A flannel-wearing man’s man inexplicably finds himself living out all the rom-com movie tropes as he falls in love with a true-blue princess.
Luke Edgewood isn’t a romantic. Or, at least, he’s always felt certain things like rom-coms were invented as punishment for average guys. Besides, he’s always preferred to be a behind-the-scenes guy who lives a quiet life being a good friend, neighbor, and brother. So when he travels to the island of Skymar to work a few months on restoring abandoned buildings, he never expects to find himself directly in the middle of a romantic, trope-filled story. From a meet-cute that was anything but cute and an aging orphanage in need of as much tender care as the children it houses, Luke begins to wonder if he and his heart may be victims of some sort of hidden-camera movie moment.
Only a few years out of university and attempting to find her feet in royal adult life, Aliana Roselynn St. Claire, youngest daughter of the king and queen of the Skymarian Islands, pours her energies and talents into charities and art throughout her beloved Skymar. Her parents do not seem very interested in her love of interior design but lavish her with praise over her support of Skymar’s largest orphanage and place her in charge of the renovations of the dilapidated building. Happy to escape her mother’s strong encouragement of building a romantic relationship with Ally’s lifelong acquaintance, the earl of South Waithe, she escapes to the secluded mountains to take charge of the orphanage’s renovations.
When Ally learns the man she’d literally run into at the coffee shop is the one who has been hired to help with the orphanage’s repairs, she’s determined to keep her royal status as secret as possible. From fundraisers to fake dates to sleigh rides and snowball fights, Ally and Luke begin to discover that the wrong first impressions may lead to a romantic possibility with rom-com flavored magic included. But when Ally’s true identity is revealed and royal expectations bring Luke out of his preferred anonymity into the spotlight of the royal life, will their budding relationship fall prey to a very unhappily-ever-after ending?
Please note this summary comes from Goodreads, but the female character is Elliana, Ellie, not Ally in the novel.
There's a clear link between romcoms and Hallmark movies. Some novels acknowledge that in sly little winks or brief mentions. Some pretend they're not connected at all. And some - like this one - bludgeon the reader with that link at every turn, having characters discuss it and the narration draw parallels every time anything happens. Sadly this doesn't make it subversive or funny, it just points out how similar the plots are - I very nearly cringed at the scene where Luke explains the 'royalty undercover' trope to Ellie, who at the time is very much undercover! Readers should also be aware, although it didn't bother me, both characters are (undefined) religious and there are mentions of praying and reading devotionals - it's not heavy handed but I know there are readers who don't want any mention of religion at all in their reading.
Although the blurb doesn't mention it, this is the third in a connected series of novels. Events and characters from those novels are constantly mentioned without any context; I would recommend starting with those rather than this one to avoid confusion. I was able to follow the basics but I was definitely missing parts of the story.
Romcoms by their nature are predictable, but they can be well written. I found this one was not interesting to read; there were no surprises at any point. I could have predicted it, point for point, from the summary and the first chapter. The writer constantly mentioned the same points, like Luke's self-effacing nature and Ellie's orange scent - honestly, every single time they met Luke noticed the 'light orange scent that seemed to follow her around'. It's really put me off using orange scents!
I did enjoy the banter between Luke and Ellie; the author has a good hand with dialogue, keeping it light and fun. While "Loyally, Luke" may appeal to readers seeking a comforting dose of familiar romantic tropes and witty dialogue, I personally found the lack of surprises and the constant reminders of rom-com clichés to be uninteresting. But there are readers out there who are going to love this one, and I hope they find it.
Loyally, Luke publishes on the 14th of May, 2024. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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