Deb Caletti delights once again with her charming, buoyant prose on pertinent issues. This is the fifth book of Deb Caletti’s that I have read. And as usual, she did not disappoint. My favourite is still ‘Wild Roses’ – her best yet, in my opinion – but ‘The Secret Life of Prince Charming’ captured my heart too.
The story is about this girl called Quinn, who grew up in a house full of ladies who have had their hearts broken by men – her mom, her aunt Annie, her grandma. They warn her against men, but she refuses to start getting cynical about love at the age of 17. She and her younger sister Sprout have just reunited with their father 3 years ago and are starting to know him. Quinn is hopeful, eager to find a bond with her father, and in awe of him, the performer (part of a circus band called the Jafarabad Brothers, or something like that). Sprout, however, is loyal to their mother and distrustful of their father. She’s frustrated that Quinn can’t see their father for the egotistical jerk he is. He loves no-one but himself.
When one day, Quinn finds a room full of prized items that she discovers were stolen from the women in her father’s life, she decides to hunt down her half-sister, Frances Lee, who persuades her to go on a karmic quest to return those items to their rightful owners.
Along the way, Quinn meets Jake Kennedy, Frances Lee’s younger brother (who’s the same age as Quinn). And can I just say that he’s the latest fictional character I’ve fallen in love with. He looks like a bad boy, with the serpent tattoo on his arm and those smouldering good looks (of course, Deb didn’t use this expression to describe him – how cliched would that be?). But he once said to Quinn, “You’re not the only one looking for something true.” He’s a sensitive soul who’s had his heart broken before and just wants to find a love that is true and pure and simple. This is reminiscent of Cassie Morgan and Ian Water’s love in Wild Roses. It’s so heartbreakingly pure and uncomplicated – only Deb can create a love story like that. Plus, the guys aren’t sappy. They’re tender but they’re not clingy or mushy; they joke around like Michael Moscovitz and have no underlying motives. They’re so pure of heart it’s almost impossible. But what is fiction but delightful escapism sometimes?
Throughout the story, there are excerpts from the women in Quinn’s father’s lives, who reveal the loves – good and bad – they had in their lives. Once again, Deb Caletti has delivered a poignant, lighthearted gem of a story.
The New-Age Prince Charming
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