Heart of a Royal Review, Guest Post and Giveaway!

Posted by abakersp in Contemporary, YA / 15 Comments

Welcome to the blog tour for Heart of a Royal by the amazingly talented Hannah Currie! Oh my word this book in fantastical. Even if romance novels aren’t really your thing – I think you would like the charm and humor in this story. Bravo Hannah Currie on your debut novel!!!

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Heart of a Royal cover

Book: Heart Of A Royal

Author: Hannah Currie

Genre:  Young Adult/Royalty

Brought to the palace as a newborn, the royal life bestowed upon Mackenna Sparrow was never meant to last forever. With Princess Alina engaged to be married, Mackenna’s presence as companion is no longer required and, like it or not, she must return to the birthright which should have been hers – that of a commoner. But not everyone at the palace wants her gone. When the truths she’s based her life on start crumbling as fast as her future, will she find the courage to trust, both herself and the prince she’s fallen in love with?

Click here to get your copy!

Heart of a Royal is not your average debut novel. In fact, it’s not your average novel. Currie brings charm, humor, grace and a powerful message to her story that not only had me hanging on to every word, it left me feeling breathless once I reached the end. I was not ready to part with these characters just yet. And that ending! Wow. I seriously cannot wait for book two – I mean is it out yet? **sigh** The answer is no, and rightly so. We cannot expect Ms. Currie to just sit at home writing all day every day, right!? But I imagine the wait will be totally worth it. Especially if this novel is any indication.

Let me start by saying I am a sucker for out of the ordinary fairy tales, as well as out of the ordinary ways to weave in a faith theme. This fairy tale had me believing the entire time – and while I could see the ending coming from a mile away, it didn’t stop me from enjoying the ride to get there. I mean, it’s a fairy tale – we ALL know the ending! But Currie makes Thoraben feel like a real, down to earth person. So many royal stories have the prince stuffy, uptight, and then seemingly transition into this great guy throughout the story. Not Thoraben. I loved him from the start! He was charming, funny, and had this way of saying things without really saying what he meant – know what I mean? Oh my stars I could read about him for ages.

And Mackenna. While she may not be royal by blood, as the book is so brilliantly titled, she is by heart. She is exactly what the people need in a future queen – caring, giving, kind. But what I enjoyed most about her story was her finding faith and what it truly means. The faith theme is woven in such a beautiful way – yes I say it early on before it was confirmed, and that actually made it more interesting to read. I kept thinking, well how is Currie going to put this all together? She did – amazingly so. It was wonderfully written, and makes me want to share this story with my non-saved loved ones and friends. It is so clearly spelled out there is no mistaking it. And yes it is not forced, or preachy. It just simply is.

Hannah Currie has been added to my must-read author list. Yes, this debut novel is that good. It’s good for any adult, young or old. This particular adult will be thinking about this book for a long time. **Ahem** Hallmark channel, *cough cough* could you maybe look at this? Okay, maybe that’s not right, because I wouldn’t want to faith theme taken out. But I could totally see this on the big screen. Can’t you!?

I received a complimentary copy of this book. I was not required to write a favorable review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Hannah currie

Aussie author, Hannah Currie, loves God, family, people (in small numbers, let’s not go crazy here!) and writing. She and her husband live with their three adorable kids in sunny Queensland, where it really is beautiful one day and perfect the next. Except, maybe, during heatwaves. They’re not so fun. She loves to connect with readers at www.hannahcurrie.com.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated by royalty. Real ones like Queen Elizabeth II, who is such an incredible woman and a total hero of mine (not to mention, as a proud Australian and member of the Commonwealth, my monarch) but also the not-so-real ones. Those found in fairytales. Romances. Narnia.

I’m one of those people who blocks out an entire day to watch a royal wedding, sighs like a hopeless romantic through cheesy princess movies, reads just about any novel I find with a crown on the front and loves a full-spread photo souvenir magazine. I may have even written a short story starring a princess for an English assignment at school. More than once. [Side note, if you’re going to write a story about a princess who is totally adorable but can’t spell, don’t use a misspelled word as the title. It takes a lot of explaining to make sure the teacher knows you did it on purpose and doesn’t mark you down for it… sorry Ninth Grade English teacher!].

The glamor draws me in, the beautiful clothes, the history and romance of it all, but it’s the expectations they have on them which hold me there. Every title comes with a million expectations, whether or not they’re realistic. We expect royals, both real and fictional, to behave in a certain way. To be honourable (assuming they’re the good guys). To care for their people and put them first. To always be there. Yes, even to be beautiful.

But what happens when they’re not? When they’re shy? Fight anxiety? Hate the spotlight? Are blemished in some way? What happens when what’s best for the people isn’t what’s best for them? Or when they make a mistake? Something which, for anyone else, would be easily fixed or glossed over but for a royal, gets written into the history books forever. Purely because of their title.

Kenna, the main character in Heart of a Royal, never meant to be a princess. She wasn’t born into royalty, neither did she choose it. And yet, due to circumstances far beyond her control, there she is. Living in a palace. Part of that life.

Very few of us are royalty but I think we all know how heavy expectations can be and the pain of being thrust into situations beyond our control. And yet, even in those moments and seasons, just like Kenna, we have choices. They might seem small, maybe even insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but they’re there. Who we put our trust in. What we do with the circumstances we’ve been given. Where we go from there.

Heart of a Royal is as much my story as it is Kenna’s. No, I’m not a princess (thankfully!) but I have struggled through finding hope and purpose when life flies out of control and the expectations prove too much. And here’s what I’ve found – God is good. There is hope and God is good. I hope, through Kenna’s story, you are reminded of that too.

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Hebrews 12 Endurance, November 28

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Emily Yager, November 29

For the Love of Literature, November 29

Through the Fire Blogs, November 29

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, November 30

Back Porch Reads, November 30

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, November 30

To Everything There Is A Season, November 30

Books, Life, and Christ, December 1

Mia Reads Blog, December 1

Bigreadersite , December 1

Kathleen Denly, December 2

Genesis 5020, December 2

She Lives To Read, December 2

Texas Book-aholic, December 2

A Baker’s Perspective, December 3

Livin’ Lit, December 3

Kat’s Corner Books, December 3

The Becca Files, December 4

Becka Jiménez , December 4

HookMeInABook, December 4

janicesbookreviews, December 4

Blossoms and Blessings, December 5

Christian Chick’s Thoughts, December 5

Just the Write Escape, December 5

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, December 5

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, December 6

Avid Reader Nurse, December 6

For Him and My Family, December 6

A Reader’s Brain, December 6

Adventures of a Travelers Wife, December 7

Moments, December 7

Simple Harvest Reads, December 7

Remembrancy, December 8

Locks, Hooks and Books, December 8

Pause for Tales , December 8

Inklings and notions, December 8

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, December 9

Tell Tale Book Reviews, December 9

For The Love of Books, December 9

All-of-a-kind Mom, December 10

Just Your Average reviews, December 10

A Good Book and Cup of Tea, December 10

Living Life Free in Christ, December 11

Book Bites, Bee Stings, & Butterfly Kisses, December 11

Batya’s Bits, December 11

To celebrate her tour Hannah is giving away the grand prize of a $25 Amazon gift card and a copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

https://promosimple.com/ps/f1a8/heart-of-a-royal-celebration-tour-giveaway

Have you read a debut novel lately that knocked your socks off?

15 responses to “Heart of a Royal Review, Guest Post and Giveaway!

  1. Lelia (Lucy) Reynolds

    Thank you for sharing your wonderful review. Definitely want to read.

  2. Awwww THANKYOU!!! You’re so incredibly sweet 🙂 Thanks for such a fun review! You’ll be happy to know Book Two (Alina’s story) is currently with editors and will be out sometime in 2020. I’m so, so glad you enjoyed the book! And feel totally honored to be added to your must-read author list. Wow! Thankyou!

  3. Trixi

    I would pick up this book based on that gorgeous cover alone! Love our of the ordinary stories and this sounds like the perfect book for me 🙂

    Thanks for your lovely review and participation in the blog tour!

  4. You make me want to read this book! The best debut novel I remember was Cathe Swanson’s Snow Angels a few years ago.

  5. Suzannah Clark

    Great Review! This book sounds really interesting., and the cover is gorgeous.