American Royals by Katharine McGee
Entry posted by lostinthelightss
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American Royals, by Katharine McGee
young adult contemporary royal romance | teen audiences | 4 stars
summary:
QuoteWhat if America had a royal family?
When America won the Revolutionary War, its people offered General George Washington a crown. Two and a half centuries later, the House of Washington still sits on the throne.
As Princess Beatrice gets closer to becoming America's first queen regnant, the duty she has embraced her entire life suddenly feels stifling.
Nobody cares about the spare except when she's breaking the rules, so Princess Samantha doesn't care much about anything, either . . . except the one boy who is distinctly off-limits to her.
And then there's Samantha's twin, Prince Jefferson. If he'd been born a generation earlier, he would have stood first in line for the throne, but the new laws of succession make him third. Most of America adores their devastatingly handsome prince . . . but two very different girls are vying to capture his heart.
American Royals is a Young Adult book that centres on the American royal family - the Washingtons. In this timeline, George Washington took the throne, and now his descendants maintain that position. As the summary suggests, there are three relationships the book follows.
The first is that of Princess Beatrice, the heir to the throne. She feels trapped in that label, has to be the perfect princess in preparation to be the perfect queen - the first queen in her own right of America. However, she quickly develops feelings for someone she can't have. In a star-crossed lovers situation, those who love that trope will find themselves falling head over heels for both Bea and her love. (more details about that in spoilers below)
Bea falls for her royal guard, and although they cannot be together, and she is adamant about that - it's just not acceptable for the heir to the American throne to fall for a simple guard, even if he is a Revere Guard, the highest rank - a chance encounter wherein they are stuck in a cabin after a heavy snowfall will definitely have romance lovers like me swooning!
The second relationship is that of Princess Samantha and a soon to be Duke. Sam is a bit of a wild child due to her position as second in line, and that translates completely to her romance. A few trysts in a closet, perhaps? 
(more details in spoilers below)
Sam is interested in a soon-to-be-duke, Teddy. I'll be frank, the biggest area of the book I didn't click with was Teddy and Sam. The relationship felt rushed to me, but that's not to say I didn't like them! Just of the three romances, this one felt like the afterthought, which sucked because clandestine affairs are always a fun time! I will say that in the sequel, Katharine McGee does a good job of fixing that worry of mine, so looking back I honestly don't even care about the off-ness I felt about them.
The third and probably most scandalous relationship is actually a love triangle. Love square? There's a lot of moving parts! Daphne is the daughter of a model who managed to rise up the ranks of nobility, but still wants more. She was raised to marry Prince Jefferson, Sam's 'younger' twin brother, and become a princess. However, after a breakup with her beau, it's none other than Sam's best friend and longtime friend of Jefferson as well, Nina, that catches his eye. The dynamics between the two, as well as conscious and unconscious interference by both Sam, Daphne's best friend Himari, and Jefferson's best friend Ethan, makes this relationship the most frustrating of them all, but also the most interesting. (more details in spoilers below)
Daphne is a cold, cruel, and calculating character. She is, of anyone, the true antagonist of the book. Her ultimate goal, to marry Jefferson, comes at a cost to those around her; Ethan, Himari, Nina, and even Jeff himself find themselves in her crosshairs at least once, if not more. The way this convoluted relationship evolves throughout the book is really fascinating, and really shows to what lengths people will go to for power.
As a general recap, I really loved this book. I picked it up while waiting for my phone screen to get fixed at the mall (a while ago), and didn't put it down until I was finished. I will say that in some moments the plot felt forced or rushed, and the dialogue felt very strange in some areas. Although we are dealing with nobility, it just fell flat sometimes, and the decisions that were made felt very plot-focused, as if they were only made to further the plot instead of a decision that character would actually choose. That is the reason it only gets 4 stars instead of 5 in my opinion.
But I really really really loved this book, and I really really really loved the sequel (I think the sequel performs far better than this book tbh), and if you like modern royal stories, if you like contemporary romances, if you really like drama and intrigue and scandal, I definitely recommend it.