American Royals

American Royals

by Katharine McGee

4 out of 5

Synopsis
What if America had a royal family? If you can't get enough of Harry and Meghan or Kate and William, meet American princesses Beatrice and Samantha.

Two princesses vying for the ultimate crown.
Two girls vying for the prince's heart.
This is the story of the American royals.

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. Like most royal families, the Washingtons have an heir and a spare. A future monarch and a backup battery. Each child knows exactly what is expected of them. But these aren't just any royals. They're American. And their country was born of rebellion.

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.

The duty. The intrigue. The Crown. New York Times bestselling author Katharine McGee imagines an alternate version of the modern world, one where the glittering age of monarchies has not yet faded--and where love is still powerful enough to change the course of history.


Review
When being Royal, only means more complications.

I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this story, revolving around the Royal princesses and prince, at an important time in their lives.
Princess Beatrice is heir to the throne, she has spent her entire life being prom and proper, proving that she is the sensible choice. She is the first female heir, and will have to deal with underlying misogyny that flares up, even in this modern day. To try and make the transition as smooth as possible, she agrees with her parents' instructions that she should be married, so she can be seen to have the support of a man before she takes the crown.

Princess Samantha is the spare. She knows that she is not needed, so she lives her life to the max, bending or breaking every rule. Samantha is constantly frustrated that the media and her own family treat her like a walking scandal, whereas her twin brother is adored for doing the exact same thing. She is tired of being compared to her perfect older sister, and everything being about Beatrice. For once, Samantha finds something she really wants, only for that to be stolen away, too.

Prince Jeff doesn't get to narrate his own story, instead it falls to the two women in his life.
Nina is a lifelong friend of the twins, and she has always acknowledged that she is a nobody next to the royals. She has spent her life living in the shadows, and as she has gone to college, she has purposefully hidden her connection with the royal family. The problem is that, she is in love with Jeff, and he likes her too. Nina has to decide if that is enough to step into the spotlight and take on crazy media-driven world of the royals.

Daphne is Jeff's ex and she is perfect. She has the pedigree, she has the poise, and she has the love of the people. Everybody expects her to marry the prince and become the newest princess, and Daphne will do anything it takes to make that happen.
After all, isn't the prince the ultimate goal? Even at the expense of your own happiness?

It was so much fun to see how everything played out.
I thought the four narrators worked really well together, and it was really easy to slip back into their particular stories.
To begin with, I thought I'd like party-girl-Sam and nobody-Nina's parts best, but I was mildly surprised to find boring-Beatrice as my favourite, followed by conniving-Daphne. These characters were more than what they seemed, bound by duty and expectations - Bea wasn't as boring, and Daphne wasn't as heartless as they seemed.

I thought this was a stand-alone, and I was disappointed to find out it was a series.
In the second half of the book, some of the plotlines get a bit repetitive, and there was a point where it felt like everything could have been satisfactorily settled, but the author changed their mind.
I was disappointed, I thought it could have ended really strongly, and it was unnecessary to string it out any further. That being said, I will probably continue with the series.

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