A PRINCESS FOR CHRISTMAS

A New York taxi driver picks up a European princess in desperate need of a lift.

Leo Ricci is a young man of 25 with a heavy burden: He became the guardian of his 11-year-old sister, Gabby, after their parents died in a tragic car accident. Leo holds down several jobs in order to make ends meet, including driving a friend’s cab. One day, while he's driving Gabby home from school, they see a beautiful woman in a ball gown trying to hail a cab outside the United Nations, and Gabby insists they pick her up. Her Royal Highness Princess Marie of Eldovia is in New York determined to kick-start political and economic changes that will improve life in her small European country. Marie appreciates Leo’s charming combination of old-fashioned charm and gentle teasing—he’s the only person who treats her like a woman, not a princess. She hires him to be her driver for the rest of her visit, and both try to resist the powerful attraction they feel. When her trip comes to an end, she impulsively invites Leo and Gabby to Eldovia for Christmas. Holiday is clearly aiming at readers who enjoy Hallmark Christmas movies, which often feature sweet, everyday characters thrust into extraordinary love affairs with royalty. There is depth and nuance in Leo and Marie’s romance despite their vast differences in wealth and status. Marie and Leo are both determined to live with dignity and strive to achieve their individual goals. The novel is charming and self-aware and successfully plays with the conventions of the “commoner falling in love with royalty” script.

Sizzling chemistry and witty banter elevate a common Christmas romance premise into a royally entertaining fairy tale.