Royals (aka "Prince Charming") (Royals #1) by Rachel Hawkins

 Hey Everyone!  

So I finished another book! I actually just upped my Goodreads reading goal, because I had it set to 10, and I've already surpassed it! I have it now set to 25, which if I keep going the way I have been these last few months, I shouldn't have a problem at all!  :). 

It was a long week for us!  We had appointments after appointments.  And then on Friday I did the most horrible thing...dropped my phone into our pond.  😭😭😭😭😭 It is gone.  We can't find it.  Our pond is super deep, and you can't see to the bottom.  My husband tried for hours!  He went in, and swam around, and then I ran from store to store to find a huge magnet and rope, and then he went fishing for it for hours and hours.  But no luck.  So Friday we got to run to the Apple Store in the evening and get me a new phone.  I'm just super bummed, because normally I would love a new phone, but I truly love my XS Max.  And the worst part, it had all the photos of my son on it, from birth until Friday.  And stupid me never backed them up, because...mom life is freaking busy guys.  I don't know what to say.  Let's just say when I set up my new phone, I immediately finally after years and years of refusing to, signed up for an upgraded iCloud account, so it can start saving everything again.  

Goodness do I still feel stupid about it. 

Anyway, on to the review!

Today's book is Royals by Rachel Hawkins, which actually had its name changed to Prince Charming, a while back!

From Goodreads:

Original Cover

New Cover

Meet Daisy Winters.  She's an offbeat sixteen-year-old Floridian with mermaid-red hair, a part time job at a bootleg Walmart, and a perfect older sister who's nearly engaged to the Crown Prince of Scotland.  Daisy has no desire to live in the spotlight, but relentless tabloid attention forces her to join Ellie at the relative seclusion of the castle across the pond.

While the dashing young miles has been appointed to teach Daisy the ropes of being regal, the prince's roguish younger brother kicks up scandal wherever he goes, and tries his best to take Daisy along for the ride.  The crown -- and the intriguing Miles-- might be trying to make Daisy into a lady...but Daisy may just rewrite the royal rulebook to suit herself.

     

My Thoughts:

Why this series got a cover change, I don't know.  All I know is that I decided to get the original cover, because I wanted the hardcover (I've sort of vowed to myself now, that I mainly want to get hardcovers for my shelf from now on), and got the original cover, because the new cover only comes in paperback, which is super disappointing.  Luckily, the second one did get released in the newer design hardback (because it never got the original design), so I was able to order to that.  They just won't be matching now. 🙄

Anyhoo...I REALLY enjoyed this one! Like REALLY!  Royals caught my attention when it first came out in 2018, but like every book since then, I just hadn't gotten around to picking it up! So when I started reading again a few months ago, I instantly thought of this, when I restarted my TBR stack (after getting rid of a bunch of unread books, collected over years and years, and just having a daunting amount).  

Royals, or Prince Charming took me back to reading The Princess Diaries for the first time.  It had serious Meg Cabot vibes!  I loved the authors humor, Daisy had the best sarcastic comebacks, I absolutely loved it!  

The adventures that Daisy goes on during her summer in Scotland are fun, exciting, and kept me wanting more.  I thought she handled certain situations extremely well, and honestly don't think I would have been able to put with a lot that she did (like always coming second to her sister).  She knows how to handle herself, and was a tough chick, who I just really enjoyed getting to know in this book!

My Overall Rating:

I went back and forth on whether to give this one four or five stars, but I give it 4.5, and I ended up rating up to the five mark.  My first 5-star read of 2021!!! YAY!!  I think if you're a fan of the Princess Diaries, like I am, then you should definitely check this one out!

The Romance Bookie :)