The Princess Trap by Talia Hibbert
I went on a romance binge-reading journey this summer, and The Princess Trap by Talia Hibbert was one of the last books I read in this specific genre. It was a fast read (I read it one sitting) but a story that not only made me realize I wanted to read more of Hibbert’s work but had the capability to get my gears turning for my own writing.
The Princess Trap tells the story of an everyday black woman named Cherry who works in HR and finds herself in a fake-marriage/marriage contract with a prince. She works for an academy that caters to highly intelligent children and he’s trying to find the right school to give money from his charity when they meet. Their chemistry is immediate and electrifying but ends up landing them in a sticky situation that threatens to make them both look bad. He’s disgraced the crown one too many times and doesn’t need any more bad press, and she needs help paying her sister’s medical bills in America—forcing them into a mutual agreement to get married for a year. Along the way, they fall in love for real and their relationship morphs from a lie to reality. Cliché, I know.
Despite the cliché of it all, though, Talia Hibbert does an amazing job of telling this story, and it’s done in a way I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else. Her characters are the kind that get stuck in your head, and you find yourself thinking about them from time to time. Both are strong in their own rite, and it’s easy to sympathize and empathize with their different upbringings and happenings. I loved how organic their personalities felt, individually and together.
The only thing I will say against this book was that it felt too short. I wanted more from the characters—to know them better, to hear their conversations more, to see them interact more outside of sex and dancing around each other and their problems. As I said, the characters are both strong in their own rite. However, we don’t get the bare bones of them—or at least not Cherry. Her character felt a bit buried beneath the prince, but I suppose it’s due to his royalty.
This was my first read from Hibbert’s library, and it won’t be my last!