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Sailim
, November 17, 2022
(view all comments by Sailim)
The description of the book clearly identifies Once Upon a Royal Christmas as being from Hallmark. The cover, sparkly and snowflake adorned, underscores the direction the book will take. If it is possible to get diabetes from a book, this one is sure to spawn it in spades! From the outset through the conclusion, the story is sugary sweet in the extreme. Teri Wilson delivers a story perfectly crafted for Hallmark. I would expect it to join their holiday lineup soon.
Gracie is too perfect. She is (again) sweet in everything she does. Her wide-eyed innocent approach to everything she sees or encounters is a bit extreme, more than I would expect from someone who had attended the likes of Julliard. But it is part of the whole Hallmark formula, so it works.
The characters are not deep or well-developed. Their relationship is a standard Hallmark 5-second romance. An enduring work of literature, this is not. However, since it wasn’t meant to be, it should not be judged that way.
The story is fun, romantic escapism at its best. “Princess” meets Prince. Beauty meets “The Beast”. Nearly every fairytale is represented in one way or another, including modern ones.
If one loves Hallmark Christmas movies, this is certainly the right book for the holidays.
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