Review - - Royal Caleva: Raul

Royal Caleva: Raul

by Nancy Herkness

Royal Caleva - Book 3

Publisher: Tabby Brothers Press

Release Date: September 24, 2025

Reviewed by PJ

 

A prince bound by duty. A commoner who knows her place. Can they find a future for their forbidden passion?

After his cousin is kidnapped and tortured in his stead, Prince Raul works himself mercilessly so he can be worthy of such a sacrifice. When he collapses from exhaustion at a public ceremony, the prince is forced to take a vacation. He reluctantly finds refuge in the mountains, guided by a strong woman whose warmth and understanding dispel the shadows of his guilt.

Erica Ortiz has never felt good enough. Wrestling with the weight of her father’s disapproval, she pushes herself to reach greater heights as a pilot and a part-time wilderness guide. But she never expected to be responsible for the crown prince’s safety on a towering mountain cliff—or to share his innermost secrets.

While Erica battles her growing love for the fascinating, tortured prince, Raul realizes that his feelings for her have grown too powerful to control. He can never offer her the forever she deserves. The heir to the throne and a commoner can never marry.

When they join together for a desperate rescue mission, can they tear down the barriers that threaten to destroy their love?

PJ's Thoughts:

Nancy Herkness returns to the lush island of Caleva with a new story brimming with adventure, emotional baggage, family dynamics, cross-class romance, and a whole lot of steam. 

While Raul is an important secondary character in the first two books of this series, it's only in this third book that we delve beneath the surface and really learn what drives the man. Learning how the after-effects of the kidnapping of his cousin have impacted Raul exposes a character who is much more complex than I had guessed. 

Erica is new to the Caleva universe. As a commoner, she would ordinarily never spend private time with the royal prince but as the private pilot to his cousin who also has wilderness skills, she's the perfect person to guide him when he's forced to take a vacation. I enjoyed her character. She also has many layers as well as emotional baggage to unpack. Watching her tackle those emotional obstacles as well as her growing feelings for Raul was a pleasure.  

The chemistry between Raul and Erica is explosive - readers should expect a high level of heat in this book - but they should also expect emotional depth. As I said above, these two have a significant amount of baggage to sort through and while the emotional weight is significant, it never felt too weighty or angsty to me. The ratio of emotion to steam to adventure maintains a good balance that kept me invested and eagerly turning pages. 

As with the other books in the series, there's also a bit of mystery in this one that brings action and adventure to the story. Herkness had me on the edge of my seat with this aspect of the book, wondering how it would all play out. Happy to say I was not disappointed! 

I don't know if Herkness has more books planned for this beautiful island but I hope she does. They would definitely be on my must-buy list.