Tag: american royals

Book Review: Reign (American Royals #4) by Katharine McGee

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: NA Dystopia Romance
Length: 415 pages
Author: Katharine MCGee
Publisher: Random House
Release Date: August 29th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

A queen’s life hangs in the balance, and her siblings’ decisions—about what to do, and most of all, who to love—could change the course of history. Romance. Duty. Power…only one can triumph in this stunning conclusion to the New York Times bestselling American Royals series.

America’s royal family is in shambles. Queen Beatrice is in a coma and Princess Samantha has gone missing—from the look of things, she ran away with her boyfriend, Lord Marshall Davis. Which means that Prince Jefferson is currently on the throne. For some in America, it’s exactly what they wanted: a King ruling the country. And for Daphne Deighton, who has tricked Jefferson into dating her again, it’s the ultimate dream come true. 

Surely this is all just temporary. Won’t Beatrice wake up and reclaim her rightful place? Samantha can’t really be gone…can she? And Prince Jefferson will never truly be over his childhood crush, Nina Gonzalez. Right?

For the Washington family, the stakes are higher than ever. Love might save the throne….if secrets don’t destroy everything first.

Thank you to PRH Audio for the gifted audiobook.

I AM SATISFIED.

I sincerely needed this to go a certain and specific way and I’m very happy it did. This is a series where you have to lean in and enjoy the drama. I love that it’s dramatic and I don’t know quite what’s going to happen next.

I really enjoyed everyone (BUT DAPHNE) storylines and where they ended up. There were some crucial endings and reconnections, starting over and moving on and I liked how that wrapped up. Character arcs kept being pulled in different directions and I was very much glued to my headphones waiting to know how it would end.

An enjoyable series with a unique flair. McGee has the addictive quality about her books that pull you in and I was very much attached to these characters. I loved the pacing and how well the plots were woven. There wasn’t one (EXCEPT DAPHNE) POV chapter that I didn’t enjoy reading.

Overall audience notes:

  • NA Contemporary Romance
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: retrograde amnesia, multiple counts of cheating

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Book Review: Rivals (American Royals #3) by Katherine McGee

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Rating: ★★★☆
Audience: NA Dystopian Romance
Length: 400 pages
Author: Katherine McGee
Publisher: Random House
Release Date: May 31st, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Beatrice is queen, and for the American royal family, everything is about to change.

Relationships will be tested.
Princess Samantha is in love with Lord Marshall Davis—but the more serious they get, the more complicated things become. Is Sam destined to repeat her string of broken relationships…and this time will the broken heart be her own?

Strangers will become friends.
Beatrice is representing America at the greatest convocation of kings and queens in the world. When she meets a glamorous foreign princess, she gets drawn into the inner circle…but at what cost?

And rivals will become allies.
Nina and Daphne have spent years competing for Prince Jefferson. Now they have something in common: they both want to take down manipulative Lady Gabriella Madison. Can these enemies join forces, or will old rivalries stand in the way?

WHY THO.

I feel like the title basically sums up where all of my thoughts turn back to when I finished this. WHY.

These books are chopped full of drama. To me, it’s actually a part of the fun of reading this. I lean into that style, filled with soap opera dramatics and allllll the feelings from the characters. You have to go in knowing the shock factor is imminent.

I think this series has gone on a bit long though. Lots of things happened in this book, but then sort of unraveled by the end? So it felt like progress was lost?

AND DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON DAPHNE. She’s throw a book across the room rage inducing. Book four better bring her down or I quit. I QUIT.

Anyways, I am curious where all of this goes, there’s things I like, things I don’t, yet I’m invested. It’ll be a wild last book, that’s for dang sure.

Overall audience notes:

  • NA Dystopian Romance
  • Language: a little strong
  • Romance: closed door
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: bullying, extortion, blackmailing, car wreck, cheating

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Book Review: Majesty (American Royals #2) by Katharine McGee

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Rating: ☆☆☆ 1/2
Audience: YA Dystopian / Contemporary
Length: 370 pages
Author: Katharine McGee
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Release Date: September 1st, 2020
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Is America ready for its first queen?

Power is intoxicating. Like first love, it can leave you breathless. Princess Beatrice was born with it. Princess Samantha was born with less. Some, like Nina Gonzalez, are pulled into it. And a few will claw their way in. Ahem, we’re looking at you Daphne Deighton.

As America adjusts to the idea of a queen on the throne, Beatrice grapples with everything she lost when she gained the ultimate crown. Samantha is busy living up to her “party princess” persona…and maybe adding a party prince by her side. Nina is trying to avoid the palace–and Prince Jefferson–at all costs. And a dangerous secret threatens to undo all of Daphne’s carefully laid “marry Prince Jefferson” plans.

A new reign has begun.

THIRD BOOK PLEASE?

That’s what I need after seeing how this one ended. Book three. THERE NEEDS TO BE MORE.

I thought this was a good follow-up to American Royals. The drama is wild as ever and so many things continually happen that keep you turning pages. Not to mention, I love the shorter chapters and quick pace.

I adored Beatrice’s story line. Without a doubt the best story in here. Beatrice came into her own as a queen. I loved that she got to say a proper good-bye to those who deserved it and made a true love connection with Teddy. They were precious and I absolutely ship them. Both of them together are such a match. I would have loved a longer book just to get more of their (and other’s) relationships.

Daphne Deighton. I can’t even talk about her. I hated the way her story ended. I got the vibe of it and why it was written that way, but it still screwed over too many people and I just want her to get her due. She just drags down this book.

Sam’s story was positive and I’m grateful for her character arc because whoa, I was struggling with her attitude. I love that she really grew up and fought for what she wanted. Sam worked things out well and I love her relationship with Marhsall.

Nina’s POV fell by the wayside here. She kinda fit into everything, kinda didn’t. I did like the way things ended up for her and that she took time to figure out what she wanted before making a decision. I think if there’s more to the story we’ll get even better insight for Nina.

This installment was shorter than the first when I think it needed to be longer. There was good stuff here, just needed some longer stories to really connect with everything rather than flying by.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult dystopia / contemporary
  • Language: some light
  • Romance: kisses / make-outs; a closed door scene
  • Content warnings: grief from losing a parent

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Book Review: American Royals (American Royals #1) by Katharine McGee

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Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Audience: Young adult contemporary
Length: 448 pages
Author: Katharine McGee
Publisher: Random House Books
Release Date: September 3rd, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

What if America had a royal family?

When America won the Revolutionary War, its people offered General George Washington a crown. Two and a half centuries later, the House of Washington still sits on the throne.

As Princess Beatrice gets closer to becoming America’s first queen regnant, the duty she has embraced her entire life suddenly feels stifling. Nobody cares about the spare except when she’s breaking the rules, so Princess Samantha doesn’t care much about anything, either . . . except the one boy who is distinctly off-limits to her. And then there’s Samantha’s twin, Prince Jefferson. If he’d been born a generation earlier, he would have stood first in line for the throne, but the new laws of succession make him third. Most of America adores their devastatingly handsome prince . . . but two very different girls are vying to capture his heart.

KARMA COMES AROUND RIGHT?

Because seriously, this one character. I can’t handle it if they don’t get what’s coming to them. She caused a crazy amount of drama all on her own. Was I impressed? Maybe a little, but also YOU’RE NOT A NICE PERSON.

Any who, back to my review here. This book made my heart huuuuurt. It was a darker book than I was expecting. Not that anything intense happened, but a lot of hearts are broken, smashed and tossed around. I felt like I was watching one of those historical TV dramas where you just can’t look away. I’m used to seeing this kind of drama unfold from McGee because of her previous series (The Ten Thousandth Floor). I think if you know that going in you’ll enjoy it more because you’ll know a bit of what you’re going to see.

I wish the character profiles were a bit deeper. Everyone dove into relationships that I wasn’t hating, but also wasn’t sure how much I was loving them. Later into the book I did feel for them more. I was frustrated with the lack of plot, but I know this is more character/life driven than anything REALLY happening.

The ending was expected, and still made me sit their after contemplating WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. I think the next book will hold a lot more substance because we get to see a few characters stand out a bit more. There’s a huge entangling web of point-of-views, story lines, romances, and more that I’m sure will only cause more drama.

Overall audience notes:

  • Young adult contemporary
  • Language: none
  • Romance: lots of kissing, some sleeping overnight together (but no sex), one sex scene that is very fade to black and not detailed whatsoever (you know what they did of course though)
  • Trigger warnings: cyber-bullying

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