GUEST REVIEW: The Runaway Princess by Hester Browne

The very lovely Jo from Cometbabesbooks very kindly offered to do a guest review, she chose The Runaway Princess by Hester Browne and here's what she thought: 

Amy Wilde is tired of the idiots her glamorous flatmate Jo tries to set her up with - she'd much rather be landscaping a garden with her dog Badger at her side than trying to find the man of her dreams. That is, until she meets Leo Wolfsburg. Handsome, polite, funny, intriguing - Leo is everything Amy could want in a man. Best of all, the attraction seems mutual. But Leo's lifestyle is a world away from her own. Private planes, charity balls, exclusive members' clubs - Amy begins to realise that her simple existence has been turned upside down. And just where is Leo's home country of Nirona, anyway? Is this all too good to be true? 

I offered to review the above book for Dot and I am glad that I did.   Right from page one I found Amy easy to identify with and her friends likeable.  Hester Browne's writing went into detail about all the characters, I wanted to find out more.  I even found myself liking the annoying Rolf, who comes across as a Rik Mayall type character in the Blackadder series, although right from the start I never wanted him to end up with Jo, I always wanted Ted and Jo to get together.  Leo was intriguing, even though you new right from the start there was something different about him.
The book follows Leo's and Amy's romance through the months of the year.  Amy does find who Leo is and even so still plans to marry him.  Although Amy does have a secret of her own that she feels she can not tell Leo about. 10 years previously her sister Kelly did something bad that almost destroyed her family, Amy feels as though she has been left to pick up the pieces.
Amy's feels she is not good enough for Leo and his family, this isn't helped by his sister Sofia and his mother Liza.  Eventually this almost destroys their relationship. 
Towards the end there is a twist with Amy's sister that I certainly didn't see coming.  I won't spoil the end of this book, but would recommend it as an enjoyable read.

Publisher: Quercus

Pages: 448

Many thanks to Quercus for providing a copy of this book to review. it is out now!