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Royally Jacked #3
Do-Over
When it comes to love, how many chances do you get?
Girl meets prince. Girl looses prince. Girl gets prince back -- right? Well, that's what Valerie is hoping. She's back in Schwerinborg after spending some time with her mother in the good ol' US of A, and hopes that sparks are still flying between her and Georg. At first it looks like things are going great, until a ski trip to the Alps has Val and Georg's romance hitting some moguls. Could Val's love life be heading for a face-plant?
Girl meets prince. Girl looses prince. Girl gets prince back -- right? Well, that's what Valerie is hoping. She's back in Schwerinborg after spending some time with her mother in the good ol' US of A, and hopes that sparks are still flying between her and Georg. At first it looks like things are going great, until a ski trip to the Alps has Val and Georg's romance hitting some moguls. Could Val's love life be heading for a face-plant?
240 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 26, 2006
3 people are currently reading
815 people want to read
About the author
Niki Burnham
15 books263 followersNiki Burnham is the pseudonym of romance author Nicole Burnham.
You can subscribe to Nicole's newsletter for reader bonuses and the latest news by visiting https://nicoleburnham.com/new-events/
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NOTE FROM NICOLE: My Goodreads library is by no means comprehensive. I have thousands of books on my real (as opposed to my Goodreads) bookshelves. However, my Goodreads library only contains those books I'd give four or five stars and would recommend to friends without hesitation (and I haven't even gotten around to listing all those yet!)
You can subscribe to Nicole's newsletter for reader bonuses and the latest news by visiting https://nicoleburnham.com/new-events/
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NOTE FROM NICOLE: My Goodreads library is by no means comprehensive. I have thousands of books on my real (as opposed to my Goodreads) bookshelves. However, my Goodreads library only contains those books I'd give four or five stars and would recommend to friends without hesitation (and I haven't even gotten around to listing all those yet!)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
August 18, 2024
I feel like Niki Burnham didn't know this was the last book in the series based off the cliffhanger and just... really odd ending. It just ended? It didn't tie up any loose ends or make it feel like the last book in a series. It really bothers me... The book is absolutely adorable and gives Valerie and Georg a lot more page time (screen time? I don't know how we want to word it in this review), but the ending just appears and that's it.
I did enjoy fleshing out Valerie's Dad's character a lot more in this one, since her Mom got a bit more time in the second book. Now, if only there was like a fourth book to tie this all neatly in a bow. Or an adult series that continues with these two? Something? Anything? Come on Niki, you can do it! Even the David thing just kind of got glossed over, like there wasn't enough page time to really talk about it.
I still liked it, but this one felt a little weak for a series ender. There was lots of potential there... Oh well!
Two out of five stars.
I did enjoy fleshing out Valerie's Dad's character a lot more in this one, since her Mom got a bit more time in the second book. Now, if only there was like a fourth book to tie this all neatly in a bow. Or an adult series that continues with these two? Something? Anything? Come on Niki, you can do it! Even the David thing just kind of got glossed over, like there wasn't enough page time to really talk about it.
I still liked it, but this one felt a little weak for a series ender. There was lots of potential there... Oh well!
Two out of five stars.
September 8, 2025
Just not good
August 22, 2011
“I know it’s pronounced like “Hell-moot” and not like “Helmet,” but I still don’t like saying it aloud. I can’t fathom how anyone gives their kids these wacko names non-Germanic-speaking people can’t begin to stay without wanting to crack up. It’s taken me weeks to get used to Georg and Manfred, adding Helmut to the mix is like God daring me to say something snarky aloud, probably at whatever time it can get me into the most trouble.” - Valerie Winslow
It seems like Valerie Winslow managed to cram a whole lot into the week of winter break, which she spent back in Vienna, Virginia. After resolving a few of her issues with her newly-out-of-the-closet mother, hanging with her three best friends and trying a couple of dates with David Anderson on for size, Val is back in Schwerinborg and - her ongoing difficulties with the German language notwithstanding - happy to be there. The media storm that began when a Schwerinborg newspaper suggested that Val might be a corrupting influence on Prince Georg has thankfully passed, Val and Georg are back to being a very happy - if exceedingly discreet - couple. All is right in Val’s romantic world except, you know, she hasn’t figured out how to tell Georg about the dates she had with David Anderson.
Everything else is peachy keen too, if you don’t count the fact that her father has started dating, which Val TOTALLY DOES. Then there’s the girls ask guys dance at school, which Georg can’t go to with her (not discreet enough, apparently), which will undoubtedly give the heinous Steffi plenty of chances to make her favorite little cutting remarks about Val. And oh yeah, wasn’t there something Val meant to tell Georg?
All three of the books in this trilogy (Royally Jacked, Spin Control and Do-Over) are witty, interesting and quick reads. Valerie’s entire story takes place over the course of a few short months so everything feels real and immediate. If you’re looking for both romance and laugh-out-loud comedy that still manages to avoid being total fluff, you can’t go wrong with this trilogy.
November 6, 2012
Reviewed by JenJen for TeensReadToo.com
Poor Valerie has had a tough year, what with her mom asking her diplomat father for a divorce and then dropping a bomb on them that she has been dating another woman on the side and they want to move in together!
Then, as if things can't get any worse, because of her father's high-profile job at the White House and the President running for re-election, having your ex-wife come out of the closet is not a good thing where your job is concerned. So Val's dad has quietly, until after the election, taken an equally great job as a diplomat in Europe.
This leaves Val torn between staying with her friends and moving in with her mom and her girlfriend or moving millions of miles away with her dad - and having to learn a totally different language and way of life.
She opts for the latter, and there she meets him: the prince. They immediately form a friendship, as they are close in age, will be attending the same school, and are even living under the same roof, even if it is a huge palace with lots and lots of wings!
I enjoyed the quiet relationship between Val and Prince Georg, but like them, long for the day when they can go public with their romance and have fun like other kids their age. I felt so sad for Val, who was longing for her old home and friends to be near but not wanting to lose this newfound puppy love with Prince Georg, either.
I look forward to seeing what happens next, but also hope to soon get the opportunity to go back and read the first part of this series!
Poor Valerie has had a tough year, what with her mom asking her diplomat father for a divorce and then dropping a bomb on them that she has been dating another woman on the side and they want to move in together!
Then, as if things can't get any worse, because of her father's high-profile job at the White House and the President running for re-election, having your ex-wife come out of the closet is not a good thing where your job is concerned. So Val's dad has quietly, until after the election, taken an equally great job as a diplomat in Europe.
This leaves Val torn between staying with her friends and moving in with her mom and her girlfriend or moving millions of miles away with her dad - and having to learn a totally different language and way of life.
She opts for the latter, and there she meets him: the prince. They immediately form a friendship, as they are close in age, will be attending the same school, and are even living under the same roof, even if it is a huge palace with lots and lots of wings!
I enjoyed the quiet relationship between Val and Prince Georg, but like them, long for the day when they can go public with their romance and have fun like other kids their age. I felt so sad for Val, who was longing for her old home and friends to be near but not wanting to lose this newfound puppy love with Prince Georg, either.
I look forward to seeing what happens next, but also hope to soon get the opportunity to go back and read the first part of this series!
January 2, 2013
What a werid way to end the series....
August 5, 2016
It was two years ago when I've read about this series on Goodreads and I was hooked. I wanted to read it so bad and it's only this week that I got my copies. I was ecstatic. At the same time I was telling myself not to expect too much but telling myself not to expect too much when I've waited two years to finally read this series is just crazy. I mean, come on! You can't just tell a person who've waited years to read this book to not expect! For fuck's sake, I was excited. I read Royally Jacked and thought it was cute. Then I read Spin Control and asked myself: "What is this? Is this even necessary?". Then I read Do-Over and finally concluded that waiting two years to read this series isn't worth it. I'm so mad at myself and so so disappointed. It doesn't even make sense that this series got three books. You can put all three into one and it wouldn't really make that much of a difference anyway.
And does Val really have to point out in each book that it's Coke Light and not Diet Coke? Or elaborate why she's in smorgasbord (I mean, it's a series.)? Or that she's a geek? Or explain the Valerie Shrug all the time?
PS: I had to wait two years because these book are to be found nowhere in my country, or atleast in the bookstores that I've visited.
PPS: I'm very much disappointed. I'm probably gonna remember this series as the "series that I thought I will like but ended up disappointing me".
And does Val really have to point out in each book that it's Coke Light and not Diet Coke? Or elaborate why she's in smorgasbord (I mean, it's a series.)? Or that she's a geek? Or explain the Valerie Shrug all the time?
PS: I had to wait two years because these book are to be found nowhere in my country, or atleast in the bookstores that I've visited.
PPS: I'm very much disappointed. I'm probably gonna remember this series as the "series that I thought I will like but ended up disappointing me".
May 16, 2017
3.5 STARS
October 30, 2017
Dating a prince isn't easy, but Val is trying. In this book, she also tries to deal with accepting her mom's new life and girlfriend. Good book- great magical ending!
January 12, 2021
Pleasant
August 5, 2025
It was a whole lot at once.
December 19, 2016
This is a review of both Spin Control and Do-Over.
In these last two books in the trilogy now compiled as Royally Crushed, Valerie continues to experience the ups and downs of her relationship with Prince Georg. In Spin Control, she believes she has been dumped, so when she heads home to Virginia for Winter Break, she goes on a date with David Anderson, only to discover that she loves Georg more than ever. In Do Over, she returns to Schwerinborg to reconcile with Georg, and to work on gaining confidence in his feelings for her, even if they can’t always demonstrate their affections where the press can see. Before the end of the trilogy, Valerie also sees her dad start dating again, and finally finds a way to come clean with her friends about her mother’s newly revealed homosexuality.
I know this trilogy is not the best-written in the world, but I really loved reading it. The ultimate outcome was fairly predictable, but the emails between Val and her friends in Virginia, and her awkward uncertainty around Georg, as well as the cattiness of the girls in her Schweringborgian school, all made for great entertainment. I was distracted repeatedly by references to Heath Ledger, who has died since the publication of these books, but the Google books preview of the new edition shows that this problem has been corrected with several passing references to Ledger resting in peace. The only other thing that felt vaguely out of place was the fact that Val and her friends email rather than text or send Facebook messages, but I am sure there are teenagers out there somewhere for whom this is still the norm, so it doesn’t ruin the books by any means.
All in all, these are light reads, even at their most serious moments, and they provide insight into all the drama of first relationships without ever becoming too weepy, or losing hope that the ending would be happy. The series was definitely worth finishing, and I’ll be looking for more from Niki Burnham, starting with her latest book for teens, Shot Through the Heart.
In these last two books in the trilogy now compiled as Royally Crushed, Valerie continues to experience the ups and downs of her relationship with Prince Georg. In Spin Control, she believes she has been dumped, so when she heads home to Virginia for Winter Break, she goes on a date with David Anderson, only to discover that she loves Georg more than ever. In Do Over, she returns to Schwerinborg to reconcile with Georg, and to work on gaining confidence in his feelings for her, even if they can’t always demonstrate their affections where the press can see. Before the end of the trilogy, Valerie also sees her dad start dating again, and finally finds a way to come clean with her friends about her mother’s newly revealed homosexuality.
I know this trilogy is not the best-written in the world, but I really loved reading it. The ultimate outcome was fairly predictable, but the emails between Val and her friends in Virginia, and her awkward uncertainty around Georg, as well as the cattiness of the girls in her Schweringborgian school, all made for great entertainment. I was distracted repeatedly by references to Heath Ledger, who has died since the publication of these books, but the Google books preview of the new edition shows that this problem has been corrected with several passing references to Ledger resting in peace. The only other thing that felt vaguely out of place was the fact that Val and her friends email rather than text or send Facebook messages, but I am sure there are teenagers out there somewhere for whom this is still the norm, so it doesn’t ruin the books by any means.
All in all, these are light reads, even at their most serious moments, and they provide insight into all the drama of first relationships without ever becoming too weepy, or losing hope that the ending would be happy. The series was definitely worth finishing, and I’ll be looking for more from Niki Burnham, starting with her latest book for teens, Shot Through the Heart.
March 27, 2013
Do- Over Simon Pulse, 2006., 229 pp.
Niki Burnham ISBN 978-1-442-42762-4
Do- Over isn't like any other books, its has something special, the background of the characters really hook us in as readers. This book is apart of a series, actually its the last book of a series. I didn't even know that when I picked it up, and I have to say I didn't notice that until I finished reading it. Not once did I feel like I was missing out on something, so if you for whatever reason can't find the other books, still give this book a try.
Valerie’s parents are divorced, divorced because all of a sudden her mother realized she was a lesbian and left to live with the girl who helped her realize her true self. Her dad decides to move out of the U.S. to live in Schwerinborg a tiny European country. Val is given a choice, to live with her mother or her father, trying to regain some balance of normalcy she chooses to live with her dad. Val quickly realizes that this was the better choice as she starts getting closer to the prince, Prince Georg. Being the girlfriend of a prince has its perks, but it also has its downfalls.
I recommend this book to girls 12 and up. The main character is a girl who is growing up more, showing maturity, and having familial problems. Throughout the entire book she is always emailing her best friends, all girls, and they always problem solve all their problems together. This book is really good, so if you're interested in reading something new, something fresh, then pick this book up because it when you're done reading it, you’ll be in a better mood.
Niki Burnham ISBN 978-1-442-42762-4
Do- Over isn't like any other books, its has something special, the background of the characters really hook us in as readers. This book is apart of a series, actually its the last book of a series. I didn't even know that when I picked it up, and I have to say I didn't notice that until I finished reading it. Not once did I feel like I was missing out on something, so if you for whatever reason can't find the other books, still give this book a try.
Valerie’s parents are divorced, divorced because all of a sudden her mother realized she was a lesbian and left to live with the girl who helped her realize her true self. Her dad decides to move out of the U.S. to live in Schwerinborg a tiny European country. Val is given a choice, to live with her mother or her father, trying to regain some balance of normalcy she chooses to live with her dad. Val quickly realizes that this was the better choice as she starts getting closer to the prince, Prince Georg. Being the girlfriend of a prince has its perks, but it also has its downfalls.
I recommend this book to girls 12 and up. The main character is a girl who is growing up more, showing maturity, and having familial problems. Throughout the entire book she is always emailing her best friends, all girls, and they always problem solve all their problems together. This book is really good, so if you're interested in reading something new, something fresh, then pick this book up because it when you're done reading it, you’ll be in a better mood.
January 26, 2016
I didn't think that I could get anymore bored than I already was on the second book, but I was wrong. This was nothing interesting going on from her dad getting a girlfriend and the letters between Valerie and her friends/family. I started to skim over the emails because they talked about a lot of pointless stuff in their daily lives. I was really waiting for a lot a drama to happen to pick up the book, but it never happened. I had to force myself to continue reading this book to see what would happen. I also got disinterested because of the way that the main character, Valerie, was acting towards her father having a girlfriend since he wasn't flanting it and he cared about what she thought. I really didn't understand why she couldn't just let her dad be happy. Towards the end, I just flipped through the pages to see what would happen in the end, since there really was no real drama going on.
May 19, 2010
I almost liked this series. The writing is good, I can get on board with the characters, especially as the series goes on. Problem? The shape of the stories seems off somehow. It's been a while since I've read the first book, so I can't remember well enough to comment on it, but both the second and third books in the series bugged me. The second seemed to quietly foreshadow a possible Big Fat Problem. The thread remained pretty much untied at the end of the book, but I had faith that that was because it was going to be a main point of the third book.
The third book built up even more to this Big Fat Problem. It practically screamed that This Was Going To Be A Big Fat Problem.
And then it wasn't. It all got brushed under the rug again, and everything was hunky dory.
Irritating. I want to love these books, but I can't.
The third book built up even more to this Big Fat Problem. It practically screamed that This Was Going To Be A Big Fat Problem.
And then it wasn't. It all got brushed under the rug again, and everything was hunky dory.
Irritating. I want to love these books, but I can't.
May 21, 2011
Now in the third one, Val gets another chance with the perfect prince. I am kinda dissapointd they didnt go out into public and tell everyone to mind their own dang business, but i am glad her father is now moving on, and she has her own head on right and stops complaining about her life.
May 13, 2011
This book was better then the second one, not so many reminders about the first. It is a really good book that the author had the ability to add so much inappropriate material in it but she didn't, it was clean and I would recommend this series to 13 and older.
April 28, 2012
The entire series has been one big fluff ball. But it was sweet. It's good to take a break and just read a few books that you don't have to think about, with no un-expected twists, with some hot guys, and plenty of happy endings.
July 7, 2007
THIS IS A GOOD BOOK BECAUSE AT TIMES IT KEEPS YOU ON YOUR FEET AND JUST NERVE RACKING AND SOMETIME AT EASE!THIS BOOK HAS A LOT OF DIFFERANT LEVELS TO IT!
READ IT!
READ IT!
August 1, 2008
the book was okay but it was just pointless there was no point to it it didn't have to be published
August 29, 2009
This book is the book folowing Spin control.
December 5, 2009
It was okay. Cute story. But this is the third book and there doesn't seem to be talk of another one. It's just not good enough to end the series with. There is so much open.
January 8, 2010
A very cute romance :)
May 13, 2010
I was disappointed with this story.
Want to read
January 22, 2012logan does not have
January 20, 2025
Perfect ending to a wonderful trilogy. I only wish there were more books!
January 7, 2013
Probably my favorite of the 3.
July 17, 2013
This series was average and cute. Am I the only one who pronounced it 'George' instead of 'gay-org'?
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November 20, 2015
This whole series was ridiculous.
And I loved it. Cute. My inner thirteen year old was giggling and squeeing with joy.
And I loved it. Cute. My inner thirteen year old was giggling and squeeing with joy.
Read
January 3, 2017hlhlhkl
May 29, 2008
Not as great as the other ones. Kind of boring...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews