Title: No Perfect Princess
Author: Angel Payne & Victoria Blue
Publisher/Year: Waterhouse Press 4/17/18
Length: 187 Pages
Series: Secrets of Stone #3
Overview
Which came first? The princess or the slipper? And does it really matter?
My name is Margaux Asher. Yes, that Margaux Asher. The attitude icon. The bitch in the hottest heels. The princess of the PR game. At least until Mommie Dearest revealed that my real father is one of the world’s richest men—a secret she’d been hiding from me my whole life. What other secrets were there? Michael Pearson, my six-foot-three golden god, wants to help me reveal them all. But what if he finds out I’m no perfect princess?
Someday, my princess will come…
I’m Michael Pearson, son of an apple farmer. Now I’m working for one of the country’s most prestigious PR firms—and the sap who’s fallen for the boss’s daughter.
The rest of the world may vilify Margaux, but I know she’s just looking to be loved. The problem is, every time I volunteer for the job, she pushes me away. I want to give her that magic kiss. Set her free to finally see the truth. I don’t need her to be perfect. I just need her to be mine.
My Thoughts
Ok – I’m not going to lie – this was a tough book to get through. Like really tough. I understand the need for this branch of the story since Claire and Killian seem to be in a good place, but at times this was really painful.
What we have here is the introduction to a more human side of Margaux – the girl who’s live has been turned upside down after learning that her mom isn’t her mom, that she’s a Stone and realizing that everything she knew was a lie. She’s trying to figure out who she is now that she’s not living that life anymore, and at the same time, hiding from what can be amazing if she let her walls down.
At the same time, we get to learn more about Michael – Claire’s best friend from Asher and Associates. There were moments in the first few books that i wondered why he never made a play for Claire – they seemed so close and yet they never crossed that line. In this installment, we get to see why. He’s had strong feelings for someone else this whole time and has only barely acted upon it in fear of not being enough.
This is where the fairy tale / night mare of Margaux and Michael begins. She seems to think that he’s too sensitive and vanilla for her and yet she doesn’t know his dark past, one that makes him exactly the kind of man she wants. It’s only through a series of events that we get to see that what they think they need is what they have.
There are so many weird turns that this story takes that i get lost. Michael has to go home to take care of some family stuff yet we don’t quite figure out the crux of the history behind it all. We know that he and his uncle have a dicey relationship that’s quite contentious, but i couldn’t figure out why. We also know that Michael’s mother has a restraining order against someone but i haven’t figured that one out either. (maybe i missed it when i struggled with this story).
Then, there’s Trey Stone. A man who just won’t go down without a fight. In this week’s episode of ‘what will he do next’ – we learn that Blackmail is on the menu and he’s after Margaux for that one. Demanding $5 Million Dollars in a matter of days or he’ll go public with her sealed secrets from years past. Margaux of course doesn’t want that to happen, and also wonders how he learned about these secrets in the first place, but as a result, starts the domino effect of ‘the end of Michael and Margaux’
From this point on, i spend much of the book confused, skimming forward quickly to get past some of the ‘on the surface’ romance scenes to find something deeper to hold on to and then wondering if i missed something in between. There are admissions of feelings, pushing people away, secrets and lies that are forced, and unhappiness all around.
Thrown in the middle of all this is a scene or two that have to do with Killian and Claire’s future, but it feels like it’s an island in the midst of the story.
Suffice it to say, I’m not in love with this book. I think there is potential, but it was just missed. The redeeming factor was that there was an interesting/yet semi expected twist of a relationship here that i’m still intrigued to find out about, that perhaps book four will get us there. That and the glimpse of a mystery woman that we KNOW will be a focus for the next book as well. So….yes, i’m going to keep going with this series since i don’t let books beat me…but i may take a quick break to read the latest release of another series first. Enjoy (hopefully)