American Royals

(American Royals #1, By: Katharine McGee)

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.
Published September 3rd 2019 by Random House Books for Young Readers

REVIEW:

I gave this book 3 stars. As someone who has been interested in the British royal family my entire life, I was so excited when I came across the premise of this book. It ended up being a fun, fast read, with some fluffy romance, but ultimately lacked in drama.

Similar to McGee’s other series (The Thousandth Floor) this book was told through mulitple POVs. However, unlike The Thousandth Floor (where the POVs felt distracting) I found that they really added to this story. It flowed quite well, and it was fun to see the drama from several different characters. That being said, the plot was overly predictable (often too closely resembling the British family’s history), and a bit lackluster. While there was scheming and gossip, I expected more. The drama wasn’t layered or deep enough, nor were the stakes high enough (especially when I started the book with the comparison of Gossip Girls meets the royal family).

Some of the characters were interesting and grabbed my attention (particularly Daphne and Nina), while others were flat. Overall, there was just enough gold in the rough to keep me flipping the page. While bits dragged on (I think it could have been shorter), it was still a fun read for anyone wanting a bit of royal romance in their life.