New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins serves up a deliciously royal romance, perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Huntley Fitzpatrick. Meet Daisy Winters. She’s an offbeat sixteen-year-old Floridian with mermaid-red hair; a part time job at a bootleg Walmart, and a perfect older sister who’s nearly engaged to the Crown Prince of Scotland. Daisy has no desire to live in the spotlight, … has no desire to live in the spotlight, but relentless tabloid attention forces her join Ellie at the relative seclusion of the castle across the pond.
While the dashing young Miles has been appointed to teach Daisy the ropes of being regal, the prince’s roguish younger brother kicks up scandal wherever he goes, and tries his best to take Daisy along for the ride. The crown–and the intriguing Miles–might be trying to make Daisy into a lady . . . but Daisy may just rewrite the royal rulebook to suit herself.
New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins brings her signature humor, love of Americana, and flair for romance to this page-turning Princess Diaries turned-upside-down story.
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This review is for an ARC and is my unbiased, honest opinion.
I’m not sure where to begin with this review, so I guess I’ll just starting talking and see where it leads me…
This is a story about Daisy and her family. Daisy’s sister, Eleanor aka Ellie, is dating the Prince of Scotland Alex. Daisy and her family are thrown into the spotlight because of this relationship and they’re trying to figure out how to adapt.
First off, I loved Daisy. She was spunky, feisty, and just everything I didn’t know I needed in this book. I also loved the father-daughter relationship she had. You rarely see books where the bond is close between the teen/young adult and a parent. It’s even more unique to have that be a father and daughter closeness. I loved these two, they made quite the pair! The dad always knew what was going on with the daughter, how to cheer her up, make her laugh, etc. It was truly the sweetest thing.
Romance wise….you don’t get a clear picture of who we’re supposed to be rooting for. Then towards the end it’s like BAM, we’ve always liked each other…..It threw me off to be quite honest. I was leaning more towards another match but hey, I’ll roll with it. I would’ve liked to see more between Daisy and who she ended up with. Towards the ending, I did feel the connection but by then, it felt really rushed. Like we had to play catch up to get the romance rolling.
I also had trouble with the plot twists. It felt like…let’s do this….oh wait, how about THIS!!! It just got to be entirely too much added simply for the WOW factor. This book also had quite a few characters to it. I honestly stopped trying to keep up with who was who. I got the main crew down so that was enough to get by with.
On the positive side of things, I liked Alex and Ellie. What they had felt genuine. The kind of love that makes you put up with all the craziness just so you can be together. It was very sweet and had me wishing they had a book previous to this one. I also wouldn’t mind a book with another character, but I won’t say who.
Overall, I enjoyed the royalty aspect and the father/daughter relationship. I wish it had a faster pace with more realistic drama but it was still a nice read. If this gets a prequel or sequel…I would read it.
Listened to the audio book
A very funny story. Really enjoyed the whole book. Ends with a HEA.
What an unexpected delight. Royals is not usually a novel I would pick up, but something about it seemed to stir me. It was probably the way the novel stepped away from the traditional romance of a girl falling in love with a prince. It is romantic but fun all at the same time.
Daisy is not some girl who wants to be a princess, and she is not. It is her sister, who is a minor character in the novel which is engaged to the Crown Prince of Scotland, dragging her sister and her family into the limelight. Moreover, Daisy is not happy about it at all. She is the average teenager who has a disgruntled ex-boyfriend and a sister who is trying to impress her new royal family. Moreover, it becomes a royal pain in the ass. There are times when Daisy comes off as selfish, but the way Hawkins tells the story makes her relatable. Daisy did not ask for this life, she likes her quiet life in the middle of nowhere Florida with her untraditional hair color, but for her new family, this is not acceptable. So Daisy is left fumbling around in a world she was not prepared for in the least, making a mistake after mistake as she tries to figure out a way to not embarrass her sister or make the front page of the tabloids.
She is such a relatable character who feels like the lesser of two sisters, and now she feels like her mistakes, and screw up, is on the radar. It is an uneasy feeling that makes her very relatable. She is a girl who feels a little lost in her life, very confused, and very insecure. So, her entire attitude in the novel, it is understandable and works to make her relatable instead of standoffish.
As far as the story goes, it is a fast read. There’s nothing complicated about the narrative as it follows this girl trying to navigate a world she is not prepared to enter. It is a very character driven novel about Daisy and Miles, both of whom are stuck in the way their lives where before this all happened and who are learning to adapt to change. So it is a story about growth and character dynamics, which Is the function of the plot. Other than the romancing the royals. Despite that, however, there’s not much conflict in the novel. There should be though. Daisy has so much resentment in her, and her sister is so strung up by stress that an eventual blowout seems like the logical outcome. However, everything, once again, gets pushed under the rug of understanding. Much of the novel puts Daisy through an unfairness, taking away the control of her own life, but no one seems to realize that or even care. That is where the story gets a little too unrealistic. There’s no confrontation, and Daisy accepts her new life and comes to understand her sister.
Overall, this was quite the enjoyable read. It is no complex, and it lacks the proper conflict and resolutions the character dynamics needed, but for a quick light read, it was quite fun. ( | B)
I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. This is a cute and fun book. Daisy’s Sister Ellie is engaged to be married to the prince of Scotland. She and her parents have been living in Florida pretty much out of the eye of the press, then they get thrust into the eye of the storm when they visit Scotland. Daisy meets the brother (Sebastian) of Ellie’s fiancé, Alex, and trouble ensues. Sebastian’s friends are trouble, she even meets one that catches her eye, and sparks fly. This is a very cute book, in the vein of Princess Diaries. This is a definite must read!