3 Royally Good Books

I love unintentionally reading books around a theme — just naturally gravitating toward different types of books. The following three books are different in genere – but all have themes of royalty. We have the apocalypse in The Prince & The Apocalypse by Kara McDowell. Katharine McGee’s American Royals series wraps up in Reign. And the search for a long lost heir is on in How To Find A Princess by Alyssa Cole.

I received this book for free from Library, Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

An American teen stranded in London is forced to team up with the British crown prince if she wants to make it back home before the end of the world in this delightfully rompy high-stakes rom-com.

Wren Wheeler has flown five thousand miles across the ocean to discover she’s the worst kind of traveler: the kind who just wants to go home. Her senior-year trip to London was supposed to be life-changing, but by the last day, Wren’s perfectly-planned itinerary is in tatters. There's only one item left to check off: breakfast at The World’s End restaurant. The one thing she can still get right.

The restaurant is closed for renovations—of course—but there's a boy there, too. A very cute boy with a posh British accent who looks remarkably like the errant Prince Theo, on the run from the palace and his controlling mother. When Wren helps him escape a pack of tourists, the Prince scribbles down his number and offers her one favor in return. She doesn’t plan to take him up on it—until she gets to the airport and sees cancelled flights and chaos. A comet is approaching Earth, and the world is ending in eight days. Suddenly, that favor could be her only chance to get home to her family before the end of the world.

Wren strikes a bargain with the runaway prince: if she’ll be his bodyguard from London to his family’s compound in Santorini, he can charter her a private jet home in time to say goodbye. Traveling through Europe by boat, train, and accidentally stolen automobile, Wren finds herself drawn to the dryly sarcastic, surprisingly vulnerable Theo. But the Prince has his own agenda, one that could derail both their plans. When life as they know it will be over in days, is it possible to find a happy ending?

The Prince & The Apocalypse by Kara McDowell was a nice break from the bigger fantasy books I had been reading. This book is about Wren who is in London on a post senior year school trip. She has dreamed of going for the longest time. Only, it turns out she hates it and just wants to go home. Nothing happens how she expected it. Hoping to have at least one positive memory – she goes out for breakfast before the class is due back at the airport. Only, it turns out the diner is closed and there’s a guy there who she helps dodge the paparazzi. It turns out the guy is actually the crown prince Theodore and heir to the throne. After she helps him escape, he promises Wren a favor. It turns out the world is ending and so, Wren gives him a call to ask if he can help her get home to Chicago. He promises to do so as long as Wren helps get him to Santorini where he wants to wait out the last days.

I enjoyed that The Prince & The Apocalypse takes us across a portion of Europe. The travel portion is so interesting. So is the romance. There are for sure feelings between Wren and Theodore that develop in what feels like a sensical timeline. Like, yeah of course it will be sped up due to the end of the world and all. I also liked how capable Wren was — and she’s also so devoted to her family and the love just comes right off the pages. McDowell’s The Prince & The Apocalypse does end on a cliffhanger and it looks like there may be a sequel, so I will certainly be back for more given how much I genuinely liked this book.

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Thoughts on The Prince & The Apocalypse by Kara McDowell while in the library parking lot. @Wednesday Books #aprilbooksandwine #bookreview #booktokover30

♬ original sound – April Books & Wine

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

A queen's life hangs in the balance, and her siblings’ decisions—about what to do, and most of all, who to love—could change the course of history. Romance. Duty. Power...only one can triumph in this stunning conclusion to the New York Times bestselling American Royals series.

America's royal family is in shambles. Queen Beatrice is in a coma and Princess Samantha has gone missing—from the look of things, she ran away with her boyfriend, Lord Marshall Davis. Which means that Prince Jefferson is currently on the throne. For some in America, it's exactly what they wanted: a King ruling the country. And for Daphne Deighton, who has tricked Jefferson into dating her again, it's the ultimate dream come true.

Surely this is all just temporary. Won’t Beatrice wake up and reclaim her rightful place? Samantha can't really be gone…can she? And Prince Jefferson will never truly be over his childhood crush, Nina Gonzalez. Right?

For the Washington family, the stakes are higher than ever. Love might save the throne….if secrets don’t destroy everything first.

Reign by Katharine McGee is the conclusion to the American Royals series. What a ride this series has been over three years. I love that we get resolution to Beatrice, Nina, Daphne and Samantha’s stories. As the book opens FYI SPOILERS RIGHT HERE Beatrice is in a coma. Samantha has run away to the kingdom of Haw’aii with Marshall. Nina is living her life in college. Daphne has claimed to Jefferson that she’s pregnant. Yes, lots of drama from the jump. Let me tell you, that kept me engaged and interested. All the stories play out and resolve though and get neatly wrapped up.

I love a good series closer. Reign does an excellent job ending the series — it is dramatic and juicy. I liked that my conceptions about different characters changed. I found myself surprised and shocked and unable to predict one twist in this book. Also, this book does take on things like patriarchy — particularly with Beatrice and Samantha’s stories. Daphne also really has a lot of growth and felt so morally grey to me eventually — I appreciated the depth. Finally, Brittany Pressley narrated the audiobook of American Royals: Reign and truly does it to perfection. She is PERFECT for this series and I am so glad I listened to all these books because what an experience. The audiobook is 12 hours and 49 minutes but the time just absolutely flies while you listen.

I received this book for free from Library, Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Alyssa Cole’s second Runaway Royals novel is a queer Anastasia retelling, featuring a long-lost princess who finds love with the female investigator tasked with tracking her down.

Makeda Hicks has lost her job and her girlfriend in one fell swoop. The last thing she’s in the mood for is to rehash the story of her grandmother’s infamous summer fling with a runaway prince from Ibarania, or the investigator from the World Federation of Monarchies tasked with searching for Ibarania’s missing heir.

Yet when Beznaria Chetchevaliere crashes into her life, the sleek and sexy investigator exudes exactly the kind of chaos that organized and efficient Makeda finds irresistible, even if Bez is determined to drag her into a world of royal duty Makeda wants nothing to do with.

When a threat to her grandmother’s livelihood pushes Makeda to agree to return to Ibarania, Bez takes her on a transatlantic adventure with a crew of lovable weirdos, a fake marriage, and one-bed hijinks on the high seas. When they finally make it to Ibarania, they realize there’s more at stake than just cash and crown, and Makeda must learn what it means to fight for what she desires and not what she feels bound to by duty.

How To Find A Princess by Alyssa Cole is the second in the Runaway Royals series. I am not sure if there’s more planned in the series – but this was the last book released and it came out in 2021. I thought this would be a great book to listen to as I catch up on my overextended Netgalley queue. This book follows Makeda Hicks who has lost her job at the grocery store due to layoffs. She’s been told that her grandmother had a summer fling with an Ibaranian prince. Now, Ibarania is looking for the long lost royal heir. Enter Beznaria Chetchevaliere. She’s the investigator for the case and is trying to convince Makeda to see if she’s the heir. Together, the two journey to Ibarania and fall in love along the way.

We love a sapphic royal romance! How To Find A Princess was such a compelling contemporary romance. I enjoyed that it features a young woman trying to figure her identity out and how to move forward after the whole grocery store thing doesn’t work out. I also liked how different Bez and Makeda were from each other. The parts on the high sea were interesting too — there’s definitely another story there with one of the side characters that would be fascinating to see play out. Plus, Bez and Makeda are Black. The audiobook is narrated by Karen Chilton and is 10 hours and 48 minutes long. It is an easy listen and highly recommended.

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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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