Stefi and the Spanish prince

Freitas (The Nine Lives of Rose Napolitano) conjures a Barcelona summer via lush sensory detail in this foodie rom-com. Seventeen-year-old aspiring pastry chef Stefi is vacationing in her mother's native Catalonia. While consuming the best omelet she's ever eaten in the marketplace, La Boqueria, she meets 18-year-old Xavier, a tapas proprietor's son. Stefi is eager for a summer fling to help her get over her cheating ex-boyfriend. Xavi, meanwhile, contends with intense pressures he can't share with Stefi: he is the secret love child of King Alfonso, and heir to the Spanish throne. As Santiago, Xavi's 19-year-old royal guard, tries desperately to keep them apart, Stefi and Xavi fall in love in "sunny, buttery Barcelona." But with Xavi's scheming ex-girlfriend and a ruthless gossip magazine reporter in the mix, their relationship--and their privacy--may be too much for their young guard to defend. Freitas occasionally employs stilted declarative prose to ferry the near-perfect characters along on their fairy tale--like romance while Xavi's secret identity drives the central conflict. A queer romantic subplot and tensions between Catalonia and the Madrid government add depth to this beatific romance. Ages 13--up. Agent: Miriam Altschuler, Miriam Altschuler Literary. (July)

Stefi's summer in Barcelona involves romance, surprises, blackmail--and an entanglement with Spanish royalty. Her time abroad in Spain is a chance for 17-year-old Stefi, who has an American dad and a Catalán mom, to start over. Leaving the U.S. on the heels of a bitter breakup, the aspiring pastry chef follows her passion for baking to a course at a culinary institute. She meets handsome Xavi at La Buena, his mother's food stall in the city's famous La Boqueria market. Xavi is the secret heir to the Spanish throne, a bona fide prince. As blond Stefi and blue-eyed "hot Viking warrior" Xavi get to know each other, his secret identity hangs between them. Readers will delight in the many romance tropes Freitas includes: tragic misunderstandings, awkward moments that endear lovers to each other, and vile exes who threaten to break up a blossoming romance. Spain, with its rich culture and summer heat, is fully developed as a setting thanks to the inclusion of details such as its Mediterranean beaches and the running of the bulls in Pamplona. Xavi's undercover bodyguard, Santiago, has a swoonworthy romance with Xavi's friend Diego. Though the story starts off slowly and would benefit from faster pacing, it will satisfy romance fans. A light, lovely read that leans heavily on genre truisms. (Romance. 13-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.