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A Royal Christmas Quandary by Samantha Hastings
Release Date: October 6th 2020 by Swoon Reads
Genres: Contemporary, Romance, Young Adult
Readers looking for a light, fun read full of holiday mischief will be delighted by Samantha Hastings’ A Royal Christmas Quandary, perfect for fans of A Christmas Prince.
When you spend Christmas in a castle, anything is possible.
1860. Lady Alexandrina Gailey is looking forward to a cozy holiday at Windsor Castle with her best friend, Princess Alice, and her long-time crush, Lord George Worthington. But Drina’s plans are all but dashed when Alice’s parents, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, declare that Alice must choose one of two royal princes to become engaged to before Christmas.
There’s just one problem: George, a junior member of the Foreign Office, has accidentally misplaced one of the princes.
Together, Drina and George scour the town of Windsor for the missing prince, desperately hoping to deliver him to the royal dinner party with the queen none the wiser. They might just need a royal Christmas miracle to pull it off.
{EXCERPT}
Drina hadn’t realized until this moment how much she’d missed Hoburg, her home for the first ten years of her life. The memories were so vivid that she could almost feel the breeze on her face and the leaves in her hair. She remembered countless adventures following Friedrich as they ran through the thick forest escaping from a fiery dragon, an evil drude, or eine böse Hexe, who was about to cast a dark spell on them.
She blinked back the tears that wanted to rush to her eyes. This wasn’t the time to get sentimental.
“You look quite different, too,” she replied in German.
“I’m honored that you would remember me.”
Drina blinked in confusion. It had only been eight years; how could she have forgotten her cousin? Friedrich had been her dearest friend and fellow dragon slayer. They had conquered enemy knights, saved castles with only wooden swords, and then eaten a great many Black Forest cakes together. She could almost taste the bitter cherries with the sweet chocolate on her tongue.
George touched her arm and she tried to ignore the jolt of excitement that she felt. He leaned closer and whispered in her ear, “What is the dashed fellow saying? Why won’t he speak to me in English?”
He didn’t release his hold on her arm, and Drina attempted to concentrate with his hand touching her. She nodded to George and then said in German, “Lord Worthington would like to ask how you are enjoying your stay here in England.”
The tall prince grinned again with his thick lips. He replied in German, “I like it here very much, ja? They treat servants like kings. I think I might not return to Hoburg with His Serene Highness, ja?”
She felt as if she’d been stabbed in the stomach by one of Friedrich’s wooden swords. Drina’s civil smile faded and she turned to George to say in a whisper, “That isn’t my cousin, Prince Friedrich.”
George made a sort of exasperated grunting noise. “Then who the devil is he?”
“Should I ask?”
“Yes,” he said impatiently.
Drina replaced her civil smile. “This man, Lord Worthington, would like to know your name.”
The giant man touched his chest with his hand and said in a loud voice, “Herr Dietrich Bauer.”
Bauer. She did recognize that name. Her nanny in Hoburg was a Bauer, and this tall fellow was probably her younger brother who had worked in the castle. “Herr Bauer, how long have you been Prince Friedrich’s valet?”
He gave her another face splitting grin and said in the same overly loud, slow voice as he spoke in German, “Three years, Fräulein Alexandrina and Herr Vorthington.”
George leaned in again, his lips brushed her ear. She felt strangely weak. “What is the man saying? I can’t understand him even if he speaks louder and slower.”
“He’s been Prince Friedrich’s valet for the last three years,” she explained with a laugh. “You put a valet in the Crown Prince’s rooms.”
George swore under his breath and raked his hands through his already messy hair until it stood on end. “Ask him where the Crown Prince is.”
Drina smiled at the valet, and asked in German, “Where might I find His Royal Highness? I understand he didn’t accompany you to Windsor Castle?”
Herr Bauer shook his head. “Prince Friedrich is very fond of English beer. Me, I like a good German beer.”
“And?” she prompted with a hand gesture.
“He got out of the carriage in town and said he would meet me at the castle later today, ja,” Herr Bauer said.
This sounded exactly like her cousin—he was never one to follow royal protocol. Drina translated for George. “Prince Friedrich’s in the village getting drunk and will come to the castle later today.”
George released his breath. “Well as long as the fellow is here before the state dinner, everything should be fine.”
“Auf Wiedersehen, Herr Bauer,” Drina said, and acknowledged him with a bow of her head.
Herr Bauer gave her another sweeping bow. “Auf Wiedersehen, Fräulein Alexandrina.”
Drina gently removed George’s hand from her arm—inwardly sighing at the loss of contact—and began to walk back the way she came.
“Where are you going?” George asked.
“To my rooms.”
“But who is going to explain to this fellow that he’s not in the servant’s quarters?!”
“I daresay a future foreign diplomat, like yourself, can figure that out,” Drina said primly, and resolutely didn’t respond to the sad look on his face.
AUTHOR BIO:
Samantha Hastings has degrees from Brigham Young University, the University of Reading (Berkshire, England), and the University of North Texas. She met her husband in a turkey sandwich line. They live in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she spends most of her time reading, eating popcorn, and chasing her kids. She is the author of THE LAST WORD, THE INVENTION OF SOPHIE CARTER, and A ROYAL CHRISTMAS QUANDARY.
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1 comments:
Thanks for hosting today, Jackie! :)
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