Photo Credits: Marcela Bolívar (pixabay), JL (pixabay), DavidRockDesign (pixabay), Darkroom Art (pixabay) Edited by Vaishali Title: Royally Tricked Author: Misha Bell Publisher: Mozaika Publications Year of Publication: 2021 Format: E-book/kindle app Genre/Themes: Contemporary romance, Adult fiction, Rom-com, Magic, Humour Review... True to form, fit, fancy and their joint zany authorship profile, the mutual force of Ana Zaires and Dima Zales amounts to one thing; rom-com eccentricity carved by two sets of hands that love to twiddle their fingers to romance of its own upended sensibility. If you loved the flair of Misha Bells’ Hard Code (or any other book in their Hard Stuff series), the likelihood of loving this is a matter of racing formulaic certainty. As is the certainty of enjoying heroes who may not have a voice until the final act epilogue but who always, always appear to lay a quiet claim to their soon-to-be heroine, with lowkey pursuit on the mind from the start. Dabbling in that space of shameless comedy with quirky textures, characters of their own idiosyncrasy and alternative cultures, Royally Tricked promises a feel-great slow burn with some delightful silly. Furnished with troublesome furry creature pets with agendas, eccentricities and bizarre situations to swoon and swan over, the ace in the hole for me was opening my book to the life of a leading lady creative with aspiring wishes to become a great female illusionist. How empowering is that for an aspired day job? What also sets Gia apart - apart from her profession - is her evasion for physical contact. Bacterium conscious, disease conscious, health conscious and food conscious, her branch of pathogenic sensitivity was an admittedly an interesting take, unique to the profile of the traditional heroine. I had a special appreciation for it because it strikes uncannily close to home. I was particularly interested in how the obstacle of Gia's phobia with physical affection and sexual intimacy would be challenged and resolved as a difficulty within the budding relationship with Tigger. Or even - if it wasn't - what the uniqueness of their relationship would look like. That perhaps fascinated me the most, non-traditional in the league of common representation, but really quite realistic to the real-life struggles many of us actually maintain with intimacy resistance. Sexual Intimacy reservation isn't customarily sighted within romance (naturally), and while Royally Tricked explores it through the lens of light-hearted anomaly as opposed to a somber route for Gia's affliction, and neither does it cut into the shape of Gia's mental health (rom-com that this is), it certainly opens its doors to a heroine who sports that difference. Without getting too Identical, some of Gia's major hesitations with pathogen-related objection, intimacy and OCD felt closely resonant. Gia does eventually breach that barrier (not withstanding her questionable method of exposure therapy), and until we fully get there there are some unique (and fun) sexy situations, fully accommodated and encouraged by Tigger to gently let Gia lead by way of what she can handle, always leaving the proverbial set of cards in her gloved hands. Celibacy, born from whatever reason, is more common than is laid bare. It takes growth, pace, patience and encouragement and the right person to find that ideal. This isn't an in-depth take on the matter mentioned by any means and while Gia’s experience exposing herself to and coming through some uncomfortable situations felt a bit untouched, and the value of comedy relief both surrounds and lightens the Importance of it, I still appreciated the Inclusion. Agree or disagree? The kind of hero we want to read about is one who supports his heroine's differences, backs her when appropriate, wouldn't run back to this hills of Ruskovia when faced with her very 'Meet the Fockers' parents, is always bewitched by her magic, once called his pets fur babies, would accommodate new 'experiences' for her, would make a them-themed flower bouquet for her and uses his princely resources to procure specialist suits for her to enjoy what she hasn't she enjoyed with another partner before? This Ruskovian prince is indeed a thoughtful prince. Let it be recognised that should anyone wish to be my benefactor and finance me something very similar to a VR suit that accommodates incredible fun times with incredible results, I'll be nothing less than grateful. But back to this hero who's always there to lend his assets, support and expedience to his heroine's aid. Tigger's available to, step by step, help Gia meet a few turning points and eventually experience the full monty without gloves, special suits or distance of any kind. Perhaps what bothered me with Tigger is that he felt more 2D than 3D as a leading male; I wanted more from his characterisation. Despite Gia's general reluctance with physical relations, one can trust that this heroine certainly has her wiles in personality. She's fun, bold and a trickster with personality. She was reminiscent of Fanny from Hard Code in monologue and in being inwardly fertile in imagination. I would say Royally Tricked is slow burn, but the lust did feel a bit one to sixty in a millisecond when Gia sets eyes on Tigger for the first time. Admittedly, whether it was a case of mood or matter, I wasn't gripped from the start. I did struggle to summon the appropriate level of appeal, and some of the fun moments didn't consequently have the inspired funny impact. But I did enjoy the entertaining style, and the story has some very fun accents. With the confession that this is only the second book from this author partnership that I've read, there is a very similar story formula to Hard Code, among other content-related commonalities. Movie franchise/pop culture references, vampire similitudes, quirky characters, pet shenanigans, the big humour and oddball assets, it's all there. I would have preferred for a more brushed-up and explained epilogue; Tigger and Gia have roaming, moving lives thereafter, and since there isn't major discourse/conversation over their relationship throughout the read, I wanted to know how they manage to maintain their relationship with the busy travel, especially since Tigger expressed that he was only temporarily in New York for recovery. I also wanted the epilogue gave more notice to Gia's Intimacy progress; we know she's well and integrated with Tigger without problem, but where does her relationship stand with all other things germy? How would she handle situations such in life if he were to get sick? Maybe I caught to curiosity bug, but I wanted to know where her germ aversion sits apart from the obstacle it produced in being romantically involved with Tigger. On a side note, Tigger's character, by comparison didn't have a noticeable development. Where he felt a bit flat, I wanted him to feel more personalised. To end on a final issue, there's also the fact we don't have the age stamps of either protagonist, and that little lack of detail usually makes me feel on uneven ground with a character. With this being fit for the impetus of comedy romance, Misha Bell certainly have a fun buzz about their quirky-footed rom-com repertoire. A mischief-maker heroine with masterful pickpocketing prowess meets and greets some mileposts with none other than a devil-may-care awe-seeker...who just happens to be a prince. A foreign prince. A roaming, venturing, culturally experienced prince. A prince who might oblige just about anything. A prince brillianced by the sorcery of his heroine. If any one book in this series becomes an attraction equal to Gia's illusionistic aptitude, Tigger and Gia both have a family of siblings which I'm sure will establish a full set of continuing romances to enjoy for audiences of caper, comedy and misadventure. As protagonists with different lifestyles and career avenues, I really enjoyed the difference in detour. Always looking for something new and fresh. We've all got our aversions, phobias and challenges, and in line with most romances, you can expect Gia's to be a bit different, as is her very inquisitively theoretical POV monologue (with a staunch itch for contingent self-education). Some might call her realistically fearful (or considerably too cautious) and some just call him suspiciously incautious. There are spicy times with the safety on, a pussy cat who can chow and make mealtime time out of royal chum, misbehaving pets, cultural teachings, suggestive innuendos, a group of female magic-makers and a heroine who really loves her film references (much like myself). There are fibs, tricks and accents of the world and I end this on the frugal fact I'm going to pretend I was entirely in the know that Ruskovia is in fact, as fictional as this very story. I gave this book 3.5 starsContent Warning: Mentions a past incident with blood and brains (by way of a past bird/chicken attack). Some smut scenes. profanity. --------------------------------------- M Y R A T I N G S Y S T E M: ★ - 1 star: I did not like the book ★★ - 2 stars: The book was okay ★★★ - 3 stars: It was a good, solid read ★★★★ - 4 stars: A great book ★★★★★ - 5: A phenomenal read --------------------------------------- EXTRA THOUGHTS: 1) We do have an epilogue, but unfortunately one that doesn't elaborate on how Tigger and Gia manage to have a relationship despite their venturing schedules. I'm assuming she's doing more travelling at that point, and with him being entrepreneurial, the story doesn't even mention this particularity as a problem to address. 2) I did like the celibacy representation with this read, especially since Tigger was respectful, understanding and attended to Gia's situation as well as he could. What does tend to needle me sometimes is when a celibate heroine either bemoans or laments her being a virgin. Whether in a comical vain or not, Gia might've done this once or twice. 3) The relationship itself isn't a well-developed thing, but I think it definitely could have afforded more conversation, dialogue and discourse. There wasn't much of that at all. 4) I don't mind the heroine making mild comparisons pertaining to the hero's appearance, but I don't really like strong comparisons to them looking like famous people. Gia likens the hero to the lovechild of two very well-known celebrities, and whenever this crops up, it tends to slash into the imagination of the reader wanting to imagine an appearance of their own. __________________________________________ R E L A T E D P O S T S: ● BOOK REVIEW: Hard Code by Misha Bell __________________________________________ I love interacting with fellow readers, reviewers, bloggers and writers. Hearing about reader opinion is the fuel to my reader appetite, so get in touch and comment below! SHARE ON FACEBOOK Leave a comment and let's talk about |
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February 2024
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