Suddenly Royal (Suddenly #1)
Author: Nichole Chase (website | twitter)
Format: eBook
My rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Review:
Samantha, a snarky wildlife biology grad student, is thrown for a major loop when visiting royals comes to tell her that she’s actually a wealthy heiress and a duchess in the tiny country of Lilaria. One of the visiting royals is Prince Alex, an amazingly hot dude who instantly takes to her. She’s thrown for a loop because Alex and his aunt want to take her back to Lilaria to see her lands and officially accept her title, but she doesn’t want to leave her ailing father or her studies. After a lot of consideration (and some steamy kissing from Alex), she decides to go back, but warns Alex that they can only be friends as she’s overwhelmed by her new status and scared of getting her heart broken.
First of all, I have no idea how I found this book, but it’s been on my Kindle wishlist for awhile. When I saw it for $1.99, I went for it…and I’m really glad I did. Guys, I had SO much fun reading this book – I stayed up way too late two nights in a row because I just wanted to sink into the book. This is the kind of book you read when when things aren’t going so great in your life, and you really need a fairytale. Everything is fast-paced, and the dialogue just whips out zingers at you.
Samantha is smart, sassy, pretty hilarious, and definitely a heroine you can root for. My favourite part about her is that you really believe that she doesn’t care about being royal. She hates dressing up, and REALLY hates the media attention that she gets from deciding to take up her title. What she does care about is her family, her studies, and her heritage, and it’s awesome to see how deeply ingrained those facets are in her.
The other thing I really liked about the book was how much emphasis there was on the insane media/paparazzi, and the honest portrayal of the “job” of a royal. Samantha’s title includes land holdings, but also a sort of caretaker status for the village around her. And because she’s also a royal, she does a lot of media appearances, which she finds boring at first, but slowly comes to realize the importance of her standing and how her influence can be used for good. I felt like the author did an amazing job of explaining her roles and Sam’s frustrations and determinations.
Speaking of her frustrations, if there’s one criticism I have of the book, it’s the reasoning behind Sam not wanting to get together with Alex. Her issues are that he’s a royal and she’s not, and eventually, he’s going to leave her for someone else so he can take on the crown. But the thing is, Sam *is* royalty, even if she doesn’t believe it herself. That said, Sam is definitely scared of being heart-broken, and it’s obvious that the conflict runs deeper than that. The problem was that the author had made her so brave about everything else that I felt like that conflict was a bit manufactured. I would have preferred to stick with the secondary conflict of Sam adjusting to her new life.
That said…it’s a minor annoyance when you consider what it builds up to…read on!
Bonuses:
Sexytimes: Holy geez, guys. I’m fanning myself just thinking about this book again. There is a TON of sexual tension in this book. It’s like, the foreplay of a century. And the payoff…even though I’m fairly new to the romance genre, my opinion is that this book delivers on the sexytimes tenfold – more so than any other romance I’ve read.
Yeah, I just posted this. Sorrynotsorry. |
Hot Guys: I can’t get into this without talking about Prince Alex. He’s about ten times more swoon-worthy than I expected him to be – not only is he sexy and smoldering, but he’s also funny, caring, and completely smitten with Sam. He’s the ultimate fantasy guy…and because of that, I both loved him and didn’t love him. I felt like he was just a SMIDGE too perfect, you know? I can’t think of a single thing he did wrong in the entire book, and that kind of made him not as authentic to me. That said, like I said, if you’re looking for a fairytale…
The Language of Love: Speaking of perfection, can I just say again that Nichole Chase NAILED it when it came to dialogue, both of the sassy variety and the romantic variety? Even though I found Alex a bit too perfect, his romantic voice was SO REAL. In fact, some of the things he said are things my husband has said to me – at times, it actually felt like she was pulling from his brain, and it made the dialogue that much more real to me.
The Final Word:
Billed as The Princess Diaries for adults, Suddenly Royal is a very entertaining, very addicting read. You will either love it or hate it – if you hate it, it will be because it’s just a little too predictable. But if you’re looking for a beach read or a guilty pleasure like I needed, you’ll love it because it does exactly what you expect it to do. It’s an adult romance that hits all of the right notes and leaves you wanting more of Alex and Sam.
The second book in the Suddenly series, RECKLESSLY ROYAL, featuring Alex’s sister Princess Catherine, comes out on March 25. Are you interested in SUDDENLY ROYAL? Are you obsessed with royalty books like me? This is only my third or fourth time reading adult romance – have you read any? Let me know in the comments!
I am excited to read this one! Love the cover!
Missie @ A Flurry of Ponderings
This books has been on my to read list for a while now. I will definitely try to read it the upcoming month!
I think I rated this book 4 stars but I agree with what you said. Either you'll love it or hate it. I look forward to reading the next book in the series and seeing if I'll stick with it or let it go.
This sounds like the perfect beach read.
wow okay this sounds really good! love the cover art! 😀
I have this on my kindle and I'll be sure to read it next. Lovely review! <3
I enjoyed this book. I like how you pointed how different Sam was when it came to matters of the heart. Of course I can understand her logic. It's harder to recover from heartbreak when it's on a large social scale.