#BookReview: His Defiant Princess by Nana Prah | #HisDefiantPrincess #RHOSaene @NanaPrah

His Defiant Princess is Book 1 of the Royal House of Saene series from Love Africa Press. Before I continue, I should mention (especially those who are new to me of my blog that I wrote book 2 of the series. Aside from communication to ensure consistency in common aspects of the series, we had very little input in each other's stories, so I was very excited to get my hands on the final product, which I am reviewing today.

Here's the blurb:

Princess Amira Saene has always done the right thing when it came to her beloved Kingdom of Bagumi. Yet her unorthodox online relationship with a man across the sea has derailed her from cultural norms. She doesn’t care. After a year of communicating, the man she’s developed feelings for comes to visit. Their chemistry is intense and she tumbles the rest of the way into love. With the threat of war looming over her country, Amira is thrown in the middle as a peacemaker through an arranged marriage.

Jake Pettersen never thought he’d meet the woman of his dreams, much less online. Flying thousands of miles to West Africa to meet her verifies that the feelings he’s developed are real. Too bad her family doesn’t think he’s worthy of her. When he learns that Amira has been betrothed, he must decide whether fight for her or accept the loss for the sake of her homeland.

Is their happiness worth the devastation of her country?


MY REVIEW

Dr Jake Petterson travels to Bagumi, West Africa, to meet Amira, a woman he's been chatting with for a year. He believes himself to be in love with her, but when he arrives, he discovers that Amira has been keeping a huge secret from him. She is a princess! Not only that, some members of her family are not happy with her choice of a commoner - especially a foreign one.

Although Jake is white and Amira is black, the most significant aspect of this racial difference is perhaps to highlight just how much of a fish out of water the hero is and how he makes up for it with his personality and his fierce sense of loyalty, which easily wins over Amira's tough big brothers (and me). This relationship is not about race at all, which is exactly how I like my interracial romance!

I thoroughly enjoyed the picture Ms Prah painted of Bagumi and its citizens. I've read a number of her books, and strong female characters is one of her strong suits. She definitely delivers on that with her depiction of the women of Bagumi (and not just the royals) who are strong-willing and as dominant as their men.

Even though Bagumi is a fictional country, I liked the cultural aspects woven into the story and made me connect even more with the setting and the people. I had a few laughs at the expense of the villain whom I found more funny than annoying.

His Defiant Princess did a great job of introducing readers to the series, the Saene family and the kingdom of Bagumi. This is a story that should whet readers' appetite for more of what Bagumi has to offer. Ayekoo!