A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole

Reviewed by Ambrea

Naledi Smith is balancing two jobs, graduate school, and an epidemiology practicum that could completely change the course of her academic career.  She doesn’t have time for fairy tales—or questionable emails claiming she’s betrothed to nonexistent African princes.  She clicks delete and moves on with her life.  But when Prince Thabiso drops in to find his recalcitrant future bride, he discovers that Naledi has no recollection of him or her homeland.  Mistaken for an average fellow, Thabiso can’t resist the temptation to find out more about Naledi—and the unexpected chemistry between them—without his royal lineage looming over them.

A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole is a fun twist on the traditional Cinderella story, drawing together threads of fairy tales and stories of lost-and-found royals and African culture.  Although the story is slow to start, it’s interesting.  It’s a bit predictable in that way that most romance novels are predictable—girl meets guy, girl and guy fall in love through many trials and tribulations, before finding a happy ending—but I was surprised by the undercurrent of political intrigue throughout the novel.

Plus, I really loved how Naledi was not a traditional princess.  She’s smart, capable, independent, and highly intelligent.  She’s a scientist, she hopes to work in epidemiology and uncover cures for terrible diseases, root causes for illnesses; she wants to understand the world down to the molecular level—and she’s not afraid to get her hands dirty to reach her goal.  I really liked her, and I even liked her budding relationship with Thabiso.

Admittedly, I couldn’t stand Thabiso at first.  Arrogant and selfish and domineering, he’s a terrible love interest; however, as I learned more about him and his kingdom, I found him to be a pretty likable prince.  He’s not afraid to admit when he’s wrong, he’s genuinely concerned about his country, and he seems like a nice, generous guy.  He treats Naledi with respect, which is more than I can say for love interests in other romance novels, and he admires her intelligence.

I also may or may not have imagined him as Chadwick Boseman.

Overall, A Princess in Theory is a lovely little romance novel.  It’s sweet and fluffy, like most romances, but I admired it for the way it took me in a different direction from the usual romances I read.  Although I felt like it reminded me a lot of Black Panther (Thesolo sounded very similar to Wakanda), especially since I kept imaging Thabiso as Chadwick Boseman (aka T’Challa), it stands on its own merits and it kept me interested from beginning to end.  I will be looking forward to finding more novels from Alyssa Cole.