This novella is absolutely ADORABLE. You don't need to have read any of the other Wedding Date books -- I haven't, and I still enjoyed it. I have nothing of particular novelty to say, but it's really nice to read a romance about older protagonists, and this one is lovely. I'm a huge fan of Vivian in particular! Love a woman who knows what she wants and isn't afraid of healthy communication.

This was my first Jasmine Guillory read. I wasn't in love with her writing style, but the book was fine. Just not my favorite.

Royal Holiday is a delightful, romantic story. Just what I needed.

Vivian is busy. As most hard-working people are. When her daughter, Maddie's work takes her to England over the holidays, she is determined to take her mother with her. Vivian is resistant but eventually goes along. Maddie will be working as a stylist for a Duchess of the royal family at their castle at Sandringham.

Vivian is delighted when she meets the Queen's private secretary, Malcolm, and he offers to give her a tour of the grounds and castle.

Malcolm has never given private tours before and doesn't really understand what has come over him. But he is definitely attracted to Vivian, so he continues to find excuses to see her. The romance develops pretty quickly--well it needs to, since Vivian is only in England until January 2.

I enjoyed the easy banter between these two. I appreciated that these were not "20 somethings" but older adults. I enjoyed the Christmasy aspect of the story, although it wasn't too sappy. I enjoyed the Sandringham (I had to look it up on Wikipedia) and London settings.

I read this in a little more than one day. I was in the mood for a cute, fluffy holiday story and Royal Holiday definitely fit the bill. You should check it out.

4.5 Stars
I LOVED this story. This was a perfect followup to the other books from this author. Having the main characters be mature was a delight. I couldn't have loved it more.

When I discovered that there was going to be a fourth book in the Wedding Date series by Jasmine Guillory I was instantly curious, as I had thought the series ended after The Wedding Party. I was definitely wrong! Royal Holiday is a quick, fun read that you should definitely have on your holiday TBR list!

Royal Holiday is a continuation of the Wedding Date series, but this book is about Maddie’s mom, Vivian. (And we do get to see Maddie in the book as well, but that’s the only character we know from the previous books.)

I have to admit that the storyline for this book was pretty cute. When Maddie lands a job in England dressing a royal family, she asks her mom to tag along with her to take a royal vacation. Cute, right? (Being a mom myself, I kind of love that Maddie asked her mom to go instead of her man.) I definitely enjoyed all the royal parts of the story, as I’m always a little fascinated by that anyway. I could have done with a little more as well!

Along with the storyline, I also really enjoyed the setting for this book. It’s set in London, (a place that I would LOVE to visit sometime), and I loved reading all the descriptions for the places visited in the story. (One day I will visit as well!) I especially loved the descriptions of the cottage, (aka MANSION!).

The characters in the book were all interesting. Vivian definitely had the mom vibe going on, and she was very mature compared to the other ladies in the series. This was both interesting, and a little awkward at times. Her relationship with Malcolm was super cute though, and I enjoyed watching their romance grow over the course of the book.

Overall; Royal Holiday was not at all what I was expecting, but was a fun addition to the Wedding Date series! I definitely want to visit London even more now than I did before. I am assuming that this is the last book in the series, but considering that I thought The Wedding Party was the last book in the series, who knows! If you enjoyed the first three books in the series, definitely check out this newest edition!

This was such a sweet romance. I've loved every book in this series, and it was nice to see an older couple as the focus. This book features Vivian Forest, who is Maddie's mother. Maddie was the main character in the previous book. We learned a lot about Vivian from Maddie in The Wedding Party and I was thrilled when I realized that this book would be about her.
When Maddie is asked to dress a duchess in England during Christmas, she insists that her mother Vivian goes with her. While Vivian is hesitant at first, she decides to join her daughter. While in England she meets Malcolm Hudson who works for the Queen. The chemistry beneath them is immediate, and after her daughter returns to the states, she agrees to spend New Years with Malcolm.
This is such a wonderful book. It was a sweet romance without being saccharine, and the romance between them was amazing. While it is a series you don't have to read them in order.

Like Guillory's other books in this series Royal Holiday is a meeting of the right people at the right time, even if they don't recognize it at first. I love seeing the romance develop between Maddie's mom and Malcolm, even though we know they have a huge obstacle ahead of them. The best part about staying in this series is we're already so comfortable and trust Jasmine Guillory to give her characters (and by extension the audience) the happy ending they deserve.

This book was fun and lighthearted but unfortunately didn't grip me as much as I had hoped. I had a challenging time connecting to the characters, and it made it difficult for me to become invested in their story. I'm not sure that this is a book meant for me, it just didn't encourage me to keep reading and I left it feeling unfulfilled.

WHAT DID I THINK OF ROYAL HOLIDAY BY JASMINE GUILLORY?
Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory is a sweet addition to Guillory’s Wedding Date series. After reading it, I would love to see a Hallmark, Lifetime or Netflix Christmas movie based on it. Also, I did find myself thinking it is really annoying that we don’t see movies about and starring people of color on the “Countdown To Christmas” etc. If anything, Royal Holiday makes me want more Christmas stories starring diverse characters.

Royal Holiday stars Maddie’s mother Vivian who is a social worker. So, as a mother myself who also is in the social work field, I immediately LOVED and took to Vivian. Basically Maddie goes to England to style a duchess and she brings Vivian with her for the vacation. There, Vivian meets Malcolm who is a private secretary to the Queen. There’s an immediate attraction between Vivian and Malcolm which eventually develops into something more. Can it last though? Given the two live on opposite continents…

This book is wonderful and sweet. It’s also a quick read. Plus the couple is atypical in that they’re older. It seems like lately the romances I read star people who are in their 20s or 30s so this was a nice change. I’d absolutely say you should add this to your stack of holiday reading.

HOW’S THE NARRATION?
The audiobook of Royal Holiday is narrated by Janina Edwards who also narrated The Proposal and The Wedding Party. So, it looks like she’s narrated all of the previous books by Guillory. So, your listening experience is in good hands so to speak. I for sure think this audiobook is worth listening to – especially on a seasonal basis.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for a free eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Unfortunately I DNF’d this one. Maybe one day I’ll pick it back up, but I just could not connect to the characters. Apparently the characters within this series build each book and I have never read any of them...so when it came to this one, I just didn’t know enough to care. And I hate to admit this, because it’s total ageism, but I just could not get past the middle age love story. Ugh I wanted to love this one! So I’ll start reading the others in the series and maybe give this one a shot next year.

hen the protagonist from "The Wedding Party," Maddie, is asked to go to England and dress "The Duchess" for Christmas, she can't imagine leaving her mother behind. True, she's been dating Theo for a few months at this point but Christmas with her mother is a tradition.
Vivian Forest has been busy the past year and a half and it's about to pay off with a probable promotion. She doesn't want to lose that momentum but she also doesn't want to miss Christmas with her daughter. While Maddie works, Vivian is supposed to amuse herself. Luckily, the man she mentally dubs "Hot Chocolate" introduces himself and offers to show her around the "cottage" she and Maddie are staying in.
Working as the Queen's private secretary, Malcolm Forest doesn't especially have a lot of free time. But he's drawn to Vivian and doesn't want to lose any time with her.
A lovely romance with an older couple. I wish we had seen more of their relationship building but a good novella.

Four stars
This book came out October 1st
ARC kindly provided by Berkley and NetGalley
Opinions are my own

I have loved all three of the previous books in Jasmine Guillory's series but this one was WAY off the mark for me. I really didn't love the plot but I gave the book a chance. Didn't really love the characters - other than getting brief snippets about Maddie and Theo (from book 3). The whole thing just felt like a dumpster fire to me and SO unrealistic. Of course you get to go on an all-expenses paid trip to England because your daughter is going to be stylist for the duchess and of course you get to stay with the duke and duchess and of course you get to meet the queen. It's just one unrealistic thing after another. And there was so much repetition - especially with the main character fretting over your job and whether she really should apply for the promotion she was (of course) recommended for. The small sub plots (with the job for the female character and a fight with the nephew of the male character) were not clearly fleshed out and were too boring to even be great subplots. The book was a quick read - less than 300 pages - but I wish I hadn't wasted my time. If you want to read Jasmine Guillory, definitely read books 1-3 but skip this one!

Royals! Romance! Christmas! If those buzzwords tickle your fancy as much as mine, this is a perfect new book for you. Featuring Vivian (mom to Maddie from The Wedding Party) and Malcolm (an employee of the queen), I loved that this story focused on two "older" adults finding love. This sweet story was exactly what I wanted it to be.

I fell in love with Jasmine Guillory’s books with The Wedding Date, but Royal Holiday tops them all. This sparkling romance begins when Vivian agrees to accompany her daughter to England, where Maddie has been hired to style the Royal Duchess. At 54, Vivian has never been overseas before, and she’s not sure she should be going now. At Sandringham, where the royals spend Christmas, Vivian meets 52 year old Malcolm, Secretary to the Queen. The romance that develops is sweet and funny, and doomed from the start to be nothing but vacation fling. Or is it? Highly recommended.

A completely delightful holiday romance, particularly for anglophiles and royals watchers. Guillory's previous novel, The Wedding Party, didn't hit the same heights for me as The Wedding Date and The Proposal, but Royal Holiday is right up there with those two. Bonus points for centering on a couple over the age of 50, an age group that doesn't typically get a lot of representation in this genre. And the origin story of the book itself - Guillory being prompted by a fan of Doria Ragland on Twitter, gives it an extra fun selling point when suggesting it to readers.

This was a fun and light-hearted read. The story itself is not particularly well written and the plotline thin. However, I did like that the protagonists are middle-aged and the dialogue "flirty."That's refreshing---no whining!!

When I heard Jasmine Guillory was writing a book that focused on the mom of Maddie from The Wedding Party and the private secretary of the Queen of England, I knew I was going to love it....and I did! Vivian is a middle-aged social worker from California, who embarks on a Christmas adventure with her daughter, who has been invited to dress The Duchess, at Sandringham. She meets Malcolm, the Queen's private secretary and they are smitten. This story is fluffy and fun and I enjoyed all of it. I'm a sucker for anything related to the royals and this novel did not disappoint.

I love all the books that this author writes. Such a feel good book. Love the characters and the story line
Hoping the author goes back and visits some characters, but she is a go to writer for me!

Vivian Forest is coerced into going to England with her daughter, Maddie, for the holidays. Maddie will be working but this will be a time for Vivian to relax. She just got wind that she will be taking a new Director’s position when she returns.

As soon as they arrive, Vivian meets Malcolm, the personal secretary to the Queen. They unexpectedly hit it off and a romance starts to blossom. Vivian knows the time is limited but when sparks fly, you can’t ignore it.

What really did work for me is that the main characters are older in age. Sometimes, I do get tired of reading about characters in their 20s and 30s. It is nice to believe that older people fall in love too.

What I didn’t really like was some of the awkwardness of the writing. Vivian and Malcolm are constantly laughing when there is no joke. I think the author was trying to use that as a way to help with the dialogue. Instead making the conversation flow realistically, it made it weird.

Of course, when Vivian returns home, she and Malcolm maintains some sort of relationship via email. They both miss each other but their lives are heading in different directions. I did enjoy Vivian’s relationship with her daughter. Maddie gave her mother support and encouragement as Vivian tried to figure out what she wanted next in life.

The story in itself is sort of forgettable. I read this a few weeks back and I had a hard time really remembering what happened. This is not the best in the series and I think the holiday magic fell slightly short for this.

~ Samantha

A fun follow-up to The Wedding Party takes Maddie and her mother, Vivian, to England for the holidays as Maddie is filling in as a stylist for a member of the royal family. While enjoying the sights, Vivian meets the charming and handsome Malcolm, the Queen's personal secretary. Will their attraction grow into something more than a holiday romance? Really, the bigger question is how soon can we get this to a screen? There are not enough holiday romances featuring racially diverse characters and also characters that are over 50. Come on, Hallmark, let's do this! (Advanced copy read courtesy of #NetGalley. Opinions are my own.)