About the Book:

Title: The Prince & the Apocalypse 

Author: Kara McDowell 

Publisher: Wednesday Books 

Release Date: July 11, 2023 

Pages: 320

Genre: YA Contemporary, YA Dystopia 

Synopsis:

An American teen stranded in London is forced to team up with the British crown prince if she wants to make it back home before the end of the world in this delightfully rompy high-stakes rom-com.

Wren Wheeler has flown five thousand miles across the ocean to discover she’s the worst kind of traveler: the kind who just wants to go home. Her senior-year trip to London was supposed to be life-changing, but by the last day, Wren’s perfectly planned itinerary is in tatters. There’s only one item left to check off: breakfast at The World’s End restaurant. The one thing she can still get right.

The restaurant is closed for renovations—of course—but there’s a boy there, too. A very cute boy with a posh British accent who looks remarkably like the errant Prince Theo, on the run from the palace and his controlling mother. When Wren helps him escape a pack of tourists, the Prince scribbles down his number and offers her one favor in return. She doesn’t plan to take him up on it—until she gets to the airport and sees cancelled flights and chaos. A comet is approaching Earth, and the world is ending in eight days. Suddenly, that favor could be her only chance to get home to her family before the end of the world.

Wren strikes a bargain with the runaway prince: if she’ll be his bodyguard from London to his family’s compound in Santorini, he can charter her a private jet home in time to say goodbye. Traveling through Europe by boat, train, and accidentally stolen automobile, Wren finds herself drawn to the dryly sarcastic, surprisingly vulnerable Theo. But the Prince has his own agenda, one that could derail both their plans. When life as they know it will be over in days, is it possible to find a happy ending?

 

Review:

*I received an e-arc via Netgalley and Wednesday Books for review, thank you! All thoughts are my own*

This is my third Kara McDowell book, and she hasn’t disappointed me yet. This book was FANTASTIC and gave me all the feels! A swoon worthy, end of the world, feel good romance that I highly recommend! There is also good mental health rep in this book, that I appreciated. Fans of the Princess Diaries and Hallmark royal love stories, this is for you!

Eighteen-year-old Wren Wheeler is on a senior year trip to London with her BFF that is supposed to be life changing, but all she really wants to do is go home. Her perfectly laid plans and itineraries have been ruined so far. She just has one more item she wants to check off her list before she goes home. She wants to eat breakfast at The World’s End restaurant where her overachieving sister went on her trip to London.

It turns out that, just her luck, the restaurant is closed for renovations. She winds up meeting a cute and mysterious boy there, who looks like Prince Theodore, on the run from the palace and his controlling mother. When Wren helps him escape some tourists and the paparazzi, the prince gives her his phone number and promises one favor in return for her help. Wren doesn’t plan on taking him up on his offer, until she gets to the airport and learns that her flight home has been canceled. The world is about to end in eight days due to an approaching comet! Wren realizes that the prince may be her only way to get back home to her family.

Wren makes a deal with the prince. She’ll be his bodyguard from London to his family’s compound in Santorini if the prince gets her a private jet home so she can say goodbye. Traveling across Europe with the prince, she finds herself drawn to Theo. But the prince has his own agenda, that could derail both of their plans. Is it possible to find a happy ending, when the world as they know it will be over in days?

I adored Wren and Theo! I felt that considering the circumstances, their romance was believable. I didn’t feel that it was rushed, even though it took place over a matter of days. The chemistry between them was *chefs kiss* and I loved the witty banter they shared.

Warning, there is a bit of a cliffhanger at the end, and I am extremely hopeful for a sequel! Highly recommend!

About the Author: