A review by booksonawire
A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole

4.0

A leading lady in STEM, a huge diverse cast of characters, this book had a lot going for it. It's recommended as "Coming to America" meets "Black Panther." And like the latter film, I enjoyed the women over the make lead. I really enjoyed Naledi as well as Likotsi (the Prince's lesbian assistant - please please let us have a book for her), and Regina (the wheelchair bound bad-ass business woman - I want a book for her too), even Nya, who we saw a little of but I liked her. The representation was killer. The next book is Portia, the spoiled, alcoholic best friend, who has a lot of work ahead of her.

Prince Thabiso, or Jamal, was just "eh" for me - he came off a tad rigid, very formal but he is a prince so I guess it's to be expected but the chemistry was affected. Plus you had a very logical, analytical, heroine who was all in her head and had her own abandonment/trust issues. So "the heart" of the book wasn't all there - it was very driven by the head. But the supporting cast gets this a bonus star. I own the next story (A Duke by Default) but I will be watching for more in this series. I would love to see a mainstream publishing house feature a wlw romance and see Likotsi again. Avon Romance has really upped their game with diversity (see Cat Sebastian and Alisha Rai) so hopefully more publishing houses will improve representation as well *fingers crossed*