Stefi and the Spanish Prince

Freitas, Donna. Stefi and the Spanish Prince
July 23, 2024 by HarperTeen

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Stefi is spending the summer with her abuela in Barcelona, recuperating from a bitter break up with her boyfriend Jason, who cheated on her with her best friend, Amber. Her parents are also in the country, and the family is debating whether or not they will move to Spain permanently. Stefi has plans to study pastry making, and is enjoying being out and about. She has lunch one day at La Buena cafe, and returns the following week because the food was so good... and because one of the workers was super cute. Xavier's mother Marta runs the restaurant, and he works there, and is interested in Stefi as well. Xavi, however, has a secret; he is the King Alphonso of Spain's son, and at the end of the summer will be going to Madrid to assume his royal duties. There is a long and involved story as to why his mother and father couldn't be together, and Xavi is very bitter about the way his mother was treated. He has a bodyguard, Santiago, who is masquerading as his "cousin" and working at the cafe. Santiago has a huge crush on Diego, Xavi's best friend, but feels it would be a conflict of interest to date the best friend of his assignment. Xavi had previously dated Isabel, whose family is titled, and she still has designs on him, although he is completely over her after her scheming actions. Stefi and Xavi are soon dating, but of course news gets out. Once this happens, Xavi is whisked away to the palace so that an announcement can be made to quell rumors about an heir. Once secrets from the past are revealed, the king and Xavi's mother decide that they can be together after all of these years, since neither one ever dated anyone else, but Marta tries to dissuade Xavi from trying to have a relationship with Stefi. Santiago manages to keep his job in the guard, which is important to him because his father was also in the guard and died saving Alphonso's life, but is going to be posted to Seville to get him away from Diego. How will these romances work out as Xavi takes on his new royal tole?
Strengths: This had a lot of details about what it is like to live in Barcelona, and had LOTS of delicious sounding food! Stefi and Xavi are both appealing characters, and the idea of being a secret heir to the throne is always an engaging one. There's even some discussion that royalty has moved beyond the idea that spouses have to come from a certain titled class. The subplot with Santiago and Diego was interesting as well, and there was just enough social media (much of it involving Isabel) to make this seem very current, but won't date too badly. This is a fun beach read for fans of Chao's When You Wish Upon a Lantern or Welch's Love and Gelato. 
Weaknesses: There are several f-words and some more mature (although discreet) sexual content, as well as some drinking, although that is definitely done in a very European way, with Stefi having an apertif with her grandmother. 
What I really think: I enjoyed Freitas' Gold Medal Winter and Gold Medal Summer, but will pass on this title, although I would buy it for a high school library.