REVIEW: The Prince's Triplet Baby Surprise by Holly Rayner

The Prince's Triplet Baby Surprise - A Multiple Baby Royal Romance by Holly Rayner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Book Description: 

One royal birth is a national event. Two royal births are a sensation. Three are a little more than anyone bargained for! 

As a paparazzo journalist Lisa Garcia is used to meddling in other people’s business, so her plot to get closer to the handsome and alluring Prince Francesco of Aluzzi seems almost too easy. Tasked with snapping pictures of him and his infamously difficult fiancée, Princess Rose, her plan goes off without a hitch, but when she witnesses the Princess storm off after a bitter row, Lisa is quickly thrust into a royal drama! 

Mistaking her for a bystander, the honest Prince tells her everything: the marriage is a sham, and he wants more from a partner than a mere royal title. Beguiled by this charming prince, Lisa knows she can’t betray him so easily, and the Prince and relative pauper strike up an unlikely, but passionate relationship. 

When Francesco discovers that his new lover isn’t who she says she is, however, Lisa finds herself cast out of the Prince’s life, and what’s more, she soon discovers she’s pregnant, with royal-blooded triplets! 

Can Lisa fight to regain her former lover’s trust, and create the beautiful family their three babies will need?

This is a standalone royal romance novel from best-selling author Holly Rayner. It contains a guaranteed HEA, and a tale of romance that will capture your heart.

Oy. Ok, so I guess I had high hopes for this book. I was intrigued by the premise, and after starting the sample, I ended up getting this on KU so I could read it asap.

So, this book/story ends at 65% and that disappointed me. Mostly because of said high hopes. In a way, this reminded me of ShutterGirl. But it was like a watered down version of that book. It felt like the actual story was missing. It started really good. Lisa is trying to survive as a paparazzo, not only to support herself but to put money away to finish school with a photography degree. Good premise. And the set up was great. Watching Lisa and Francesco meet was fun. Seeing them talk and spend time together getting to know each other and then ending the night together...good set up.

I'm not one to usually complain about the steam factor in a book, but I was disappointed in this one. The build up was great but the actual scene was nothing really. But ok, so there's no real steam. I can live with that. So some time passes, she doesn't realize she's pregnant (again, that's fine)...but when she finds out, she makes some effort to track down Francesco, but I felt like it could have been more. I wasn't unhappy with that scene and actually it was a nice twist that she ended up dealing with Francesco's horrible fiance Rose. But I kept expecting Rose to contact her again at some point. Even if it was just to keep her quiet or make sure she was going to keep quiet. Especially after she found out she wasn't pregnant with just one baby but triplets.

You don't see much of the actual pregnancy, and I'm not asking for the gritty details, but there were just big time jumps. Aside from some mentions of dreams about Francesco, I didn't feel like she really missed him. And since they only had 1 night, I didn't feel like she really loved him, or vice versa. So when she does finally decided to confront him in person, the wrap up was must a little too neat in a bow.

All the way around, I was just disappointed. The premise had so much promise. Maybe if their "relationship" had lasted for more than 1 night? Maybe if there had been earlier contact between them in her pregnancy? I don't know. I just know I was disappointed.