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Review

4 stars!

Paper Princess was one of my favourite reads this year, and I have been SO excited to get my hands on this follow up. And once again the authors have given us a dramatic story with fantastically flawed characters, wonderful dynamics, intrigue, evil scheming, betrayal, a whole heap of twists, and, of course, a desperate, angst-filled, and beautiful romance.

The trilogy is one continuous story, so please be aware that this review does contain some minor spoilers for Paper Princess.

This trilogy tells the story of Ella Walker, a young girl who was plucked from her life of near-poverty and ‘adopted’ by Callum Royal, the obscenely wealthy best friend of her recently deceased father. Ella’s entrance into a whole new world of wealth and privilege and her introduction to Callum’s five spoiled and arrogant sons absolutely captivated me. Her strength in dealing with the animosity thrown at her from the boys, and from the snobbish teens at her exclusive high school was fantastic, and I loved watching her work her way under the skin of each of the brothers and find her place within the family. Her relationship with troubled middle child, Easton, and her chemistry-filled romance with bad boy Reed formed a huge part of the last book, before a heartbreaking betrayal changed everything and left us hanging.

“He told me to stay away. He told me I didn’t belong. If only I’d listened to him”

Well, now Ella and the Royals are back, and with Ella broken hearted and on the run again, secrets and treachery in the Royal household are being revealed and the boys are falling to pieces without the girl who had started to become the glue that held them all together. Reed, in particular, has been left shattered, and the first few chapters are told from his POV as we see him desperate to find his girl, fighting with his brothers, and struggling to deal with the expectations placed on him at school and on the football field as he battles his spiralling emotions.

I’ve spend the last couple of years trying to destroy everything around me. Who knew success would taste so bitter.

Oh Reed, you beautiful broken boy! Each of the Royal boys have been through so much and have developed their own unique coping mechanisms, and their lives are full of manipulation and game playing – both at home and at school. And when Ella is reluctantly returned to the Royal household, it’s to an even more broken household and a remorseful Reed who makes it very clear that he wants Ella back and he’ll do anything to make that happen.

“I missed you every second you were gone. I thought about you every goddamn second. You want to hate me for what I did? Don’t bother – I was hating myself for it long before you showed up.”

“I’m willing to do almost anything for you. I’d go back in time to change things if I could.” He gazes down at me with determination. “But I’m not leaving you alone.”

Reed has a long way to go to make up for his mistakes – with Ella and with his brothers – and I really enjoyed his journey throughout the book. And Reed in love is a beautiful thing to see.

She’s mine and always has been. From before we even met, she was mine and I was hers. I fought it too long, but I’m giving in now. I’m all in now.

There wasn’t a huge amount of story progression, instead the book seemed to focus on the relationships between the characters – delving deeper into their histories and showing the impact of their past actions and all that they have endured. Reed and Ella are the central focus of course, Gideon isn’t around much but we learn more about him (just wow!), the twins are intriguing, and Easton continues to steal my heart as the deeply troubled bad boy. Daddy Royal, Callum, surprised me in this one and I really enjoyed his interactions with Ella and the boys. The dynamics between the characters and of the group as a whole are so well done! The Royal boys and their father are completely dysfunctional, and add in the drama of the women in their lives, and it’s a clusterfuck of epic proportions!

The entire Royal household is rotting from the inside out.

And then there’s all of the drama at school, and I have to say a giant W.T.F. is up with that? Honestly, it seemed really over the top to me. Like, is that school for real? Does stuff like that actually happen? And do kids get away with that kind of behaviour? If so, I’m horrified! But watching the characters react to everything that is going on shows their strength as well as how they are growing and changing, and that part of the story is really well done.

I really enjoyed this book. For me, it didn’t pack the punch of the first book, but the writing is fantastic and the story is a great blend of romance and drama with lots of intrigue and some fantastic twists. Those last few pages are full of surprises, leaving us with an even more brutal cliffy than the first book, and I can’t wait to see how it’s all going to play out in the final book.

Loved it – 4 stars.

An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided in exchange for an honest review.

 

The Royals series