As much as I've loved some of Alyssa Cole's books in the past I had to be honest with myself and admit I just wasn't enjoying How to Find a Princess. The unfortunate combination of not connecting with the characters and finding its premise convoluted made this story a simultaneously frustrating and boring read.

Let's start with the characters. Our main protagonist Makeda was incredibly frustrating to follow. Makeda is an extreme people-pleaser in every aspect of her life. She goes above and beyond for a job that doesn't value her and gives her all in relationships with women who resent and use her. At the start of the story, she's fired from her job, dumped by her girlfriend and in a massive amount of debt. I understand the point of this novel is to see her grow a spine, but knowing that didn't make the 150 pages I read of her behaving in the most pitiful ways more tolerable. Makeda cosigns an irresponsible ex's loans, does free labour for her ex-employer after they fired her and even more absolutely deranged shit and I couldn't take it.

In contrast, Makeda's love interest Bez is more assertive, but she didn't click for me either. Bez comes from a lineage of royal guards and sees it's her duty to restore her family name by bringing Makeda, a lost princess home, to the island nation of Ibarania. We spend half of the novel seeing Bez's attempts to pressure Makeda to go to Iberania and I just didn't find that dynamic charming I find it incredibly annoying when someone is explicitly clear about a boundary and their love interest ignores it because they think they know what's best for them. This storyline was also incredibly tedious because the audience knows Makeda will eventually give in so it felt like we were spending half of the novel spinning our wheels

Another problem I had with Makeda and Bez's relationship was Alyssa Cole's framing. These two had an instant intense attraction to each other which just isn't my preferred style of romance. Because Bez's primary role in the story was pushing Makeda into doing something she didn't want to do the foundation of their romance was the instant sexual attraction they had for each other rather than an emotional one. I prefer a slower burn that prioritizes emotional connection as the foundation of a relationship in my romances.

Finally, my last sticking point with this novel was its contrived plot. While I've enjoyed a lost princess story from Cole before the tedious setup of the Word Federation of Monarchists with is out of place cartoonish villain was jarring, to say the least. Plus the particulars of the Ibaranian tourism board setting up a social media competition to find the lost princess was just too out-there of a premise for me in a contemporary romance.

In the end How to Find a Princess just didn't work for me on too many fundamental levels. While it was never a complete chore to read there was nothing keeping me excited about turning the pages. Given that Alyssa Cole has written one of my favourite romance novels ever I will keep giving her books a chance to win me over but between this and A Prince on Paper, I fear my enjoyment of her stories may have been a fluke.