Unfortunately I just couldn’t get to grips with this book at this point in time. I do hope to read  again it in the future though.

❤️❤️❤️❤️
💋
This was so different and very enjoyable to read.

The characters so interesting and intriguing, all with different aspects to their lives but all in similar situations, looking for love , honour and a way to find the perfect life for them .

The future monarch loving the wrong man , needing to marry for the country and not her own wants .

The Spare falling for someone she can’t have because his duty takes him elsewhere.

The Prince loving a commoner, duty says she must have a title, but does he care enough to see when the person he trusted is using him.

The best friend who loves the Prince like a brother , but has a secret desire of his own .

The fiancé , who is marrying because you can’t refuse the future Queen , even if you heart lies elsewhere.

The Bodyguard, who’s loved his unreachable lady for so long , and knows it’s never to be.

The Ex , deviously plotting her next move , removing the competition in any way she can .

The friend who loved the Prince from being children together, can he see her worth , and can she deal with the fallout of the press .

It’s devastating in it complexity, and very moorish reading.
You’ll be hooked for sure .

Note this is not the full story just the first instalment.
Sad but true , I didn’t know and felt a little let down at the end ,
Hence the four stars, not five. 

I received an Arc copy of this book and chose to post this review

I would like to thank netgalley and Penguin for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book and can't wait for the next one!

I really enjoyed this book. I wasn’t sure what to expect but I read it in a day. The writing was quick and easy to read. Samantha was very quick witted and along with Nina, they were my favourite characters.

This book was a fun, entertaining read. The premise is simple, what if America has royals like in the UK.
It was funny at times. Unfortunately it fell a little flat when it comes to a proper plot or real character development. But, the idea is definitely interesting. 
Thanks a lot to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

Welcome to the American Royalty! It’s here that we meet the monarchy of America, or shall we say it’s children. 

The future Queen of America, Beatrice, has been getting ready for this role her entire life. She’s been learning the ropes and gaining an understanding of the politics in readiness for the moment she is required to step up,  even though she has been doing this, it completely throws her when her parents suggest that it’s time that she found a ‘husband’, this is where everything starts to go downhill. 

Not only does Beatrice panic at the small pool of prospective husbands to choose from but she also realises that she’s already in love, a forbidden love, a love that she is unable to pursue. 

Although Beatrice’s siblings do not have the same amount of pressure on their lives, they still struggle to be part of their ‘Royal’ household. Princess Samantha and Prince Jefferson are both a little wild and have had to be brought back home from their ‘gap year’ because they keep ditching their security detail!  Much to their dismay they now have to ready themselves for a Ball. 

Samantha, always ready to get into mischief meets a very lovely fellow at the dreaded ‘Ball’ and persuades him to meet her in the cloakroom and things get a little heated, however not all as it seems and as it turns out Teddy is there to meet Beatrice, the future King consort! 

Meanwhile on the terrace Nina, who has been friend with the twins for like forever,  has slipped out for some air and is interrupted by Jefferson, who then apologises for his behaviour at Graduation, to which turns into a long-awaited kiss. 

Lastly, we have Daphne, who is trying her best to get Jefferson back, she will get him back at any cost, but will Ethan, his best friend ruin her chances?

The format of this novel is set out in the POV of – Beatrice, Nina, Samantha and Daphne. The story is folded into each character’s point of view and is easily followed. I felt that these characters were well written and encompassed a level of understanding of each of their roles, the future Queen, the ‘spare’ sister, the friend who turns into a flame and then the ex-girlfriend who is so manipulative and just cannot let go. Although I did enjoy this novel I did find it a little repetitive at times and kinda slow on the uptake. It could have been shorter and more defined, but ultimately a nice holiday read.

A romance set in an alternate history, American Royals is a story about the four young women of and around the royal House of Washington. There’s Beatrice, the Crown Princess groomed to be the first Queen of America, her younger sister Samantha, a wild child, Sam’s childhood best friend and her twin brother Jeff’s secret girlfriend Nina, and Jeff’s ex and social climber Daphne. Each of them have complicated romances, set against their intersecting and complicated lives, and their wants and desires. Bee is falling in love with her bodyguard, which is ill-advised as she is being married off to Sam’s crush Teddy; Daphne is scheming to get back into Jeff’s life while Nina is trying to figure out how she fits into his.

Firstly, the plot and writing shine in this book. The perspectives are varied, and the voices are distinct, with the change of PoV hardly distracting from the story of another. Additionally, while this is technically about romance, duty and power, the story is more about these young women themselves than about their love life; the men are, for the most part, too boring to be of interest, to be frank. Their personalities are also set against each other well – we have Bee and Daphne both having a public face for the adoring masses, but while Bee’s private face is one of anxiety and duty, Daphne’s is that of a schemer and she is the antagonistic character. Similarly, while Sam and Nina are both facing the ire of public opinion, one is seen as a spoiled princess while the other is seen as a gold-digger. And yes, Sam and Daphne are both terrible in different degrees – Sam holds her sister’s engagement against her even though she knows it is more political than for love (which was an overreaction for a guy she kissed, like, twice), while Daphne deliberately harmed a friend and is out to ruin Nina’s life. And all of them are entertaining to read through.

However, there’s the fact that this alternate history setting comes across more as a fantasy monarchy version of America than actual re-imagining of history. The world-building is very sparse, and it glosses over what changes could’ve happened, and practically wipes away the whole complicated mess that is American history with the brush of ‘it was a monarchy so things worked out quite well’. Not only that, it then goes further to suggest that because of America never ‘inventing’ democracy, no other notable European nation employed it either (I don’t know what this means for the World Wars, so it brings up a lot of questions again, but let’s not go deep into that here). It basically goes like – so what if in the current world, America always had a monarchy instead – without any much thought in that direction; and honestly, if that was just the route it wanted to go, a dystopia setting like The Selection would have been more its speed.

Overall, while it is an engaging read, it doesn’t utilize its setting well.

This book was really not what I expected and sadly just not my thing. The story focuses on an alternative America that has it's own Royal Family and ........ well that's about it unfortunately. No real character development or plot and I found it all a bit silly and irritating if I'm completely honest, particularly the King's 'illness'!
I hate to be so negative and I'm sure this would be a good read for others but it's 1 star for me unfortunately.

***SPOILER FREE REVIEW***
American Royals is a book with such an imaginative storyline.  I loved The Thousandth Floor series by Katherine McGee so was really excited to be able to read this book early.  
I was hooked by the idea this book was based on - George Washington becoming the first King of America. I don’t really know my real American history being a Brit but it didn’t hamper my enjoyment of this story.
This isn’t a five star rating for me because compared to her previous books some things about the writing did annoy me a little or seem a little sloppy in places but hopefully these things will be fixed in the finished copy, which I will be buying! Also the ending almost left you at a real cliffhanger like you were waiting for answers and just gearing up to see what happens but you will have to wait for most of those answers until book two.  So maybe wait to read this until nearer book two is released if you don’t like that kind of ending!

I really enjoyed this book, despite the rather confusing start. We get introduced to so many characters right from the bat and it proved complicated to remember who was who. The plot is more romantic than political. Each girl vies for the affection one some other boy and although it's entertaining to read, I only found Daphne and Ethan's dynamic actually interesting. 

I'll read the sequel for sure, but I wish there was more political conflict rather than romantic conflict.

DNFed halfway through.

I really, desperately wanted to love this book because it sounded like such good summery fun, but it just didn't work for me. The first 100 pages or so were interesting enough, however it just couldn't hold my interest after that. It's a bit harsh to say this book was boring but...

I really think that American Royals would have been an infinitely better book if it were written for an adult audience rather than a YA one.

I thought I’d give this book a go as a light summer read. It’s not the sort of thing I’d normally select, but I was enjoying it very much. However, I found the way it ended really irritating. There was no resolution whatsoever. It’s made clear that this book is the first in a series, which is fine, but each book in a series needs to stand on its own, it can’t just be chopped off abruptly.. There are several strands running through the story, not one of them was resolved, leaving me feeling unsatisfied and a little bit cheated. Epic family series can be great, but you have to give your reader an ending to one strand at least, whilst maybe weaving in something that will be a bigger plot line in the next book. I’d give the second book a go, but I’d be approaching it with some trepidation. Fingers crossed it will be more assured.

This is a teenage story about The Washington family who happen to be the monarchs of America. Yes thats right. Instead of breaking away from British Monarchy, they copied it and America is ruled by the descendants of George Washington. 

There are 3 teenage kids of the ruling monarch, Beatrice, Samantha, and Jefferson, Beatrice is next in line to be Queen and lives a life of duty and responsibility, while the other 2 have more freedom. 

This is a satirical take on what life would be like, it was well written, but it read like a teenage soap opera. I thought it was okay, but i have no interest in reading the sequel as i feel its a bit too young for me. 

Teenagers will love it though.

4 stars

This book is based on the premise that George Washington became the King of America and his ancestors are still in the place of royalty. We have the King and Queen (who we barely see) and the Queen to be Beatrice, her brother Jefferson and sister Samantha.
I really enjoyed the sibling dynamics and the different personalities, the general storyline and the gossip girl like feel given to a story about Royalty. It is an easy but quite long read.
Each of the siblings had their own stories and we saw things from their points of view as well as Samantha's best friend and Jefferson's ex girlfriend. I enjoyed that we got so many POV although I wish we had more from the King and Queen as this would add an extra dimension to the book. At points it was rather teenagerish and I wanted to tell the characters to grow up!
The writing was good and here was a nice flow to the book. It was almost a 3.5 star for me but I upped it to 4 stars  because I have been thinking about it alot since!
I look forward to seeing how the next book continues.

I received this e-book from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Not really my thing. A bit too frothy and smacked of the Princess Diaries, something I think teenagers will enjoy but not for me.

DNF at 18%. I enjoyed the first chapter but found the switching of POV characters really jarring, making it difficult to build up sympathy for specific characters. I loved Princess Beatrice but found the other characters annoying, especially Daphne. 

The concept is really fun, so I'm sure it will be a popular read, it just wasn't right for me.

Lots of fun - I really enjoyed this modern take on royalty and an alternative view of america’s power structure. 

I did find the side story of Daphne’s true ‘villainy’ a little bit unnecessary and it felt a bit shoehorned in. I also thought it was a little predictable in places but I don’t mind - it’s a nice soft summer read and the twists aren’t too twisty to make this a thriller or anything. 

I look forward to reading the sequel. If you’re a fan of The Princess Diaries or Gossip Girl, you’ll love this.

I wish I had read a book like this in my teenage years as when I was a teen in the late 90's the books available were Sweet Valley High, Point Romance and Point Horror (remember them? They were fantastic!)

It is nice to see almost adult content in YA books, finally authors are realising that teenagers can handle harder topics and not everything is viewed from Rose Tinted Glasses.

This book was great fun, pure escapism. Loved it. 

Thanks for Netgalley for allowing me an advanced copy.

Fun and engaging book about what might happen in a world where the USA had a royal family. This was a great holiday read and I would definitely recommend it to others.

Wow, welcome to your next fun royal read. This year I’ve really found myself loving books about fictional royalty and this has been a great addition. Set in an alternative United States, the Washington family have been ruling for generations Princess Beatrice is next in line with worries about heart vs head, Princess Samantha, on the other hand, can’t live up to her older sister and future Queen. Royal life is pretty complicated when you’re young. 

Each of the women that narrated the novel has their own quirks and viewpoints. Personally, I loved Nina and Sam the most and found them the easiest to relate to. That said, I had a real soft spot for Beatrice because her life was set out for her – she reminded me a lot of depictions of a young Queen Elizabeth II and what it must have been like for her. The only character I could not stand (and I’m pretty sure that’s intentional) was Daphne but I kind of loved to hate her too. 

There were points that I feel we're very similar to The Crown and tales of the royalty we have here in the UK. While I can’t go into too much detail without getting into spoiler territory I could kind of work out bits and pieces of the novel ahead of time. While I completely get it – there isn’t a royal family in the US to base this on, it was a sticking point for me. 

I would love for Jefferson’s point of view to be included in a later book – as the only male heir I wanted to know his thoughts, his motivations. We only see him through the eyes of his sisters, ex-girlfriend and love interest and I definitely think it would add to the narrative of the story. 

I gave this 4 stars, for a while I was set on 3.5 for a while but the last few chapters cemented a higher rating for me and we end on a cliff-hanger and I need to know what happens next. Who will clean up the mess of the American royal family? Who will end up with who? I need to know and I will definitely be pre-ordering a copy of the second book in the series…even though the first hasn’t come out yet. Definitely a recommended read!