This book is perfect for fans of Red, White, and Royal Blue and Boyfriend Material. I was immediately hooked by the cover and its soft pink cover. It looked like it would add its own spin on the royal love trope. Although sometimes overly enthusiastic when it came to the references to current pop culture, the book made up for it by fulfilling its romcom promise. All in all, it was a nice romcom read for the summer!

I'm a sucker for any and all things royal and I really enjoyed this one! It was the perfect light and happy read that I was looking for. Both Edgar and Carter were amazing characters you couldn't help but root for their happiness. Also, the supporting characters in this one were top notch and made the story 10 times better. The Queen was definitely my favorite. She had me laughing out loud the whole time I was reading. This was a fun read and perfect if you're looking for a happily ever after!

3.5 rounded up to 4

Plenty of reviewers will point to Red, White, and Royal Blue, but actually this subgenre--an American, usually a girl--marrying a European royal (sometimes English in a world-one-over version of the present royal family, sometimes a made-up small kingdom) has been around for quite a while. Only now it's two guys in this gay-friendly rom-com-with-royalty.

Carter Ogden is an event planner. He keeps Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s picture above his bed and he talks to her. A lot.

He meets the super hot, buttoned-up heir to the English throne and the fun begins with Prince Edgar showing up at Carter’s sister’s wedding.

The two are pretty much all over each other from the start—there is no enemies-to-lovers arc as in Red, White, and Royal Blue. But Rudnick throws plenty of hitches in the way of true love, including Carter getting in his own way.

The narrative voice is funny, zany would be the word, and the side characters are all awesome. In fact, through a few chapters I pretty much read around Carter, who at times was the book equivalent of the guy at the party who just has to be the center of attention. Entertaining, yes, but zany is not a seven course meal.

I wish there had been Edgar’s POV to balance that out a bit, however the secondary characters do come in strongly, and the pacing moves along at a frenetic speed. I especially loved the commentary on the course of the romance by Carter’s roommates, who never hesitate to call him on his crap. Rudnick creates dynamite secondary characters.

Overall a very fun read, coming to a lovely resolution.

Oh this book. It's so wonderful and I'm sad it's over.

Many reviewers are comparing it to Red, White & Royal Blue and I can see why on the surface. The cover is similar and one of these guys is a prince. On every other level, this felt very different to me so I highly recommend you read it despite what you thought about that other novel.

First thing I noticed is this book is FUNNY. Like, snort laughing out loud hilarious. Carter is a fabulous protagonist and all I wanted for him the whole time was for him to get his shit together and let himself believe he was deserving of being loved and happy. Prince Edgar is the first ever openly gay royalty and it's a big deal. He struggles with all the expectations thrust upon him by society and tradition and the desire to please his family. He also needs to learn that he's worthy of being loved for who he is as a person and not on the surface. One of the coolest characters in the book is the Queen of England. I'll just leave it at that you're surprised by her like I was.

The only thing keeping this from being a five star read for me was the pacing. Everything felt very quick and whirlwind for the amount of time that actually passes. Otherwise it's a fun emotional rollercoaster of a read. It's generally hopeful and positive, with powerful messages about self love and coming into your own despite others' expectations. I highly recommend it!

I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much while reading a book, but Paul Rudnick’s new romantic comedy Playing the Palace delivers nonstop laughs and kept me entertained from cover to cover. The story follows Carter Ogden, who is an event planner and an adorable hot mess whose number one skill is self-sabotage. When Carter meets Edgar, the openly gay Prince of England, their attraction is immediate and the two men decide to get to know each other better. They try to keep it lowkey with little pancake dates at the local IHOP, but it doesn’t take long for the media to figure things out and to go looking for trouble. The more nervous Carter gets about the fact that he is dating a Prince, the more his self-sabotage skills kick into high gear, resulting in one embarrassing incident after another, much to his dismay as well as that of the Royal Family.

I was invested in Carter and Edgar’s relationship from that first meeting and really wanted Carter to get his act together, although his blunders did make for hilarious reading. I also loved his encounters with Edgar’s Nana (a.k.a. the Queen of England). She gives Carter a hard time but he gives it right back to her and they are actually quite hilarious together. Add in Carter’s loud and lovable Jewish family, in particular his sister Abby who is just the absolute best, and his Aunt Miriam, who practically becomes bffs with the Queen, and the story really is just one big barrel of fun.

If you’re in the mood for a romantic comedy that is truly laugh out loud funny, Playing the Palace is the book for you.

“Playing the Palace'' is an over-the-top ride of a love story between the Prince of England and a Jewish, event architect from NYC.This story had me laughing out loud and saying “Omg, noooo!”. Carter was too much, I loved that his inner conscience is RBG. Yes, Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Prince Edgar was adorable. But who really stole the show for me was the side characters, Carter’s big Jewish family plus his supportive roommates and Edgar’s security detail, who basically raised him.

I have this book 3.5 stars, what held me back from a full 4 stars was the fact that sometime’s Carter’s inner dialogue went on for too long. I also wanted more details about the love story, once the couple got to London, it was all about the political and cultural hurdles they went through.

I know it’s compared to RWRB, and it definitely has those vibes, but please read it as it’s own story. It’s a delightful read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for the ARC.

Playing the Palace is a new romantic comedy from author Paul Rudnick. If just looking at it makes you think of Red White and Royal Blue than you'll pretty much know what you're in for. That's the main reason I requested this arc and I very much enjoyed it.

In Playing the Palace, the Prince of Wales Edgar falls for Carter, a Jewish event planner from New Jersey. Edgar and Carter have a lot standing in the way of them having a relationship. They are attacked from the media front, their families (one positive one not so much), and the whole world has a say in whether or not they belong together. Can they survive the onslaught or part ways because its just not worth it.

Carter is a whole state of mind. He has a creative and fun personality. Yet because of his last boyfriend he has some major self-esteem issues and his lack of self-worth is a bummer. Frustratingly though, he lets his insecurities get the best of him time and time again like a train wreck. Edgar is much more reserved than Carter is because of his position, but Carter brings out a playful side of him that will put a smile on your face. While on the outside they seem night and day they both have their insecurities in common. Edgar doesn't feel like he'll ever have someone who loves him for him and not his position, and he's just so lonely it breaks your heart.

There are a few things holding me back from giving this more than 4 stars. First I would have really liked more than just Carter's POV , I would have loved sensitive Edgar's POV because it would have hurt my heart in the best ways. The second aspect holding me back is that Carter's inner dialogues went on and on and on and on and... you get my drift , sometimes I would lose focus. Lastly it was a bit insta lovey and I wanted more from the PG-13 intimacy scenes, they were well done but I'm selfish and wanted more than just a lead up and a recap of what they did.

Overall, Playing the Palace by Paul Rudnick is a highly enjoyable romantic comedy. I was fully invested in the main characters, I kept hoping Carter would get his act together. There all also some wonderful side characters, Carter's sister was Fantastic and so was Edgar's security chief James.

3.5 stars
This has a cute premise. I am always a sucker for the fairytale marrying-a-Prince story and it is even more fun in a M/M version.

Carter Ogden is a Jersey boy. He works in event planning and knows how to make things fabulous, but personally, he is in a slump. He was cheated on and dumped his ex. He is awkward, anxious, has self-worth issues, and is afraid of failure. And he has given up on the idea of love.

Prince Edgar is tightly ruled and tightly wound. He lives under a layer of expectations and is trying not to repeat the mistakes of his past and keep a professional reputation.

When these guys meet at an event, they find an easy rapport. Edgar pursues Carter but not too quickly due to his duties, but they find themselves enjoying time together despite their different lives. And things move pretty quickly from there.

Both are afraid of letting their families down. Both have trust issues. Both are afraid of failure and getting hurt. And now they are in the middle of the media spotlight. And bless Carter's heart, he is a quirky American prone to accidents, verbal screw-ups, mistakes, and flights of fancy. And everything Carter does wrong gets blasted through the press on both sides of the pond and reflects on Edgar and the royal family.

They have a whole cast of outspoken and opinionated side characters weighing in including the royals and Carters equally domineering Jersey family and friends. It is full of over-the-top shenanigans and comedic and crazy events. So it is a bit challenging for these two to find their way. Sometimes Carter was too much for me and I wanted to shake sense into him. And Edgar was a bit stodgy but Carter did help loosen him up. They have the potential to be the partner they are both seeking, but can they merge together their personalities and public personas in order to actually have a future?

I enjoyed this as a royal rom-com even though sometimes it was a bit slapstick for my taste and had a lot of current topics and promo. I did not get overly connected to the characters or feel a lot of emotion. The sex is mentioned, but pretty much off-page so would be suitable for various audiences. It felt more like a Lifetime movie mixed with a rom-com, but sometimes it is okay to have something a bit more silly and fluffy. I would have liked a bit more at the end to see farther into the future.

This is really like reading a dream come true to everyone who's ever read a fairy tale. All of a sudden a prince shows up in the middle of a job you're doing and asks for your critique while not so subtly flirting with you? Considering this won't happen to most of us, we might as well dream together.

Of course this will go like the trope dictates, Prince Edgar's family won't be happy with his involvement with an American, but this time not only because Carter is American, Edgar actually has history with being a magnet for troublemakers. And our main character Carter might be a sweet but he does his blunders too, so I can't reprimand the queen for wanting him away from her first-in-line-of-succession.

3.5.

I like that even when we the readers feel Edgar's disappointment in Carter went a little overboard, the book also recognizes it quick enough and doesn't make us lose too much time to move with the story.

Although this book has almost none of the family drama we'd expect (it exists but again, it doesn't waste our time), I also think it had too feel of the good moments. Carter and Edgar do have a lot of cute moments together, but it didn't give me any thrill. And this definitely isn't the story that'll make you wonder what will happen to them in end, so it wasn't a read that got me too caught up.

Carter also has a few embarrassing moments that did get a few laughs from me, but no big one. The core part was very lukewarm. The best part of the story were the side characters to be honest. Carter's friends commenting on his new romance, his great aunt talking to the royals, they were the ones to give me the most memorable moments. I really loved each one and would read side stories featuring them.

Recommended to fans of the royal wedding trope, since it's a good book nonetheless. I can't help but note it's great to have a LGBT romance book written by a male author, who is openly gay actually, considering how the best sellers are usually penned by women. It gives the narrative a different color.


Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

ARC received from Netgalley for an honest review

After reading one of my favourite books of the past few years, "Red, White and Royal Blue", I have seen a slew of these kinds of stories out there.

I had never read Paul Rudnick before, however the blurb of Playing the Palace intrigued me.

The author has definitely pulled inspiration from RW&RB, however to me Playing The Palace felt a little contrived.

Now, firstly, I was pulled up by the "Crown Prince" of England. I know this is fiction, but call him what he is, don't make up a title that doesn't exist (this is probably just my thing, but it irked me)

I am also not a big fan of insta-love, and this one goes from meeting to meeting the Queen in 4.2 seconds.

Oh, and don't get me started on the Queen. The only "royal" relationships I even liked in this book were those between Edgar and his guy James and the security team.

The only people who brought this up to a 3 star read for me were Abby and Aunt Miriam. If it wasn't for them, I probably would have DNF'd this one.

But these are just my feelings, I am sure there will be plenty of others out there who will absolutely adore it,

Playing the Palace is a cute romance between a regular guy living in NYC falling in love with the Prince of England. I laughed so hard during this book especially in the beginning when Carter and Prince Edgar meet. OMG it was so cute. Every single scene with the two of them was adorable. Playing the Palace was a pretty quick read as well. I was able to read it in one sitting. I believe Playing the Palace stands on it’s own and shouldn’t be compared to any other books out there!

3.75 stars for this adorable romance.

Carter is nursing a wounded ego and a broken heart after being cheated on by his ex. He works as an event planner and he is great at his job. But he never expects to meet the handsome and openly gay Prince Edgar, heir to the throne. And he certainly never expects the man to be interested in him.

While the two want to pursue a relationship, they are constantly thrown in front of obstacles that make a life together difficult. Edgar is in the public eye and must always be on alert. He has an image to maintain. He has trouble in relationships because he has been burned before. And Carter is full of his own self doubts, feeling like he is just a disappointment to everyone around him.

This was a super cute and very fast read. Take a chance on Carter and Edgar. I don't think you will be disappointed.

I really enjoyed this book... for the most part. I found some of the humour a little too slapstick for me. I imagine that this would play well to an audience (if the book were a play), but it didn't suit my particular sense of humour. Nevertheless, a very well-written book!

I really enjoyed this book! I liked the main character's voice--he was funny and relatable. There have been a lot of comparisons of this book with Red White and Royal Blue, but I thought tonally it was a lot more similar to Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall, or Blue Heaven by Joe Keenan.

I love contemporary romances, especially when royalty is involved. However, the pace of this book threw it off for me. The best part of contemporary romances is watching the characters fall in love and I almost feel cheated with this one because we missed parts of it. I felt like the book was just watch Carter mess up publicly. Which as a reader is kind of uncomfortable. ⁠
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I found it really difficult to relate to either character. I think there were too many side characters that I actually really wanna know more about but they took up valuable time from the main character’s love story. I really wanted to love this book, it started off strong but overall it’s a meh for me.

So, this was all kinds of lovely.

I’ll first start by saying I love finding male authors writing M/M. I know there are quite a few out there, but I don’t seem to find them. So if you guys have any recommendations, hit me!

Carter Ogden, a Jewish 29yo event planner, who’s pretty much gave up on relationships but is still very much a romantic finds himself face to face with Edgar, the British crown prince. And against all odds, Edgar finds Carter fascinating to the point of contacting him weeks later. When the two start “dating”, objections are galore on the royal side, naturally. But Carter’s family is a gem and pretty much embraces Edgar.

At this point I’ll mention that the book is hilarious. There are more puns and stereotypical Jewish references than I’d ever read before, and I giggled through most of it, barring a pretty solemn part in the story.

I adore Carter’s sister, his great-aunt and his roommates. What a funny, eclectic bunch.

The story obviously has a happy ending for the couple, but not without their fair share of mishaps and awkward moments. Nevertheless, it’s a great, rather fast read, well-written and adorable.

This book was just so adorable and precious and funny and I loved it.

I snort-laughed my way through this book. Carter was so hilariously awkward and there were so many good side characters.

The story is told from Carter’s POV. He is an openly gay Jewish event planner in NYC. His roommates and family were so funny and he also had a habit of talking to the framed portrait of Ruth Bader Ginsburg that hung in his bedroom.

His love interest is Prince Edgar, the openly gay Prince of England.

Edgar’s personality is a bit of a mystery. It obvious he feels like he has to do what his grandmother says and he has to have a certain image and I feel like Carter definitely brings him out of that shell. But I think this story really could have benefited from having part of it told from his POV.

This is a bit of an Instalove trope and it is also closed door.

Also, because I feel like people might be wondering how this book compares to Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. I have not yet had a chance to read RW&RB although it’s been on my TBR forever so I’m not quite sure how similar these two books are.

Do yourself a favor and read this sweet, adorable and hilarious book. Playing the Palace releases on May 25th.

I received an ARC of this book from Berkley Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much to the wonderful publicist at @berkleyromance for sending an e-ARC of “Playing The Palace” for me to read, share, and review!
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CW: Brief mention of Harry Potter, Homophobia
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What is not enticing about royals and commoners’ romance? I am always up for those types of stories especially if they’re enemies to lovers, and achingly slow burn. But unfortunately, the book fell short of those ideals personally.
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But first I am going to elaborate on the things I loved about the book!
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“Playing The Palace” I found surprisingly quick and easy to read. It is the fastest I have read a book in my life and I did not even know I could do that. What helped me in finishing it quickly I think was that it is a short read with only 270 plus pages.
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I really enjoyed the fun characters and storyline, with them just simply being happy and content with themselves and each other, makes the book overall entertaining, cute, witty, and quirky that it almost read like fanfiction in very good ways.
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For the cons, there were a few I want to point out. I found it a little too fast paced in terms of how the romance between the characters developed. Because it is intsa-love, I personally felt a disconnect with how their relationship came about until it reached the end of the story. There could have been potential for allotment of a wide space for angst and tension for it to be a really good romance that fits my own taste. This is not to discredit the journey of the characters’ developed relationship to each other as well as themselves, it is just that it could have used a little more burst of flavor going there.
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The story as a whole probably could have performed better if it was on screen rather than a 200-page book. I could definitely see this in movie form. But overall, I can see this being highly enjoyed by romance readers!
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I would recommend this book if you just want a quick and easy romance read that could peak your interest of the commoner and the royal dynamics! Bonus recommendation point for the really nice cover.

What a fun read! I know many people would look at this and want to compare it to Red White and Royal Blue. I am here to tell you this is a book all it’s own! Who said there could only be one gay royal romance? 😘

I fell in love with Carter Ogden and Prince Edgar. This was such a funny and lovable read, filled with a whole bunch of shenanigans.

Not only that, but I found Carter to be highly relatable. Who really has their life together and figured out in their 20s? I sure as hell didn’t.

I would definitely recommend this one for my romance readers out there looking for a quick, fun, queer love story

Lastly, thank you so much to @netgalley and @berkleyromance for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I will not be finishing this book due to some unnecessary and damaging stereotypes that made this books, sadly, problematic.