This book was one of those that grew on me the more I read it. I didn’t realise just how much I would become invested in Viola and Duke’s story but by the end I was willing them to be together. Princess Viola of Belgium decides to impersonate her twin brother Sebastian at a crucial event. She is determined his heroin overdose won’t become common knowledge as she attends a FIFA meeting to try and secure a bid to host the World Cup. Ex-soccer player and rookie reporter Duke sees through the ruse right away, especially since she is attracted to ‘Sebastian’ and is never normally attracted to men. Will her new career lead her to ‘out’ Viola? Or will love conquer all?

Their attraction is intense and extremely hot- sizzling in fact! But the love shone through more than anything else and they were destined for each other. Nell stark gave more than a nod to the previous books in her Princess series by including some of the characters in this story. Since I haven’t read those yet I am keen to get a hold of them now. ‘The Princess Deception’ is a lovely, sexy romance that swept me off my feet.

I was given this ARC in return for an honest review.

I absolutely love Nell Stark’s Princess series so I was really excited to read this. I love that Princess Viola cares enough about her twin brother to carry out the deception of impersonating him in his absence at rehab. I love that Duke wonders why she is attracted to Sebastian before she realizes that it’s actually Viola. I especially love the “hate sex” scene and think it is absolutely perfect for the story. Nell Stark writes with a beauty and elegance that I don’t find in any other authors.

I was really excited about this at first. I saw the Twelfth Night references and knew I had to request it from NetGalley, even though neither football nor royals interest me in the least. I figured I could enjoy it for the queer Shakespeare retelling even if I ended up glazing over during the particularly football-ish or royal sections, you know?

It turned out to be kind of the opposite, actually. I didn't find I needed to know anything about football to enjoy it, but I was somewhat disappointed in the approach to Shakespeare. I guess I thought it would stick more closely to the plot of Twelfth Night, but everybody in this retelling is a lot more aware of what's going on than they are in Shakespeare. Duke figures out pretty early that 'Sebastian' is actually Viola, and her plotline is more about trying to figure out *why*, and Viola knows Sebastian is fine, etc etc. So it lacks some of the drama and tension of the original.

But also... I guess when I saw that it was a queer retelling, I was really hoping it wouldn't be quite so, um, cis. When I see queer cross-dressing stories I think I assume there's going to be some kind of gender weirdness, but in fact it felt extremely binary throughout most of the book, and also in places a bit trans-exclusionary. (E.g. a character emphasising how being a lesbian meant she was never interested in penises and very much associating womenhood with having a vagina.) And that was a disappointment.

I also didn't really engage with the writing style all that much, but that's more about personal taste. (For similar reasons, the sex scenes towards the end of the book -- which I'll warn you are fairly explicit -- didn't work for me at all, and I found them quite offputting.)

Probably 2.5*s overall, but I'm rounding up to 3 because I *did* get pretty invested in seeing how the relationship would pan out and I admired Viola and Sebastian's relationship. But overall, it wasn't the book I was hoping it would be. That's mostly on me and my expectations, but it got in the way of me liking it.

Living in one of the European monarchies I very much appreciate Nell Stark's alternative royal houses.
Everything is in place in this world, the counties's culture, the royal palaces, the names. Only the people are different.
It's interesting to point out that the Belgian princess spoke both Dutch and French as it has always been very important to appeal to both the Flemish and the Walloon part of the population. It was a nice touch for the Dutch princess to be a football fan as the real royal family of the Netherlands is always present at important sports events supporting the country's team.
I enjoyed reading this book, and although I'm not a fan of instant attraction and I found there was too much drama involved, I liked the way the book was written and the story unfolded. The ending was a bit too sappy for my taste, but I'd still recommend this book to anyone who likes European settings. I'm sure I'll get the audiobook too when it's out!

I’m a fan of Nell Stark. I have been reading her books for over a decade and I always enjoy them. I’m sorry to say that this is my least favorite book of hers ever. It’s not bad it just didn’t sit right with me. I have to put it in the strictly just okay category.

This is the third book in the Princess Affair series. While the Princess’ from previous books do make an appearance in this one, I don’t think you have to read these in order. Each story is self-contained enough that you could read in any order or just pick the one/s that appeal to you. I enjoyed the first two books especially the first one.

Stark wrote this book as a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. It has been ages since I read that book, and my memory is a little spotty, but I didn’t think the books matched up enough. For one I remember the original being a lighter story. This book has a lot of anger and just not the same feeling. Also, the main character Viola, who is posing as her brother, is recognized almost right away by Duke (the other main). In the Twelfth Night, we as a reader know the truth when no one else does. It’s part of the fun of the story. I guess my main point is I would have felt better if Stark didn’t announce this was a revised retelling.

My biggest issue really was with Viola. I just didn’t care and connect with her. She is the one lying and deceiving everyone. But in her mind she did nothing wrong and she is just nasty to Duke. Everything is Duke’s fault no matter how much she apologizes. Reading the angry sex scene was not fun. It’s basically revenge sex just to hurt Duke. Also, the power imbalance in having a princess as this nasty aggressor just made it worse. I wanted to yell at the book to tell Duke to run far away. Instead of reading a romance, I felt like I was seeing the beginning or a relationship that could become abusive. The fact that Viola never really apologized for everything she did just made my warning sign flash brighter.

One other thing, so much of the book was trying to find out what happened to the Prince. One of the reasons Viola is posing as him is to find out the truth. She goes undercover with his friends and finds some clues. But at the end of the book this storyline is basically dropped. I think it was said the royal family figured it out, but that was it. Who were the people? What was that weird code name people were saying? It was such a big part of the story that is was jarring that it just went away basically.

I think Stark was taking a chance here, trying to push the envelope a bit. I like when authors do that but unfortunately it really didn’t work for my personal tastes. This is a book I can’t recommend, but it might not bother others as much. As I said earlier, I have been a fan of Stark for a long time so I will keep reading her. This one just wasn’t for me.

An interesting conundrum – is the deception harmless? Would exposing the deception be the right thing to do? Princess Viola masquerading as her brother Sebastian is intriguing to Missy Duke. The deception, or what you will, plays out as a modern day Twelfth Night.

This was... shockingly cute. I mean, a princess dresses up as a boy, and falls in love with a girl who ostensibly doesn't know she's a girl. Adorable premise. It's one of those books that while I was reading it, I was like, okay, this is not high literature, and the premise is executed just as you'd expect, but I'm still having a super-good time reading it.

One part I did enjoy was the authenticity of Duke's experience as an American abroad. She communicates with Viola/Sebastian in English, but is occasionally aware of her use of idiom, and her own lack of bi- or tri-lingual-ness. Most Americans living in other cultures eventually become aware of their own speech patterns and the parts of their English that are non-standard, and it was interesting to see Duke be so consciously aware of this. It was small nuances like this which made an otherwise unbelievable story more relatable.

Also, the gay royals club. I loved that! Now I'm going to go look up and see if there are actually any out European royals, because I have no idea.

All in all, a fun read!

Nell Stark is back with another book in her Princess series. Deception is the name of the game here. Based on William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, we have a princess pretending to be her brother and a journalist trying to uncover the sordid tale.

Viola is the Princess of Belguim. An accomplished artist who prefers to stay out of the family's limelight. Unfortunately for Viola, her twin brother Sebastian overdoses on heroin right before Belguim begins its rally to win the bid on the next FIFA men's World Cup. As in the Twelfth Night, Viola takes on pretending to be Sebastian to fool everyone into believing everything is on the up and up. She doesn't want to let her family or her country down.

Missy Duke was the face of USA women's soccer. Her career was ended before she was ready with a catastrophic knee injury. Duk" doesn't know what to do with herself, emotionally she is a mess and now she has settled for a job she really doesn't want because she has no idea what to do not being on the pitch. Taken a job as a gift from a brother of a teammate, Duke sets off to cover Belguim's bid for the cup.

Unlike in the Twelfth Night, Viola doesn't totally sell her alternate identity as her twin. Duke picks up on it pretty quick by seeing little tells Viola has. Tucking her hear behind her ears, little things here and there. So a good portion of the story is the newbie journalist trying to figure out the why and see if it's newsworthy. Of course, she is attracted to Viola so this makes her problem even larger.

Overall the book is q good read, Nell Stark always delivers a quality product. My only hangup is that I wish our two mains spent more time together. The reuse of pretending to be Sebastian takes up so much of the storyline that you don't get enough Duke and Viola time. The relationship/romance portion of the book is smaller than I would have liked. Still a great read!

The Princess Deception by Nell Stark is the third book in her charming Princess Affair series. While it can be read as a stand-alone, I would suggest reading the series in order because characters in the previous books show up on several occasions in this book.

Viola the Princess of Belgium decides to impersonate her twin Sebastian, after he overdoses on heroin. Her country is in the process of securing a bid from FIFA for a future World Cup. Missy “Duke” Duke is in Belgium to write commentary pieces on the Belgian bid in her newfound career as a journalist. She was one of the world’s most popular female soccer (football) players, but her career ended early due to knee surgery. Duke realizes that Viola is impersonating her brother and wants to ferret out the truth, but as the two women spend more and more time with each other, an attraction grows. Of course, things are never simple in these romances and their attraction is nipped in the bud when Viola’s scheme is revealed. The question is, will Viola be willing to forgive Duke for the part she played in the media fiasco? Will there be a happily ever after? Hmmm.

The thing that I liked about this book is that it was exactly what I expected it to be. I read the previous two books so I knew what to expect and there were no surprises for me. Is that a bad thing? Absolutely not. Stark creates an opulent world in which this slow-burn romance develops. The women are gorgeous, the scenery is stunning, the dialogue is witty and the sex is, well, sexy.

The nice twist in this book is the whole play on gender representation. When Duke first meets Viola, Viola is presenting as Sebastian. Duke is intrigued and attracted to “Sebastian” which is a bit unnerving to her since she is a lesbian. It is also interesting from Viola’s point of view because she finds she enjoys presenting as a male.

This was a very pleasant weekend read.

I was provided with an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Great read and great addition to a wonderful series. Though you can read The Princess Deception as a stand alone, I would recommend reading the entire series so you are familiar with the visiting characters. If not, you certainly will not be disappointed.
It's such a well written story with intriguing characters. I highly recommend for all to read. My students will enjoy this book in their book club.

This is another book that this author deals with palatial intrigues that involve characters of European royalty. The mythification of royalty, something quite absurd for me in these times, makes this series of books with characters of European nobility, be like modern fairy tales. But always this author seeks a positive and philanthropic side in the actions of these Royal figures and in this case is the intention to improve the world through football/soccer. It is evident that the aristocratic and high society environment in which the people of the Royalty are forced to move ends up dragging them to all kinds of lust and perversion that can only be achieved with money. But since they are all so good and well-intentioned, everything has its good ending. This story in particular addresses an impersonation, forced by a sudden critical situation. Viola and Sebastian are twins, and when Sebastian suffers an overdose Viola ends up taking his place in disguise as if she were him. But this in itself does not cause the problems that would be logical to imagine, nobody realizes this situation. Only Duke, the former soccer player forced by the injuries to leave the sport and who now dedicates herself to journalism, has suspicions and decides to investigate about that. And from here the story develops, with ups and downs, but quite entertaining, within the incredibility of the matter in general. It is not an extraordinary book but, nevertheless, it can be recommended.

<i>An ARC was sent to me from Bold Strokes Books through NetGalley for an honest review </i>

Sooo annoyed by this. It's terribly dramatic, even more so than the last Princess book. Viola is a pretty horrible person, the whole lovestory was unconvincing and I just didn't connect with either protagonist and couldn't bring myself to care. That might have been because at about 20% I was already really annoyed by this book and the ridiculous research that apparently went into it: Nobody in their right mind would travel from Paris (or almost anywhere in France) to The Hague via Germany, and especially not via Bremen. That's a 13+ hours train ride and you'd have to change trains 4 or 5 times whereas the most direct Paris - The Hague connection is almost 10 hours faster and you need to change trains only once. And yes, stuff like that pisses me of and can ruin a novel for me, because it's just lazy and shows how little care went into the setting. I mean, you can put the route into Google Maps and it tells you exactly which train to take - and that that trains comes nowhere near the German border. And anybody with even a slight idea of European geography would know that …

I love Nell Stark’s Princess Affair Series... It is fun that all the other characters come back and help each other out.

This one was different from the other two in the series. Viola impersonated her brother and so she played a male for most of the book. Even though there was definitely chemistry between Duke and Viola from the beginning.

Viola’s character seemed kind of split - she seemed very insecure and shy at some points but when she was with Duke she almost became a different person, very dominating and mean at first.

All in all I would definitely recommend this book along with the other books from the Princes Affair series.

I really enjoy Twelfth Night, and I'm an even bigger fan of She's the Man. When I saw this available on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance to read it. Modern adaptations of older works are always a lot of fun, especially when things get updated in unique ways. Because of that, I really, really wanted to love this one. However, I didn't.

The story is about Viola, the Princess of Belgium. When her twin brother, Sebastian, overdoses right before the month-long bid for the FIFA World Cup begins, she decides to play him while he goes to rehab so the bid can continue. Meanwhile, Missy Duke is a former pro soccer player who was forced to retire early because of a knee injury. Now, she's covering the Belgian-Dutch joint bid for a sports magazine/network. Cue the ensuing misunderstandings.

I don't think it's a spoiler to say that Duke finds out about Viola's ruse, but I think she finds out way too easily. Ultimately, I think that's what dissatisfied me. The whole conceit of Twelfth Night is that pretty much no one knows that Cesario is really Viola, and a lot of the drama and comedy come from the audience knowing. Instead of being intrigued by "Sebastian" and then having to reevaluate when she finds out Sebastian is really Viola, Duke spends the majority of their relationship trying to figure out why Viola's doing it so she can break a story. More than that, though, they actually just don't spend a lot of time together. We're 40% in before they have a conversation in private, and the black moment comes at 70%, which doesn't leave them much time to develop a relationship.

My main complaint is possibly my own fault. I went into this with high expectations because, like I said, I enjoy Twelfth Night and especially She's the Man. So, my expectation was that this would be funny. Instead, it's very dramatic. That's fine, and the drama is mostly earned. Sebastian's overdose and subsequent rehabilitation are treated with the weight they deserve. Duke is still depressed over losing her soccer career. I just wanted this to be a lot more fun and filled with more shenanigans than it was.

There are some nice moments and observations in the writing, though. At one point, Viola notes how much she appreciates her circle of friends. Both Viola and Duke treat Sebastian's addiction as a disease and defend him against people who would "out" his addiction as a scandal. While posing as Sebastian, Viola realizes she shouldn't say a lot because men are often laconic when it comes their emotions, and she wonders "whether men felt as constrained by the norms governing their behavior as she did emulating them."

Because there's such a focus on a woman pretending to be a man and having to wear "masculine" clothing and on how people present gender, it made me think a lot about transgenderism and gender expression and passing and the "proper" amount of masculinity or femininity. I don't know if this can be classified as transgender representation, especially whether it can be classified as positive transgender representation. What I can say is that it made me think and made me want to learn more about transgender history.

Overall, The Princess Deception is an interesting book, but don't go into it expecting a faithful representation of Twelfth Night.

A very good romance with a nice plot and two interesting leads. Recommended to all romance fans especially for those who love modern royal romances. I would read it again, and I'm looking forward to the other two books in the series.

This is the first title I’ve read from this author and now I realize how much I’ve been missing out on. Yes, The Princess Deception stars an actual princess in a fairy tale romance, but there is so much more depth than a cheesy, superficial children’s story. This novel is far from a children’s tale as their chemistry smolders at first then rages like an inferno. This author has a singular talent for writing sizzling sexy scenes that had me fanning myself, but that’s just part of this wonderfully layered story. I thoroughly enjoyed the personal growth both Duke and Viola traversed to find their happily ever after. Both women were not perfect and made mistakes, however, it was their ability to never quite give up hope or step up and take charge of their destiny that had me admiring them so much. The supporting cast was equally enrapturing, some were even downright dubious, and some were the pillar of strength and support that Duke and Viola leaned on at their worst. This book was the third installment of the Princess series. All are stand alone novels although you will see the two previous couples make guest appearances as supporting cast. I really enjoyed this novel and I look forward to reading more of her previous work.

Using the cross-dressing aspect of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and many of the same character names, this is the story of Viola, princess of Belgium, and Missy Duke, injured soccer player. Viola’s twin brother, Sebastian, overdoses on heroin just days before he is due to launch the Belgium/Netherlands bid to host the FIFA world cup. Not wanting her brother’s reputation destroyed she decides to chop off her hair and fulfil his duties while he is in rehab. Missy Duke’s injuries have forced her to retire from soccer but in an attempt to stay involved in the game she partners with a photographer as a freelance reporter to cover the progress of the bid.

I enjoy Stark’s writing and this was a reasonable read. I did have a number of misgivings around the way the plot unfolded but to expound on them would give away too much of the story. Viola and Duke (as she prefers to be called) have been given a powerful chemistry but I felt they didn’t spend enough time in each other’s company for their attraction to be much more than physical.

Deception, whether it’s a fake relationship or pretending to be someone else, sets up its own tension and that sense of impending doom is what keeps me reading. The unravelling of it though, is where it can all fall apart. How the characters conduct themselves and how they apportion blame alters my perception of them. In the end, I wasn’t happy but I do seem to be in the minority.

This is the third in the ‘Princess Affair Series’ and I’ve read the first, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but I haven’t read the second. I don’t think they need to be read in order as the characters from the other two play fairly minor roles in this one.

Book received from Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

So good! I finished the other two Princess books just in time for this to come out, it was just perfect. You likely don't need to read the other two Princess books to follow and enjoy this book, but the other couples do make an appearance and it's just so lovely to see them again if you've already read the previous two books!

When Belgian Princess Viola's twin brother nearly dies for an overdose, just days before Belgium's bid for the FIFA World Cup, she feels she has no choice but to take her brothers place. She only wishes to protect Sebastian while he recovers, and to protect the country's bid for the World Cup. Missy Duke, former woman's soccer player, is now making her foray into the world of journalism, providing coverage of World Cup. She's thrown into Sebastian's (Viola's) orbit and and it isn't long before she's figured out what no one else has, that Viola is disguised as Sebastian. If she can break the story, and figure out why Viola is covering for her brother, she thinks she will get the break she needs for her career. What she doesn't count on is the overwhelming attraction and affection she feels for Viola. But will deception and betrayal break their relationship before ti even gets going?

I had a major crush on Duke, she was gorgeous, just damn. Viola's character was incredible - she was so confident and that was irrespective of gender, when she was herself or impersonating her brother she was so sure of herself. The chemistry between Duke and Viola was off the charts - it was sooooo well written. I loved also that their attraction towards each other - it wasn't about gender or appearance or social status it was just about the person, loving a person for who they are inside above all else. The Belgian family dynamics were really positive - it was a nice shift form the other two books, seeing them supportive and cohesive royal family unit was really nice and refreshing to see. The drama was intense and super stressful, but it wasn't forced, it was really realistic and justified even if it was so frustrating at times that I wanted to yell at Viola and Duke. It had a great buildup and was really nicely paced. I totally loved it!

The sex scene in this book was sooooo hot! The author really took it to another level in this book.

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

<i>*I received this book from Bold Strokes Books and Netgalley for an honest review*</i>

This book is about a con artist and an abusive relationship (and no, I’m not talking about Maria and Sebastian). Part of that is seen by the reader immediately. Part takes longer to come into focus, though it does by at least the 39% mark (more the potential, not the confirmation of an abusive relationship).

A con artist, by the way, who became violently enraged when her con was detected and broadcast to the world. The other party involved, the one who <i>didn’t</i> broadcast the information to the world, but was perceived to have done so – and even if the con artist (she thought to herself) believed this other party, this other woman’s words, that they didn’t tell the world about the con – she still . . . . lied about . . . the con artists identity (this is also part of the abusive relationship – getting enraged at the other party for your own actions. Getting enraged that the other woman didn’t immediately, and I mean immediately, tell the other woman her suspicions concerning the long-con Viola was running).

A long con? The book doesn’t seem to indicate some kind of criminal caper is going to be involved. No, it implies something like a retelling of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night would occur. Sure, the book is titled ‘Princess Deception’, so the reader <i>knows</i> going in that the princess is a lying deceiving type, but I’m wording things too harshly, yes? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

Twelfth Night is about a young woman named Viola who shipwrecks on an island and, to protect herself (history isn’t exactly kind to random wandering single unprotected women), she pretends to be a man named Cesario. There’s a weird love . . . mess that occurs. With Viola (as Cesario) falling in love with Duke Orsino; but Orsino is in love with Countess Olivia; and Olivia herself falls for Viola . . . as Cesario. Confusion galore.

Princess Deception? Well, it isn’t an exact retelling, of course. With one story set long long ago, and the other set . . . roughly around now. Viola and Sebastian are the twins of Deception and Viola plays Sebastian. There’s even a Duke for Viola to fall for, here a Missy ‘I don’t like my first name’ Duke (former soccer star). I suppose it would be pushing things to have the other ‘love interest’ in the story, Sebastian’s girlfriend I mean, be named Olivia – instead she’s named Maria in Deception (though one of Olivia’s servants in the play is named Maria; hmm, and Olivia’s uncle is named Toby – and Toby has a big-ish role in the Deception book).

As noted – Viola pretended to be a man in 12th Night (Cesario, though I’d originally misremembered and thought she played Sebastian). And in Princess Deception Viola plays Sebastian, or pretends to be him in certain circumstances. She’s doing this long con in Deception because Sebastian has a drug problem and Viola believes the best thing to do is to pretend to be Sebastian so that people wouldn’t hound him, and therefore allow him to recover in peace and quiet.

They can’t all just go ‘into hiding’, or the like, because Sebastian had been the front person for the effort to land . . . um, the World Cup? Something like that, to Belgium and the Netherlands (a joint bid), and the month long celebration of this bid was just about to kick off when Sebastian landed in the hospital. So – Viola gets a haircut, gets some masculine looking clothing, clothing that looks like Sebastian’s, cut to her own proportions, puts on a breast binder, and struts around as Sebastian. She just doesn’t wear his clothing because they aren’t actually the same height/shape.

Duke, the other main point of view character in this story, starts off the book deeply depressed about her place in life. For, you see, she had been a high rising, hard charging, and popular, wealthy soccer/football player. Until an injury ended her career. Through a teammate’s brother, she landed a job as a journalist (apparently, no one wanted to hire her on her own merits). Duke has been tasked with writing a story or stories, about the FIFA World Cup bid process.

Due to the fact that Duke had, in fact, once been famous, she’s recognized when she attends a particular event. Recognized by a young Princess. Of the Netherlands. Who invites Duke to get close, then watch a soccer match up in the VIP area. Before that, though, Duke had seen a speech given by Prince Sebastian – a welcoming to the festivities type speech. And Duke immediately knew, <i>knew</i>, that Sebastian was actually . . . . Princess Viola. Despite never having meet either, and the fact that her entire knowledge of Viola comes from some research conducted, while distracted, on the train up to the soccer match (research study needed for many reasons, including the part wherein she never before paid attention to royal types). Part of the ‘oh my god that’s Viola!’ is from phrases, and moves Sebastian does/says while giving the speech. Which I’d normally leave for the reader to find, but I need to say that so I can say – part of the OMG is the part where Sebastian <i>has to be</i> Viola because . . . of certain feminine aspects detected by Duke (I mean, seriously? In this day and age we are going to play the ‘men are men, which means super macho manly men, while women are feminine, and effeminate men either don’t exist or are actually women in disguise’ game? Seriously?, pfft).

Right, so, Viola-as-Sebastian and Duke interact. Duke doing things like interviewing Viola, Viola doing things like flirting outrageously and trying really hard to kiss Duke. Despite, you know, that not really being Sebastian’s style.

Life continues. The month long celebration continues. Duke continues studying the situation and building a story about the matches/bid; plus another story about Viola-as-Sebastian. Viola continues doing the long-con, and continues flirting hard with Duke. And playing power games (‘close your eyes, do you trust me? Close your eyes and let me slip you a drink . . .’).

One thing leads to another, and as you would expect, the truth comes out. As I said in the beginning of this review - this is a book about an abusive relationship. Because, really, it is. Viola plays power trips and does abusive-like moves throughout the book. Including the part where she becomes enraged by her lies being seen by Duke – turning it around and calling it Duke’s lies (somehow). Did I mention yet that Viola, as Sebastian, kept trying to kiss and seduce Duke? Yes? Well, it’s important to keep mentioning. Then, even though Duke is looking horrible – lost weight, bags under her eyes, Viola keeps up the abuse by hate fucking her – sure, she demands consent first, but still – hate fucking her – and continuing to play power control games during this hate fucking.

Viola is one of those ‘I’m doing the right thing! I’m helping my brother! All that you mention is just . . . what had to be done for the greater good!’ types. The ‘I’m a good girl’ type who gets enraged at others for doing much less …. Um . . . fuckery to her. I’m not wording this right. Ironically Viola is probably making things harder for Sebastian, even though she’s ‘trying to help him’, but, meh. She’s ‘doing the right thing, even if that means lying and deceiving the world’ then getting angry at anyone who calls her on her deceit and lies. Viola is a horrible human being.

Duke? Eh – oddly, I had to stop reading the book originally because of Duke. Part of it was because of her hyper-conscious about gender roles (aka – the person calling ‘himself’ Sebastian <i>has to be</i> Viola because . . . of the feminine traits Duke sees). Part is because of the ‘journalists and photographers, who I despise, were horrible when I was a famous athlete’; ‘I need a job, I despise journalists, I’ll do that’ vibe. Oh – and later it turns out she didn’t really need a job, despite the vague ‘must find work, must keep working, must . . . do my best!’ vibe. Because of reasons. Like the various sponsorships she was able to retain through not revealing that she was a lesbian. So, initially, I disliked the book because I disliked the Duke character. Then the nastiness that is Viola became revealed, and so that’s two main POV character to dislike. Oops, there are only two in the book.

Weird. First 39% of the book, I was thinking that this was the best of the Princess books. But . . . alas . . ..

As an aside, and I’m sure it doesn’t matter in any real way, but, of the roughly 15 plays I’ve read by Shakespeare, Twelfth Night is nowhere near the top of the list of favorite plays. No, it’s one of those that I didn’t really like when I read it decades ago. I didn’t enter this book expecting to dislike the book because of that, though. Nor did I enter expecting to like it because it’s a retelling of a Shakespeare play. So, just an aside of no importance.

Rating: 2.67

April 3 2018

This was a great story about deception…deception acted upon in the form of love and protectiveness, and conversely, greed and selfishness by several characters. When these two forms clashed, the simmering relationship between Viola and Duke spiraled into an emotional storm filled with a mix of anger, hurt, and rejection… while also quietly building a powerful undercurrent of forgiveness and love. At this point, the author allowed the characters’ actions and demeanor to control the intensive flow of the story. The end result was total engagement.

The plot was well developed as were the characters. I loved the historical details interspersed throughout the story. I also especially enjoyed the realistic dialogue related to the drug abuse subplot. Families - from all walks of life – are often left wondering how it happened to their loved one/how could they not know/who was to blame. Addiction, unlike many other aspects of life, does not discriminate. This topic and the recovery process added another layer of depth to the story.
Overall, this was well written and an entertaining read.