Book: American Royals by Katharine McGee
Genre: YA romance and speculative-ish
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
In enjoyed the reading of this book, but I must say I was quite disappointed by the ending.. or lack thereof. Sigh.
It follows the points of view of four girls who are living in the high society of the American royalty... yes... in this world George Washington decided he would like to be a king and not a president... and so we have kings and queens here, just like in England and other places. And this the story of his descendants who are now part of that.
The four girls are :
Beatrice: She is the oldest of three kids and is up next for the crown. Normally the crown goes to the oldest son, so she is the first time the new law is in effect, and she will become Queen when her father dies. And he would like her to find a husband before that happens, which might be sooner than we think. So there is a ball held with eligible guys for her to choose from... but that's all a bummer for her because she is actually in love with her bodyguard.
Samantha: She is Beatrice's younger sister... and twin to the prince... Jefferson. She is the "spare" princess and she resents that and acts out in all manner of rebellious ways. Too bad she falls for... at first sight... the dude that Beatrice chooses from the above mentioned ball. Beatrice gets EVERYTHING! Sigh...
Nina: Her mom works for the palace, and so she has grown up being best friends with the royal kids...Samantha's best friend particularly. And over the years, she has realized she has fallen for Jefferson. The prince. But he's been paired with some other girl... and in fact he has been dating her... but just as the story opens.. .they break up leaving him available for Nina.
Daphne: She is the "some other girl" who is out to get Jefferson... even though they have just broken up, she will do anything to win him over. She is perfect for him! Even though she is most annoyingly attracted to his best friend Ethan. The struggle!
So basically we get four different romances going on, and bunch of complications. And I really got invested in all of them... except Daphne who is a really unlikable character, but that's expected. I just wanted her to go away!
Anyway, yeah. Invested. But:
SPOILER
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sadly there is no resolution in this book. No happy ever after at all for anyone. It made me a little crazy. And I'm not sure these get resolved in the second book either. But I guess I might have to find out. Anyway, I really expect at least someone's story to be okay after all that!
Still, despite all that, I enjoyed this one! It was fun to see America in the same way England is, all crazy about their royalty. Fun premise for sure!
