Dear Presti: the Prince’s Pen Pal by Karrie Roman

Dear Presti: the Prince’s Pen Pal is a closed-door romance about a Prince of England bound to his duty and the commoner who has stolen his heart.


From the blurb:

Two men. One a royal born and bred, the other…not.

Prince James lives a life of stifling duty behind the walls of Buckingham Palace. He keeps his secrets and his stiff upper lip while dreaming of the day he will be free to find the man of his dreams. It’s a day he believes might never come. Until Prestidigitation Jones, an ethnobotany student from a small town in Australia, bursts into his life.

Prestidigitation marches to his own beat along with his small group of family and friends. He long ago accepted most people found him a little eccentric, but that won’t stop him from living on his own terms. Though happy enough, Presti dreams of finding a man who accepts him as he is and loves him unconditionally.

A fated meeting throws them together. An attraction blooms, and a friendship begins. Distance keeps them apart, but destiny brings them together.

Through a trail of exposed secrets, false starts and unfathomable tragedy, James and Presti’s feelings for each other grow stronger. Does James have the courage to fight for his dream? Can Presti face the public scrutiny of being the plus one of the spare to the throne?

Surely together, they can find their way to happiness/find their happily ever after.


Jacqueleen the Reading Queen's review:

"𝘖𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘐'𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴. 𝘗𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘑𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺. 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵."

Presti is absolutely adorable. I loved everything about him. James is more complicated. My heart hurt for him so much throughout their story. He just could not see a way for him to be happy while also doing his duty to the people. Like Presti, I didn't envy the position James was in.

"𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩. 𝘏𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘮."

Presti's family was such a highlight. They really brought such joy to the story and I adored each and every one of them. They are all a little odd, but that's what made them so special. That and the fierceness in which they protected one another. I admired their loyalty to the family they'd created.

This book is well written and made me laugh quite a bit. It would have been 5 stars for me if it wasn't for the closed door sex scene. I was teased with some passionate heavy make out sessions, then we FINALLY get to the main event only for it to be closed door. Cue my let down. This is my first book by this author, and I was unaware of this fact of their writing. That's totally on me. As I previously stated, the writing and storyline were very enjoyable, so this may very well be a 5 star read for you if you aren't a steam queen like myself.


Dear Presti: the Prince’s Pen Pal is currently available as an e-book