When emails from an African prince show up in Naledi’s inbox, she dismisses them as a scam. Little does she know—not only are the emails are genuine, but she is Prince Thabiso’s long-lost fiancée.

At first, Prince Thabiso isn’t impressed that the woman he has been engaged to since childhood doesn’t recognize him, but he quickly sees the potential benefits. Everybody always fawns over him because he’s a prince, but Ledi treats him like a regular guy.

So he decides not to tell her that he’s a prince. Or that they’re engaged.

But the truth always comes out eventually.

While some of the plots elements are similar to classic tropes like Cinderella, Ledi is far from a passive character waiting for a prince to rescue her. After spending most of her childhood in the foster care system, Ledi has learned that she only person she can rely on is herself, and she balances grad school with part-time jobs. She is most certainly not looking for anyone to come along and rescue her because she has single-handedly earned everything she’s worked for.

Likewise, Thabiso has been able to coast through life with a handsome face and royal title, and he’s going to have to actually make a deliberate effort to be personable if he wants Ledi to notice him.

Reading this book during the pandemic was a bit uncanny because a semi-major plot involves a mysterious plague affecting portions of Prince Thabiso’s home country of Thesolo. Fortunately, Ledi works epidemiology, and is able to help.

Ledi and Thabiso are supported some great secondary characters, including Ledi’s friend Portia and Thabiso’s assistant Likotsi. I was very excited to see that both of these characters receive a starring role in other books in the series.

I would absolutely recommend A Princess in Theory. This book was charming from beginning to end and I loved the way the romantic relationship developed over time. I also liked the way each of the two protagonists spent part of the narrative “out of their element”, so to speak. I am looking forward to reading more of the books in this series!