So far 2014 has been full of reading for me. It’s a combination of a lot of book reviews due around the same time, a harsh winter, and well, I love reading. My next review is on Valentine’s Day, Rachel Hauck’s Princess Ever After.  As I read, it hit me.

Women love a princess story.

We know girls do. Disney has made a fortune and a legacy banking on that truth. Whether they were born into royalty or married that prince after growing up with some adversity, girls love the movies and merchandise that offer a royal story.

But I’m 40-something.

And I have to confess, I’m as wrapped up in the swoon of an average girl watching love all around her only to find it for herself in the form of a prince. Or a castle that belongs to her, and she finds the prince. Then there are the gowns. There’s the tension of having to choose between a man or a kingdom. Reading about the villain who plots to take away everything for the good of self, while the princess fights for the good of people.

Why is the royal premise as alluring for me now as it was when I was a girl?

I gave it some thought, and here’s what I came up with.

• I have greater clarity that a royal love story parallels our Heavenly Father’s love for us. Because of my relationship with Christ, I understand I’m chosen as His beloved. We are daughters of the King. The Bible is full of edicts, promises, passion, warfare, and declarations. When I was younger, I had a lot of baggage that made my own royal love story hard to accept, much less embrace. As I’ve grown closer to the Lord, I love the romance of royalty more than ever.
• It’s a nice escape. When I’m cleaning up dog messes, folding laundry, and paying bills, it’s hard to get excited about the mundane. Reading about a woman with a car restoration business who learns she’s a royal heir and the country needs her, what a change of pace.  For a little while, I can leave my world and enter another.
• A royal romance offers another escape, economic reality. I live in NE Ohio, and area that hasn’t recovered from the steel mill closings in the 80’s. Add the recession and the hit the auto industry took, our region has suffered. Hard working people are struggling. A lot of businesses have closed. To read about a kingdom where the heir has drivers, maids, chefs, and a team of people ready to do whatever the royal family needs, it helps me forget the empty storefronts not too far down the road.

How about you? Do you enjoy a royal love story? Why or why not?

If you’d like to read my review of Princess Ever After, visit juliearduini.com on Friday.

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Beth Prescott realizes there’s more to her new job with the Hammondsport senior citizens when her clients keep trying to match her with their grandsons. She wants to excel at her job and push past the memories of a bad romance.

Dean Kellerman returns to the area to help his grandfather and forget his mistakes.

The two run into each other and find the only thing they have in common is Walt Kellerman. As they work together can they enjoy a friendship, or, will their secrets divide them once and for all?

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