You have been chosen. Those four words change Violet Spencer’s whole life, when against staggering odds, she’s selected in the “princess ballot.” Arbon Academy is affectionately known as the school for Royals. Only the rich, powerful, or heir to a throne gain entry … except for the one scholarship student accepted every five years. It’s a worldwide lottery, and one that Violet entered without … that Violet entered without giving it any serious thought.
But the media got it wrong and Arbon Academy is much more than a simple college for future leaders.
It’s a dark world of politics, intrigue, and dangerous guys who will stop at nothing to get their own way. Despite her best efforts at remaining off the radar, Violet finds herself a pawn between two of the most powerful monarchies in the world.
Prince Rafe of the Switzerlands and Prince Alex of the Australasias are bitter enemies both on the soccer field and in the political arena. Monarchies rule the world now, and every waking breath is a competition for the princes.
Control the ball.
Control the world.
Control Violet.
Whether it’s through love or hate, someone will ultimately win.
*This is book one in a dark college romance. It includes a-hole princes, nasty princesses, and one chick who will take none of their sh!t, all the while doing her best to make it out alive. HEA guaranteed. Eventually. 17+.
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Wow! This book took a path that I absolutely did not expect and I loved every minute of it! Violet is such a strong individual. She is such a sassy, take nothing from anyone type or character. I fell in love with her immediately!
This book is such a rollercoaster in the best possible way can I need to know what happened next ASAP!
Amazing read. This story sucked me in right from the start and couldn’t put it down. Which is what always happens when i read books from these two favorite authors of mine. If you like well written dystopian stories with drama, action, intrigue, mystery, a strong heroine, hot alpha males and romance that will leave you at the edge of your seat and make you ask for more, this book got you covered.
Noooo!! Why did they end it there!?!? This is an excellent read, I absolutely love Violet and her take no crap attitude. Raf is a freakin dream boat and the bestie twins, love them! There is literally nothing I can complain about with this storyline or it’s characters. I CANNOT wait for book two, after those revelations I seriously need the next book like yesterday! To sum it up…..This is a Must Read!
This book is a great fantasy read. I was hooked from the start and devoured every word. A great read, I really enjoyed it.
Wow, This Is Dark, Devious & Deadly. I Loved It!
Completely Gripping.
(Read using Kindle Unlimited)
Princess Ballot (Royals of Arbon Academy #1)
Well this wasn’t at ALL the story I was expecting when I started this book, it’s so much more dark & twisted, I loved it! Violet has been raised in the system. She’s an orphan that’s survived some very painful & dark times. Rather than let these things break her she’s learned from them! Very near aging out of her group home she’s told she’s won the lottery that’s drawn every 5 years, to win a free scholarship with everything included, to the ultra exclusive & elitist Arbon Academy!
She meets & is befriended by Mattie, she’s a paternal twin & seems pretty normal considering how everyone else is. Their friendship grows. The Royals from around the world all attend this Academy, including the crown Prince’s/princesses. Violet is called names & treated badly by many but not all. She starts to fall for someone, against advice, but his actions towards her speaks louder than rumours!
I was gripped by the storyline, world build & characters in this series opener. There’s so much more going on than I’ve put in my review, obviously. I can’t wait to discover where it will all lead. I’ve downloaded books #2 & #3 already!
Debbie, 1970, UK
I love Jaymin’s supernatural stories and was really curious to read this one since it has a different perspective from her other works. There’s an interesting plot, charging characters, great setting, twists, steamy romances all in a futuristic world. The magic didn’t come from the characters but from the writers’s narrative.
Once I saw Jaymin Eve was coming out with a new book I was all over it. Then I found out it was going to be another series with Tate James and I almost swooned. Their Dark Legacy series one of my favorites from 2019 and I have a feeling this one is going to be just as good.
Now I have read several books that start out with an orphan girl and move on from there including one by Jaymin Eve. I am not sure if it is because I am new to reading as much as I am or if it is because I am naïve, but I didn’t see this whole story coming. AT ALL! I was blown away by the whole story and I can’t wait to see what’s to come in book two especially after that ending, I mean DAMN!
What is it about these authors and their ability to create a world, characters and a story that is so damn addictive. I’ve been eagerly awaiting this series since I first heard about it and it didn’t disappoint.
Princess Ballot (Royals of Arbon Academy #1) by Jaymin Eve & Tate James is a story set in an apocalyptic era where society is now ruled by royal families. Every 5 years the college to these royals have a lottery. Violet from the Americas has won. She is just aging out of foster care and is now being thrust into a world she knows nothing about. Violet is determined to get her education, keep her head down and not make waves. Unfortunately upon her first day she is the center of a tug of war between the Prince of Switzerland and the Prince of Australasias. This story is more than meets the eye. There is the typical snobbery by most of the rich kids looking down on the poor girl along with a love / hate scenario with a splash of a secretive underground fight club. What Violet endures at this school is not a walk in the park and can have serious implications due to the different countries and their alliances. I as so looking forward to the next book in the series. The end of this story left me with a teaser that has me chomping at the bit. Love the characters and the dynamics between them. 5 stars for me.
I really liked this one. Will probably read it again.
I was instantly hooked and can’t get enough! This is like The Selection’s older, darker, and steamier cousin. Violet’s journey, plus the romance and addition of my two favorite fictional twins made it impossible to put down. The depth of story and characters created lots of layers and intrigue for the reader, while pulling you into the pages and their lives. I absolutely loved it and after finishing, immediately grabbed the next book, it’s that great!
I wasn’t going to read any more ‘Academy’ books. This one has been sitting on my Kindle for weeks and finally gave it a look. The story was unique enough keep me reading. The female main character, Violet, for having been a ‘street-kid’ and supposedly street smart, trusts new people and falls in love awfully quickly. In a week she has a best friend and a boyfriend. Then the book ended right in the middle of a scene. Not quite a cliff hanger, but definitely more than a tease. I don’t care for endings like that. Up to that point and even with the MC that doesn’t act the way she says she thinks, I did like the story. You’ll have to decide for yourself.
This book BLEW ME AWAY. I am so happy I have all of them to binge because this series is AMAZING. These 2 authors are a dream duo. I love Violet. She is so brave and strong. Being alone all her life, orphaned, then starting at this new school full of rich royals and HOT dudes like WOW. And on top of that being a social outcast and having 2 of the richest most popular royal dudes want you.
Rafe, shew little dark haired bad boy hottie.
Alex, blonde haired good guy sex machine.
Which guy does she choose? Also she harbors a secret. What an awesome book and I am reading book 2 now!
I hedged on reading this, as I saw somewhere that it was a Love Triangle and I HATE that trope…. but considering the authors, I caved. Those two can write a menu and I would 5 star it. Anyway, I was relieved to see that it’s not a love triangle, at least not the way you normally think of one. It’s… complicated, in the best way possible.
When Violet is ‘randomly’ chosen to attend the prestigious Arbon Academy, Violet’s life is radically changed by the glitz, glamour and danger of the hallowed halls. In wars past, the Democratic system so many nations hailed, crumbled, leading to the rise and expansion of Monarchies the world over. Now, Royals rule every nation and land, and their heirs need somewhere to train… privately, discreetly and completely. Arbon Academy. The very place a know nothing, faceless and nameless orphan has now found herself. Let the games begin….
This is everything you would expect from a Tate James and Jaymin Eve mash up, and then some. Fast, romantic and thoroughly twisted, it smacks across the page and leaves you guessing. There is so much more going on here that Violet suspects, but by the final page, she’s starting to get a clue, and so is the reader. 5 stars.
Perspective:
~First Person, Single POV:
Ending Type:
Cliffhanger:
Rating:
~R
Romantic Dynamic:
~M/F
Character Age Range:
~18+
I grabbed this book on a whim from Kindle Unlimited and OH MY. I was absolutely addicted from the first page. This read was exhilarating and highly addictive. It is not only a mildly dystopian academy read, but is also a royalty read. TOP SHELF LEVEL guys.
This is one of those, order pizza for dinner so you don’t have to stop reading, type of books. I could not stop once I started. I fell so in love with each and every character in this read that I legitimately finished this and went back and started reading these authors entire backlists.
This book had the royal intrigue and mystery, as well as the sexy epic ness of a school filled with political royalty. Plus, the cast of characters is going to leave you as desperate as I am for more words, but don’t worry, the second book was released already!
My emotions rule my reading experience and when it comes to reading I can assure you that love at first sight is totally a thing. I can fall in love with characters within a few sentences. I can fall in love with books within a few chapters. And in this case I can fall in love head over heels with a blurb. So when review copies were available I just HAD to sign up.
And Eve and James wrote a truly amazing book together. In the first place because the book is addictive, very addictive. I started the book this morning on my way to work and I just had to read a few more chapters AT work before I was sort of ready to let the story and the characters go for a little while. And when I picked it back up on the way home again I couldn’t let go until I finished.
Violet is an amazing character and the perfect mix of a pretty girl with girlish wishes and desires and a bad ass attitude and character. The blurb promises that she doesn’t take shit and Eve and James really deliver on that promise. Of course, Violet is flawed. She can be naive at times and she doesn’t always know the right thing to say, but she doesn’t give other characters the chance to walk over her and treat her like crap.
Speaking of the other characters. I love how layered, complicated and unique all the other characters are. Even though we’re introduced to quite a few characters, it’s easy to tell them apart and to get a feel of who they are and what they hide. Of course, there’s quite a lot of mystery slowly being resolved, but the characters feel real and I might have a soft spot for Rafe already, even though he doesn’t seem like my type from Violet’s point of view.
Combine the amazing characters with a gripping plot, that’s progressing and growing and ends on a cliffhanger, and a very flowing and nice writing style and you have a perfect start of a new series. I’m really curious to learn more about this world, these royals and the intrige they’re hiding behind those charming masks. So, I’d say: WHEN WILL WE GET BOOK 2?
This new to me author wrote a great story of a futuristic upper class college bully situation. I should have read the blurbs to know it was going to be quite a while for book two.
All that aside, this book was a fantastic twist in the current bully trope in full swing in the romance genre. It gives the reader twists and turns they won’t see coming unless they read a spoiler but don’t!
I will preorder book two because I need to know what happens. Six months is a long time to wait but I’m excited enough to wait
I loved EVERYTHING about this book!
Jaymin Eve is definitely one of my favorite authors. Her works with other authors quickly become my obsession reads. I cannot wait until this summer to read the next book.
FIVE GREAT (I mean MIND BLOWING) STARS for Violet and Rafe (yes, I’m still hoping that he will be her Prince Charming ) !!!
This is the first book that I’ve read and it had written by Jaymin Eve and Tate James.
I thought that it will be one more dark college romance, but it wasn’t and because of that, I loved it more.
It’s a dystopian dark college romance book in which action is placed in time after the fictional Monarch War where the world was divided into monarchies.
“Princess Ballot” is a dark college romance with a lot of angst and secrets that will keep your attention through the whole book.
Violet is one female badass character who knows when she can fight and when she needs to grit her teeth and receive bumps.
I felt so sorry at the end of this book because she didn’t deserve the betrayal from the person for whom she believed wasn’t that kind of person, as the others said to her.
But, I know that in the next she will serve the revenge to that person.
I didn’t like Alex from the beginning.
He was too good to be true so I had some suspect that he was something hiding and I was so right !
Rafe.
I was cheering for him from the beginning.
He took my heart before Violet’s and I was waiting for the whole book for them to be together.
But, that didn’t happen.
That is why I want to read the “Playboy Princes” right now!
Rafe is a typical bad boy from this kind of books and no matter what he does, you still think he is the right guy for Violet.
I hope they end up together.
If you’re looking for some new dark college romance, you should definitely read this book!
Highly recommended!!!
P.S. I need the next book right now !!! Pretty please?!