Heir, Apparently by Kara McDowell | Book Review

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An American teen learns she may have accidentally married the King of England, only to end up stranded on a tropical island with him in Kara McDowell's high-stakes rom-com, Heir, Apparently.

Freshman year is stressful enough without accidentally being married to the King of England. Of course, Wren Wheeler can’t tell her Northwestern classmates about that; after surviving a narrowly-averted apocalypse over the summer, everyone’s had enough excitement for one lifetime. Wren knows she needs to move on from Theo, but she can’t forget the look in his eyes when he left her on that island in Greece—and also, he took her dog.

When an ill-fated attempt to rescue Comet the Apocalypse Dog turns into a chemistry-fueled reunion with Theo that’s caught by the paparazzi, Wren finds herself under the royal spotlight. Suddenly, she’s a problem for “the firm” to solve, and in order to be protected from the rabid press, she’ll have to fly back to London with Theo. Along for the ride are Naomi and Brooke, as well as Theo's siblings, including Henry, the brother he's spent his life being compared to. But because the universe can’t let these two maybe-newlyweds have one conversation in peace, their plane goes down over the Atlantic, crashing on a tropical island in the middle of nowhere.

Stranded with no sign of rescue, the group will have to band together against poisonous animals, catastrophic injuries, a brotherly rivalry, and an ill-timed volcano if they’re going to make it out alive. And, scariest of all, Wren and Theo will have to face their feelings for one another and decide what they want their futures to look like—and if that future will be heartbreak, or happily ever after.

Heir, Apparently by Kara McDowell is the sequel to McDowell’s The Prince & The Apocalypse.  It takes place a few months after the events of the first book — FYI, there will be spoilers for the first book from here on out, so look away if you haven’t read it. As you know, the first book ends with everyone realizing that the apocalypse isn’t coming and life resuming back to normal. Wren however receives a copy of her marriage certificate to Prince, now King, Theo in the mail. She is making preparations for college and has not heard from Theo after the events of the first book. I went into Heir, Apparently with high hopes because I very much enjoyed The Prince & The Apocalypse – I thought it was well paced, romantic and kept my interest. Unfortunately, I thought that Heir, Apparently was just not as good.

Heir, Apparently opens with Wren at college for the first weekend – at a party where she is getting hit on but not feeling it. She is struggling with the changes and so does some research and finds out that King Theo will be in Toronto on a royal tour of the commonwealth and she hatches a plan to get her dog, Comet back. If she sees Theo, that’s just a happy coincidence. As it turns out, Wren does see Theo and the royal family. What results is Theo, Wren, Theo’s brother and sister and Wren’s best friend as well as sister getting stranded on a deserted island. Oh, and the island apparently has an active volcano on it. 

So, unfortunately the pacing just was not there for me with this book. I often found myself getting bored. Maybe I am just not a desert island survival type reader. Much of the book is spent trying to figure out how to survive as well as get rescued. We also see Wren and Theo reconnect and reignite their feelings for each other. However, this is complicated by the dynamic of how Theo’s dad died as well as the whole commonor-royalty thing and the Firm and how that would impact Wren’s life if they move forward with the relationship. It just seemed like so much was going on with the whole background of the desert island — too much nad not somthing really tightly written for me to focus on. I think if you aren’t picky, like survival books, and want to know what happens next, you should give Heir, Apparently a shot.

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April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

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