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Royal We #1
The Royal We
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Best Fiction (2015)"I might be Cinderella today, but I dread who they'll think I am tomorrow. I guess it depends on what I do next."
American Rebecca Porter was never one for fairy tales. Her twin sister, Lacey, has always been the romantic who fantasized about glamour and royalty, fame and fortune. Yet it's Bex who seeks adventure at Oxford and finds herself living down the hall from Prince Nicholas, Great Britain's future king. And when Bex can't resist falling for Nick, the person behind the prince, it propels her into a world she did not expect to inhabit, under a spotlight she is not prepared to face.
Dating Nick immerses Bex in ritzy society, dazzling ski trips, and dinners at Kensington Palace with him and his charming, troublesome brother, Freddie. But the relationship also comes with unimaginable baggage: hysterical tabloids, Nick's sparkling and far more suitable ex-girlfriends, and a royal family whose private life is much thornier and more tragic than anyone on the outside knows. The pressures are almost too much to bear, as Bex struggles to reconcile the man she loves with the monarch he's fated to become.
Which is how she gets into trouble.
Now, on the eve of the wedding of the century, Bex is faced with whether everything she's sacrificed for love-her career, her home, her family, maybe even herself-will have been for nothing.
American Rebecca Porter was never one for fairy tales. Her twin sister, Lacey, has always been the romantic who fantasized about glamour and royalty, fame and fortune. Yet it's Bex who seeks adventure at Oxford and finds herself living down the hall from Prince Nicholas, Great Britain's future king. And when Bex can't resist falling for Nick, the person behind the prince, it propels her into a world she did not expect to inhabit, under a spotlight she is not prepared to face.
Dating Nick immerses Bex in ritzy society, dazzling ski trips, and dinners at Kensington Palace with him and his charming, troublesome brother, Freddie. But the relationship also comes with unimaginable baggage: hysterical tabloids, Nick's sparkling and far more suitable ex-girlfriends, and a royal family whose private life is much thornier and more tragic than anyone on the outside knows. The pressures are almost too much to bear, as Bex struggles to reconcile the man she loves with the monarch he's fated to become.
Which is how she gets into trouble.
Now, on the eve of the wedding of the century, Bex is faced with whether everything she's sacrificed for love-her career, her home, her family, maybe even herself-will have been for nothing.
454 pages, Hardcover
First published April 7, 2015
About the author
Heather Cocks
7 books1,413 followersHeather Cocks is a die-hard sports fan, a Leo, an ex-reporter, a Notre Dame grad, a dual citizen of the U.S. and U.K., a sandwich enthusiast, and a former producer for America's Next Top Model.
Together, Heather and Jessica Morgan skewer celebrity fashion crimes on their popular blog, Go Fug Yourself, which draws millions of monthly readers and made Entertainment Weekly's Must List. They have covered New York Fashion Week for Cosmopolitan and New York magazine, and have written two young adult novels, Spoiled and Messy. The Royal We, their debut contemporary fiction novel, comes out April 7.
Together, Heather and Jessica Morgan skewer celebrity fashion crimes on their popular blog, Go Fug Yourself, which draws millions of monthly readers and made Entertainment Weekly's Must List. They have covered New York Fashion Week for Cosmopolitan and New York magazine, and have written two young adult novels, Spoiled and Messy. The Royal We, their debut contemporary fiction novel, comes out April 7.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 7,516 reviews
September 10, 2015
This is 100 percent Kate Middleton fan fiction and I have absolutely no problem with that. The authors' blog is great; so is this.
September 8, 2017
2.5 generous stars
SO . . . THE ROYAL WE started amazingly well. One might even say it was like a modern day fairytale.
Bex Porter, in a bid to discover who she might be away from her stifling twin sister, enters a study exchange from her program at Cornell with Oxford's Penbroke school.
She arrives dirty and probably smelly, dragging her suitcases behind her--in the rain--and is forced to pound on the locked door of her housing accommodations.
No one answers.
She pounds some more. Finally, an English chap appears, apologizes for making her wait--he was dozing on the watch--and helping Bex with her bags, takes her to her room.
On the way, she cracks wise about syphilis and crazy amongst the royals.
He laughs, drops her off at her new digs, invites her down for a drink with the rest of the house when she's settled, and strolls away. Before he's out of sight, Cilla-across-the-hall pops out, and shortly thereafter Bex realizes English Chap was really English Crown Prince.
Whoopsies.
What follows is the story of how Bex and (PRINCE) Nick become best friends and fall in love.
It is fun. It is sweet. It is often hilarious:
What does it mean?
*giggle snorts*
And then . . . everything falls apart.
Slowly. PAINFULLY.
THE ROYAL WE is split into five parts and three of them are miserable. The last part ends well enough, but it's a fraction of the length of the others, so in reality, roughly 75% of this book is PAIN.
And not the rip-the-bandaid-off-quickly kind of pain either. No, this is the slow, agonizing, see-it-coming-but-helpless-to-stop-it kind of pain.
It's also about 100 pages longer than it needs to be (75 pages of unnecessary PAIN).
Also, also, (and somewhat unsurprisingly based on the cover) it strangely mirrors the real royals of England. Except Kate is an American named Bex, Harry is Freddie, Pippa is Bex's twin sister Lacey, and William is Nicholas.
As for the rest of them . . . I don't know how much of this art is imitating life, but there's enough similarity to make the reading uncomfortably voyeuristic . . . Or maybe that's just my American bafflement at the British (and a lot of Western Europe besides) fascination with blue bloods, and the legitimacy that fascination bestows.
I do not get it. At all.
The idea that people are greater or lesser depending on what their ancestors where doing hundreds of years ago . . .
Pfft.
Like I said. American. #sorrynotsorry
And that's all I can dredge up: a cutesy beginning that goes horribly awry but ends well . . . except I'm not really convinced it will stay that way. B/c rabid and tenacious paparazzi and the public they serve, scrutinizing your life under a microscope. FOREVER. Plus snooty blue bloods with their judgment and interference. Ugh. Just no.
It is laugh-out-loud funny at regular intervals, but the funny doesn't make a dent in the misery. So not really recommended. Unless marrying a prince is your thing, and ANYTHING that ends with that goal is worth the effort. Then, you know . . . go for it.
SO . . . THE ROYAL WE started amazingly well. One might even say it was like a modern day fairytale.
Bex Porter, in a bid to discover who she might be away from her stifling twin sister, enters a study exchange from her program at Cornell with Oxford's Penbroke school.
She arrives dirty and probably smelly, dragging her suitcases behind her--in the rain--and is forced to pound on the locked door of her housing accommodations.
No one answers.
She pounds some more. Finally, an English chap appears, apologizes for making her wait--he was dozing on the watch--and helping Bex with her bags, takes her to her room.
On the way, she cracks wise about syphilis and crazy amongst the royals.
He laughs, drops her off at her new digs, invites her down for a drink with the rest of the house when she's settled, and strolls away. Before he's out of sight, Cilla-across-the-hall pops out, and shortly thereafter Bex realizes English Chap was really English Crown Prince.
Whoopsies.
What follows is the story of how Bex and (PRINCE) Nick become best friends and fall in love.
It is fun. It is sweet. It is often hilarious:
As it stands, I’ve never heard any of the senior royals even say the word condom, although I suspect Eleanor would pronounce it like my own grandmother did: as if it’s the nickname of the local cad who scandalizes all the gossips in the retirement village. (“Did you see Con Dom at the grocery store? He was buying six boxes of wine and a frozen burrito. What does it mean?”)
What does it mean?
*giggle snorts*
And then . . . everything falls apart.
Slowly. PAINFULLY.
THE ROYAL WE is split into five parts and three of them are miserable. The last part ends well enough, but it's a fraction of the length of the others, so in reality, roughly 75% of this book is PAIN.
And not the rip-the-bandaid-off-quickly kind of pain either. No, this is the slow, agonizing, see-it-coming-but-helpless-to-stop-it kind of pain.
It's also about 100 pages longer than it needs to be (75 pages of unnecessary PAIN).
Also, also, (and somewhat unsurprisingly based on the cover) it strangely mirrors the real royals of England. Except Kate is an American named Bex, Harry is Freddie, Pippa is Bex's twin sister Lacey, and William is Nicholas.
As for the rest of them . . . I don't know how much of this art is imitating life, but there's enough similarity to make the reading uncomfortably voyeuristic . . . Or maybe that's just my American bafflement at the British (and a lot of Western Europe besides) fascination with blue bloods, and the legitimacy that fascination bestows.
I do not get it. At all.
The idea that people are greater or lesser depending on what their ancestors where doing hundreds of years ago . . .
Pfft.
Like I said. American. #sorrynotsorry
And that's all I can dredge up: a cutesy beginning that goes horribly awry but ends well . . . except I'm not really convinced it will stay that way. B/c rabid and tenacious paparazzi and the public they serve, scrutinizing your life under a microscope. FOREVER. Plus snooty blue bloods with their judgment and interference. Ugh. Just no.
It is laugh-out-loud funny at regular intervals, but the funny doesn't make a dent in the misery. So not really recommended. Unless marrying a prince is your thing, and ANYTHING that ends with that goal is worth the effort. Then, you know . . . go for it.
January 28, 2016
You know, I pride myself on not being what some would call a "book snob". Sure, I like my classics and literary fiction as much as anyone else, but I also take a great deal of enjoyment from fast-paced, entertaining and light books. Sometimes I just want some YA fantasy or fluffy chick-lit; you know what I'm saying?
So I looked past this book's appearance (as an obvious William & Kate fanfic) to the positive reviews and all the good things this could possibly be - hilarious, silly, enjoyable, Bridget Jones/Lou Clark-style fun. I think I'd already shelved this under "guilty pleasure" when I picked it up and imagined the faux-embarrassed positive review I would write.
Well, I got it so wrong.
I'm not going to judge this book for basically being a retelling of the William/Kate romance with Rebecca instead being an American student at Oxford. Nor will I judge it for not being deep and offering new perspective - honestly, no one should be going into this book expecting that. And I'll totally ignore the rather comical British stereotyping.
But I can't ignore that this was just a boring, flat romance. Literally the only selling point this book as is that it offers lighthearted entertainment and cute romancing, but damn, these characters are so bland. The book isn't funny or even a "hide it under your pillow" kind of guilty pleasure. Here's a horrifying thought for you: Fifty Shades of Grey was more entertaining than this book.
Both Bex and Nick are one-dimensional and have no personality. At all. They're two beautiful, white people, who are so nice, polite and dull that I'm genuinely very surprised to see they have so many fans. The "angst" of their relationship is centred around the fact that Nick is heir to the throne, but the actual romantic tension and/or angst between them is non-existent.
Most surprisingly, the plot moves very slow. This is an almost 500-page novel and a lot of that features drunken college nights (pretty tame ones at the local pub, I might add) and platonic TV-watching in Bex or Nick's rooms.
I wanted to giggle and swoon. Instead, I was yawning and skimming towards the end.
So I looked past this book's appearance (as an obvious William & Kate fanfic) to the positive reviews and all the good things this could possibly be - hilarious, silly, enjoyable, Bridget Jones/Lou Clark-style fun. I think I'd already shelved this under "guilty pleasure" when I picked it up and imagined the faux-embarrassed positive review I would write.
Well, I got it so wrong.
I'm not going to judge this book for basically being a retelling of the William/Kate romance with Rebecca instead being an American student at Oxford. Nor will I judge it for not being deep and offering new perspective - honestly, no one should be going into this book expecting that. And I'll totally ignore the rather comical British stereotyping.
But I can't ignore that this was just a boring, flat romance. Literally the only selling point this book as is that it offers lighthearted entertainment and cute romancing, but damn, these characters are so bland. The book isn't funny or even a "hide it under your pillow" kind of guilty pleasure. Here's a horrifying thought for you: Fifty Shades of Grey was more entertaining than this book.
Both Bex and Nick are one-dimensional and have no personality. At all. They're two beautiful, white people, who are so nice, polite and dull that I'm genuinely very surprised to see they have so many fans. The "angst" of their relationship is centred around the fact that Nick is heir to the throne, but the actual romantic tension and/or angst between them is non-existent.
Most surprisingly, the plot moves very slow. This is an almost 500-page novel and a lot of that features drunken college nights (pretty tame ones at the local pub, I might add) and platonic TV-watching in Bex or Nick's rooms.
I wanted to giggle and swoon. Instead, I was yawning and skimming towards the end.
April 14, 2015
4.5 stars.
Review originally posted at Mostly YA Lit
Real talk: This book is basically thinly disguised Wills and Kate fanfiction - and I AM OKAY WITH THAT.
But seriously, though, The Royal We is written by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, better known as the "Fug Girls" of the celebrity fashion website Go Fug Yourself. If you've read their site at all, you know their penchant for snark, wit and hilarity, and they've infused their book and their protagonist, Rebecca "Bex" Porter with those characteristics.
The novel starts with a framing device - Bex about to get married to Nick, and questioning her choices. Then we rewind back to when they first met and fell in love at Oxford, followed by the years afterwards where Bex and Nick are, like many young adults, figuring out their lives. The novel loosely follows the William and Kate trajectory (no spoilers for those of you who don't know), and what we miss as the public and in real life, we get first hand in this book. And that is a gift.
I fell in love with Bex and Nick and their wonderful circle of family and friends - from her outrageous college roommates Cilla, Joss, Gaz, Clive, and Bea, to her complex, fame-adoring twin sister Lacey, to Nick's charming rake of a brother Freddie, to Bex's inventive father and excitable mother, to Nick's crazy royal family. The secondary characters took this book from good to great , because they had so much personality, and Cocks and Morgan had so much invested in them, too. I totally cheered when characters got together, when you found out that others had succeeded in jobs, and frowned when others had failed. It's a testament to Cocks and Morgan's skill at writing that I savoured every romantic part with Nick, but even when he wasn't around, I was totally focused on seeing Bex's journey through.
Because that's what this book is about, ultimately. It's about a girl trying to find herself in the midst of a very complicated, and mostly secretive relationship that makes her question her worth and efforts at every turn. It's about the sacrifices we make to be with the ones we love, and how much Bex has to commit, and commit again to be with someone who has duties and obligations that may be more important than her. And it's about making those mature decisions and living with them.
But while love can overcome a lot, it can't always overcome something as big as the intense media scrutiny that Nick and Bex are under. The discussion in The Royal We of the paparazzi - who are brutal to Bex even after she and Nick had broken up - is probably the part that rings truest to me - because I remember when it happened to Will and Kate. Every time Bex goes out with friends, she is scrutinized, for drinking too much, too little, wearing too much, too little...and she wasn't even with the guy anymore! Nick asks the press to leave her alone and they don't. They don't even leave her sister alone. And while this book isn't the "real" story of Will and Kate, it does show, in alarming detail, just how much that kind of media pressure can hurt and destroy people.
I also remember around the time that William and Kate were broken up, people were calling her Waity Katie. And how hurtful and mean that was, but how I secretly (and shamefully) thought that might have been true - that she was just waiting around with a silly job working as a fashion buyer, until William was ready. And how I had the total inverse feminist feeling that she should just move on with her life. But the thing I didn't think about was that it was her decision to live that life. And in The Royal We, Bex says again and again that no matter what happens, Nick is worth it to her. That is her decision to make, and it's every bit as strong a decision as walking away from a guy who comes with as much baggage as Nick does.
The really interesting thing to me, however, is how the Fug Girls almost insert themselves into the book, letting royal fashion blogs and celebrity watch blogs become the biggest, most destructive part of Bex's life. I know they are fans of Kate's wardrobe, but I do think it's interesting that they, as part of the media hype, are essentially the villains in the novel. It made me think about how much the media toes the line with celebrities, and how much being a blogger - even a lowly book blogger like me - changes that landscape for anyone in the public eye.
The Royal We isn't a short book - clocking in at 460 pages - but I lived and loved every moment of it. I struggled with Bex as she tried to find better jobs, tried to live with Nick, tried to live without him. I worried about her when she fell into a depression, and I had major heart eyes whenever she had perfect moments with Nick. In fact, if I have one criticism of this book, it's that I wanted more at the end. Even though the ending was excellent (that's all I'm going to say about it), I believed in the characters so much that I seriously needed an epilogue where I found out where everyone was going.
SEQUEL, PLEASE?
Bonuses (I basically gushed about everything already, so I'm just going to list them out here):
Royalty: SO WELL DONE. All of it.
All Things England: Cocks and Morgan got it. By George, I think they got it.
Kick-Arse Secondary Characters: I mean, ALMOST EVERYONE.
Source: Telegraph.co.uk
Princess Fashion: Bex isn't a girly-girl, but you can't go into a book by the Fug Girls without knowing that there's going to be some serious fashion talk.
Heart-Squeezing Romance: I swooned with Bex over Nick. You will, too.
Book Theme Song:
Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis
(It's British, it's from 2007, when Nick and Bex first met, it's the kind of song you might hear in a club...)
But something happened for the very first time with you
My heart melts into the ground, found something true
And everyone's looking round thinking I'm going crazy
But I don't care what they say, I'm in love with you
They try to pull me away, but they don't know the truth
The Final Word:
If you're an Anglophile or royalty obsessed, or into new adult, or just like the idea of the commoner with the celebrity, you will love THE ROYAL WE. Cocks and Morgan deliver what they imagine to be the inside scoop - and while it's not anywhere near as glamorous as what you see on the outside, it's a very funny, very truthful, and very heartfelt novel that just takes hold of you and doesn't let go. It's one of those books where, after you finish, you just want to start all over again to relive the magic.
Review originally posted at Mostly YA Lit
Real talk: This book is basically thinly disguised Wills and Kate fanfiction - and I AM OKAY WITH THAT.
But seriously, though, The Royal We is written by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, better known as the "Fug Girls" of the celebrity fashion website Go Fug Yourself. If you've read their site at all, you know their penchant for snark, wit and hilarity, and they've infused their book and their protagonist, Rebecca "Bex" Porter with those characteristics.
The novel starts with a framing device - Bex about to get married to Nick, and questioning her choices. Then we rewind back to when they first met and fell in love at Oxford, followed by the years afterwards where Bex and Nick are, like many young adults, figuring out their lives. The novel loosely follows the William and Kate trajectory (no spoilers for those of you who don't know), and what we miss as the public and in real life, we get first hand in this book. And that is a gift.
I fell in love with Bex and Nick and their wonderful circle of family and friends - from her outrageous college roommates Cilla, Joss, Gaz, Clive, and Bea, to her complex, fame-adoring twin sister Lacey, to Nick's charming rake of a brother Freddie, to Bex's inventive father and excitable mother, to Nick's crazy royal family. The secondary characters took this book from good to great , because they had so much personality, and Cocks and Morgan had so much invested in them, too. I totally cheered when characters got together, when you found out that others had succeeded in jobs, and frowned when others had failed. It's a testament to Cocks and Morgan's skill at writing that I savoured every romantic part with Nick, but even when he wasn't around, I was totally focused on seeing Bex's journey through.
Because that's what this book is about, ultimately. It's about a girl trying to find herself in the midst of a very complicated, and mostly secretive relationship that makes her question her worth and efforts at every turn. It's about the sacrifices we make to be with the ones we love, and how much Bex has to commit, and commit again to be with someone who has duties and obligations that may be more important than her. And it's about making those mature decisions and living with them.
But while love can overcome a lot, it can't always overcome something as big as the intense media scrutiny that Nick and Bex are under. The discussion in The Royal We of the paparazzi - who are brutal to Bex even after she and Nick had broken up - is probably the part that rings truest to me - because I remember when it happened to Will and Kate. Every time Bex goes out with friends, she is scrutinized, for drinking too much, too little, wearing too much, too little...and she wasn't even with the guy anymore! Nick asks the press to leave her alone and they don't. They don't even leave her sister alone. And while this book isn't the "real" story of Will and Kate, it does show, in alarming detail, just how much that kind of media pressure can hurt and destroy people.
I also remember around the time that William and Kate were broken up, people were calling her Waity Katie. And how hurtful and mean that was, but how I secretly (and shamefully) thought that might have been true - that she was just waiting around with a silly job working as a fashion buyer, until William was ready. And how I had the total inverse feminist feeling that she should just move on with her life. But the thing I didn't think about was that it was her decision to live that life. And in The Royal We, Bex says again and again that no matter what happens, Nick is worth it to her. That is her decision to make, and it's every bit as strong a decision as walking away from a guy who comes with as much baggage as Nick does.
The really interesting thing to me, however, is how the Fug Girls almost insert themselves into the book, letting royal fashion blogs and celebrity watch blogs become the biggest, most destructive part of Bex's life. I know they are fans of Kate's wardrobe, but I do think it's interesting that they, as part of the media hype, are essentially the villains in the novel. It made me think about how much the media toes the line with celebrities, and how much being a blogger - even a lowly book blogger like me - changes that landscape for anyone in the public eye.
The Royal We isn't a short book - clocking in at 460 pages - but I lived and loved every moment of it. I struggled with Bex as she tried to find better jobs, tried to live with Nick, tried to live without him. I worried about her when she fell into a depression, and I had major heart eyes whenever she had perfect moments with Nick. In fact, if I have one criticism of this book, it's that I wanted more at the end. Even though the ending was excellent (that's all I'm going to say about it), I believed in the characters so much that I seriously needed an epilogue where I found out where everyone was going.
SEQUEL, PLEASE?
Bonuses (I basically gushed about everything already, so I'm just going to list them out here):
Royalty: SO WELL DONE. All of it.
All Things England: Cocks and Morgan got it. By George, I think they got it.
Kick-Arse Secondary Characters: I mean, ALMOST EVERYONE.
Source: Telegraph.co.uk
Princess Fashion: Bex isn't a girly-girl, but you can't go into a book by the Fug Girls without knowing that there's going to be some serious fashion talk.
Heart-Squeezing Romance: I swooned with Bex over Nick. You will, too.
Book Theme Song:
Bleeding Love by Leona Lewis
(It's British, it's from 2007, when Nick and Bex first met, it's the kind of song you might hear in a club...)
But something happened for the very first time with you
My heart melts into the ground, found something true
And everyone's looking round thinking I'm going crazy
But I don't care what they say, I'm in love with you
They try to pull me away, but they don't know the truth
The Final Word:
If you're an Anglophile or royalty obsessed, or into new adult, or just like the idea of the commoner with the celebrity, you will love THE ROYAL WE. Cocks and Morgan deliver what they imagine to be the inside scoop - and while it's not anywhere near as glamorous as what you see on the outside, it's a very funny, very truthful, and very heartfelt novel that just takes hold of you and doesn't let go. It's one of those books where, after you finish, you just want to start all over again to relive the magic.
March 13, 2020
The Royal We
by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan is full of soapy royal intrigue, as the heir to the throne sets his sights on a young American woman.
When Rebecca “Bex” Porter first meets Nicholas, Prince of Wales, he lets her in to their dorm at Oxford, where she’ll be studying for a year. He even helps carry her luggage. But she hasn’t the first clue who he is.
While their second meeting isn’t much more impressive (she’s in a towel, so perhaps it was for Nick, but she also drops her tampons all over the place), over time the two develop a close friendship, bonding over their love of bad American television and junk food, and the fact that she treats him like a regular person, unlike the women he's been dating and other women he encounters.
Given the fact that one day he’ll be the King of England and she’s an American whose father invented a couch with a refrigerator under its seats, there are a million reasons they shouldn’t fall in love. But that’s what happens, despite a number of more suitable women being pushed at him.
At first they keep things quiet so as not to rile up his family or the press, but after a while Bex gets tired of hiding. She is unprepared for the frenzy that follows her wherever she goes and all the ways she’s declared an inappropriate choice. She doesn't understand why Nick expects her to rise above all of the criticism she faces from every direction, why he won't defend her.
Can true love survive the machinations of the royal machine, not to mention those of so-called friends, family, and the scandal-hungry press? Is Bex willing to transform herself into the woman she must be in order to be an appropriate bride for Nick? Is Nick willing to fight for Bex?
I’ll admit I’m a tiny bit obsessed with the royals so I really enjoyed this fun, soapy romance which was apparently inspired by William and Kate. It’s a little long, and the will-they-or-won’t-they drama drags a bit, but I was still hooked, and I’m looking forward to the second book in the series due out this summer.
Check out my list of the best books I read in 2019 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2019.html.
Check out my list of the best books of the decade at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/my-favorite-books-of-decade.html.
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
When Rebecca “Bex” Porter first meets Nicholas, Prince of Wales, he lets her in to their dorm at Oxford, where she’ll be studying for a year. He even helps carry her luggage. But she hasn’t the first clue who he is.
While their second meeting isn’t much more impressive (she’s in a towel, so perhaps it was for Nick, but she also drops her tampons all over the place), over time the two develop a close friendship, bonding over their love of bad American television and junk food, and the fact that she treats him like a regular person, unlike the women he's been dating and other women he encounters.
Given the fact that one day he’ll be the King of England and she’s an American whose father invented a couch with a refrigerator under its seats, there are a million reasons they shouldn’t fall in love. But that’s what happens, despite a number of more suitable women being pushed at him.
At first they keep things quiet so as not to rile up his family or the press, but after a while Bex gets tired of hiding. She is unprepared for the frenzy that follows her wherever she goes and all the ways she’s declared an inappropriate choice. She doesn't understand why Nick expects her to rise above all of the criticism she faces from every direction, why he won't defend her.
Can true love survive the machinations of the royal machine, not to mention those of so-called friends, family, and the scandal-hungry press? Is Bex willing to transform herself into the woman she must be in order to be an appropriate bride for Nick? Is Nick willing to fight for Bex?
I’ll admit I’m a tiny bit obsessed with the royals so I really enjoyed this fun, soapy romance which was apparently inspired by William and Kate. It’s a little long, and the will-they-or-won’t-they drama drags a bit, but I was still hooked, and I’m looking forward to the second book in the series due out this summer.
Check out my list of the best books I read in 2019 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2019.html.
Check out my list of the best books of the decade at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2020/01/my-favorite-books-of-decade.html.
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
May 13, 2015
2.5 stars. There were some genuinely great moments in this book. The scenes with just Bex and Nick interacting were funny and adorable and I was really into them. However...I know this book is supposed to be "inspired" by Prince William and Kate Middleton, but this is full stop RPF with a name change. The arc and trajectory of their relationship is virtually the same. It made a lot of this book seem plodding as we basically know what happens and why already. I'm a weirdo and own the William & Kate lifetime movie, and at times reading this felt EXACTLY like watching that movie.
This book could have been a shorter, tighter, better story without all the nonsense asides based on real royal scandals. Some of them just made me roll my eyes (ala "Prince Edwin" and his film company and generalized slapdickery), but some I found a smidge offensive: specifically, I hatedhatedhated the bodyguard potential father plot line. It was totally unnecessary to the story and it felt cheap and kind of gross. And it sucks. It really sucks because when the authors were just writing their characters everything was great. I was invested and having fun and thought it could be a great satire of how people see the Royals. It's when they went on the semi-biographical tangents that things went to shit, because it stops being satirical and starts being almost tabloidy.
And now, my real issue.
There were moments in which I genuinely laughed out loud. There were moments I found really touching. And there were moments when I wanted to throttle the characters in a good way. Part of me thinks that I would have had zero of the above mentioned issues if this book had been told from Nick's perspective. His, I think, is the juicier POV and the least explored. There's a certain wish fulfillment aspect achieved by telling this story through Bex's side which sells books. Nick, though, is the more tormented. Nick has the inner demons. Nick has the most to gain and to lose through his relationship with Bex and the most struggle. HIS is the side of this story we almost never see and reading The Royal We made me realize how much I want it. And, for THIS story especially, how much I needed it because, as Bex tells this story, it's hard to see why she takes him back.
I think people who are not as weirdly obsessed with the history and gossip about the British monarchy as I am will enjoy this book a lot more than I did. But...I still enjoyed it a lot more than the fug girls' previous books and I'm interested in seeing what they write next.
This book could have been a shorter, tighter, better story without all the nonsense asides based on real royal scandals. Some of them just made me roll my eyes (ala "Prince Edwin" and his film company and generalized slapdickery), but some I found a smidge offensive: specifically, I hatedhatedhated the bodyguard potential father plot line. It was totally unnecessary to the story and it felt cheap and kind of gross. And it sucks. It really sucks because when the authors were just writing their characters everything was great. I was invested and having fun and thought it could be a great satire of how people see the Royals. It's when they went on the semi-biographical tangents that things went to shit, because it stops being satirical and starts being almost tabloidy.
And now, my real issue.
There were moments in which I genuinely laughed out loud. There were moments I found really touching. And there were moments when I wanted to throttle the characters in a good way. Part of me thinks that I would have had zero of the above mentioned issues if this book had been told from Nick's perspective. His, I think, is the juicier POV and the least explored. There's a certain wish fulfillment aspect achieved by telling this story through Bex's side which sells books. Nick, though, is the more tormented. Nick has the inner demons. Nick has the most to gain and to lose through his relationship with Bex and the most struggle. HIS is the side of this story we almost never see and reading The Royal We made me realize how much I want it. And, for THIS story especially, how much I needed it because, as Bex tells this story, it's hard to see why she takes him back.
I think people who are not as weirdly obsessed with the history and gossip about the British monarchy as I am will enjoy this book a lot more than I did. But...I still enjoyed it a lot more than the fug girls' previous books and I'm interested in seeing what they write next.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 29, 2016
"My soul married yours that first night at Windsor, and while I'll be the king of this country someday, EVERY day I will be your servant."
Did I tell you I've been having dreams about whatever I've been reading? For instance, a few days ago I read Superman/Batman: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Special Edition #1 and then I had these dreams where Batman and Superman... *blush* Um... things happened... Kissing! *blush*
ANYWAY, while reading this book, I
...had dreams about marrying/snogging/shagging a prince.
Ew, no. What are you, crazy? No, I had a dream where PPO Stout (one of the Prince's bodyguards) and I met up and... well, never mind. *blush* Details aren't important.
The point IS, I'm not the intended audience for this book. You know how I feel about rich men - huge turn-off. Plus he's a prince. Ew. Being hounded by the paparazzi and living life under glass is NOT my idea of a good time. I also don't give a fuck about weddings, royal or not.
This book is basically Kate Middleton and William fanfiction. Cocks & Morgan don't even bother to hide this.
I have zero interest in the royal family, ZERO.
As I said, there's about a billion reasons I wouldn't enjoy this book.
Bex (Rebecca) is an Iowan who goes to Oxford on a study-abroad program and is thrust into Prince Nick's life because of it, being assigned to his dorm floor. They fall in love.
Let's break it down.
THE BAD(ISH)
- The book is a complete soap opera. Complete. Soap Opera. Everyone sleeps with everyone else. There are a limited number of people in Nick/Bex's circle and they all (including Nick and Bex themselves) will sleep with everyone else in the circle, in a huge game of musical vaginas. (Musical penises?) This leads to tons of drama. This could easily be turned into a soap-opera-y mini-series. I really COULDN'T understand why everyone was playing musical beds. It made no sense. It often seemed as if Cocks & Morgan just put all the characters' names in a hat and drew them randomly to find out who would be sleeping together on each page.
- The writing. It's almost baffling in its incomprehensibility and it took me 84 pages (18%) to stop complaining about it. I guess you could say I 'got used to it.' But it's weird. It's extremely weird writing. And I don't know if it's because the book has two authors or because they have a weird sense of humor, but the writing is meandering and all over the place. Sometimes I had to read a paragraph two or three times to understand what is going on. Cocks & Morgan can (and often do) start a paragraph in one place and end that same paragraph in a completely unrelated place. It's very weird.
- It's very 'swoon over the British royal family.' I have no interest in Kate and Will. And this is strongly Kate and Will fanfiction. Very long, very detailed Kate and Will fanfiction, which is for some people is going to be a dream come true. However, I don't care. Also, does anyone find Prince William attractive? I just don't find him attractive, even if I were attracted to princes, which I'm not. Cocks & Morgan take this into account and play up the "dirty ginger snap" younger brother, Harry, who makes William pale in the face of his supernova hotness, or something.
- Cocks & Morgan CANNOT resist a pun and will slip one in there whenever it is possible. This can get annoying. Everyone also exchanges witty banter like they were born to do it, in the vein of Gilmore Girls or BtVS. NO ONE talks this way IRL, no one can possibly be this sharp and this quick all the time.
- I can't relate to Bex at all. Not only because she's dating a prince, but she's just so... I don't know, NOT-CARMEN that I can't wrap my head around her decision-making processes.
- The book keeps trying to convince me that Nick is Bex's "best friend." I'm not buying it.
- The book keeps trying to convince me that Lacey, Bex's twin, is desperate for Bex's attention and the "spare" to Bex's "heir." I completely wasn't buying this. I was like o.O That's not how you described their dynamic at all for the first 55% of the novel. Then at 56%, Cocks & Morgan just spring this (completely weird) idea on us that Lacey is somehow the "lesser" sister to Bex and it just makes no fucking sense.
- Everyone in the book is extremely selfish, self-centered, and spoiled. I wanted to smack all of them upside the head.
THE GOOD
- The book is very realistic.
It's about dating and marrying a prince.
Yes, I see your point, but it VERY REALISTICALLY covers this. The horror of being unable to escape from the paparazzi. Being told what to wear, what to say, where to go, and what to do ALL THE TIME. Having "approved music" that you can admit to listening to. Being weighed every week and being told you constantly need to lose weight. Realizing you will NEVER be bare-faced in public again and that all your makeup is going to be dictated to you along with your clothing and your food.
It's scary shit, and I have no idea why Bex would willingly sign on for this. Nick, as written, just isn't compelling enough for me to want to sign my life away to living in a veritable prison because of him.
- The book, although it annoyed me with its constant "two years later..." headers, really showed two people gradually falling in love and getting to know each other, both the pretty sides and the ugly sides. No insta-love here, and no fake sugary love-fests. Both hero and heroine make a tea-ton of mistakes. I enjoyed this realistic, slow slow developing romance.
But I wouldn't call it a slow-burn, because there's no burning. The sexual chemistry between the leads is IMO nil, and there's no on-page sex scenes, which I'm almost grateful for.
- Bex's parents are amazing and hilarious.
- Bex isn't a jealous woman. Romance heroines are usually extremely jealous, Bex seems to have sidestepped this, much to my immense relief. So did Nick, pretty much.
Tl;dr - It grew on me. Once I got used to the weird writing... which took me a LONG time... I found this book readable and reasonably interesting, despite it's subject matter. And that's saying a lot since I am far from the intended audience on this one.
She throws away her ENTIRE life for this guy, I just didn't get it. Also, a lot of other people sacrifice their own lives in "service" of the royal couple, seemingly voluntarily. I did not understand.
Group read with URR.
Did I tell you I've been having dreams about whatever I've been reading? For instance, a few days ago I read Superman/Batman: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Special Edition #1 and then I had these dreams where Batman and Superman... *blush* Um... things happened... Kissing! *blush*
ANYWAY, while reading this book, I
...had dreams about marrying/snogging/shagging a prince.
Ew, no. What are you, crazy? No, I had a dream where PPO Stout (one of the Prince's bodyguards) and I met up and... well, never mind. *blush* Details aren't important.
The point IS, I'm not the intended audience for this book. You know how I feel about rich men - huge turn-off. Plus he's a prince. Ew. Being hounded by the paparazzi and living life under glass is NOT my idea of a good time. I also don't give a fuck about weddings, royal or not.
This book is basically Kate Middleton and William fanfiction. Cocks & Morgan don't even bother to hide this.
I have zero interest in the royal family, ZERO.
As I said, there's about a billion reasons I wouldn't enjoy this book.
Bex (Rebecca) is an Iowan who goes to Oxford on a study-abroad program and is thrust into Prince Nick's life because of it, being assigned to his dorm floor. They fall in love.
Let's break it down.
THE BAD(ISH)
- The book is a complete soap opera. Complete. Soap Opera. Everyone sleeps with everyone else. There are a limited number of people in Nick/Bex's circle and they all (including Nick and Bex themselves) will sleep with everyone else in the circle, in a huge game of musical vaginas. (Musical penises?) This leads to tons of drama. This could easily be turned into a soap-opera-y mini-series. I really COULDN'T understand why everyone was playing musical beds. It made no sense. It often seemed as if Cocks & Morgan just put all the characters' names in a hat and drew them randomly to find out who would be sleeping together on each page.
- The writing. It's almost baffling in its incomprehensibility and it took me 84 pages (18%) to stop complaining about it. I guess you could say I 'got used to it.' But it's weird. It's extremely weird writing. And I don't know if it's because the book has two authors or because they have a weird sense of humor, but the writing is meandering and all over the place. Sometimes I had to read a paragraph two or three times to understand what is going on. Cocks & Morgan can (and often do) start a paragraph in one place and end that same paragraph in a completely unrelated place. It's very weird.
- It's very 'swoon over the British royal family.' I have no interest in Kate and Will. And this is strongly Kate and Will fanfiction. Very long, very detailed Kate and Will fanfiction, which is for some people is going to be a dream come true. However, I don't care. Also, does anyone find Prince William attractive? I just don't find him attractive, even if I were attracted to princes, which I'm not. Cocks & Morgan take this into account and play up the "dirty ginger snap" younger brother, Harry, who makes William pale in the face of his supernova hotness, or something.
- Cocks & Morgan CANNOT resist a pun and will slip one in there whenever it is possible. This can get annoying. Everyone also exchanges witty banter like they were born to do it, in the vein of Gilmore Girls or BtVS. NO ONE talks this way IRL, no one can possibly be this sharp and this quick all the time.
- I can't relate to Bex at all. Not only because she's dating a prince, but she's just so... I don't know, NOT-CARMEN that I can't wrap my head around her decision-making processes.
- The book keeps trying to convince me that Nick is Bex's "best friend." I'm not buying it.
- The book keeps trying to convince me that Lacey, Bex's twin, is desperate for Bex's attention and the "spare" to Bex's "heir." I completely wasn't buying this. I was like o.O That's not how you described their dynamic at all for the first 55% of the novel. Then at 56%, Cocks & Morgan just spring this (completely weird) idea on us that Lacey is somehow the "lesser" sister to Bex and it just makes no fucking sense.
- Everyone in the book is extremely selfish, self-centered, and spoiled. I wanted to smack all of them upside the head.
THE GOOD
- The book is very realistic.
It's about dating and marrying a prince.
Yes, I see your point, but it VERY REALISTICALLY covers this. The horror of being unable to escape from the paparazzi. Being told what to wear, what to say, where to go, and what to do ALL THE TIME. Having "approved music" that you can admit to listening to. Being weighed every week and being told you constantly need to lose weight. Realizing you will NEVER be bare-faced in public again and that all your makeup is going to be dictated to you along with your clothing and your food.
It's scary shit, and I have no idea why Bex would willingly sign on for this. Nick, as written, just isn't compelling enough for me to want to sign my life away to living in a veritable prison because of him.
- The book, although it annoyed me with its constant "two years later..." headers, really showed two people gradually falling in love and getting to know each other, both the pretty sides and the ugly sides. No insta-love here, and no fake sugary love-fests. Both hero and heroine make a tea-ton of mistakes. I enjoyed this realistic, slow slow developing romance.
But I wouldn't call it a slow-burn, because there's no burning. The sexual chemistry between the leads is IMO nil, and there's no on-page sex scenes, which I'm almost grateful for.
- Bex's parents are amazing and hilarious.
- Bex isn't a jealous woman. Romance heroines are usually extremely jealous, Bex seems to have sidestepped this, much to my immense relief. So did Nick, pretty much.
Tl;dr - It grew on me. Once I got used to the weird writing... which took me a LONG time... I found this book readable and reasonably interesting, despite it's subject matter. And that's saying a lot since I am far from the intended audience on this one.
She throws away her ENTIRE life for this guy, I just didn't get it. Also, a lot of other people sacrifice their own lives in "service" of the royal couple, seemingly voluntarily. I did not understand.
Group read with URR.
October 19, 2015
Edit 10/19: GUYS CBS FILMS HAS OPTIONED THE BOOK!!! THR reports that it may star Mae Whitman of Arrested Development, which I'm pretty "meh" about (har de har), but I am willing to move past that because THIS COULD BE A MOVIE!!!!! AHHHH!!!!
--
THIS BOOK IS GREAT. The premise has been done many times: American girl goes abroad to Oxford, where she meets and falls in love with the heir to the British throne. But this book captures almost eight years of their relationship, and you really get to know Nick, Bex, and their funny, charming group of friends. It is a fantastic romance that you will not want to put down.
The real tension in this story isn't the will-they-won't-they, but will-they-can-they?, which is a change for the better. In fact, I was so invested in the relationship that at one point I did the unthinkable and skipped ahead to see what was going to happen next (IT'S ALL TOO STRESSFUL), which I never do. So, score one for you, Fug Girls.
The inside look at the royal life is one of the main attractions of the novel, and the Fug Girls have spent years researching this book in very serious ways, mostly by covering The Royal Ascot and other occasions where one would wear a fascinator. You'll also get some great settings, like Windsor and Buckingham Palace. And there are endless inside Fug Girl jokes (the names of Freddie’s revolving girlfriends made me do spit takes by the end of the book), as well as a TV series that I’m mad isn’t real (Devour forever!!).
I was so obsessed with this book while I was reading it - and so drawn into the story - that I thought for sure it would be 5 stars. Unfortunately, I thought the ending was uneven, which is why I've dropped it to 4. Spoilers abound ahead!
And my last complaint is that this is so obviously William and Harry that it's a little jarring. I love the heir and the spare - and I love a playboy prince - but the sandy-haired Nick and the ginger gigolo Freddie are a little too close to reality. I wonder how Kate feels about being turned into the American heir of the Coucherator empire?
Regardless, this book is so much fun - and so witty! - that you should go get it immediately. I am pressing it on all of my SF friends and will be checking in on them every 20 minutes via text until they finish.
--
THIS BOOK IS GREAT. The premise has been done many times: American girl goes abroad to Oxford, where she meets and falls in love with the heir to the British throne. But this book captures almost eight years of their relationship, and you really get to know Nick, Bex, and their funny, charming group of friends. It is a fantastic romance that you will not want to put down.
The real tension in this story isn't the will-they-won't-they, but will-they-can-they?, which is a change for the better. In fact, I was so invested in the relationship that at one point I did the unthinkable and skipped ahead to see what was going to happen next (IT'S ALL TOO STRESSFUL), which I never do. So, score one for you, Fug Girls.
The inside look at the royal life is one of the main attractions of the novel, and the Fug Girls have spent years researching this book in very serious ways, mostly by covering The Royal Ascot and other occasions where one would wear a fascinator. You'll also get some great settings, like Windsor and Buckingham Palace. And there are endless inside Fug Girl jokes (the names of Freddie’s revolving girlfriends made me do spit takes by the end of the book), as well as a TV series that I’m mad isn’t real (Devour forever!!).
I was so obsessed with this book while I was reading it - and so drawn into the story - that I thought for sure it would be 5 stars. Unfortunately, I thought the ending was uneven, which is why I've dropped it to 4. Spoilers abound ahead!
And my last complaint is that this is so obviously William and Harry that it's a little jarring. I love the heir and the spare - and I love a playboy prince - but the sandy-haired Nick and the ginger gigolo Freddie are a little too close to reality. I wonder how Kate feels about being turned into the American heir of the Coucherator empire?
Regardless, this book is so much fun - and so witty! - that you should go get it immediately. I am pressing it on all of my SF friends and will be checking in on them every 20 minutes via text until they finish.
March 26, 2023
Confession: This was my favorite beach read of the summer! For all those women out there who grew up loving fairy tales while crushing on Prince William, read this today! Your inner eleven year old will thank you!
March 13, 2017
Guysssssss this was really, REALLY cute. Like, so cute. I'm only docking a star bc it did feel a little longer than it needed to be, but it was still just so great. What a way to start my week!
March 23, 2020
EDITED March 2020: I think Goodreads lost my rating and messed up some of the comments when the listing was edited to become the first in a series. Anyway, this has always been five stars for me. My favorite book, and one I go to for comfort and to read at least once a year. Like putting on my favorite well-worn jeans and Breton striped top ;)
************************
Original review:
Someone's review said that this is Kate Middleton fan fiction, and that is spot on. If you're a royal lover like I am, you will Devour this (heh heh...that's a joke you'll get when you've read the book, PASS THE CRACKER JACK.) Seriously, you'll devour it. I read it in a little over 24 hours.
I am a big fan of the royals (particularly Kate), and I unabashedly watch and read pretty much anything about them that I can get my hands on- cheesy, somber, fact, fiction, probably-fiction, and otherwise. When the smart and funny authors (the ladies behind the Go Fug Yourself blog) offered the first 7 chapters of their new book for free on Amazon, I dove right in and was immediately hooked. It felt impossible to wait another month for it to come out. It's the perfect combination of fun story, actual facts about Will, Kate, and royal life (like the painting of Queen Victoria in the shower of the Royal Suite at The Goring Hotel), and total fantasy. I see where some people say the story slows down in the middle a bit, but the characters are so well done and the bits of royal life that are worked in are so irresistible it doesn't matter. This is the only book that I can recall has made me literally laugh and cry in equal measure (which was a lot).
I already know this is a book I'll re-read regularly; a true favorite.
Well done, Fug Girls. Well done.
Now when is the movie coming out?
(In the interest of full disclosure, I received a free copy of this book from the authors. I was so enthusiastic about the first seven free chapters, and engaged with them a bunch on Twitter. I entered a giveaway they had, and though I didn't win they graciously asked if they could send me a copy anyway. Opinions are my own, including the opinion that the Fug Girls are a damn delight.)
************************
Original review:
Someone's review said that this is Kate Middleton fan fiction, and that is spot on. If you're a royal lover like I am, you will Devour this (heh heh...that's a joke you'll get when you've read the book, PASS THE CRACKER JACK.) Seriously, you'll devour it. I read it in a little over 24 hours.
I am a big fan of the royals (particularly Kate), and I unabashedly watch and read pretty much anything about them that I can get my hands on- cheesy, somber, fact, fiction, probably-fiction, and otherwise. When the smart and funny authors (the ladies behind the Go Fug Yourself blog) offered the first 7 chapters of their new book for free on Amazon, I dove right in and was immediately hooked. It felt impossible to wait another month for it to come out. It's the perfect combination of fun story, actual facts about Will, Kate, and royal life (like the painting of Queen Victoria in the shower of the Royal Suite at The Goring Hotel), and total fantasy. I see where some people say the story slows down in the middle a bit, but the characters are so well done and the bits of royal life that are worked in are so irresistible it doesn't matter. This is the only book that I can recall has made me literally laugh and cry in equal measure (which was a lot).
I already know this is a book I'll re-read regularly; a true favorite.
Well done, Fug Girls. Well done.
Now when is the movie coming out?
(In the interest of full disclosure, I received a free copy of this book from the authors. I was so enthusiastic about the first seven free chapters, and engaged with them a bunch on Twitter. I entered a giveaway they had, and though I didn't win they graciously asked if they could send me a copy anyway. Opinions are my own, including the opinion that the Fug Girls are a damn delight.)
June 1, 2020
The Royal We is a fun read following American Rebecca (Bex) Porter as she spends a year abroad at Oxford and meets Nick Lyons, the Prince of Wales. When she arrives at Oxford, Bex is your average American girl looking for a fun year in London. She's left behind her close family, including her twin sister, in Iowa, but quickly makes new friends in her intimate dorm. At first, her and Nick simply start a friendship over cheesy TV and a casual understanding of feeling a little on the "outside." Their friendship eventually blossoms into something more as they spend more and more time together.
Though Bex and Nick stay together, and Bex even moves back to London to continue their relationship, Bex remains a secret from the Crown and from England. Years pass this way and eventually the media catches wind of their relationship. Bex is crucified by cruel reporters and people around the world hiding behind their computers. Typically independent and unabashedly herself, Bex is beginning to see how much she's already given up for Nick, and how much more of herself she'll have to reshape and redefine if she's to stay with him.
Will the drama prove to be too much for Bex and Nick? Can a future King even have a real relationship with a commoner from an entirely different country? As these questions are explored, we grow up with Bex and Nick and their friends, and watch them mature, grow in and out of romantic relationships, and become their own individuals.
The character development is central to the story and each character is perfectly flawed and human. By the end of this first book, I felt as though the characters were friends, and the detail in which they were brought to life added a real layer of depth to the book. Though the novel felt a little longer than it needed to be, I can't actually think of any part of the story that could (or should) be cut!
I definitely recommend this one and I'm very much looking forward to the second in the series!
Though Bex and Nick stay together, and Bex even moves back to London to continue their relationship, Bex remains a secret from the Crown and from England. Years pass this way and eventually the media catches wind of their relationship. Bex is crucified by cruel reporters and people around the world hiding behind their computers. Typically independent and unabashedly herself, Bex is beginning to see how much she's already given up for Nick, and how much more of herself she'll have to reshape and redefine if she's to stay with him.
Will the drama prove to be too much for Bex and Nick? Can a future King even have a real relationship with a commoner from an entirely different country? As these questions are explored, we grow up with Bex and Nick and their friends, and watch them mature, grow in and out of romantic relationships, and become their own individuals.
The character development is central to the story and each character is perfectly flawed and human. By the end of this first book, I felt as though the characters were friends, and the detail in which they were brought to life added a real layer of depth to the book. Though the novel felt a little longer than it needed to be, I can't actually think of any part of the story that could (or should) be cut!
I definitely recommend this one and I'm very much looking forward to the second in the series!
June 23, 2015
The Royal We might not be the Prince William/Kate Middleton fan fiction we wanted, but it’s the Prince William/Kate Middleton fan fiction we got. Let’s be honest. William and Kate aren’t the most exciting couple in the world. They’re very attractive, they’re very well-mannered and composed, they’re probably wonderful parents, and while that’s great for real life, it doesn’t make for a juicy novel. This lack of juiciness is especially surprising since this book was written by the bloggers from Go Fug Yourself.
William and Kate are played here by Nick and Bex. Instead of being an upper-middle class British girl, Bex is an upper-middle class American girl. Oh, the horror! Bex goes to Oxford as an exchange student, and Prince Nicholas is the first fellow student she meets. He greets her, he shows her around, and get this – Bex HAS NO IDEA WHO HE IS. Now, come on. Is there any American college girl, even one who only has a passing knowledge of the British monarchy, who would take the time to investigate the Oxford student exchange program, move to England, but then have no clue that the heir to the throne was one of her classmates?
Let’s get back to Kate Middleton for a minute. One of the things the gossip-loving, Daily Mail-reading part of me loves is that she and her grasping family supposedly worked their asses off for years to get her claws into William and to raise their own social status by association. Who cares if it��s true or not, because it would make for a delicious novel. But none of this royal stuff even phases Bex, and this makes her attraction for Nick baffling, because his main characteristic is his constant moping. He complains about his duties and responsibilities and his family. He doesn’t trust anyone. He can’t have fun, because it might get into the tabloids. So, since we are constantly told that Bex has no interest in Nick’s royal status, why does she want to have anything to do with this buzzkill of a guy? Later on, when someone points out that Bex could become queen, Bex is shocked. Shocked, I say! She’d never even thought of that!
Since it became clear early on that Bex was going to be an angelic character with the purest of intentions, all that was left was to enjoy a purely fictional look into the inner workings of the monarchy and how they must attempt to groom this American girl to be a princess. New clothes! Hair extensions! And keep that Pippa-ish sister of yours in line. Bex’s sister, by the way, is awful, and she seemed designed to take on all of the negative qualities that have been ascribed to Kate and her family. Also awful? Nick’s father, who seems to hate both of his sons. For you Harry fans (and you can count me as one), he is here in all his glory as Freddy. The queen is a heavy and somewhat frightening presence throughout the story, but she’s rarely seen or heard by Bex, which seems right. She’s got better things to do than to socialize with her grandson’s American girlfriend.
And now, the authors were faced with a dilemma. Bex is so wonderful and so purely and innocently in love with Nick, but every good story needs a scandal. The one they chose passed way over the line and into gross territory. It was like they wanted to pick a scandal so outlandish that no one could possibly think that it could be inspired by something that Kate herself did. But it wasn’t just gross – it was also resolved in a completely unbelievable fashion.
If you have no interest in the British monarchy, I wouldn’t recommend this, because you will likely be bored by Bex and Nick. But for the rest of us, there are some fun side characters and some delightfully blue-blooded snobbery to keep things interesting.
William and Kate are played here by Nick and Bex. Instead of being an upper-middle class British girl, Bex is an upper-middle class American girl. Oh, the horror! Bex goes to Oxford as an exchange student, and Prince Nicholas is the first fellow student she meets. He greets her, he shows her around, and get this – Bex HAS NO IDEA WHO HE IS. Now, come on. Is there any American college girl, even one who only has a passing knowledge of the British monarchy, who would take the time to investigate the Oxford student exchange program, move to England, but then have no clue that the heir to the throne was one of her classmates?
Let’s get back to Kate Middleton for a minute. One of the things the gossip-loving, Daily Mail-reading part of me loves is that she and her grasping family supposedly worked their asses off for years to get her claws into William and to raise their own social status by association. Who cares if it��s true or not, because it would make for a delicious novel. But none of this royal stuff even phases Bex, and this makes her attraction for Nick baffling, because his main characteristic is his constant moping. He complains about his duties and responsibilities and his family. He doesn’t trust anyone. He can’t have fun, because it might get into the tabloids. So, since we are constantly told that Bex has no interest in Nick’s royal status, why does she want to have anything to do with this buzzkill of a guy? Later on, when someone points out that Bex could become queen, Bex is shocked. Shocked, I say! She’d never even thought of that!
Since it became clear early on that Bex was going to be an angelic character with the purest of intentions, all that was left was to enjoy a purely fictional look into the inner workings of the monarchy and how they must attempt to groom this American girl to be a princess. New clothes! Hair extensions! And keep that Pippa-ish sister of yours in line. Bex’s sister, by the way, is awful, and she seemed designed to take on all of the negative qualities that have been ascribed to Kate and her family. Also awful? Nick’s father, who seems to hate both of his sons. For you Harry fans (and you can count me as one), he is here in all his glory as Freddy. The queen is a heavy and somewhat frightening presence throughout the story, but she’s rarely seen or heard by Bex, which seems right. She’s got better things to do than to socialize with her grandson’s American girlfriend.
And now, the authors were faced with a dilemma. Bex is so wonderful and so purely and innocently in love with Nick, but every good story needs a scandal. The one they chose passed way over the line and into gross territory. It was like they wanted to pick a scandal so outlandish that no one could possibly think that it could be inspired by something that Kate herself did. But it wasn’t just gross – it was also resolved in a completely unbelievable fashion.
If you have no interest in the British monarchy, I wouldn’t recommend this, because you will likely be bored by Bex and Nick. But for the rest of us, there are some fun side characters and some delightfully blue-blooded snobbery to keep things interesting.
December 26, 2015
Initial Thoughts: This book was epically amazing. I fell in love with this book and the characters instantly. The banter and the writing are both hilarious and heartfelt. The raw emotions and the themes and the setting are equally beguiling. I NEED you to read this book. It will make you (and me) so happy, and it's honestly so addictive. BEST cutesy romance novel I've read in a long time.
Read the full review @ A Perfection Called Books
There are few books that truly have the power to encompass my every-waking thoughts. The Royal We left me in such a state of bliss and mind-reeling happiness that I couldn't come down from for awhile. This book has ruined me in the best possible way. The Royal We is the cutesy contemporary standard now, and I feel bad for my next read...
I can tell instantly by reading a synopsis when I've found a Rachel book. This isn't merely a Rachel book, this is THE Rachel book. Complex and lively characters? YES. Beautiful and flawed romance? *swoons & sighs* Humor? *laughs out loud* Royalty? *curtsies* Emotional writing? *sniffles* Addictive plot? *eyes stay glued to the pages*
The writing is brilliantly done. It's written as the protagonist looks back on the events that lead her to where she is now. I love the ominous hints that the protagonist leaves, it keeps us thinking and wondering and anxious to continue reading. How could things ever go wrong for this seemingly fairytale-like story?! This book really packs a punch. The Royal We brings a wide scope of emotions to the table. My anxiety levels were through the roof, I cried, I laughed, I grinned.
The characters in this book are absolutely charming and endearing. There are many characters in this book, and I love how each character brings something unique and important to the story. A sparkling cast with lots of fun and genuine moments, you can't help but love them all. Our power couple is simply stunning; you can't help but root for them throughout all the problems thrown in their way. The swoony Nick is -well- swoony. He's confidant and compassionate, yet he has a gentle and vulnerable side. Rebecca, informally known as Bex, is loads of fun and a great protagonist to follow the story through.
I've always loved stories about royalty, and this book provides a hilarious account of someone on the Inside sharing the trade secrets. This book has pop culture references and is stamped all over with fun moments, sad moments, and just stories of life. We see all of these characters grow from the youthful and light-hearted college students to the sophisticated members of society throughout the years. This isn't just a story about love, it's a story about life and friendship.
The romance in this book is the flawed perfection that I hope to find in life. I love the inside jokes, the small things, the sweet moments, the difficult times. I love how this couple alters and changes throughout their lives. This story takes place over a long period of time, and it's fascinating to see how their relationship changed and evolved throughout. The sweet and sincere romance drove the plot to new heights. It was so realistic and amazing. Bex and Nick are definitely a top couple for me!
If you're in the mood for a cute and romantic novel that will steal away your heart and entire day, this is the book for you!
Read the full review @ A Perfection Called Books
There are few books that truly have the power to encompass my every-waking thoughts. The Royal We left me in such a state of bliss and mind-reeling happiness that I couldn't come down from for awhile. This book has ruined me in the best possible way. The Royal We is the cutesy contemporary standard now, and I feel bad for my next read...
I can tell instantly by reading a synopsis when I've found a Rachel book. This isn't merely a Rachel book, this is THE Rachel book. Complex and lively characters? YES. Beautiful and flawed romance? *swoons & sighs* Humor? *laughs out loud* Royalty? *curtsies* Emotional writing? *sniffles* Addictive plot? *eyes stay glued to the pages*
The writing is brilliantly done. It's written as the protagonist looks back on the events that lead her to where she is now. I love the ominous hints that the protagonist leaves, it keeps us thinking and wondering and anxious to continue reading. How could things ever go wrong for this seemingly fairytale-like story?! This book really packs a punch. The Royal We brings a wide scope of emotions to the table. My anxiety levels were through the roof, I cried, I laughed, I grinned.
The characters in this book are absolutely charming and endearing. There are many characters in this book, and I love how each character brings something unique and important to the story. A sparkling cast with lots of fun and genuine moments, you can't help but love them all. Our power couple is simply stunning; you can't help but root for them throughout all the problems thrown in their way. The swoony Nick is -well- swoony. He's confidant and compassionate, yet he has a gentle and vulnerable side. Rebecca, informally known as Bex, is loads of fun and a great protagonist to follow the story through.
I've always loved stories about royalty, and this book provides a hilarious account of someone on the Inside sharing the trade secrets. This book has pop culture references and is stamped all over with fun moments, sad moments, and just stories of life. We see all of these characters grow from the youthful and light-hearted college students to the sophisticated members of society throughout the years. This isn't just a story about love, it's a story about life and friendship.
The romance in this book is the flawed perfection that I hope to find in life. I love the inside jokes, the small things, the sweet moments, the difficult times. I love how this couple alters and changes throughout their lives. This story takes place over a long period of time, and it's fascinating to see how their relationship changed and evolved throughout. The sweet and sincere romance drove the plot to new heights. It was so realistic and amazing. Bex and Nick are definitely a top couple for me!
If you're in the mood for a cute and romantic novel that will steal away your heart and entire day, this is the book for you!
March 31, 2016
If there's anything I'm not interested in, it would be being royal. I believe that a country still being ruled in monarchy is archaic, and this book showed the reasons why. Yes, you have your prince and the love of your life, but you're giving up your entire identity, your nationality just for a title. You don't get to make decisions about anything and everything must be approved to what you wear, to what you eat and to what music you listen to. You might as well be a trained monkey... So sad :(
Bex goes through all of these. She starts off as this strong independent woman and then it starts to unravel. I kind of liked her slow descent and all of the mistakes she makes. It felt so real and raw. Even the tabloids stating fake stories and how they're portrayed, I feel like it's a good interpretation of what it's like to be royal and having all these insults thrown your way. I was waiting patiently for Nick to man up the entire time. I loved that this wasn't just about her relationship with Nick, but with her friends, her family and her twin sister. The royal family closely resembles Britain's and in a way I strongly imagined them as these characters.
I just have to say how dragged out and extended the story is. It's very very slow so you'll have to patient for anything to happiness. It's also incredibly long, so I had to knock a star for those low points.
I enjoyed "The Royal We" and I had fun reading about an American falling in love with Britain's prince. It reminded me a lot of the movie "The Prince and Me."
Bex goes through all of these. She starts off as this strong independent woman and then it starts to unravel. I kind of liked her slow descent and all of the mistakes she makes. It felt so real and raw. Even the tabloids stating fake stories and how they're portrayed, I feel like it's a good interpretation of what it's like to be royal and having all these insults thrown your way. I was waiting patiently for Nick to man up the entire time. I loved that this wasn't just about her relationship with Nick, but with her friends, her family and her twin sister. The royal family closely resembles Britain's and in a way I strongly imagined them as these characters.
I just have to say how dragged out and extended the story is. It's very very slow so you'll have to patient for anything to happiness. It's also incredibly long, so I had to knock a star for those low points.
I enjoyed "The Royal We" and I had fun reading about an American falling in love with Britain's prince. It reminded me a lot of the movie "The Prince and Me."
February 1, 2020
With 454 pages, or almost 18 hours narration this book was LONG!!!!
There were some things I really enjoyed about this book.
The relationship between Bex, Nick and Freddy - was very much as I imagined the friendship between Kate, William and Harry in RL must have been. The banter, the chemistry, and honest enjoyment to be in each other’s company reminded me of what I’ve seen and read about the RL royals.
I enjoyed the way the plot was written, with anecdotes from the future, so it was obvious how the book would end, but also gave it a unique feel. It’s seldom that a book is dedicated to a couple’s relationship over this many years. I believe the plot covered eight years of relationship, that’s pretty unique on its own. The story flowed, the narration was great - it was just LONG at times.
For someone that has not followed anyone ROYAL ever, this was surpassingly entertaining. Overall I really enjoyed this book, there was just a big of drama that could have been prevented with better decision making. I did feel like the amount of drama wasn’t really necessary, and didn’t move the story further along, but it added to the overall tension and heartbreak on both sides.
In the end, I was glad I picked it up. It entertained me for a great while. The narration was wonderful, and I was actually enthralled at times, it just was a bit long at times.
There were some things I really enjoyed about this book.
The relationship between Bex, Nick and Freddy - was very much as I imagined the friendship between Kate, William and Harry in RL must have been. The banter, the chemistry, and honest enjoyment to be in each other’s company reminded me of what I’ve seen and read about the RL royals.
I enjoyed the way the plot was written, with anecdotes from the future, so it was obvious how the book would end, but also gave it a unique feel. It’s seldom that a book is dedicated to a couple’s relationship over this many years. I believe the plot covered eight years of relationship, that’s pretty unique on its own. The story flowed, the narration was great - it was just LONG at times.
For someone that has not followed anyone ROYAL ever, this was surpassingly entertaining. Overall I really enjoyed this book, there was just a big of drama that could have been prevented with better decision making. I did feel like the amount of drama wasn’t really necessary, and didn’t move the story further along, but it added to the overall tension and heartbreak on both sides.
In the end, I was glad I picked it up. It entertained me for a great while. The narration was wonderful, and I was actually enthralled at times, it just was a bit long at times.
March 13, 2015
I am not familiar with these two authors or their blog www.gofugyourself.com yet I did check out their blog. It is a good blog. The reason I did is because I was expecting two authors who write this blog and title it the way they did to have more witty charm infused into this book. I started reading it in between television commercials. Which I was hoping that this book would be so funny that I would lose focus on the show I was watching and read just this book. This did not happen. Why you ask? Well despite the eccentric characters in this book. Which I did find entertaining and a fun group to hang out with, this was not enough for me to fully immerse myself in this book.
Although I found Bex to be down to earth in a good way and Nick to be every part of a gentleman and not snobbiness, the story moved very slowly. In fact, I thought this story could have been shortened about a hundred or plus pages and still gotten the point across that the story was to accomplish. Also, I was saddened that I did not find myself laughing along the way.
Although I found Bex to be down to earth in a good way and Nick to be every part of a gentleman and not snobbiness, the story moved very slowly. In fact, I thought this story could have been shortened about a hundred or plus pages and still gotten the point across that the story was to accomplish. Also, I was saddened that I did not find myself laughing along the way.
May 26, 2020
2/5 Stars!
Received this from a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway!
Summary:
Bex moves to England to pursue her artist career. This is the first time she's been away from her twin sister Lacey. It's hard but shes found a great group of friends. One of which, is the a Prince of Wales. But can everyone remain friends when royalty is so demanding? What if it leads to more?
Dislikes:
This book was overly wordy at some points. It made it seem like a chore to get thru some parts of the book. Then some of the plot lines were left with some loose ends.
Likes:
I thoroughly enjoyed the characters as time went on. Bex was really relate-able and so was the connection she had with her sister. Though I have no siblings of my own I really thought I felt what it was like in this book.
Received this from a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway!
Summary:
Bex moves to England to pursue her artist career. This is the first time she's been away from her twin sister Lacey. It's hard but shes found a great group of friends. One of which, is the a Prince of Wales. But can everyone remain friends when royalty is so demanding? What if it leads to more?
Dislikes:
This book was overly wordy at some points. It made it seem like a chore to get thru some parts of the book. Then some of the plot lines were left with some loose ends.
Likes:
I thoroughly enjoyed the characters as time went on. Bex was really relate-able and so was the connection she had with her sister. Though I have no siblings of my own I really thought I felt what it was like in this book.
April 27, 2015
First thoughts, written January 2015:
OH. MY. GOSH.
I had high expectations for this book (it just sounded epic), but it surpassed all of them. This is a longgg read, but my attention never waned. In fact, I stayed up past 4 am (!) crying my eyes out over it -- and this is not a usual occurrence. (Reading late, yes. Actually crying over a book? No.)
Much love for Nick/Bex, so can I be one of the first to claim Freddie?? <3
Full review to come, but needless to say I LOVED THIS BOOK (!!!).
Full review, written April 2015:
Oh my word!!!! This book was epically good. It put me through the ringer, made me a complete emotional mess. The Royal We took me from giddy to butterflies in the stomach to anxious to angry to heartbroken to hopeful to happy and everywhere in between. I can honestly say this is the best book I've ever read involving royalty and involving dealing with the press and paparazzi.
What surprised me most about this book is that it has some serious weight to it. Just based on the genre you’d expect a story like this to be on the shorter side, but nope, this is an extremely long book. Despite the length I could not set it down: I just kept reading and reading, which shows you how involved with the book I was.
The Royal We is a linear story with five different sections, set at different times. The story starts with Bex meeting Nick at Oxford and their friendship that becomes more. We see different stages of their courtship and all the aspects that come with that. I loved Bex and Nick together but this book made me question whether being with him was worth it for Bex: the expectations, the judgment, the ceremony, the never having a normal life. This is really the big question of the novel: is it worth giving up so much to be with someone you love? & Can you make it through the horrible and still have something worthwhile left?
This book does such a good job at showing us a royal family that we can easily identify as a version of our own, while equally making the characters different and truly themselves. It has some incredibly amazing secondary characters, some you'll love (Freddie!!! Oh gosh, I could go on and on about Freddie), some you'll loathe (Richard!! aka Evil Prince Dad), and some it's so complicated you're not even sure (Bex’s sister, Lacey). I mean, these characters are totally layered and complicated. Even Richard you can feel a twinge of sympathy for at times, though mostly he's just Prince Dick.
If I had one complaint about this book it would be that I wanted more cute Bex/Nick scenes to make up for the angst and/or a longer ending so we could see people’s reactions and how everything went down (do these things missing mean there'll be a sequel? *optimistic*). However, the way it ended was perfect too. It felt like a very Nick and Bex ending, instead of an ending for HRH and Future Duchess Rebecca.
By now it’s clear that this book made me feel So Many Feelings. I just loved every bit of it, even when I was so tense it made my stomach upset or when tears were continually streaming down my face. This is the first book in a while where I've felt SO strongly about loving it. The Royal We is an AMAZING read, one I would highly recommend to all contemporary romance fans, New Adult fans (after all, this book is truly about growing up and finding yourself, making those tough decisions), and to fans of books about royalty and/or celebs. I honestly can’t recommend this book highly enough.
OH. MY. GOSH.
I had high expectations for this book (it just sounded epic), but it surpassed all of them. This is a longgg read, but my attention never waned. In fact, I stayed up past 4 am (!) crying my eyes out over it -- and this is not a usual occurrence. (Reading late, yes. Actually crying over a book? No.)
Much love for Nick/Bex, so can I be one of the first to claim Freddie?? <3
Full review to come, but needless to say I LOVED THIS BOOK (!!!).
Full review, written April 2015:
Oh my word!!!! This book was epically good. It put me through the ringer, made me a complete emotional mess. The Royal We took me from giddy to butterflies in the stomach to anxious to angry to heartbroken to hopeful to happy and everywhere in between. I can honestly say this is the best book I've ever read involving royalty and involving dealing with the press and paparazzi.
What surprised me most about this book is that it has some serious weight to it. Just based on the genre you’d expect a story like this to be on the shorter side, but nope, this is an extremely long book. Despite the length I could not set it down: I just kept reading and reading, which shows you how involved with the book I was.
The Royal We is a linear story with five different sections, set at different times. The story starts with Bex meeting Nick at Oxford and their friendship that becomes more. We see different stages of their courtship and all the aspects that come with that. I loved Bex and Nick together but this book made me question whether being with him was worth it for Bex: the expectations, the judgment, the ceremony, the never having a normal life. This is really the big question of the novel: is it worth giving up so much to be with someone you love? & Can you make it through the horrible and still have something worthwhile left?
This book does such a good job at showing us a royal family that we can easily identify as a version of our own, while equally making the characters different and truly themselves. It has some incredibly amazing secondary characters, some you'll love (Freddie!!! Oh gosh, I could go on and on about Freddie), some you'll loathe (Richard!! aka Evil Prince Dad), and some it's so complicated you're not even sure (Bex’s sister, Lacey). I mean, these characters are totally layered and complicated. Even Richard you can feel a twinge of sympathy for at times, though mostly he's just Prince Dick.
If I had one complaint about this book it would be that I wanted more cute Bex/Nick scenes to make up for the angst and/or a longer ending so we could see people’s reactions and how everything went down (do these things missing mean there'll be a sequel? *optimistic*). However, the way it ended was perfect too. It felt like a very Nick and Bex ending, instead of an ending for HRH and Future Duchess Rebecca.
By now it’s clear that this book made me feel So Many Feelings. I just loved every bit of it, even when I was so tense it made my stomach upset or when tears were continually streaming down my face. This is the first book in a while where I've felt SO strongly about loving it. The Royal We is an AMAZING read, one I would highly recommend to all contemporary romance fans, New Adult fans (after all, this book is truly about growing up and finding yourself, making those tough decisions), and to fans of books about royalty and/or celebs. I honestly can’t recommend this book highly enough.
![Profile Image for laurel [the suspected bibliophile].](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/users/1645808644i/7494844._UX200_CR0,6,200,200_.jpg)
June 21, 2020
Bex never wanted to marry the prince, but here she is—on her wedding day. To the future king of England. How'd she get here? And who is blackmailing her?
I first read this in 2016, and I loved it.
But I also remembered very little of what happened, beyond Bex being depressed and getting princess-lessons and not much else, and so when I was approved for the ARC of The Heir Affair, I knew that I'd have to reread this.
And I still loved it, although not to five-stars. It's a solid four star read—enjoyable and fun, but also why the fuck was I rooting for Nick and Bex?
This book is shameless Kate Middleton fanfiction, and I loved every minute of it. It took Kate Middleton's story and was like, What if she was an American? (this was written before Meghan Markle—who is just fabulous—came on the royal scene). What if she was just an average person who happened to fall for a prince of England?
It tackles the waiting for royal recognition, the relentless hounding of paparazzi and social media, and a lot of the things that possibly go down in The Firm amongst the senior royals along with lots of other shit. This time around, I definitely didn't really see the appeal of Nick to Bex. It seemed like Bex kept on going on and on about how much she loved Nick, who was emotionally distant and always kept her at arm's length (except when it was just the two of them). Nick's trauma was a lot to handle, and he really, really needed to get that shit looked into.
But I definitely found myself rooting for Bex and Freddie, Nick's younger brother and totally-not-a-stand-in-for-Prince-Harry. Their chemistry was off the charts, and I...well, just read it for yourself.
I first read this in 2016, and I loved it.
But I also remembered very little of what happened, beyond Bex being depressed and getting princess-lessons and not much else, and so when I was approved for the ARC of The Heir Affair, I knew that I'd have to reread this.
And I still loved it, although not to five-stars. It's a solid four star read—enjoyable and fun, but also why the fuck was I rooting for Nick and Bex?
This book is shameless Kate Middleton fanfiction, and I loved every minute of it. It took Kate Middleton's story and was like, What if she was an American? (this was written before Meghan Markle—who is just fabulous—came on the royal scene). What if she was just an average person who happened to fall for a prince of England?
It tackles the waiting for royal recognition, the relentless hounding of paparazzi and social media, and a lot of the things that possibly go down in The Firm amongst the senior royals along with lots of other shit. This time around, I definitely didn't really see the appeal of Nick to Bex. It seemed like Bex kept on going on and on about how much she loved Nick, who was emotionally distant and always kept her at arm's length (except when it was just the two of them). Nick's trauma was a lot to handle, and he really, really needed to get that shit looked into.
But I definitely found myself rooting for Bex and Freddie, Nick's younger brother and totally-not-a-stand-in-for-Prince-Harry. Their chemistry was off the charts, and I...well, just read it for yourself.
September 7, 2015
I rarely read while I'm drafting or editing, but I loved this book too much to put down. It's very much a fictionalized version of the Kate Middleton and Prince William romance (complete with a playboy ginger brother), though the main character, Bex (one of my favorite names!), is American.
The Royal We gives the reader the impression of an insider's perspective on the good, the bad, and the ugly of the royal lifestyle, and I found that just as intriguing as the plot itself - which, while it follows the real events fairly closely, differentiates itself enough that I never felt like I knew exactly where it was going.
If you're into royalty, an anglophile, or just enjoy the concept of the novel, I'd highly recommend it.
The Royal We gives the reader the impression of an insider's perspective on the good, the bad, and the ugly of the royal lifestyle, and I found that just as intriguing as the plot itself - which, while it follows the real events fairly closely, differentiates itself enough that I never felt like I knew exactly where it was going.
If you're into royalty, an anglophile, or just enjoy the concept of the novel, I'd highly recommend it.
May 7, 2015
I gulped this one down in about a week after it received rapturous reviews all across my Twitter feed. I've been a long-time fan of Heather and Jessica's work on their hilarious website, Go Fug Yourself, so I was certainly EAGER to enjoy this book, but I don't know that I expected to be serenading with with "Just What I Needed" by The Cars at barely four pages in. AND YET.
I, along with a huge number of my smart female friends, have an insatiable appetite for books like this one: Funny love stories with distinct, well-rounded characters, a little wish fulfillment with the atmosphere, but emotional journeys that we recognize and feel real. And they are DISTRESSINGLY hard to come by, you nearly always have to compromise about one feature or the other-- the writer thinks "polished atmosphere" can be communicated best with CONSTANT BRAND NAME DROPPING. The characters, while endearing, feel like ones you've met a million times before. The love story's turns rely on impossible to credit happenstance, or characters you're supposed to respect acting like big dumdums. Etc, etc-- every smart reader knows this. Every smart reader has overlooked some such flaw to keep turning the pages while lying on a beach.
THIS BOOK DEMANDS NO COMPROMISES. It's extremely funny. The wish-fulfillment atmosphere never takes the form of name-dropping and is *sensibly* handled with the complexity that being a princess would genuinely entail. The book never veers into the territory of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, which existed because people wanted to read about Anna Wintour but clearly despised anyone who'd want to read about Anna Wintour-- Heather and Jessica seem fascinated and appalled by the royals in just the same way their imagined readers would be. The love story's impediments are genuine and feel like ones even smart, emotionally stable characters could easily make in such a nightmare situation. Both the primary characters and (almost *more* important to me) the secondary characters are all extremely lovable. I was 15 minutes late to meet my friends because I decided to stand OUTSIDE the bar where I was meeting them and finish the book. Knowing what happened to Bex and Nick was just too important to wait.
If you think you would enjoy this book, you are right, you will, and you should buy it immediately.
I, along with a huge number of my smart female friends, have an insatiable appetite for books like this one: Funny love stories with distinct, well-rounded characters, a little wish fulfillment with the atmosphere, but emotional journeys that we recognize and feel real. And they are DISTRESSINGLY hard to come by, you nearly always have to compromise about one feature or the other-- the writer thinks "polished atmosphere" can be communicated best with CONSTANT BRAND NAME DROPPING. The characters, while endearing, feel like ones you've met a million times before. The love story's turns rely on impossible to credit happenstance, or characters you're supposed to respect acting like big dumdums. Etc, etc-- every smart reader knows this. Every smart reader has overlooked some such flaw to keep turning the pages while lying on a beach.
THIS BOOK DEMANDS NO COMPROMISES. It's extremely funny. The wish-fulfillment atmosphere never takes the form of name-dropping and is *sensibly* handled with the complexity that being a princess would genuinely entail. The book never veers into the territory of THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA, which existed because people wanted to read about Anna Wintour but clearly despised anyone who'd want to read about Anna Wintour-- Heather and Jessica seem fascinated and appalled by the royals in just the same way their imagined readers would be. The love story's impediments are genuine and feel like ones even smart, emotionally stable characters could easily make in such a nightmare situation. Both the primary characters and (almost *more* important to me) the secondary characters are all extremely lovable. I was 15 minutes late to meet my friends because I decided to stand OUTSIDE the bar where I was meeting them and finish the book. Knowing what happened to Bex and Nick was just too important to wait.
If you think you would enjoy this book, you are right, you will, and you should buy it immediately.
Read
May 24, 2020[IMAGE TK]
Many thanks to Tiffany and Estelle at Grand Central Publishing for sending me a free copy in exchange for an honest review!
DNF at 14%. I don't care about the story or any of the characters and I am so, so bored. Sorry, but I probably won't be picking this one up again. Better luck next time
-----------
i am late. so late. but better late than never
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Many thanks to Tiffany and Estelle at Grand Central Publishing for sending me a free copy in exchange for an honest review!
DNF at 14%. I don't care about the story or any of the characters and I am so, so bored. Sorry, but I probably won't be picking this one up again. Better luck next time
-----------
i am late. so late. but better late than never
| Goodreads | Blog | Pinterest | LinkedIn | YouTube | Instagram
July 10, 2019
While I definitely wouldn’t say that I’m one of those Americans who is weirdly obsessed with the British royal family, I will admit that my college roommates and I got up at 4am to watch the live broadcast of the William/Kate wedding. I baked scones for the occasion. So actually yeah, I probably AM one of those Americans who’s weirdly obsessed with the British royal family.
That being said, I almost definitely read this book much too late. The Royal We was released in 2015, when everyone (or at least those of us who refuse to let go of our romanticized notions of royalty being inherently better than normal people) was still basking in the afterglow of the William/Kate Cinderella Romance Wedding Spectacular. Nowadays, public perception of the couple is, uhh…well, let’s just say that the honeymoon is definitely over. (If you don't know what I'm talking about because you don't pay attention to weird shit like this, allow Nicole Cliffe to summarize what's currently rotten in the house of Windsor)
So only four years after being published, The Royal We already feels like a charming nostalgia piece, written in a more hopeful time. (Just imagine being a reader in the early 1990’s, picking up a fictionalized account of the Charles/Diana courtship – you know that novel exists, somewhere)
Our William stand-in is "Prince Nicholas", while an American student named Rebecca Porter (aka “Bex”) has been subbed in for Kate. The two meet when Bex is studying abroad at Oxford and finds herself assigned to the same dorm building as the future King of England (along with a handful of his blue-blood friends and a pack of security personnel). The two coexist as Just Friends for several years before falling headlong into a romance, and the book follows their up-and-down relationship over the years as the couple deals with their massively different upbringings, obsessive media coverage, and enormous pressure from Nicholas’s family to go along with the path that’s been carefully planned for him.
People who followed the Will/Kate romance in the tabloids from the beginning will appreciate how closely Cocks's and Morgan's account follows the real-life trajectory of the relationship, and enjoy getting a behind-the-scenes look (even if that view is purely imaginary) at the more bombshell events in the timeline. But even if you don’t care all that much about the monarchy, the story is still compelling, because it explores the struggles of being an “ordinary” person trying to have a romantic relationship with someone in a position of unimaginable power and privilege. And The Royal We takes that concept and adds extra pressure: how do you maintain a personal, private relationship with someone who’s been a public figure from the moment they were born? The Royal We is best when it shows us Nicholas grappling with the idea that the price he pays for his unimaginable wealth and privilege is that his life doesn’t really belong to him.
Of course, even in these moments when Nicholas is trying to make his relationship with Bex exist alongside his responsibilities as future king, a thought kept intruding on my otherwise fun-and-fluffy reading experience: you know, you don’t HAVE to be king if you don’t want to.
It’s amazing to me that not a single character ever, in the entire course of the novel, even suggests abdication as a possibility. There is never any discussion that Nicholas might walk away from his birthright, even though he views it as more of a burden than a privilege or a calling. This, in my humble and very American opinion, is ridiculous. For starters, there’s already a historical precedent for this exact situation (do any characters in this book ever say “Wallace Simpson” out loud? I can’t remember, but I’m pretty sure she’s never mentioned), so it’s not like the concept of Nicholas abdicating so he can marry Bex is totally unheard of. And, like his real-life counterpart, the fictional heir has a younger brother who jokingly refers to himself as the “spare.”
Another problem cutting the high stakes of the novel, and the reason I think Cocks and Morgan would have done better to put this story in a historical setting when there were actual stakes attached to who wore the British crown: in this day and age, “King of England” is not an important job. In fact, I would argue that it’s not even a job, period. A king or queen of England in the 21st century isn’t a ruler, they’re a mascot of a vanished era. Looking at the situation dispassionately, what is Nicholas honestly giving up by abdicating? The chance to open Parliament once a year? Free tickets to Ascot? It was just really hard to sympathize with Nick’s “But I cannot turn my back on my DUTY” handwringing because, let’s be honest, the “duty” he’s talking about means wearing stuffy ceremonial garb maybe three times a year and then dividing the rest of his time between Balmoral and a yacht. Like, calm down, Aragorn son of Arathorn, this is not a big deal.
Can’t wait for the Meghan/Harry followup novel, though.
That being said, I almost definitely read this book much too late. The Royal We was released in 2015, when everyone (or at least those of us who refuse to let go of our romanticized notions of royalty being inherently better than normal people) was still basking in the afterglow of the William/Kate Cinderella Romance Wedding Spectacular. Nowadays, public perception of the couple is, uhh…well, let’s just say that the honeymoon is definitely over. (If you don't know what I'm talking about because you don't pay attention to weird shit like this, allow Nicole Cliffe to summarize what's currently rotten in the house of Windsor)
So only four years after being published, The Royal We already feels like a charming nostalgia piece, written in a more hopeful time. (Just imagine being a reader in the early 1990’s, picking up a fictionalized account of the Charles/Diana courtship – you know that novel exists, somewhere)
Our William stand-in is "Prince Nicholas", while an American student named Rebecca Porter (aka “Bex”) has been subbed in for Kate. The two meet when Bex is studying abroad at Oxford and finds herself assigned to the same dorm building as the future King of England (along with a handful of his blue-blood friends and a pack of security personnel). The two coexist as Just Friends for several years before falling headlong into a romance, and the book follows their up-and-down relationship over the years as the couple deals with their massively different upbringings, obsessive media coverage, and enormous pressure from Nicholas’s family to go along with the path that’s been carefully planned for him.
People who followed the Will/Kate romance in the tabloids from the beginning will appreciate how closely Cocks's and Morgan's account follows the real-life trajectory of the relationship, and enjoy getting a behind-the-scenes look (even if that view is purely imaginary) at the more bombshell events in the timeline. But even if you don’t care all that much about the monarchy, the story is still compelling, because it explores the struggles of being an “ordinary” person trying to have a romantic relationship with someone in a position of unimaginable power and privilege. And The Royal We takes that concept and adds extra pressure: how do you maintain a personal, private relationship with someone who’s been a public figure from the moment they were born? The Royal We is best when it shows us Nicholas grappling with the idea that the price he pays for his unimaginable wealth and privilege is that his life doesn’t really belong to him.
Of course, even in these moments when Nicholas is trying to make his relationship with Bex exist alongside his responsibilities as future king, a thought kept intruding on my otherwise fun-and-fluffy reading experience: you know, you don’t HAVE to be king if you don’t want to.
It’s amazing to me that not a single character ever, in the entire course of the novel, even suggests abdication as a possibility. There is never any discussion that Nicholas might walk away from his birthright, even though he views it as more of a burden than a privilege or a calling. This, in my humble and very American opinion, is ridiculous. For starters, there’s already a historical precedent for this exact situation (do any characters in this book ever say “Wallace Simpson” out loud? I can’t remember, but I’m pretty sure she’s never mentioned), so it’s not like the concept of Nicholas abdicating so he can marry Bex is totally unheard of. And, like his real-life counterpart, the fictional heir has a younger brother who jokingly refers to himself as the “spare.”
Another problem cutting the high stakes of the novel, and the reason I think Cocks and Morgan would have done better to put this story in a historical setting when there were actual stakes attached to who wore the British crown: in this day and age, “King of England” is not an important job. In fact, I would argue that it’s not even a job, period. A king or queen of England in the 21st century isn’t a ruler, they’re a mascot of a vanished era. Looking at the situation dispassionately, what is Nicholas honestly giving up by abdicating? The chance to open Parliament once a year? Free tickets to Ascot? It was just really hard to sympathize with Nick’s “But I cannot turn my back on my DUTY” handwringing because, let’s be honest, the “duty” he’s talking about means wearing stuffy ceremonial garb maybe three times a year and then dividing the rest of his time between Balmoral and a yacht. Like, calm down, Aragorn son of Arathorn, this is not a big deal.
Can’t wait for the Meghan/Harry followup novel, though.
September 18, 2022
Reread 9/18: loved just as much as the first time! And it still made me so anxious and mad at parts but in the best way. I can't wait to reread the second book too to get more Bex and Nick cause I LOVE them.
Original review:
I think most girls dream of accidentally meeting a Prince and falling madly in love like the movie the Prince and Me. Well, this was like that but yet it made you think about what it would really be like. All things that come with loving a Prince (even the not so easy things.)
I'm obsessed with all things royal especially Prince William and Kate / Prince Harry and Meghan. It felt like I was reading a mashup of their stories but yet obviously super dramatized and different. I LOVED it. I found myself sooooooo invested. Almost too much so that I couldn't stop till I was in a happy place.
I didn't know what to expect going into this but I really enjoyed that it started off at college. The beginning was perfect! The love story between Nick and Bex was so sweet and felt very real/natural. I couldn't get enough of them. Honestly, I really just loved Bex. She was such a great main character. I felt for her so many times. I wanted to be apart of her cool friend group. She was so fun and relatable. While her twin sister I struggled with.
This was such a lovely story that captured my heart and took me on a wild ride. The only reason it didn't get 5 stars is because I wanted more at the end. This was a good sized book and at times I felt some things went a little longer than needed especially the hard of the heart parts. Some of the time jumps seemed so sudden. But the ending felt a little rushed and WANT more closure!! I needed an epilogue. But I heard there will be a book 2. Yay!!! I want need more adorable moments between Nick and Bex.
Original review:
I think most girls dream of accidentally meeting a Prince and falling madly in love like the movie the Prince and Me. Well, this was like that but yet it made you think about what it would really be like. All things that come with loving a Prince (even the not so easy things.)
I'm obsessed with all things royal especially Prince William and Kate / Prince Harry and Meghan. It felt like I was reading a mashup of their stories but yet obviously super dramatized and different. I LOVED it. I found myself sooooooo invested. Almost too much so that I couldn't stop till I was in a happy place.
I didn't know what to expect going into this but I really enjoyed that it started off at college. The beginning was perfect! The love story between Nick and Bex was so sweet and felt very real/natural. I couldn't get enough of them. Honestly, I really just loved Bex. She was such a great main character. I felt for her so many times. I wanted to be apart of her cool friend group. She was so fun and relatable. While her twin sister I struggled with.
This was such a lovely story that captured my heart and took me on a wild ride. The only reason it didn't get 5 stars is because I wanted more at the end. This was a good sized book and at times I felt some things went a little longer than needed especially the hard of the heart parts. Some of the time jumps seemed so sudden. But the ending felt a little rushed and WANT more closure!! I needed an epilogue. But I heard there will be a book 2. Yay!!! I want need more adorable moments between Nick and Bex.
August 2, 2020
This is a modern royal tale of a friendship that spans over 8 years between a young American, Rebecca ‘Bex’ Porter, and Nick, the future King of England. The story begins present day, the day prior to their wedding, and in the midst of being blackmailed. The story is told in five timeframes from 2007 to the present starting from the time Bex arrives to Oxford from America. She tells their story, their relationship with the media and paparazzis, the heartaches, and most especially their love story.
I found the story telling - as seen through Bex’s eyes very engaging and immersive. I enjoyed her point of view as a woman coming-of-age in a foreign country, and landed right smack in the middle of the Royal drama. The cast of characters that surround their day to day activities were fun to read about, and really adds to the story line.
I am looking forward to the next installment, and glad that I did not have to wait five years for The Heir Affair.
I found the story telling - as seen through Bex’s eyes very engaging and immersive. I enjoyed her point of view as a woman coming-of-age in a foreign country, and landed right smack in the middle of the Royal drama. The cast of characters that surround their day to day activities were fun to read about, and really adds to the story line.
I am looking forward to the next installment, and glad that I did not have to wait five years for The Heir Affair.
March 12, 2017
I don’t normally go crazy for the Royal family… in fact I always wonder what the fascination is for people who do. That said, I’ve been on a royal reading kick lately and I’ve had The Royal We on that list for a while. After a few prods from friends on Instagram I thought I better get reading, and once I started, I couldn’t stop.
American Rebecca “Bex” Porter has finally jumped out of the shadow of her twin sister Lacey by heading overseas to pursue her degree at Oxford where she finds herself living down the hall from Great Britain’s future king. When they find themselves bonding over a horrible tv show and even worse snacks from the states, there’s no denying the connection between the two, but Nicholas’s life isn’t for everyone. With the weight of a kingdom on his shoulders, Nick can’t even go out for a beer without considering the consequences and the added stress from his father’s disappointment, shouldering the effects of his mother’s health issues, and the irresponsibility of his brother Eddie bringing the media in on his relationship isn’t something he can deal with now.
As Bex and Nick traverse the ups and downs of relationships at a level normal people couldn’t even imagine you’re taken on a rollercoaster of a ride. Cocks & Morgan and written a book that is addictive in its story-telling and filled with drama and scandal and while there were things that kind of irked me (i.e. the middle part of Bex & Nick’s story) overall I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I don’t think that I’m alone in saying that while reading it’s hard not to imagine the real British royal family.
I kind of love the characters in this story… Bex’s parents were absolutely wonderful and I loved the relationship she had with her father. It was absolutely refreshing to read. On the other hand, Lacey totally stressed me out … probably as much as she did Nick & Bex and I really found myself NOT sympathizing with her about a single thing and kind of wanted her to stop with the “woe is me” attitude and go back to the US.
I have to mention Eddie though because he was my favorite… while I like Nick and he swooned the crap out of me, Eddie is totally my kind of guy, and I wish we could find out more about his future (cough book 2 please cough). I completely understood his struggle in the grand scheme of his life and sympathized with him on a level that I don’t know that I did with Nick.
This book was filled with drama yes, but there are sweet and swoony moments as well, and I completely love the banter and relationship development between Bex & Nick. If you’re looking for something fun and yes, slightly drama filled, I highly recommend this. Even if the real-life royals aren’t your thing, I think you’ll find this one intriguing and hard to put down once you start reading!
American Rebecca “Bex” Porter has finally jumped out of the shadow of her twin sister Lacey by heading overseas to pursue her degree at Oxford where she finds herself living down the hall from Great Britain’s future king. When they find themselves bonding over a horrible tv show and even worse snacks from the states, there’s no denying the connection between the two, but Nicholas’s life isn’t for everyone. With the weight of a kingdom on his shoulders, Nick can’t even go out for a beer without considering the consequences and the added stress from his father’s disappointment, shouldering the effects of his mother’s health issues, and the irresponsibility of his brother Eddie bringing the media in on his relationship isn’t something he can deal with now.
As Bex and Nick traverse the ups and downs of relationships at a level normal people couldn’t even imagine you’re taken on a rollercoaster of a ride. Cocks & Morgan and written a book that is addictive in its story-telling and filled with drama and scandal and while there were things that kind of irked me (i.e. the middle part of Bex & Nick’s story) overall I thoroughly enjoyed this story. I don’t think that I’m alone in saying that while reading it’s hard not to imagine the real British royal family.
I kind of love the characters in this story… Bex’s parents were absolutely wonderful and I loved the relationship she had with her father. It was absolutely refreshing to read. On the other hand, Lacey totally stressed me out … probably as much as she did Nick & Bex and I really found myself NOT sympathizing with her about a single thing and kind of wanted her to stop with the “woe is me” attitude and go back to the US.
I have to mention Eddie though because he was my favorite… while I like Nick and he swooned the crap out of me, Eddie is totally my kind of guy, and I wish we could find out more about his future (cough book 2 please cough). I completely understood his struggle in the grand scheme of his life and sympathized with him on a level that I don’t know that I did with Nick.
This book was filled with drama yes, but there are sweet and swoony moments as well, and I completely love the banter and relationship development between Bex & Nick. If you’re looking for something fun and yes, slightly drama filled, I highly recommend this. Even if the real-life royals aren’t your thing, I think you’ll find this one intriguing and hard to put down once you start reading!
May 25, 2017
3.5 rounded up to 4
Lets get this out of the way - I am an anglophile. I stayed up all night to watch Princess Di's funeral and got up at 3 a.m. (EDT) to watch Kate & Will's wedding. Thus a book that is a very fictionalized account of Will & Kate's romance seemed like a great idea.
You will definitely recognize the Royals in this fictional story. But where we depart from reality is that instead of a mere commoner our Heir instead falls for an American, Rebecca Porter, Bex. The book explains how they hid their relationship, how making it public actually made things worse and how they reunited, got engaged etc.
In order to make the story different from reality instead of his mother being dead they make her crazy and locked away in various stately homes by a family unwilling to admit it. I think dead would be better or hell they could have made her alive and happily married after all it is a novel.
And I can't really explain what I didn't like but the story just didn't capture my attention. There were several times I stopped reading to read something else because I was bored. And when the ending finally arrived I hated it. I would say that neither Nick nor Bex were mature enough to get married
Lets get this out of the way - I am an anglophile. I stayed up all night to watch Princess Di's funeral and got up at 3 a.m. (EDT) to watch Kate & Will's wedding. Thus a book that is a very fictionalized account of Will & Kate's romance seemed like a great idea.
You will definitely recognize the Royals in this fictional story. But where we depart from reality is that instead of a mere commoner our Heir instead falls for an American, Rebecca Porter, Bex. The book explains how they hid their relationship, how making it public actually made things worse and how they reunited, got engaged etc.
In order to make the story different from reality instead of his mother being dead they make her crazy and locked away in various stately homes by a family unwilling to admit it. I think dead would be better or hell they could have made her alive and happily married after all it is a novel.
And I can't really explain what I didn't like but the story just didn't capture my attention. There were several times I stopped reading to read something else because I was bored. And when the ending finally arrived I hated it. I would say that neither Nick nor Bex were mature enough to get married
April 16, 2016
Going in to this book I had NO idea how much I was going to enjoy it. To start off: if you hate the cliche romance novels, you'll hate this. It's not some classic piece of literature, but it's fun and I am totally okay with reading things purely for enjoyment. This would be THE perfect summer vacation read. It's quick, it's cute, and I loved it. The characters, the plot line, and the novel itself were so good I read this book in about a day! I would highly recommend it!
August 16, 2018
Loved, loved LOVED IT.
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