The Royal We (The Royal We, 1)

I was never one of those people who were obsessed with Will and Kate’s wedding. Sure, they were cute, but I felt weird looking at paparazzi photos of them together, like I was invading their privacy. Luckily, The Royal We is about a fictional royal-commoner couple, so I could safely read about the joy and angst of Bex and Nick without feeling like a stalker.Although Bex and Nick clearly share some similarities with Kate and Will, they pretty much end with Bex being a commoner and Nick a prince. Rebecca, or Bex, is a tomboy American who meets Nick while they’re both attending Oxford. Nick’s mom, Emma, is actually [SPOILER] mentally ill, not dead. And because we know basically nothing about the inner workings of Will and Kate’s relationship, Bex and Nick’s love story seems wholly unique, at least to me. For one thing, Bex cracks a joke about the royal family having syphilis before she realized who Nick was. Awkward but totally adorable!Since I recently visited Oxford, I was delighted to notice plenty of nods to the campus, from The King’s Arms pub (which has delicious cider), to The Eagle and the Child, a favorite haunt of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. The authors clearly did their research, which made the book all the more entertaining because I could really picture the characters interacting in the Bodleian library and Christ Church cathedral.The book was written like a diary, as if all the events had already happened and Bex was just telling the story in retrospect. At first, I found that strange, but eventually I warmed up to the sometimes wry comments she made about her past actions, often referencing a completely exaggerated biography called The Bexicon: “We then performed a triumphant chest bump that ended with me belching involuntarily as we yelped in pain. The Bexicon nailed it again: There was no more delicate paragon of womanhood at Oxford that year than I.”The only thing that bothered me about The Royal We, which was otherwise a fun, hilarious story about two people who keep messing up and getting caught by paparazzi, is how long it was. Usually, I’m all for a few extra hundred pages, but for some reason The Royal We seemed to drag on longer than felt strictly necessary. I kept waiting for the curtain to close and the happily ever after to begin, but poor Bex and Nick kept encountering hurdle after angsty hurdle. I love drama, but even for me it was a bit much.The supporting cast of the novel kept the tone light and entertaining, even when the central romance was on the rocks. Bex and Nick’s Oxford pals are a diverse and wise-cracking group of misfits. From Nick’s brother Freddie (aka “The Ginger Gigolo,” a mischievous playboy) to the prickly highborn Bea (also known as “Lady Bollocks” for her sour attitude), the novel is full of friends–and sometimes foes–with endearing antics and quotable moments. “‘I doubt it ever crossed Prince Dick’s mind to get his bothersome sons a tree fort . . . My future sprog shall definitely have one. Lucky old Galahad, Murgatroyd, and Bob.'”The Royal We was a crazy, sometimes tearjerking look into life as a royal, or royal-to-be. The paparazzi are dicks, friends can become leeches, and princes can be really, really adorable. I enjoyed laughing and sighing over Bex’s romance, and it gave me pleasant The Princess Diaries flashbacks.Check out this review and others on my book blog here: https://ellectricbookreviews.wordpress.com/2015/04/16/review-of-heather-cocks-jessica-morgans-the-royal-we/

When I was a little girl, I didn't care very much about pretty dresses or having perfect ringlets of curls. I was more of a tomboy/bookworm. However, I was obsessed with royalty, specifically the British royal family and the Hapsburg imperial family. Any books I could get my hands on about love and romance and princes...well, I was happy as a clam then.Fast forward to now. Enter The Royal We. I don't remember how I first found out abut this book--I think I saw it mentioned in a magazine or maybe it was Novelicious. The premise--an American woman marrying into a fictional version of the British royal family--sounded fun even if the blurb already made it clear that it was not all fun and games. What Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan have managed to do is create a very rich story about a young woman at a crossroads and a young man whose life has already been predetermined. Their meeting wasn't part of the script the Crown had planned for him. And the attraction, the slow development of their friendship, its transitioning into love and then the eventual fallout held me from start to finish.I loved how Rebecca "Bex" Porter was portrayed. She comes across as very real, very approachable, even when she is misbehaving and I want to slap some sense into her. Ditto for Nicholas "Knickers" Lyon--or the fictional heir to the throne. His reserve, his longing for a different kind of life and his realisation that he could have it with Bex makes him a sympathetic character, even when he too drives me bananas.I found myself absolutely hating Bex's twin, Lacey. My God...what a spoiled, entitled brat. Bex was far too nice to her. Did it bother me that I hated Lacey? Absolutely not. You need a character like her to balance off Bex's personality. And Freddie, the prince's younger brother--well, he sounded so naughty, so dishy. Loved it! :) Even at his worst, he made it clear that he loved his brother and Bex. And this, I think, was missing from Lacey. I never felt like she really loved her sister. She loved the attention, she loved benefits of being Bex's sister, but she never felt like she genuinely loved her sister.As the story progresses and we follow their courtship leading up to what should be the Wedding of the Century, missteps and lapses in judgment leave the reader wondering if Bex and Knickers really are built to last. And when someone close to them proves to be a snake in the grass, the ensuing fallout will pull at your heartstrings. I really enjoyed reading The Royal We. My only complaint? I wanted more...:)

AMAZING!!!!!! I can't wait to read the sequel!

J'ai eu une édition différence de celle affichée. UN peu déçue

Very nice and entertaining story. It is just slightly fictional, so everyone reading will work out the rolemodels. They start of with the wedding, so it is also a nice twist to wait and see how it is actually happening - chick lit, nothing serious, but well done. Warming and original protagonist, though the prince is rather grey coloured.

Imagine if Richard Curtis scripted a Royal Wedding...The heroine is an irresistible American (cf Notting Hill & Four Weddings) and her suitor is an Englishman whose upper lip has acquired maximum stiffness (cf Notting Hill & Four Weddings - again). Oh, and he happens to be heir to the throne.The story is every bit as charming and witty (and snarky) as those rom-coms with a superbly-realised supporting cast. A great, breezy, holiday read.

I was hooked. I was drawn into this world and really feel like this could be what it is like to be in the royal family (maybe slightly exaggerated, maybe not).