The Quick Cut: A girl's life is turned upside down when her older sister gets engaged to a Prince and ends up spending the summer in Scotland with royalty. Drama ensues as she attempts to transition to the new lifestyle.
A Real Review:
Thank you to Penguin Random House for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Unlike apparently 99.9% of the population, I don't have an obsession with royalty. I've never had a thing for Princess Diana and I certainly don't follow her son's romantic lives (the exception being Meghan - I'm a "Suits" fan). So when this ARC hit my desk, I thought it looked alright. However, it absolutely blew me away as I ended up inhaling this book in one sitting.
Daisy's just a regular teenager from Florida who's getting ready for an amazing summer with her BFF Isabel. After finishing her Junior year, she's preparing to work some hours at her part time job and plan a trip to the Con when everything goes awry.
Her older sister Ellie is dating the prince from Scotland, Alex. And now they've shown up to announce their engagement to the family before a public one. Daisy's life that's already on a spotlight is about to get brighter with an upcoming royal wedding. She can no longer live life on her terms: she has to make choices and act in a way the royals would approve of. Plus that summer in Florida is gone and instead one in Scotland is replaced.
Enter the royal family and their friends. There is far more secondary characters than I could ever list out right now. However, their lives are hopelessly entangled and surprisingly - they are kept quite clear throughout the book.
Daisy is a very likable lead who seems absolutely overwhelmed by this world her sister has forced upon her. With parents that seem clueless to their ridiculousness and a sister who appears to only think about herself - she's had to sacrifice so much of her life. Between her foibles, stumbles, and moments of being her true self, it's hard not to smile when Daisy really does nothing more than be a real person. Rather than fake a smile and put on a personal, she is consistently her real self.
Alex and Ellie are a couple totally in love, but not without their pains. It is made clear that Alex's family isn't happy about the pairing, but they only allow it because his brother will marry a more proper woman. Alex isn't as well fleshed out in this one, but I'm hoping the sequel will correct that. Ellie is the epitome of the evil sister until she lets her guard down around the end and has a true sister moment with Daisy. I have to say this is probably one of my favorite scenes in the book because you see Ellie for who she really is as a character.
A total hit, these royals will have you dying for the sequel to hear more about the adventures of Daisy's family.
My rating: 5 out of 5