Book Review - King of Hearts by Carolyn Faulkner

Look at that smoulder.

Four Stars

Carolyn Faulkner’s ‘King of Hearts’ is a delightfully old-fashioned love story set in the 1970s. Lettie is a journalist who snags a highly sought-after interview with Alek, King of the country of Kyenn.

Almost as soon as she gets there, Lettie is caught up in a violent attempted insurrection. Happily, this doesn’t seem to put her off either the country or its ruler. The two become closer the more time they spend together. Alek admires Lettie’s professionalism and independent spirit and Lettie – who is unimpressed by Alek’s title and lineage – is able to truly see the man beneath the crown.

Oh, and Alek gives Lettie a spanking the first day they meet. That certainly helped their romance blossom even if Lettie was understandably outraged at the time. The sex and spanking in this book are great. Alek exudes a lot of sexy man-not-to-be-argued-with charm.

It would be nice if this book had made more of its 1970s period setting. I enjoyed this aspect of the book in the first few pages – typewriters in male-dominated newsrooms, the burgeoning Women’s Lib movement, Lettie’s friendship with Elvis Presley and references to Prince Charles being one of the world’s most eligible bachelors. Unfortunately, this tails off fairly early on in the book and for most of the story, apart from the absence of mobile phones, there’s not a lot to indicate that it isn’t taking place in the present day.

The 1970s. Different times.

It is certainly a great story though. There are some wonderful secondary characters, most notably Kyenn’s charismatic Queen Mother, Margaret, Alek’s American-born mum, who is wonderfully forthright in her approval of Lettie.

The romance between the two characters is believable and builds nicely throughout the story. The scene in the hospital with Lettie’s first declaration of love to Alek is utterly adorable.

King of Hearts is a sweet story of a woman discovering that she has what it takes to win the heart of a King and the subjects of his country. It’s basically a grown-up ‘ThePrincess Diaries’ with sex and spanking. And what’s not to love about that?

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