This was an entertaining book. For the most part it was fun, sweet and tender, though it was a little confusing at times, the female lead's low self esteem was annoying and the book sometimes moved slowly. I enjoyed this book and would read other books by this author.

Falling Hard for the Royal Guard by Megan Clawson is a modern day romance with a member of the nobility. Maggie is a 26 year old, a slightly flakey, and very quirky woman who has moved back in with her soldier father who lives on the grounds of the Tower of London. She works as a ticket seller where very often she is working through the fog of a hangover. She has a tendency to rush headlong wherever she is going with her unbrushed hair following behind her. When she is late, she is assigned the task of the night drop, which is located in a part of the tower full of shadows, odd noises, and ghosts. One night as she is rushing to complete this chore, she runs head long into a lamppost, which was not where it should have been. Turns out it wasn’t a lamppost, but rather one of the guards. You know the ones: people act like idiots in front of them all day to get them to move a muscle in their strong jaws. He drops he is carrying and she spies a gorgeous sapphire necklace. She hurriedly apologizes, explains her hurry, and rushes on. When she next sees him he is in his position as a guard, but she doesn’t let that stop her from ranting.

This is a charming romance with a slightly odd heroine. The hero, Freddie the guard, is torn between family duty and what he wants, namely, Maggie. They are both good characters although we see rather less of Freddie. Maggie is totally entertaining in her quest to become her own woman, after six years in an emotionally abusive relationship, one she can’t seem to rid herself of. Her co-workers a caricatures of real people, but any woman in the workforce will recognized them. Her dad’s co-workers all watch out for her, loving her in their own ways. It is charming to see. It is also fun to explore the Tower grounds with Maggie and Freddie as hey pursue their romance. All in all, it is an entertaining little book about a woman who has little confidence, but is finding her own way, and a man, although in different circumstances, who is doing the same.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of Falling Hard for the Royal Guard by Avon Books US, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #AvonBooksUS #MeganClawson #FallingHardForTheRoyalGuard

I have seen extensive advertising from both publisher and author for this book and at first I thought it was a bit much but after reading it, I think it’s worth it.
Maggie lives and works in the Tower of London. Her father is a beefeater, and although I’m Welsh I actually didn’t understand the various roles people held in the Tower of London. After a rough break-up from her emotionally abusive ex, she moved back with her dad and seems quite isolated and lovely. Her co-workers are awful and frankly bully her at every opportunity. Her ex boyfriend Bran doesn’t take a hint and persistently comes to her place of work to try and manipulate her and everyone that lives and works there knows her every move. It’s a lot, and reading this even I felt slightly anxious.
After her co-worker Kevin gives safe-duty to Maggie, a menial task in the haunted basement, she crashes into a mysteriously posh man. Later, we come to find out this is Freddie, one of the King’s Guards. Their initial conversations are awkward. Maggie has no confidence and is incredibly shy about whatever she says to someone. She’s very self-conscious about her coworkers seeing or hearing things due to their constant mockery.
The two start a quiet and comfortable friendship that slowly becomes more. This was really cute. If you’re looking for a spicy romance this is definitely not it. There wasn’t even kissing between the main couple until the end of the book. The will-they-won’t-they kept you enticed but it was definitely not limited to over 18s.
Between her self-confidence, varied unfortunate events, trauma from her mothers death and bullying I wish we could have seen some more self-development from Maggie. She confronts her ex and coworkers once but I wish it showed her own development. Obviously I’d always appreciate more romance but with these characters I think it works well.
I’d recommend this book. It was really unique and wholesome and honestly I had no idea about the ins-and-outs the Tower of London had. It was even more interesting knowing the author has personal connections with living there herself. It felt more genuine.
I think the only significant thing I would want was more personal depth. We had lots of insight into Maggie’s self-reflection but I wanted to see her develop more confidence. Especially after it was revealed that her ex was abusive.
I look forward to reading the next book written by the author.
As always my opinions and tastes in books are my own. Thank you for the eARC, I appreciate it. You can also find Falling Hard for the Royal Guard in The Works in the Uk for £6! And it’s out now.

First off, this? This is a slow burn. Like a they don’t even seem like they might get together in this book slow kind of burn. And it was perfect because it’s a realistic kind of rom-com with a developing relationship and exploration of all kinds of feelings that make some of the things the characters do or experience more real. The balance throughout was amazing.

I loved the characters for that balance. Maggie didn’t change herself and she wasn’t unrealistically pretty. She’s this anxious, clumsy being with hair she doesn’t know what to do with and an annoying ex. Maggie’s the most relatable romance character I’ve read in awhile because she isn’t perfect and her issues are real, even when they’re just mean coworkers and a lack of friends or a dating life. Her clumsiness did become her personality in a couple of spots, but overall her interactions with other characters and reaction to different parts of the story more than made up for it.

While Freddie isn’t as relatable or realistic, I did like him as the male main character, especially because we’re really seeing him the way Maggie does. He’s sweet, a bit uptight, and really doesn’t know what he’s doing either, so they have a real chemistry even if the development of parts of their relationship are a bit off.

Some of what I’m stuck on is several characters feel very young for being as old as they are. Maggie and her coworkers are supposed to be in their late twenties, but I wouldn’t have been surprised to find out they had just graduated high school and were starting university. So many of their interactions were just not it for me. Even Maggie’s ex was more emotionally mature than Maggie’s coworkers, so it was a weird jolt when they came into the story and changed Maggie’s character in strange ways.

Everything else, though, was so good! I loved her dates, the tropes, and the way everything played out because I adored Maggie, Freddie, and the interesting tidbits of history included throughout. It was also really nice to see a clean romance that didn’t feel slightly off since the slow burn really moved the attention in a more “will they, won’t they” direction. However, the book could have been about 30 pages shorter because I could have done with less of her work life since her coworkers were so annoying.

Overall, if you love rom-coms, England, history, and quirky yet relatable characters, Falling Hard for the Royal Guard ticks all the boxes.

Note: So many thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books, UK for an advanced copy of Falling Hard for the Royal Guard in exchange for an honest review. All the opinions expressed in this post are my own and in no way reflect the author, publisher, etc.

Maggie lives in the Tower of London. I did know there’s a village of workers who live there, so it wasn’t a surprise, but I loved the descriptions of daily life among the historic stones.
It’s a real Cinderella of a story, from her office colleagues as the bullying ugly sisters, to her soldier friends, helping her. There’s even a fairy godmother (sort of!)
The ending was a bit over-romantic, even for me - no one is like that in real life, surely? But it’s a nice idea, and a charming story to lose yourself in.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this book for review

Set in the tower of London, the story follows the humorous and somewhat tragic love life of Maggie - the daughter of a Beefeater. This was an interesting and engaging romance, filled with historical facts about the Tower of London. The writing was easy to read and devourable!

I absolutely loved all of the characters and the addition of all of the side characters made for a believable and intriguing story.

A fantastic debut novel from Megan Clawson, I can't wait to see what she writes next! Hopefully more romance novels about hunky Guards!

I received this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

I don’t think I’ve laughed so hard at a book in a long time!! This was such a wonderful story and I hope some of these incidents were reminiscent of happenings to the author. I loved the little droppings of information surrounding the Tower of London as well.

The romance side fell a little flat for me but that’s ok, that’s not what this book was for. It made us fall in love with Maggie and her quirky character. And it did that beautifully.

I can’t wait to read more from Megan!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for a advanced copy!

Falling Hard For the Royal Guard by Megan Clawson is a heartfelt romance novel that had me hooked from the beginning. The main character is 26 year old Maggie who just moved in with her father after breaking off a 7 year relationship. We follow her around the Tower of London as she falls in love with a royal guard.

The history put into this novel is incredibly astonishing . I would have never known this place even existed if I did not read the book. The characters are funny and light hearted and some not so much. However, the growing of Maggie through out the book and how she became more confident in the end was well written.

The love that happens between Freddie and Maggie had me wanting more as the chapters went by. I couldn’t have asked for a better ending for those two.

If you are a history snob or just someone who loves to learn highly recommend this book you definitely will learn about an amazing place! Not only that but the romance that happens even better!

Falling Hard for the Royal Guard by Megan Clawson felt like a brilliant ode to the history of England, specifically the Tower of London mixed with a romance involving a woman, Maggie, rediscovering herself in the throes of epic life changes & the dashing Royal Guard, Freddie, that keeps crossing her path. The fact that Maggie called the Tower of London her home was enchanting to me. Falling Hard for the Royal Guard has an early 00’s romcom movie vibe to it & I mean that in a fantastic way!

One of my life’s biggest dreams is to visit Europe, but specifically London. Because of this, I adored the setting. I was enamored with the detailed descriptions of the area & the fascinating inclusion of its’ history. It made me want to go visit even more. The fact that they created this beautiful love story in the midst of it is incredible.

There was a bit of a stalling in the momentum of the story in the middle. However, near the end, I was drawn back in & eager to see where things went. I ended this book completely charmed with a smile on my face.

I was a big fan of Freddie’s co-workers & friends. I was charmed by the eclectic group of people that called the Towers their home.

To those looking for a romance with a unique setting, fellow admirers of England &/or anyone looking for an easy & lovely love story, I would recommend Falling Hard for the Royal Guard, which is out May 2, 2023!

Massive thanks to NetGalley & Avon for the free arc, which I voluntarily read & reviewed.

I will add to Amazon after release date & add links once I do!

This book gives Pick Me Girl vibes. This book is stuffed to the brim with tropes it can be quite confusing. however the overall story was very good!

I was invited to read this book by the Publishers in return for an honest review.
I really enjoyed reading the parts of the book which gave historical information about the Tower of London. I had no idea that people lived in it. This part of the book was very interesting and engaging for me.
Unfortunately I think that I am probably a little older than the intended audience for this book. Sometimes this doesn't matter at all if the characters are well developed and the storyline is strong. Sadly I didn't find this to be the case in this book. Even when I was younger I would not have gotten away with being hungover or late or absent from work as often as Maggie does in this book.
Maggie did have a hard time with the bullying at work as well as the behaviour of her ex. I found it hard to believe that nothing was done about either problems.
The actual Romance plot didn't come until much later in the book and then I think that it seemed very rushed.
This book was good in places but I think that it would be enjoyed by a younger audience.

I had no idea people live inside the Tower of London! That is amazing information. I love that the proof came with a little map of the Tower as well, because all of Maggie's travels around it are described in detail.

Overall I liked this - it's a nice, frothy, gentle romcom, the kind you can predict by about four % in but still enjoy. However there are a couple of issues, and I will just say one here as I don't want to spoil too much:

We're supposed to be on Maggie's side in terms of her job, and the bullying is absolutely unacceptable, no question there. However Maggie is consistently late or not working - she spends a whole day finding the best places to sleep off her hangover. This is not the actions of a good worker! Kevin was cruel and mean, but he was right to be frustrated with her.

I really did enjoy this, and I think a Hallmark version would be amazing. I recommend it for a holiday read, or if you're interested in the Tower as there's plenty of history woven into the story. A sweet, cute read.

Falling Hard for the Royal Guard was one of those books that I was really excited to read. A woman who falls in love with a member of the royal guard? I mean, how cute is that?! Add the fact that she lives in the Tower of London and just lives in this really cool military world was fascinating to me. Then you add Freddie, who is a royal guard that rotates through her area, and I was just ready for a swoon worthy read.


Excerpt, this book just didn't work for me like I'd hoped. At the first encounter, Freddie is incredibly rude and pompous, and I felt like we were never really given a good reason, other than he was distracted with personal problems. Then he does a 180 and starts flirting with Maggie, and I will be honest, it took me a moment to switch gears and forgive him. He seemed sweet and quiet and after a while I forgave his first impression. However, I was not a fan of his wish-washy behavior towards Maggie. He'd go from almost kissing her, and joking around, to throwing up walls, retreating behind his military mask, and physically retreating from her presence. It was hard to root for the guy when he was just as much of a hot mess as Maggie was.


Speaking of Maggie, I wish she had a bit more character development. She's just this flighty woman who just does not have her life together. From a relationship that went wrong that she can't seem to break away from, to the "mean girls" at her work, to the security cameras always watching her every move and spreading gossip about her... it just seemed too much. It was as if the whole world was out to get her. I mean, the girl couldn't even order a pizza without it being an ordeal, and I just wish that the author had spent more time developing Maggie and the characters, than the life of living in a location like the ToL.


When the conflict arises and things come crashing down, just to get their happily ever after, I just felt disappointed. For all of the back and forth, the obstacles, and just lack-luster romance aspect, I was hoping for something more than just a quick fix and a pretty ribbon tying everything up nicely. A lot of things were left unanswered, and I felt like they were just there to pose chaos for Maggie and Freddie. Things take place that have zero repercussions... and I just felt gypped of an honest outcome. In the end, I felt like I read more of a history novel on the royal guard and beefeaters and what their roles are, than I did of a lighthearted romance.

I thought I would love this, or at least enjoy it, but unfortunately I really didn’t. This was pretty boring; it was a lot of her being down on herself and the romance portion came pretty far back. This just wasn’t a fun read for me. But, the historical facts, descriptions of the Tower and life for those who live there, and all that was amazing.

This book was an adorable, sweet weekend read. The characters were charming and the plot was so fun! I read this on the weekend in the spring, but it would be a great summer beach read!

This was an ok read, it was just too slow for me. I liked where it was set and loved the ravens but the storyline didn’t keep me interested sadly.

Falling Hard for the Royal Guard is a captivating tale that boasts a compelling storyline, a superb setting, and a charming protagonist. The characters are well-crafted, and the plot is executed flawlessly, making for an enjoyable read. The author's ability to create a vivid and immersive setting is truly impressive. From the grandeur of the royal palace to the bustling streets of the city, I was transported to a world that is both enchanting and believable. The lead character is a cheeky and endearing individual who captures my attention from the very beginning. Their journey is filled with twists and turns, making for a thrilling and engaging read.

This book is Jane Austin meets Bridget Jones diary and all your favourite books under one cover. I loved this brilliantly funny, cleaver and informative book.

After following Megan on her Tiktok platform I was curious as to how good the quality of the book would be. I was not disappointed! Falling Hard for the Royal Guard has a truly unique story and I loved the insight into what life might be like inside the Tower of London. There were many historical references and some tales that could only be known from an insiders point of view which were interesting.
The storyline itself follows Maggie a relatable young lady who works a miserable job in the ticket office with horrible colleagues and has just ended a long term relationship with a controlling partner who has completely isolated her from her friends. Maggie's life in the tower is less than desirable until a chance meeting one night with the royal guard turns her world upside down. Not only this encounter with the guard but meeting his friends seems to bring out her confidence and give her renewed enthusiasm for life again.

I look forward to reading more novels from Megan

I love royal romances! The cover of this book was adorable and the plot sounded like it would be a great book. Unfortunately, I could not make it past 8% and most of that was after I had scanned past a lot of text looking for actual dialogue and waiting for the two main characters to actually meet. I never fully understood why Maggie is living in the Tower of London. I don't think we were given enough background.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for this ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.