Royal Scandal is the first book in the Royals in Exile series written by author Marquita Valentine. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Loveswept for the advance copy.

I loved this story and the characters. The marriage of convenience between two best friends that turns out to be more than convenient. Colin was a strong character that did whatever was necessary to care for his siblings and Della was a loving character who took their entire family into her heart.

Possible Spoilers:

I loved that the marriage of convenience died a horrible death so quickly and I loved that the characters didn't lie to each other in order to drag out the situation. Theo is going to be enjoyable to watch fall, but right now he's king manwhore. And I'm sure Charlotte has special things coming up especially when her love interest is a certain reporter. I don't what lies ahead of Imogen, but I'm sure it will be interesting.

I definitely have a weak spot for royal settings and have been looking forward to read this book.

I can say I enjoyed this book but unfortunately I wasn't really overwhelmed. It has some really nice bits but also some which bothered me.
I liked the royal setting, altough some parts felt very constructed to me and I couldn't fully enjoy it. I also had the feeling that sometimes it lacked in logic.

The love story was ok but the relationship felt too forced to me. I couldn't really feel the chemistry between Della and Colin. It also developed rather quickly and didn't feel very natural to me. There are some sweet moments between them but I wasn't pulled in by the story.

The writing style was fine and easy to read. This book will remain a standalone for me as I not that interested in Charlotte's story.

The fact that Colin Sinclair gave up everything at the age of 19 to care for his younger siblings get ya right there. Through in the fact he is a Prince in exile and is raising his younger siblings as his own cue the ahhhhhh. Colin is a hot Prince living in North Carolina and has not realized that he is in love with his best friend Della Hughes who has been there for him since he first arrived 10 years ago. With a twist of fate he needs to marry quickly, who else to ask but Della. How long can a marriage in name only last?
Can't wait for the next in the series.

This was a really good fairytale romance. I really enjoyed this one - it was more than a fairytale and more than just a romance. I can't wait for more books in this series!

I say it every single time, Marquita has been an auto buy author for me for quite a while now. I just adore her books!

Colin and Della (loooved that name btw) were a ton of fun to read! They have been friends for 10 years, but Colin's family has been hiding some pretty important details about his family the whole time. They both have feelings for one another, but both feel that it is for the best and have their own reasons to not act on those feelings.

When word gets out about his family, Colin is given the option to wed someone of Parliament's choice, or stay exiled with his family forever. Instead, he decides to throw a personal wrench in those plans by asking Della to marry him. But, there's a catch. Only in name, and for 3 years. This brings the two of them closer together, and forces them to admit some things to one another that they weren't willing to admit before.

This book was a fun and easy read! I loved how Marquita managed to blend the southern charm of Della and her friends/family, with the UK quirks of the Sinclairs. I found a few parts of the story a bit confusing when it came to the history of their parents. I had to re-read a few times to make sure I was reading things correctly. That was something I struggled with toward the end, but otherwise, the rest of the book was extremely well done. I cannot wait to read the next story in the series

Great read, I'm a big fan of Marquita's writing. I loved both Emma and Colin, but I wish he had revealed the truth about the boys as soon...or very soon after...the reveal of their royal status. That's my only quibble with the storyline. Loved all the secondary characters, too. Best friends to lovers is my favorite trope and no one does it better than MV!

Colin Sinclair aka Crown Prince Colin Sinclair is forced to leave his country with his siblings after their parents were assassinated. They flee to the United States where the Prince becomes the head of his family. This works for a while and no one knows who he is but when word is leaked out it is demanded that he marry a Princes that they choose for him. Colin, having a mind of his own, takes it upon himself to find an American to marry..just to rock the boat.

Della knows Colin as, well Colin, not a Crown Prince. Because they are best friends and Colin tells her of his predicament, she absolutely says she'll marry him...in name only. But, what happens when it becomes more than in name only?

This was just an okay story for me and I didn't find it as interesting as I did Marquita Valentine's others books I've read. Thanks to Random House Publishing Group Loveswept and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

At 220 pages, I thought this might be a quick read for me, BUT it seemed to take MUCH LONGER TO SLOG THROUGH. I don't blame that on my reading skills. I love a good story. So, it's too bad that Royal Scandal and I had a rocky start.

I had a hard time believing the beginning. I mean... really. A 17-year-old stranger comes in blazing to confront a 19-year-old about getting evicted, then melts at the sight of a sleepy toddler that she wants to take care of?! Mind you, I don't mind books with some far fetched elements but there was nothing redeeming here.

* The sex scenes weren't even good enough to make this marginally better. Surprising that Colin is such a fan of the F-word and isn't more romantic enough to maybe use some other euphemism to get in her pants?
* Also, all that bollock-y Queen's English cadence smarming out of Colin's mouth sounded very cartoonish. I was cringing reading it. It made Dick Van Dyke's speech in Mary Poppins sound Shakespearean.
* If Della believes that no lady would avoid a good eavesdrop to learn juicy secrets, like all good Southern gals, than I have a hard time believing she hasn't snooped/pried/inquired through his siblings more on the Sinclair secrets.

I'm hoping the rest of the Royals in Exile series are better. This start to the series was so over the top, that I'd rather spend my reading time entertained by a superior modern fairy tale than this.

This is such a fun story!

Colin and Della have been best friends since they were children. He the rich and charming ward and Della the daughter of a servant. What she doesnt know is that Colin is actually a prince who has been forced to flee his home with his brothers and sisters being forced to marry someone his government chooses. Since he and Della have been friends for so long he decides to one up them and marry her instead. The problem is that they both have had feelings for each other that they have not shared. Now that all the secrets are out can the keep their friendship as it grows into something more.

The chemistry between Della and Colin is so well read and a lot of fun to read. The auther does a great job showing both of them as individuals with dual POV's. The story is fast paced with smart dialog and great secondary characters. Its a must read.

You know how sometimes people talk about romance as sort of a fantasy world or best picture world. Well, this is one of those romantic fantasies. It's a sort of Cinderella story (maid weds prince) but it's steeped in a world where things are half reality and half fantasy.

Let's start with the obvious fantasy part of it. Colin is a prince... from the Isle of Man. Now, I happen to know a little bit about the Isle of Man because when I was younger I was beyond fascinated by the history of the British Isles. I knew I didn't know enough about it though, so I did some research to figure out if there was any plausibility to the story. And the answer was... it's not really plausible. Personally, I'd rather some fictitious place be made than take a real place and twist it all around, but that is my personal preference.

Since my plausibility meter was already shattered, I started noticing all sorts of other things that just felt "off" to me. It's just so ridiculous that she'd keep her job after marrying the prince - that job of being a maid and cleaning other people's houses. It's even more ridiculous that he would ok with that. I mean, seriously, she could have decided to be a stripper or a whore and I think he would have been ok with it because it would be what she wanted to do. That level of "empowerment" isn't exactly what I'm looking for in a guy.

And then there's the story behind their exile. I was rolling my eyes over it all. And the story of how their parents met. More eye rolling ensued. And the evil Prime Minister. By this time, I wasn't sure if my eyeballs would stay in my head. Like I said, this is every bit of romantic fantasy.

But then... here's the thing. Why did I like it if it was so eye-rolling-ly annoying? Because despite all the frustration with it, Valentine made me care about these people. I loved how Colin took care of his family and how Della took care of Colin's family. I lapped up Theo's pain. I watched Imogen and Charlotte struggle. I raced to the door with Aiden and Pierce. I ached with Beaumont. I want to read more about these people.

Y’all, I absolutely LOVED Valentine’s Take the Fall series and was super excited that she was starting a new one (especially with a prince!) And she definitely didin’t disappoint.

The friendship between Colin and Della is fantastic. It’s so sweet how she’s there to help him as he struggles to keep his family together. She’s that understanding, mother figure that the family needs and the support he especially needs. Of course, there’s more going on between them than either of them is willing to own up to, plus quite a few secrets on both sides. Which, understandably, means that their fake relationship is going to be anything but smooth sailing. Things definitely get a little messy along the way (not too drama laden though thankfully), but they’ve got a strong enough bond amongst them all that they’ll figure it out somehow.

Over the course of the book we’re given a little glimpse of the royal intrigues (and at just how screwy the Sinclair parents were) but more importantly we get a few chances to learn about the Sinclair siblings. Each of them is sure to have a story coming up and I’ll be waiting with bells on! Valentine is such a deft story teller that she’d make even the phone book an enjoyable read, but with this group she’s got the material to make things really juicy and fun :)

This book was an extremely fun romp, taking on both the “girl next door” and the surprise royalty trope that’s so hard to resist in a romance novel. The St. Claire (now Sinclair) siblings are exiled to North Carolina after the assassination of their parents. The oldest, Colin Sinclair, holds the family together and raises his siblings. We meet the groundskeeper’s feisty stepdaughter, Della Hughes, fairly early in the book with quite the entrance.

After our initial meet cute, the book fast-forwards ten years and we get into our main plot. Did I crack up when I read “Ten years Later”? Of course. After ten years, parliament comes back for the siblings to claim their crown. But, unlike the tradition in their country, where the women are the successors, Colin is asked to wear the crown. His solution? Marry the girl next door he’s been in love with for years. And she’s been in love with him. They’re just not all that great at actually letting each other know.

I really love the marriage of convenience, surprise royalty tropes so I was already buying into that pretty hard. I found both Della and Colin to be a little thin as characters, the inability to communicate well constantly created tensions, but not in a believable as people way. A lot of the drama felt forced, and there was enough natural drama to keep the plot exciting. The chemistry between Della and Colin never quite got off the ground for me, but I did love their friendship.

Also, there is a “drama” point in this novel that I didn’t have a ton of patience for how it was written. I am never a fan of when a women is portrayed as “broken” in some manner so that a man can make her feel better about it. Only occasionally is this done well enough to merit its inclusion, and I don’t feel like that was the case here.

The siblings seem like they’ll have exciting novels of their own, and I really look forward to those. The best scenes are those with the entire Sinclair family together, as the siblings play off of each other extremely well.

Overall, it’s a fun read but I can’t say you should bump it to the top of your reading list.

. I really enjoyed this Cinderella story with a twist. Book filled with secrets. Della is in love with Colin since the fist time they met 10 years ago but is afraid that he only sees her as a friend. Colin have been in love with his friend and now have the opportunity to have her in his life permanently. As they spend time together, they reveal their true feelings but secrets once revealed cause a rift between the two. They later realized that they needed trust in their love and future. Recommended read

Royal Scandal is a sweet and steamy friends to lovers read. Exciled Prince Colin left his homeland with his siblings. Colin's best friend Delia, and the girl he loves, has no clue of the secrets he is keeping from her. The storyline is entertaining and you won't want to put it down. I mean who doesn't believe in fairytales. The characters Della and Colin were real, and they have a great chemistry. Sometimes dreams come true

Delia and Colin's story is good for the romantics at heart. The intrigue about who kills their parents, or events which surrounded their assassination made this book just a smidgen above average read. Nothing jumps out as unique or makes my heart palpates in the story though.

The story has an interesting concept where there is a royal family secretly in exile in North Carolina after their parents are murdered. Colin has protected his boys and siblings for 10years until the parliament of his country finds him and insists on him marrying an acceptable princess. He does not want to so ask his friend Della to marry him. They are best friends and Della runs a housekeeping service and has secretly been in love with Colin. They begin to fall in love but have to deal with secrets and manage the publicity when the truth of his family is revealed. It was a fun sweet book. I eagerly await the next book in his series. I voluntarily reviewed this book given to me by the publisher via netgalley and provided my honest opinions.

Royal Scandal is one of those books you read when its been a crappy day & you need an escape- Marquita Valentine takes you on a fantastic journey of laughter, family, & fun. And sexy time ;) I loved the story & the characters are so fun & entertaining. I can't wait to read the next book in the A Royals in Exile series (Royal Scandal was the first book)

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

I didn't connect with this book. I tried to go back to pick it up several times and couldn't finish it. I did not leave a review online for this book because of this.

** spoiler alert **

I received a copy of this story through Netgalley, and this is my unsolicited review.
Blurb:
Forced to flee to the United States with his siblings after their parents' assassination, Crown Prince Colin Sinclair takes it upon himself to become the caretaker of his family while hiding out near Charlotte, North Carolina. But after a decade in hiding, the secret's out and Parliament demands that Colin wed a princess of their choosing. Unwilling to play their game, Colin decides to marry an American instead, and he has the perfect candidate in mind.
As a home-service professional, Della Hughes doesn't believe in storybook endings. But when her best friend and secret crush reveals that he's a flesh-and-blood prince, she doesn't know what to think. Still, she'll do anything for Colin, including becoming his wife--in name only, of course. But when their plans to stay purely platonic go by the wayside, their fake honeymoon turns all too real. After a week of white-hot nights, Della can no longer deny her feelings--not with a happily ever after so tantalizingly close.
Review, spoilers!!!:
This is an modern fairytale and I like those. It`s a sweet story.
Colin buys a house, Della and her stepmother live in a cottage on the grounds. Colin and Della meet when see storms at him to demand why she and her Stepmom are being kicked out of their home. They get to stay and Colin and Della become best friends… Now here starts my problem. If they are best friends, why doesn`t he tell her that he is not the dad of his two little brothers?
We do find out a lot in this story, but it sometimes was a bit hard to follow. We find out who killed the parents of Colin. We get to know all the sibblings and see a bit of what is to come.
C. & D. marry to help C. and his family. C. has been lusting after her for a while, but didn`t want to ruin their friendship. Then why doesn`t he trust her to tell her about his brothers etc?
In the end it all works out and we get an HEA.
What I liked:
All the side characters and the fact that it is a sweet story.
I was intrigued about the last pages, Charlotte and Brooks story. So I will def. reed this book.
What I didn`t like:
There were happening to many things in this story. Some weren`t that well explained or maybe I just didn`t read it that well.
For instance: it took me a while to understand that the aunt of the other children murdered the parents of Colin and the rest.