Felix-and-the-Prince-COVERRating: 4.5 stars
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Length: Novel


Felix is a Ph.D. student studying a rare stained glass found at Gadleigh Castle, located on a remote island in the North Sea. He has just been granted permission to visit for two weeks to study the glass first hand, something he has been dreaming about. The timing couldn’t be better because Felix’s estranged, movie star mother has a release this week and Felix knows the press will come hounding him if he is at home in his small Texas town.

Lio is a prince and heir to the throne of Liorland. Although he has trained for his future role as the king all his life, Lio isn’t in any hurry to take over for his father. Lio knows he can’t be a gay king and so he is trying to enjoy his life and his time with men while he still can. When Lio’s father unexpectedly decides to step down, however, Lio is facing his future far quicker than he ever dreamed. Before the transition, he decides to take a couple weeks break at his favorite of the family homes, Gadleigh Castle.

Once at the castle the two men meet, yet surprisingly Felix has no idea that Lio is the crown prince. All he knows is that Lio is gorgeous, lives in Monaco, and inexplicably seems attracted to Felix. For his part, Lio finds slightly awkward Felix to be charming and sweet and he enjoys spending time with Felix as an everyday man rather than a prince. The two are drawn to one another, spending time exploring the famous castle glass, talking for long hours, and having a passionate affair. But both men know it can never be more than a short term fling. Felix has to return home to his life in Texas. And Lio is taking over the throne and will soon be thrust into the public eye, someplace Felix has no desire to be. Not that coming out is even possible as Lio’s family faces scandal after scandal and he is unwilling to add one more. But two weeks together isn’t nearly enough for Felix and Lio. As their time together winds to a close, both men desperately want more, but being together for good seems impossible.

Felix and the Prince is the second book in Lucy Lennox’s Forever Wilde series. The series follows the large Wilde family from a small Texas town. This book stands alone completely, however, and while we meet some of the family members from the series here (in particular Felix’s grandfathers), I had no problems following along without having read the first story. For extra help, Lennox provides a family tree at the start of the book.

I really enjoyed this story so much and I think Lennox does a nice job bringing us some expected themes and sending them in unanticipated directions. I enjoyed the tropey fun of an everyday guy swept off his feet by a prince, having no idea the man is royalty. Rather than drag this mistaken identity aspect on forever, Lennox ties it up well and gives us a chance to see these guys together when the secrets are gone. The story goes places I didn’t expect and I loved the chance to get to know Felix and Lio and watch them fall for one another.

I found the couple really sweet and romantic together. They connect sexually right away, but emotionally as well. Even with just a couple of weeks together on the island, these guys seemed to fit in a way that made me believe the intensity of their feelings for one another. At the same time, they don’t jump into their future without time to really get to know each other and I loved how Lennox rounds their story out and pulls everything together. I particularly like how Felix is able to really be there for Lio when he needs him, and how we can see what a source of comfort and support these men are to one another.

As Lennox discusses in the Author’s Note, the monarchy here is a cross between the real world royal family of Monaco (who in this story also rules over some additional land, including islands in the North Sea), and a fictional monarchy. It works well in giving us some grounding of the family in reality, even though most of the details about their lives are fiction. If you are particularly well versed in the royal family of Monaco, you may find this harder to sink into, but as someone with only passing knowledge, the combination of fiction and reality worked well for me.

Overall I really enjoyed this story so much. I completely fell for Lio and Felix and loved their romance. I appreciated that Lennox took this in directions I wasn’t totally expecting. I liked the mix of the everyday Felix with his crazy, but very loving family, paired with Lio, who may be royalty but is also sweet and down to to earth. I am really excited for more in this series and looking forward to going back to pick up the first book that I missed.

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