A world where instead of becoming President, George Washington was made king. How would present day America look with a royal family? And how do the family cope with all that royalty has to offer them?
American Royals by Katherine McGee explores this fun premise with the predictably you expect, but still retains its sense of fun.
Author: Katherine McGee
Genre: YA, Romance
Publication Date: 3rd September 2019
Publisher: Random House
Format: eBook (ARC)
Blurb:
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.
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.
My (no spoiler) thoughts…
If you can get on board with the fairytale dystopian premise, then American Royals is a lot of fun to read. Beatrice, the eldest daughter, is primed for becoming the first female monarch. With the pressures of being Queen edging ever closer, her personal bodyguard Connor, keeps her safe.
Her siblings, carefree twins Samantha and Jeff have just returned from their jet-setting trip abroad post high school graduation. Sam’s best friend is Nina, a commoner who had grown up in the palace, as her mother worked there. Jeff’s ex, Daphne, the ambitious aristocrat is still hanging around, with secrets of her own.
The King and Queen come to Beatrice, suggesting now is time for her to find a husband. But all is not what it seems.
Beatrice had always known she couldn’t date the wrong person – couldn’t even kiss the wrong person, the way everyone else at college seemed to. After all, no one wanted their future monarch walk-of-shaming home from a college party.
I would have liked to have seen more depth. With each chapter jumping between different characters, it was hard to build a strong connection to all of them. The ones I liked the most I think were Nina and Beatrice. Nina is one of the few non-royal characters, and was kind of the readers way in to the story. She made a nice contrast between royal life and normality and I would have liked to have explored that more. Beatrice, the future queen, was a great character, but I felt she played things quite safe. She felt isolated from many of the other characters. While she was the one ‘in the spotlight’, it would have been good to have explored her past and feelings further.
I believe a sequel is in the works, which will be a nice opportunity to do all the things it may have missed out on in this one. Ultimately, this book is a teen melodrama. The plot strands may be cliche and predictable, but all the romance and the drama is still so much fun to read. Gossip Girl meets The Crown, I would love to see American Royals on TV one day – this story feels made for a teen drama!
“Before we met, I wasn’t sure what to expect of you. I didn’t realise how thoughtful, and smart, and dedicated you are. You’re going to be an amazing first queen. If this was a world where people could, I don’t know, vote for their monarch, I know that America would still pick you. I would still pick you.”
Elect the King or Queen – what a funny concept. Everyone knew that elections only worked for judges and Congress. Making the executive branch pander to the people, go out begging for votes – that could only end in disaster.
Thank you for reading my review of American Royals. Have you read it? Do you plan on reading it soon?
Lovely review ?! I love stories that rewrite history, and this sounds like an especially interesting concept. It’s something people make passing remarks about sometimes, so I’d love to see how an American monarchy plays out in this book. It’s too bad the alternating POVs didn’t work though. I find it to be hit or miss in stories. But, I’ll still add this book to my TBR!