Book Review: Princess for Hire by Lindsay Leavitt

At First Sight: Desi is 14 and stuck having the worst job ever - working for Pets Charming is a never ending string of undignified tasks such as being Gladys the Groundhog, scooping manure at a parade or taking a turn sitting on a dunk tank - and the rest of her life is not much better. Her Dad is all about 'work ethic' and won't let her quit her job, her Mom is a former beauty queen who now runs a Charm School - which Desi flunked -and dotes on Desi's baby sister. 

So, when after a particularly bad day, Desi is reading the wanted adds on the paper, hopeful to find a new job, she sees a strange add urging her to call for Meredith if she thinks she has what it takes to be a Princess For Hire. 

Figuring it's worth a shot, Desi calls for Meredith and gets sucked into the world of substitute princesses. See, for centuries and centuries, Meredith's agency has devoted itself to use magic to 'substitute' royalty while the real royals run about and have their little escapades. And Desi is their newest talent.

Standing in for a royal sounds glamorous, right? but Desi is about to find out that nothing is ever what it seems.

Second Glance: I got Princess for Hire close to a year ago - I won it from Free Book Friday Teens!, first time EVER that I had won anything - but my cousin sort of had it in her possession for a long time so I only got to read it now.

I quite adored this book, it was cute and sweet and full of magic. I really liked Desi and her struggles both as a sub and in life in general - her crush is dating her nemesis and she feels invisible more often than not - and how she goes about coping with what life throws at her. There is a core to her feelings that I found quite real, and I actually liked a lot of the characters in the book - specially two of the princesses Desi subs for. 

I had some problems with Meredith in the beginning, but Smalls@Small Review told me to stick to her and I have to admit that, in the end, Meredith did come through, and I hope they explore more of her story in the next books. 

Now, much as I liked this book -and I did like it from the start - it took me about two weeks to finish it, not because there was anything wrong with it but because at the beginning it was very easy to put down. I enjoyed it a lot while I was reading but it was very episodic and easy to put down once each adventure ended, but once I sat down to finish it, I read about two thirds of the novel in just two hours.

Bottom Line: I do love Desi and her world, I loved Princess for Hire and I can't wait to read the next book The Royal Treatment (which comes out on May 3rd). This book very much reads like a sweet, Disney movie and it's a nice, sweet treat.

Favorite Quote: "Exhausted, I found some pajamas and crawled into bed, thinking about how in every fairy tale, the heroine's problems melt away when she becomes a princess - everyone sees how special she is and loves her. None of the stories was about a chubby, lonely princess who played the French horn into a tape recorder in her duck-filled bedroom. Or about the chubby princess's substitute, for that matter.

Maybe that's what made them fairy tales.

Real life is never how you dreamed it."

3/4