Member Reviews
This was a delightful escape right now and I really enjoyed seeing Bex, Nick, and Freddie again. (2015 seems so long ago!) This sequel will please fans. There is a good balance of drama, heart, and humor.
This book is a surefire delight for royal watchers and lovers of romcom. And coming right on the heels of 'the American Duchess' fleeing the royal palace in real life, it completely resonates! Bex and Nick are as adorable as they were in THE ROYAL WE, the first book of the series where we originally met them. But my favorite characters are Freddie and Eleanor, the younger brother and Her Royal Highness, the Queen of England. The dialogue between Bex and Eleanor is super-witty but what also peeps through is the pathos of royal living. And I love how many grey shades there are to Eleanor – it's the most complex character in the book. She can be devious and manipulative, yet you are somehow rooting for her, much like real life I guess. Here, the two brothers and their father are confronted with age-old family secrets and have to take a decision that could change the very history of the United Kingdom. The intrigue sets in a little late into the book but once you get there (saying anything more would be a spoiler!) you can't put it down.
Well, it took more time for me to finish it because I had to turn back and read the first book to capture the main idea and soul of the book, meeting with characters, their struggles, dilemma ext. But as far as I see, the authors are real clairvoyants because they can truly see the future. They already guessed an American girl’s introducing to the royal family before Meghan and Harry hit the road and move to Canada ( now we welcomed them to California!)
We were introduced to Bex and Nick’s story at the first book: “Royal We”: Price Nicholas is Great Britain’s future king falls in love with American girl: Rebecca Porter (we call her “Bex’, we’re in more friendly terms.) comes to Oxford, seeking adventure and she finds herself in tempting relationship with her prince charming. (Don’t worry, we don’t have seven dwarfs in this story!) But as soon as she finds herself into this mess: scandalous life, chasing by paparazzis, ugly alligator cries of ex-girlfriends ( they look like better future queen candidates. No offence Bex!) and problematic, sexy bad boy brother Freddie, she realizes she already ate more than she chew. But at the first book, she finds her HEA and marries with hot prince.
Now we’re reading the sequel: Heir Affair; and we think: Bex and Nick already won the war against the challenging struggles and earned their happy family life. Nope, you couldn’t be wrong. This book reminded me of binge watching Crown series with less politics and schemes but more romance, angst, and extreme drama!! There is so much drama in this story make you want to scream and cry out loud resembles telenovelas that the main characters always deal with heavy problems. There is too much heartbreaking, misunderstanding, resentment, crying, cursing (cursing part comes from me)!
This time: lovers deal with the scandalous story about Bex and Nick’s problem child brother Freddie (I think I’m so happy to get a closer look about his life and past story) erupts at the news during live broadcast of ceremony.
This book consists of so many heavy tragedies, traumatic scandals. It is more depressing, dark and heart wrenching. If you adore angst, heartbreaking, heavy drama, this is great fit for you. But I think it was a little heavy for my taste because I’d like to read something more promising and feel-good romance kind of softer novel during this pandemic break.
I still enjoyed the story and after reading the first book I already connected with the characters and rooted for them so it was impossible for me to give less than 4 stars to this story. I loved the first installment more and too much drama, long chapters are the weakest parts of the book but the writing, characterization and intriguing progression, the unconditional love between Bex and Nick were the greatest part to give me hope and keep reading.
Special thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for sharing this lovely sequel for me in exchange my honest review.
I was so excited to get my hands on this sequel to The Royal We! Nick and Bex are back and trying to navigate life as newlyweds when nothing is simple. Secrets, betrayals, and reinvention keep the plot humming along and bringing out the best and worst of all of the characters we came to care about in the last book. The drama kept coming chapter after chapter and it was hard to put down. The humor peppered throughout made it impossible to put down. I am so happy this sequel exists and would love for the authors to continue the series.
***Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review***
I was not a fan of this. I don't think this is what a romance should be and maybe I'm being petty, but I didn't enjoy this much.
I have been looking forward to this book for years and I was thrilled to get my hands on it! It was so great to dive right back into the world that Cocks and Morgan have created and the entire time it felt like spending time with old friends. I adored the development of the relationship between Bex and Eleanor and I found myself shedding a tear more than once. At first pass I was disappointed with the story that was given to Freddie, but on second glance I think that it is rooted in the reality of being a royal. I enjoy that many characters in this book were given full storylines and that it is not just a book about Bex and Nick that the others just rotate around. Gaz is the gift we all need in our lives. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. It will appear at the top of my summer reading recommendations.
THIS BOOK DID NOT DISAPPOINT. The Royal We is one of my favorites, and it was such a treat to continue the story here. Smart and sharp, it was the perfect read while waiting out this quarantine. I was particularly impressed that they were able to once again create such a substantial story after happily ever after, and will definitely be included this book in our summer roundup.
Truly wonderful; sequels are hard and I was very nervous, but my expectations were exceeded. This book was different in many ways than what I had expected, but I devoured it. So much heart; I laughed out loud and cried a couple of times and thoroughly enjoyed every minute.
The perfect follow up to The Royal We. After an expose was released during the royal wedding of Bex and Nick the runaway to Scotland. After being called home for an emergency Bex forms an unlikely friendship with The Queen. With not having much luck with royal duties, Bex put her energy in remodeling Apartment 1A, which was previously lived in by the Queen's sister Georgina. After finding a secret room filled with Georgina's past diaries some secrets, good and horrendous for the Monarchy if anyone finds out.
Well this was the book I desperately needed during Covid quarantine. This was just as delightful as the first! The characters that were prominent in this sequel made me so happy. What a great follow up to the Royal We!
Such a great follow-up to the Royal We. It was so much fun getting back into the chemistry that is Bex and Nick and I still adore Freddie!!! Loved where the story went and how Bex worked so hard to fit into the royal role. It was a fun read while stuck in the house!!
As they did with The Royal We, Cocks & Morgan seem prescient with their plot in The Heir Affair. I love all the attention to detail on the fashion, protocol, and work that goes into presenting "flawless" images of The Royal Family. A lovely, fun distraction.
If, like me, you have spent the last 5 years telling people to read The Royal We, well you are going to be so happy!
I didn't even dare hope for a sequel to the royal romance of Prince Nick and Bex, an American commoner trying to figure out this whole royal thing. Before Meghan Markle made a twinkle in Harry's eye, we had our American princess! And the sequel picks up right where we left off all of those years ago-- after Nick and Bex are married in a cloud of scandal.
Definitely read the first one if you haven't. Those who have, you will be so happy to be back with our friends again! Loved it!
So this book is a little like Act II of Into the Woods. We got the happy ending in The Royal We, so now we see how life plays out. And it's a lot tougher. If we're calling this a romance, the closest trope this one cleaves to is marriage in trouble.
There were so many things about this book to love-- the voice in the writing is just so loveable, as are the characters, and I appreciated when we got real DRAMA, and I appreciated the entire plotline about the queen's semi-forgotten sister.
I did find, however, that this wasn't as propulsive a read as the first book. I think it's because I just loved reading about Nick and Bex in their good times, and those were in fairly short supply here. Also, the book kind of meanders and spins its wheels, which I usually think of as a feature for a long, dishy book, but I was a little bit like, what's the thrust of this thing? It really picks up steam toward the end though, which is why it was ultimately quite satisfying.
***Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review.***
I wanted to love this. I think people who really liked the first book might love this, and I'll definitely recommend it to them.
But I really didn't enjoy it, and it felt like it stretched on forever and ever.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital ARC.
After absolutely devouring The Royal We, I was so excited to get the chance to read The Heir Affair before its summer 2020 publication date. The Heir Affair takes us back into the lives of Prince Nick and his newly-Princess-ed wife, Bex. It was just as fun to read-between-the-lines in this sequel as it was in the first one and attempt to find the parallels between Nick and Bex with the real royal couple, Will and Kate.
I enjoyed the quips between Bex, Nick, and their friends and the "glimpse" into what a life married to a member of the royal family must be like. But the book felt too long for a satirical romance.
I did appreciate the authors using a little-discussed topic as a point of conflict for Nick and Bex and the plot twist at the end definitely held my attention. If you loved The Royal We, you may be a bit disappointed by this follow-up, but it is still a fun read and I so looked forward to reading every page!
This sequel to The Royal We has just as much drama as the first. Instead of the romantic relationships’ drama, the drama this time ‘round focuses on more mature relationships that come with true immersion into a new family. Bex is still the narrator, and her marriage with Nick is still at the center, but this time it’s the drama between Nick and Freddie. And Richard and his boys. And Queen Eleanor and Bex. And Queen Eleanor and Richard. And Queen Eleanor and her deceased sister Georgina. As even more family secrets are brought into the light, the members of the family must learn how to forgive and forget and be supportive of one another.
The royal drama makes this a perfect summer read —or the perfect escape from COVID-19 uncertainty. However, I disliked how there some time jumps. (I think they all happened at the beginning of each next act?) We’d jumps several months into the future, and then Bex would “get lost in a daydream” of remembering how the cliffhanger of the previous act ended up getting settled. It just seems like a cheap shot— like when a character wakes up and realizes it was all a dream. Boo.
Also, the title annoys me. I like that it rhymes, but it doesn’t seem very accurate to the story as a whole. Like, I get that a lot of it focuses on Bex and Nick’s attempts at conceiving, etc., but us that really an “affair”?? Ummmm no.
It's wild to think how much things have changed since Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan published the first book in this series. Back in 2015, the idea of an American marrying into the royal family was the stuff of wishful fan fiction; it's now 2020, and not only did a very cool American become part of The Firm, she and her royal husband also left The Firm with more flair than even the most imaginative among us could've have dreamt up. What. A. World.
The Heir Affair is just as dishy as its predecessor, and personally, I liked the storylines in this one even better. The drama level was at an 11 (I kept internally—and sometimes externally—screaming at some of the storylines), and in these dark times, I was 100% here for it. Where I had my misgivings about Bex and Nick as a couple in The Royal We, I came to really love them both in this sequel, and we also got to see more three-dimensional sides of practically every person in their orbit.
My only real issue with this book is the same problem I had with The Royal We: It could stand to be 50-100 pages shorter. But honestly, we're in the middle of a global pandemic as I write this, and I think we could all use an extra 100 pages of high-key drama and escapism. Not to mention, if the past six months of watching the royal family shit itself has shown us anything, it's that often the truth is even stranger than fiction.
This book was so enjoyable. I was a little worried about how it would be handled after the end of the first book but I thought the authors did a really good job. Also, I actually laughed out loud at several of Eleanor’s comments throughout the book, which is EXTREMELY unusual for me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC
I immediately jumped into this book ready to be back with Bex, Nick, Freddie, Lacey, and the gang. I was loved finding them where they were after the ending of "The Royal We" and the story that followed was one of twists and turns. I absolutely loved where this book took me and where it ended. Can not wait for a third book!