The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

 

Title:                  The Royal We
Author:             Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
Publisher:         Grand Central Publishing
Pages:                454
Publication:     April 2015
Book Source:   Library 
Recommend:   Yes

American Rebecca Porter was never one for fairy tales. Her twin sister, Lacey, has always been the romantic who fantasized about glamour and royalty, fame and fortune. Yet it's Bex who seeks adventure at Oxford and finds herself living down the hall from Prince Nicholas, Great Britain's future king. And when Bex can't resist falling for Nick, the person behind the prince, it propels her into a world she did not expect to inhabit, under a spotlight she is not prepared to face.

Dating Nick immerses Bex in ritzy society, dazzling ski trips, and dinners at Kensington Palace with him and his charming, troublesome brother, Freddie. But the relationship also comes with unimaginable baggage: hysterical tabloids, Nick's sparkling and far more suitable ex-girlfriends, and a royal family whose private life is much thornier and more tragic than anyone on the outside knows. The pressures are almost too much to bear, as Bex struggles to reconcile the man she loves with the monarch he's fated to become. Which is how she gets into trouble.

Now, on the eve of the wedding of the century, Bex is faced with whether everything she's sacrificed for love-her career, her home, her family, maybe even herself-will have been for nothing.

 

For the first time in her life Bex makes a decision that separates her from her twin sister Lacey - a year studying abroad at Oxford. Lacey has always been the academic overachiever, but Bex’s primary motivation is the opportunity to draw European architecture. The first student Bex meets when she arrives is Nick. He helps her with her bags, she makes an inappropriate joke about royalty. Then her roommate informs her that Nick is royalty. Specifically second in line to the throne after his father.

There are obviously similarities to Prince William and Kate, but The Royal We definitely stands as it’s own story. I was definitely skeptical about this novel when I first heard about it – it just seemed a little too cheesy, but I was pleasantly surprised. I laughed a LOT and cried. Nothing about the story was easy; no instalove, the relationship built naturally and had all the challenges you would expect (and some you could possibly predict) in this situation. Nick and Bex were both likeable enough, but realistically flawed – they didn’t always make the best decisions, but I always felt like they loved each other.

The secondary characters all get plenty of depth and character traits. As absolutely frustrating as I found Lacey, looking at the situation from her side I could understand where she was coming from – not that excuses her behavior. Nick’s younger brother, Freddie, is great comedic relief, but you get to see glimpses of vulnerability and insecurity stemming from his role as “the spare”. I adored Bex’s dad, he was so genuine and supportive.

I’m a little torn over the end of the novel – it didn’t end fully happily ever after and while I liked the relationship challenges mid book I think I would have enjoyed a cleaner ending, but I think the way it ended absolutely fit the story.