Have you ever sat down to read a book and just knew after the first sentence you were going to love it? That was this book for me! A Crown For Christmas by Rachel Van Dyken is a royal holiday romance novella that incorporates everything I love about Hallmark movies in one small package. To say I liked this book is an understatement. I adored it! I laughed, I may have shed a tear or two, and I most definitely fell head over heels in love with the characters.

Crown Princess Phillipa Marjory Answorth is next in line for the crown of her small country. She’s spent her formative years learning all about her duties as soon-to-be Queen. The only problem facing her now is that in order to inherit her crown she must wed. If only she hadn’t run off all her suitors….Now Phillipa is left with little choice in who she will wed and giving up on finding the HEA promised to princesses in all those Disney movies she pined over as a child.

Then enters the Royal Crown Duke Fitzgerald (Fitz) Geraldo Belleville, Phillipa’s childhood nemesis. Fitz and Phillipa have spent their lives hating one another. After an unfortunate incident with a candy cane fifteen years earlier, the two have been at odds, constantly bickering and playing pranks. Now it seems their mothers have arranged for them to marry.

I instantly liked both Phillipa and Fitz. It helped having their chapters from both perspectives. Fitz is known as the consummate playboy, but that is just an act. He’s a flirt, but nothing more. Phillipa is known as cold-hearted and crass, when in reality she is the furthest thing from. Fitz sees Phillipa, the real her, not the one hidden behind her royal duties, and that little crack in her cold facade intrigues him to no end. With 12 days to Christmas and their wedding, will they find happiness with one another or kill each other in the process?

Overall I loved A Crown For Christmas! I loved the setting of the castle with snow at Christmas. It added a magical, romantic element to the story. Phillipa and Fitz’s chemistry and banter stole my heart and drove the plot, keeping me interested until I had finished the book in one sitting. This was my first read from Rachel Van Dyken, and I have no intention of it being the last. If you enjoy royal romance and are looking for a sweet holiday read, look no further than this one.