Series: St Rosetta’s Academy #2
Release Date: June 8th
Publisher: Hodder Books
Pages: 320
Find it on: Goodreads. BookDepository. Waterstones.
Source: The publisher kindly sent me a copy of this book to review
Rating: 2.75/5 stars

Synopsis

Caterina LaValle is determined to show she’s still the queen of St. Rosetta’s Academy. Sure, her crown may be slightly askew after her ex-boyfriend, Alaric, cheated on her, but she’s a LaValle. She’ll find a way to march right back in there, her hands clutching the strings to the whole puppet show. This time, she’s going to be untouchable.

Rahul Chopra knows that moment he shared with Caterina LaValle at the winter formal meant something. Surely she feels it, too. He’s a little uncertain how someone like him (socially inept to a point way past “adorkable”) could fit into her world, but he’s loved Caterina for years. He knows they’ll find a way.

When Caterina finds out Alaric is taking a supermodel to the upcoming gala, she knows she cannot arrive without the perfect date. But the thought of taking another superficial St. R’s boy exhausts her. The solution? Sweet-but-clueless Rahul Chopra and a mysterious pot of hair gel with the power to alter the wearer into whatever his heart desires.

When Rahul tries it, he transforms instantly into RC—debonair, handsome, and charming. But transformation comes with a price: As Rahul enjoys his new social standing, the line between his two personas begins to blur. Will he give up everything, including Caterina, to remain RC? Or will this unlikely pair find their way back to each other?

Review

Of Princes and Promises is the second instalment in Sandhya Menon’s St Rosetta’s Academy series. I really enjoyed book one – Of Curses and Kisses – which I thought was a really fun YA story. I was really intrigued to see where Menon took the story in book two. Picking up after the events of book one, we now follow Caterina and Rahul, characters we met in Of Curses and Kisses. Caterina is out to prove that she’s still the queen of the school, despite breaking up with Alaric. When she discovers Alaric is taking a supermodel to the biggest event of the year, she knows she has to find the perfect date. Caterina hatches a plan to take Rahul and transform him into the perfect date with the help of some mysterious hair gel. As Rahul spends more and more time as the handsome and charming RC, Caterina wonders if she’s lost the sweet, clueless Rahul forever.

Of Princes and Promises is a really quick read and it’s a pretty fast-paced story. I really wanted to love this one as much as I did the first one but for me, this story felt a little flat. I think it maybe could have done with being a bit longer, the plot just felt a little bit too predictable and too convenient. I found I was less interested in the romance between Rahul and Caterina and more interested in what the mysterious Mia was up to. I thought there was lots of potential in this story but it just didn’t click with me.

The characters in the story are interesting and I liked Rahul, particularly as he delves more and more into being RC and has to come back to himself. I did find Caterina a bit on the irritating side and I would have loved to see a bit more of the characters from book one. Overall this was a quick book that I read in an afternoon, but one that felt kind of forgettable. If you’ve read book one I’d have a go with book two and if you love contemporary fairytale retellings this series is definitely one to check out.