I struggled with Falling Hard for the Royal Guard right from the start, and frequently considered abandoning it. I didn't, because it is a debut novel. But Maggie, the main character, is dreadful. Clearly she has issues but, if we have her history explained to us, I missed it. I think we're supposed to feel sorry for her as her mother has died and her ex is truly appalling. But I just found Maggie irritating. She's frequently late for work and/or turns up drunk or hungover; when she's there she does as little as possible. Yes, her boss and colleagues are painted as being (unrealistically) horrible to her; there's enough abuse and bullying there to get them all fired, but Maggie just mutters about them, and carries on behivang like a self-centred and irresponsible teenager.

And then there's Freddie who is two-dimensional and hardly ever on the page. His friends are probably the best characters in the book, along with Mhairi and Katie who appear too close to the end. For me the book is padded out with too much detailed history, far too many conversations with ravens and cats, and a plethora of character traits not really ever combining to make living, breathing characters.

I do feel that the publisher should take some of the blame for my disgruntlement. The cover and the blurb do not lead any reader to expect the book on the pages.

Really good book, easy writing style and a fast plot.
I enjoyed it and i would recommend to everyone who want to read an easy romance

It's my first time reading something from this author and I was pleasantly surprised. A clean romance that is a perfect palate cleanser from the smutty novels I usually go for, the perfect mixture of history, humour, and love.

Maggie was a really complex character for a lighthearted rom-com and her personality had depth and dimension, conturing a person that struggles with insecurities just like the rest of us. As for Freddie, he was a grump with a great group of friends who added perfectly timed moments of comic relief.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Books for giving me an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this book, I really, really did; however, it just fell flat. I found Maggie to be a caricatures of a corky, lonely, “I-want-to-be-loved” FMC. I wasn’t charmed by how she was always late for work, or her terrible dates and even worse ex-boyfriend. Her talking to the ravens was just weird and took up way too much of the book. The fact that she gave all the ravens names, and I was supposed to remember them was such a waste pages. Freddie was fine, but that’s it. I kept waiting for the book to get better and it got a little better about half way through, but it wasn’t enough to redeem it. It was too chaotic, there were too many characters, and there just wasn’t chemistry. I liked the new approach and a little bit of the history aspect, but it just felt forced. The author’s forward also made me feel really guilty for not liking this book because she basically says it’s inspired by her life and relationship. I appreciate that her time living in the Tower of London and falling in love with a beefeater was probably fantastic, but it didn’t translate well as a novel. 2⭐️, 0🌶

I found this book a little difficult to get into but that could be my lack of concentration at the minute but once I got into it I couldn't put it down and read it I'm 3 sittings. I was hooked on Maggie and Freddie, rooting for them from the start. I felt lost when I had finished the book hoping to discover further how the relationship grew between them.

From her bedroom in the Tower of London, twenty-six-year-old Maggie has always dreamed of her own fairy-tale ending.

Yet this is twenty-first century London, so instead of knights on white horses, she has catfish on Tinder. And with her last relationship ending in spectacular fashion, she swears off men for good.

And then a chance encounter with Royal Guard Freddie forces Maggie to admit that she isn’t ready to give up on love just yet… But how do you catch the attention of someone who is trained to ignore all distractions?

This was such a cute story! It was also laugh out loud hilarious at parts. Maggie is entirely relatable, which is a nice change of pace for me with main characters!

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for an eARC in exchange for an honesty review.

I loved this romantic novel.
filled with humour and great characters, i think that Maggie has summed up how most women feel about romance at the moment, but still hope when you least expect it.
This book made me feel fuzzy inside and brought back my love of romance.

Falling Hard for the Royal Guard by Megan Clawson is a cute, light, enjoyable novel about Maggie Moore, a young woman who lives in the Tower of London (the author lives in the Tower of London as well, who knew?} Maggie is a bit of a mess, works with abusive people, but isn't terribly responsible herself. She's coming off a bad break up, and falls for a good looking Royal Guard with beautiful eyes. She does some crazy things while trying to be noticed by him, including going on a series of online dates with disastrous results. A fun read, with bits of tower history. Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

It was cute in parts, and I enjoyed how much detail Maggie/Clawson went into over the history of the Tower of London and other such attractions, but I couldn't help but feel the plot was all over the place, as was the main lead.

First of all, there isn't a nice, friendly female character - barring the Ravenmaster, as she rarely spoke, and the two we meet in the last 5% - who isn't mean to Maggie. In fact, every other female character is for some reason constantly rude, cruel, or mocking to her.

Maggie struck me as a bit of a mess. She was somehow constantly in embarrassing situations that led to more than a few tears and teasing, and I didn't think it was possible to have this much secondhand embarrassment from a character. She was also working in a job with an awful boss and coworkers and never stood up for herself. She didn't even see herself in a positive light or admit she was happy until she had a boyfriend.

Plot-wise, the Tinder date thing felt like it came out of nowhere halfway through the book, and proceeded to have not much impact on the rest of the story. Sure, she went on ridiculous dates, but that didn't do much else to further the narrative.

I didn't understand the reasons why she was so concerned about all the cameras and gossip. Let me rephrase - I understand why she was concerned, but I didn't understand why it was such a problem. There's an entire story of how a woman's reputation was slaughtered because other women assumed she "comforted" all the soldiers and passed along the story without confirmation from the original woman or any of the other soldiers. It was just so excessive it didn't feel realistic - why were the nighttime security people so nosy? Why did they run their mouths about Maggie's happenings to her dad?

It was an okay story, and I'd give it a 2.5-star rating. I commend Clawson's efforts, though, the historical aspects were certainly interesting.

A laugh out loud enjoyable read. What an impressive debut from Megan Clawson. The characters were really relatable and the storyline had me hooked from start to finish. I can’t wait to read more by Megan Clawson. Thank you for the early proof.

I'll be honest, I requested the ARC copy of this this one because of the guardsman on the cover - we have a history of Grenadiers in my family, and it instantly appealed. When I realised the story was about a girl who lived at the Tower of London, I was even more grateful I requested it! One of my favourite places in London, so I really hoped it would meet my expectations. Did it? Yes, and then some! I didn't expect to find myself laughing, crying and going through the complete emotional wringer, I simply couldn't put it down.

Maggie lives at the Tower, as the daughter of a Beefeater, and works in the ticket office. Returning home from a terrible day at work, she collides with what she thinks is a lamppost, but is in reality Grenadier Freddie. What follows is a will they/won't they romance, with many fabulous supporting characters (the ravenmaster and Freddie's Guard colleagues were my favourites). I loved the little insights into the workings of the Tower, and particularly liked the description of the Grenadier emblem as a shuttlecock - something I've always said myself!

This book was freaking adorable! I laughed. I cried. I cheered. I want to read it again. I loved the premise because I love the Tower of London, and have always been fascinated by the idea of being lucky enough to actually live there.

I love reading new to me authors and I am here for a royal romance. I'm very intrigued to where this will go. This is giving me Sophie Kinsella and Sophie Cousins vibes. Full review to come.

I would like to start by thanking NetGalley, the publisher and everyone involved in allowing me early access to this ebook.

TWs: death of a parent (off page but mentioned), alcohol abuse

Maggie lives in the Tower of London and this was the main plot line that caught my attention. I always fancied seeing royal events, from the British monarchy, in the tv, so I felt I would enjoy a lot the setting of this book. I was not wrong, the setting was amazing! However, the rest could have been better, hence the rating, which is almost based on setting alone.

Maggie falls in love with one of the royal guards, as the title says, but the romance felt too slow paced for me. The two main characters only start interacting more around 70% of the book and the love seemed to come “of of the blue”. There was not a common past between them and I felt they didn’t really get to know one another, I felt they interacted like 2 or 3 times and then were madly in love, which did not seem realistic. This was, by far, my main issue with the book. I would have liked to seen a better character evolution in Maggie, I felt there was a lot of potential there, but the pacing was the main downside for me. Still, I enjoyed the setting a lot and the friendship that Maggie develops with the other royal guards (other than the male MC), which was fun to see and allowed me to laugh a bit!

This review will also be available on my goodreads profile and, later on, on my instagram account - @cat.literary.world

Fluffy, humourous, and a wonderful debut with classic British romcom vibes! Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book

Maggie Moore lives in a castle but her happily ever after seems to be evading her. With her love life in a total mess, she decides to swear off men for good, that is until she meets Royal Guard Freddie, and she realises she’s not ready to give up on love just yet. A fun read set within the walls of the Tower of London. Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and the author for the chance to review.

3.5⭐️

This was a cute romance with a nice balance of history and romance and had a nice sprinkle of humor, but unfortunately it got caught up in cliches a few too many times. I still thought it was enjoyable and felt like I learned a lot about the Tower of London, but at times was frustrated with Maggie. I thought she was relatable at times and liked that she wasn't a perfectly likable main character but she did occasionally grate on me. I also did really like on the British colloquiums and didn't mind stopping to google them every time because it felt like it fit the story well. A solid debut!

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a funny and fascinating read. Having toured the setting in real life, I really enjoyed the insider perspective and the voice was engaging.

A super cute, fun romantic comedy that I couldn’t put down! Accident-prone Maggie lives in the Tower of London with her Beefeater dad, where gossip is rife and your every move is caught on camera - watched closely by the nosey security team. This is not ideal for someone who is always embarrassing herself one way or another. Maggie’s character felt real, her love of the Tower and guilt for hating the Big Brother-esque style security that came with her free accommodation, her passion for history and sometimes overwhelming anxiety and body image issues. I felt she was really well rounded and relatable, and loved how many different facets the author gave her, making them parts of her character but not her whole. Freddie is struggling with his familial duty and is keeping a few secrets under wraps that are bound to escape. Seeing him battling against the draw of Maggie and not knowing why lent an air of mystery to the story - one which I found unpredictable and delicious. My favourite parts were perhaps seeing how into Maggie’s passion for history he was and how much something so simple meant to her.
Amongst the mercurial romance with quiet but sweet hottie Freddie the Royal Guard are a whole host of bad dates - the kind of horror stories that are realistic and therefore the reason those apps are not for me! However, this book tackles a few heavier topics without bringing down the feel good vibes of the story. It looks at loneliness, abusive relationships, army families, class, anxiety and many other things without feeling like it’s trying to do too much. All the things that make a person without them being defined by those things - it takes a lot of talent to do that!
Beyond our main characters are a really great cast of side characters - and I’m not just talking about the ravens! The Beefeaters, the Ravemaster, and of course the soldiers from Freddie’s platoon all added an extra level to this story and I loved them all. This was a wonderful read and the perfect debut!

an adorable read, Falling Hard for the Royal Guard has everything you'd expect a British romance to have (coming from a Brit!); a castle, an Oxford man, and lots and lots of tea.

I quite literally could not put this book down, it was as if it was glued to my hands!