Stefi and the Spanish prince

Donna Freitas

Book - 2024

Spending the summer in Barcelona with her family, Stefi reinvents herself in this beautiful city where she meets and falls in love with Xavi, who runs his family's popular tapas spot--and who, unbeknownst to her, is the secret heir to the Spanish throne.

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Subjects
Genres
Romance fiction
Novels
Published
New York, NY : HarperTeen, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers [2024]
Language
English
Main Author
Donna Freitas (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
346 pages ; 22 cm
ISBN
9780062662149
Contents unavailable.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

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)

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

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.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.