Reviews: Princess in Training & Princess Present by Meg Cabot

I've been trying to go back and read the Princess Diaries this year, as a prelude to reading Princess Mia's novel Ransom My Heart. I had read the first two years ago, but never gotten quite this far. This last week, in between grading Daniel Defoe essays, listening to A Thousand Splendid Suns, and reading Fasting and Feasting by Anita Desai, I read two more in the Princess Diaries series as a needed escape. This time around, I read books VI & VI 1/2.

Synopsis: In Princess in Training, Mia is entering her sophomore year of high school, minus her wonderful boyfriend (sorry...I never say his name, in case you should choose to read the series), who has entered college. Not only does she have the sadness of not having her BF around, but has been nominated for class president! Now in the midst of campaigning (something her grandmere seems WAY too into), Mia has been informed that college boys pretty much have to "do it" with their girlfriends, and that's all they care about. Sigh. Poor Princess Mia. She's not ready to "do it," so she spends much of the time she wanted to spend with the boyfriend that I shall not name, by not seeing him...once again, afraid that he'll want to "do it."

Review: Okay, if you read the last two sentences of that review, you can probably hear me giggling. While we like to say that all teenagers are hormone ridden, I actually liked the fact that Mia owned up to being a bit freaked out by the whole "sex" option. While the drama of running for office, getting new classes at school, living life with a new baby in the house were all fun to watch Mia experience, I really thought the drama of her love life took the cake. You think you know how this will end, but I thought the resolution was honest, and as always, very cute.

Synopsis: In Princess Present, Mia has invited her BF & sister to Genovia to celebrate the Christmas holiday with her. This is a fun, very short little 1/2 story that draws on her love life, along with a little Genovian & royal drama.

Review: Too cute. Although I was still thinking about how the previous book had ended, I liked this fun segway into the Christmas season. It's always fun to see Mia in Genovia, to see how she really is as a royal...which is pretty much how she is all the time. Yet another cute installment.

There you have it--two reviews for the reading price of one! I might be able to read one more before returning to the mainland in a week and a half (*sobbing on keyboard*), but I will be finishing this series up before I know it!

For more information: The Princess Diaries, Volume VI: Princess in Training (Princess Diaries) and The Princess Present: A Princess Diaries Book (Princess Diaries, Vol. 6 1/2).