I'm really sad to say that I really did not enjoy this book. I liked the previous book and that's why I picked it up but this one was really disappointing. There are certain choices and circumstances that come about in this book that were so tired and unnecessary. This also has a lot of tropes like miscommunication and cheating. I personally HATE cheating in books and when it happened in the previous book I couldn't love that book as much as I could if there hadn't been cheating. The problem to me with this sequel was that the entire plot was focused on that incident, which drove me mad.

I loved The Royal We, so I was very excited to find out there was going to be a sequel and even more excited to receive an ARC of The Heir Affair.

NB: If Royal Family alt-history interests you, but you have not read The Royal We, I suggest you proceed with caution because it’s almost impossible to properly discuss The Heir Affair without mentioning key details from The Royal We.

The plot picks up a couple of weeks after the big royal wedding. Bex and Nick are on their honeymoon: incognito in Scotland; they’re hiding out after their ex-friend Clive’s scandalous revelations on their wedding day.

But all good things must come to an end, and so Nick and Bex return to London to face their scandal head-on and move forward from it.

The book covers multiple years, and there are many ups and downs. I won’t go into the minutiae of what happens, but needless to say, there are plenty of juicy gossipy bits. Some of what happens stretches the limits of credulity, but that’s sort of the point, isn’t it? The book is supposed to be an exaggerated portrayal of an alt-history version of the Royal Family, and it wouldn’t be a very fun read if nothing wild happened.

I will say that one central plot point involves Bex and Nick moving into the spacious set of rooms in Kensington Palace, the suite Queen Eleanor’s sister lived in for much of her life. The rooms are still filled with Georgina’s personal effects, including her journals, which Bex reads in the hopes of gaining insight into Queen Eleanor.

Almost all of the secondary characters—Freddie, Lacey, Gaz, Cilla, Bea, etc.—return for the sequel, so it was lovely to catch up with them and see them interact with Bex and Nick.

When the authors published The Royal We in 2015, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were already married, with one child and another on the way—but Prince Harry’s relationship with Meghan Markle would not be made public for another year and a half. Who would have guessed that a royal prince would marry an American? Truth is, as they say, stranger than fiction. I was looking forward to see what the authors would do with the new material, so to speak.

I would absolutely recommend The Heir Affair. If you read this review despite my warning, I’ll reiterate my suggestion to read The Royal We first. The book won’t make as much sense without starting at the beginning. It took me a bit to get into the book, but once I did, I couldn’t stop reading because I needed to know what was going to happen next. The book ends on a positive note—maybe it’s just me, but I see potential for a third book, and if that’s the case, I’m sure I’ll tear into that one as well.

I received a copy of this book from Grand Central Publishing/NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am a huge fan of "The Royal We", so I have been waiting for this one! Luckily, it did not disappoint. The characters were just as I remembered them, and I could not stop reading. I laughed, I cried, and then I laughed some more. This is exactly the book I needed while the world is on fire!

The royal love story of Nick and Bex continues, picking up after their grand wedding. However, instead of a fairytale, it was a nightmare, as a scandalous secret about Bex leaked to the public in the middle of their ceremony. The pair try to pick up the pieces of their relationships while also unraveling some old royal family secrets.
THE ROYAL WE is one of my favorite books, and it's so wonderful to be reunited with these characters I love so much. Bex remains a delight, as do Nick and Freddie and their crew of friends. Bea in particular got her moment in the sun in this book, and I aspire to be on her organization and planning level some day.
However, THE HEIR AFFAIR pretty quickly got bogged down in repetitive, circular conversations about the mixed up feelings of Bex, Nick, and Freddie. It felt like it took forever to advance forward even a tiny step, and while that might be realistic for repairing such a relationship breach as depicted here, it doesn't make for a gripping read. I think part of the reason it felt so stuck was that we only got Bex's point of view, so it was hard to see when or if other characters were growing until they told her directly.
Content warnings: emotional affair, stroke, mental illness stigma, infertility,

As a huge fan of Royal books I was so excited for The Heir Affair! I felt the story was very relevant with Harry and Meghan. Once I got half way through I couldn't put it down, I felt the same way when reading The Royal We!. Overall would highly recommend!

I went to read this one and realized it is actually a second book in a series. It's very clearly not a read alone and reading this one first would spoiler the first so I will add this to my TBR list and pick it up after i've had a chance to read the first!

Surprisingly, I didn’t originally read The Royal We because it’s a twist on Will and Kate, but I picked it up because it was set in Oxford. I listened to it with very low expectations before my first trip there and I unexpectedly fell in love with the book. I adored the characters, the setting, the romance, but mostly the friendships. In The Heir Affair the friendships are still there, but we don’t get as much of them or the Oxford setting (although I didn’t expect that) and I missed both!

The Heir Affair is a bit heavier than the first book (TWs at the bottom) and missed some of the joy from the first one. It once again tugged at my heart, but also felt a bit repetitive at times. The characters seemed to be a bit more of caricatures than in The Royal We and the balance of heaviness with over-the-topness sometimes didn’t mix well for me. This could be due to feeling a little on edge because of some of the subject matter or maybe just because I’m a bit of a British Royal Fam snob, haha!

This all might sound super critical, but I did still really enjoy it! I love the characters in these books and I genuinely felt sad when I finished it knowing I probably won’t get to “hang out” with them again. Well… until I reread this via audiobook, because I’m absolutely going to be doing that and giving it another go. 4 Stars – I really liked it, but also have mixed feelings!

TWs: miscarriage, infertility

From Goodreads: Making it up the aisle was the easy part: After marrying the heir to the throne, Rebecca “Bex” Porter must survive her own scandals as she adjusts to life in the glamorous British royal family, in this “highly anticipated” follow-up to The Royal We, the “fun and dishy” bestseller and NYT Summer Reading List pick inspired by Will and Kate’s romance (People).

After a scandalous secret turns their fairy-tale wedding into a nightmare, Rebecca “Bex” Porter and her husband Prince Nicholas are in self-imposed exile. The public is angry. The Queen is even angrier. And the press is salivating. Cutting themselves off from friends and family, and escaping the world’s judgmental eyes, feels like the best way to protect their fragile, all-consuming romance.

But when a crisis forces the new Duke and Duchess back to London, the Band-Aid they’d placed over their problems starts to peel at the edges. Now, as old family secrets and new ones threaten to derail her new royal life, Bex has to face the emotional wreckage she and Nick left behind: with the Queen, with the world, and with Nick’s brother Freddie, whose sins may not be so easily forgotten — nor forgiven.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
My Thoughts: This was the perfect summer beach/pool read when I escaped from quarantine. Seriously. Life is heavy, lots of stress between kids and work and just life, but this made me kick back and relax and just enjoy my time...which I so needed! I have to admit, when #Netgalley granted me the opportunity to review this book, I had yet to read the first in the series. But, I quickly remedied that because it is also a good summer read and was extremely enjoyable and set up the second book quite well. This is one of those series where I would definitely suggest reading the first book in the series before this one...could you catch up? Of course. But does it make more sense having read the first? Most definitely.

This tracks as a bit of the authors' spin on the real life romance between Prince William and Kate, with an American twist and more drama than at least any of us were aware of between the brothers (not that I think any of this is impossible...in the world of royalty and the crazy rich, anything is possible). That being said, their spin is just enough fantasy to set it apart from the newspapers (or blogs) and make it what it is...a fictional story of two people who fall in love trying to navigate their families, friends, love, getting pregnant, and all the other things that all the rest of us mortals have to work through, even if on a different, less public, scale. ANd really, particularly right now, who doesn't think about escaping to a place where you are unknown, without the day to day worries and responsibilities that we have that seem multiplied in this challenging world? That's how we start off this second look into the relationship of Bex and Nicholas, as they hide from the world and the scandal that erupted as they began their married lives (again, why you need to read the first book).

I'm not a royal watcher, I don't follow the blogs or the news related to the British Royal Family...but I don't live under a rock and so I did see parallels to real life in this. While there are parallels, it's not real, and it's sweet, and sassy, and frustrating, and happy, and sad, and all you can hope an escape into a book can be when you really, really don't want to go back to reality, I heartily recommend not just the Heir Affair, but also The Royal We, as great summer/breach/pool/vacation/staycation escape books that can transport you to a world of richness, and pomp and circumstance and yet make you very, very thankful that you are where you are and perhaps don't need to deal with quite that much drama and intrigue and pressure.

**I reviewed this book in exchange for an honest review, thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this, and the incentive to read the first book in the series!**

The Heir Affair picks up right where The Royal We left off, immediately after Bex and Nick’s disaster of a royal wedding. After self-exiling, they are summoned home by the Queen herself and are in for a rude awakening when they return - both to the family and the public eye.

This sequel has so much more drama, traumatic scandals, and tragedy than the first installment, which makes sense because at this point the characters are really growing up. The real question throughout the book is whether Bex and Nick’s love is strong enough to survive the scandal with Freddie, disapproval from the public and the Queen, and all the ups and downs of married life. Along the way, we get to learn more about Freddie’s history and the hidden secrets of the royal family, which are both juicy and tragic. This was a great read that was at times heart-wrenching, but had me rooting for Bex, Nick, and Freddie the entire way through. A FABULOUS sequel!

This book is a delight and a fitting follow up to the first book in the series. I've been eagerly awaiting this title for some time. While there were some predictable moments, it had all the charm, intrigue, and royal drama of the first while giving readers more insight into each of the characters and their ever-twisty relationships.

What a fun royal romp! I absolutely adored this royal romance. the Royal We was fantastic and this sequel upped the stakes emotional for all. I truly loved seeing this family come Together.

What a wonderful follow up. So many emotions and lies and secrets. I was on the edge of my seat for much of the story, wanting to know how the drama would resolve. Such a satisfying happily ever after for Bex and Nick.

To start this review, I actually need to go back 5 years in time, to when I read the first book in the series, The Royal We. Goodreads informs me that I liked that book well enough to give it a 4 star rating though I did not bother to write an actual review for it. There is no possible way I could ever hope to remember the plot for a book I read 5 years ago beyond the information contained in the blurb. I vaguely recall that Freddie, younger brother of and the spare to Prince NIcholas, who is the heir to the British throne, admitted his love for American commoner Rebecca (Bex) and kissed her. Bex and Nick were in love and engaged. Bex rebuffs Freddie and the book ends with them getting married while someone in their inner circle betrays them by blackmailing them over a scandalous (and untrue) tabloid story implying Bex and Freddie have been having an affair behind Nick’s back.

Given the 5 year gap between books, I had not anticipated that this book would literally pick up where the last book had left off. Thankfully, the first couple of chapters provide enough context to help me remember enough about who these characters are and how they ended up here. I should state before I go any further that this is going to be a pretty spoilery review.

Much of the first part of the book is spent with Nicholas and Freddie at odds with each other, Nicholas (rightfully) because his brother made a pass at Bex and Freddie because, after their wedding, when the story of Bex and Freddie having an affair hit the tabloids, Bex and Nick took off for parts unknown to get away from the royals and the press. I do not understand at all why Freddie would be angry given he was very clearly in the wrong and the book does not do that great a job to make him all that sympathetic. My sympathies should lie with Nick except the writers don’t do a very good job of making HIM that sympathetic either. It’s Bex I feel for the most as she’s caught in the middle between two entitled, self-involved princes with massive daddy issues who engage in all manner of one upmanship to prove who is more indispensable to the monarchy.

The second half of the book is the really messy part. It’s a kitchen sink book and the authors threw every conceivable issue they could think of at Bex and Nick. There are rumors of infidelity (this time, on Nick’s part - but no cheating), a miscarriage, inability to conceive which leads to Nick and Bex asking Freddie to be their sperm donor, and in what is unquestionably the biggest reveal of the book, the discovery of a long held family secret that, if made public, woud definitively alter the true line of succession.

I read most of this book as if I were reading a very gossipy tell-all, I stopped caring about most of the characters well before the halfway point and by the time I turned the last page, I felt like I had read an E! True Hollywood Story version of the monarchy. Parts of this book made me laugh (due in large part to the supporting characters) but mostly, this book was a pass for me because I couldn’t muster up any interest in the happiness of any of these characters.


Content Warnings:
On page miscarriage, inability to conceive, off page affair between minor characters in the past, death of supporting character, injury of major character sustained in military service, off page kidnapping of minor character in the past resulting in fear of going out in public, mental illness of minor character (not seen but referred to), allegations of cheating (untrue)

Look, I liked this book, but sequels are tough. You're attached to the characters already so you want good things to happen to them, but bad things need to happen to advance the plot. I wasn't necessarily excited about some of the choices the authors made, but I understand why they made them. I really enjoy this fictional universe and I'm glad they finally wrote this book.

I’ve been waiting years for a sequel to The Royal We, so I was ECSTATIC when I found out The Heir Affair was being released. I am a fan of anything royalty related and this series definitely scratches that itch by feeling like an alternate universe version of today’s modern day UK royals. Readers left Bex and Co. in such a pickle at the end of The Royal We that I couldn’t wait to see how things picked up in the sequel, and I was not disappointed, as I ended up enjoying this book even more than the first!

The Heir Affair picks up shortly after The Royal We left off, with the threat of a scandal hanging over Bex and Nick’s head. True to his word, slimy Clive released his story which turned their dream royal wedding into a nightmare, and has led to some serious PR damage for both Bex and the royal family. After returning from their secret honeymoon, Bex and Nick must face the disaster they left behind for Freddie and the rest of the family to clean up, and begin the task of repairing their image as a couple.

Like it’s predecessor, The Heir Affair is a lengthy novel that spans the course of several years, and I loved every minute of it. From initially focusing on Bex having to lean into the role of a Dutchess and clean up her act (which to be honest, was needed) to years passing and priorities changing to focus on producing an heir and the reality that Nick will be king one day feeling ever closer with each passing day, it was nice to see all of the characters mature and focus on more serious troubles than they had in the first book (in which they all were a bit of a hot mess). I loved seeing Bex and Nick move into their own royal apartments and unearth the secrets of Eleanor’s sister Georgina, loved seeing Bex finally make inroads with the Lyons, loved Freddie coming into his own and stepping out of Nick’s shadow. With the exception of Clive, the crew was able to put a lot of their past behind them and truly become their best selves while still maintaining their friendships and I feel like I really got to see them grow up (and don’t get me started on how much I ADORED Gaz and his obsession with getting into the reality tv baking show world, SUCH a fun touch!)

As in the first book, there are a ton of key players in the story and relationships to navigate, but I found the most important to be Bex + Nick and Bex + Eleanor. I’ll be honest, after reading a few chapters I remembered that I had some misgivings about Bex and Nick as a couple- when they’re good, they’re great, but I worried about their ability to be truly resilient in the face of marital troubles when they’d fallen apart over so much less before. Much to my delight, this WAS addressed, and the authors took care to show over the course of the years the imperfections and insecurities in their marriage, from Nick’s jealousy of Freddie (especially after the Clive scandal) to Bex’s lack of really buying into her new role as a royal. While frustrating at times, it was realistic and refreshing to see behind the curtain, knowing that They Royal We didn’t end with a “happily ever after.” I was also impressed to see the authors deftly navigate how Bex and Nick’s relationship continued to evolve over the years, especially once the topic of children came into play, as I think you become a new version of yourself when you become a parent.

While I figured that readers would get a lot of Bex and Nick exposure in this novel, what I didn’t anticipate (and was thrilled to see) was the amount of time that was dedicated to Bex and Eleanor’s relationship evolving. Eleanor was intimidating and cruel for much of The Royal We, the stoic family matriarch with the weight of the monarchy on her shoulders who DID NOT approve of Bex. I don’t want to spoil anything, but over the course of this novel Eleanor becomes much more humanized (for both better and for worse) and her and Bex develop a relationship that is all their own, independent of Nick. I was dubious at first, but was ultimately convinced that the unlikely duo could forge an alliance and it was one of the highlights of the story for me (especially because it’s not without it’s manipulations- Eleanor IS the queen, after all).

Some Other Tidbits I Greatly Enjoyed:

Martha’s anonymous Twitter fueds
Daphne, Hax and Lax
Bea taking over as their personal secretary
Secret movie theaters in the palace
Georgina’s journals
Can I mention Gaz and his baking again?

Overall: If you’re a lover of the British Royal Family this is a dishy, fun story that taps into some heavier themes as well. It was the perfect read to transport me elsewhere during this time of shelter in place. I can’t wait for more by these authors!

A great follow-up to The Royal We! When you think you don't want a sequel but then realize this is just what you needed. SO GOOD! We. Nick and Bex are hiding out after the disastrous wedding! Lots of twists and turns but ultimately, this book was LONG. Goodness. With 5 years between books, The Heir Affair was cohesive, and a great follow-up!

I did not like this book as much as the first one. Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan lost some of the magic that was in book one. Maybe it is because of the fact that the real royal family has been saturating the headlines lately. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this book, there was just nothing earth shattering about it. The writing was okay, but not spectacular. It was a fun read, but not one I would reread many times as I am prone to doing with an amazing book. My biggest problem with this book was the length, almost five hundred pages! If you are looking for a quick and easy read...this is not the book to choose. It was cute and sweet but nothing really swoon worthy or earth shattering. If there is a third book featuring Freddie, as the main character, I will be all in!

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Can I just say, it was GREAT to be back in the world of The Royal We. This book picked up shortly after the Royal Wedding disaster with Nick, Bex, and the other royals all dealing with the fallout, and the story continued through their first two years as husband and wife. Let's just say, as expected, these years were anything but uneventful.

I felt like most of this book was Rebecca and Nick trying to make their comeback, to reestablish themselves in the public eye after their fall from grace. While they were trying to restore the shine to their image, they were also attempting to mend the cracks in their own relationship, as well as the rift between them and Freddie. There were quite a few emotional moments for me. I mean, my heart actually ached at times, but there was also a lot of humor and antics to balance out all the drama.

I must admit, as much as the Queen irked me, I grew to love her. She and Rebecca developed an interesting and somewhat warm relationship over the course of this book, and there were some laugh out loud moments shared between the two. A sub-plot regarding a HUGE bombshell helped me understand the queen a little better, and HOLY DRAMA BATMAN! I am not exaggerating, when I call it a bombshell.

THE HEIR AFFAIR was packed with delicious drama, family secrets, and even some tragedy, but at its heart it was about family and forgiveness. The highs and lows had my emotions all over the place, and I found myself fully consumed by it all. It was a pleasure to return to this world, and maybe we will get a Freddie centric book.

This sequel is every bit as fun as The Royal We. It starts off right after Bex and Nick are married and dealing with the fallout of the scandal. As Nick and Bex start their life as a married couple more struggles and secrets from the Lyons dynasty are revealed.

I really enjoyed this book, and even though it had been a year since I read The Royal We, I was immediately drawn back into that world.

I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This sequel will satisfy those who are longing for closure on the main character's stories. Like the first, this one could use a heavier hand on editing, but the overall story is enjoyable. Fans of royal romances will enjoy.