a young man looking at a girl like a “very thirsty man”; Love, falling in love, & the emotions;

*Note: A mention of a woman’s strapless dress showing her chest; A mention of kissing someone’s grits; A mention of a door hitting someone somewhere.

-Susanna Truitt, age 29

-(Prince) Nathaniel, age 32
P.O.V. switches between them & Campbell (a handful of times)
343 pages

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Pre Teens-

New Teens-

Early High School Teens-

Older High School Teens-

My personal Rating-

{Add ½ star for older girls interested in royalty.}

In honor of the recent royal wedding, I decided to finally re-read this one and (hopefully) finish up the series this year.

“Once Upon a Prince” was still a cute one in my eyes, but there were many things I had forgotten since reading it over four years ago. It’s instant love/attraction, but not so lovey-dovey, which was nice. There also was much more faith content that I recalled, so that was a lovely surprise. I will admit that the royal politics boggled me down a bit when reading and there were a couple other comments could have been left out in my opinion, but overall, it’s a cute contemporary read. :)

See y’all on Wednesday with a new review!