The premise and cover immediately hooked me. This book seemed so fun before I even started.
The first 60% or so is delightful. I am such a sucker for royalty in a novel and the focus on the bodyguard and neighbor gives me all the heart eyes. Piper and Harrison have vivid chemistry and banter. The snark is practically perfect.
The last half lost me just a bit. I'm not sure if it's because I didn't read it all in one sitting and that affected my mood for it. Without spoilers, I was mildly disappointed that the banter fizzled and I was taken a bit away from the book by personal hygiene preferences that slapped me in the face a few times. A couple of the smaller themes didn't quite feel resolved so I'm curious to see if another novel will be forthcoming. Doubtful, considering the epilogue, but a girl can dream.
Otherwise, it was amusing to imagine with Karina what it would be like to suddenly have Harry and Meghan living next door. Although Karina's version feels quite a bit tame in comparison.
Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.

I wanted to love this book, but I didn't. The book had a strong premise, but Piper and Harrison weren't developed enough for me to care about them or their relationship. The romance felt rushed, and Piper and Harrison's connection wasn't believable. Also, based on the book's description, I was looking forward to a rom-com, but the story was flat and lacked humor or any kind of quirky charm. I wanted to love this book, but it was just kind of flat for me.

Piper Evans is an elementary school teacher by day, avid romance reader and anonymous podcaster by night. She lives a quiet life, that is until British royals rent the property next door, and their brooding bodyguard decides she is a security threat. The result, a media frenzied fairytale involving a romance between the bodyguard and the girl next door.

Full of scandal, steam and friendship, this novel was a cute, summer read. Set in a small town, this romance follows the perspective of Piper as her love story progresses with the stoic neighbor bodyguard, a bodyguard with only a soft spot for her. As the slow burn romance evolves, their love story becomes forbidden, with hidden kisses and soft hearts.

Aside from the romance, I did appreciate the incorporation of neurodiversity and mental health, which was showcased within the heroine’s relationship with her mother. I appreciated the emphasis on female empowerment, specifically by showcasing the unfortunate stigma some have placed on romance readers for loving this genre. As a lover of the romance genre, I found this very refreshing to read. I appreciated the growth the heroine displayed throughout the novel, finding inner confidence and standing up for herself when faced with both personal and professional challenges. I always appreciate reading about a book loving heroine, and the added element of an anonymous romance podcast was a fun idea.

While reading this romance, I did find there were times I was hoping to feel a stronger connection to the love story, hoping to feel more invested in the romance itself, but with that in mind, I did enjoy the author’s writing, and I think many will enjoy this romance. I am excited to read more by this author in the future!

Piper is on summer break from her job as a teacher when a surprise neighbor moves in. She loves her quiet little life with her mom on the island, but with the royals moving in next door, her life is about to get a bit more crazy. Suddenly Piper is in the middle of a scandal and it is not something she was ever prepared for.

Guys I have some bad news…I think I might be burning out on Rom Coms right now. Maybe not, time will tell, but this one should have been a winner for me, and it was good, but just not the same level of love that I would have expected! I did love Piper, and her friendship with the royals was just so fun! Monica was an absolute gem, and lets’ be real, it was very easy to compare Eddie and Monica to Meghan and Harry. If you love royals, and love romance, I think you will love this one. I need to sit not his and think about my rating because I should have truly loved this one.

I really love the dynamic in a bodyguard romance. This one was especially fun with the hero not being a protection officer for the heroine but rather her new neighbours, the Duke and Duchess of Fairfax (The similarities to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle were too heavy-handed for me, though. Having such similar parallels to their situation felt very odd).

Following Piper, the peppy schoolteacher and romance novel enthusiast, and Harrison, the bodyguard with a talent for baking, I really loved seeing these two build upon their initial assumptions about each other. Paparazzi around every corner, the subtle way Harrison provided protection for Piper will certainly make you swoon. And let me say, there’s a very memorable laundry room scene!

But with such minimal conflict between them, this progressed a little too politely for me. I was craving a lot more tension, based on their situation. Compared to what I’ve read from Karina Halle in the past, this was definitely on the sweeter side, which isn’t a bad thing! It was good, but I was expecting to love it.

I cannot find the words for how much I enjoyed The Royals Next Door! This enemies-to-lover romance follows Piper, school teacher by day and proud romance reader by night (she also anonymously runs a podcast about romance novels called Romancing the Podcast), as Prince Edward and his wife Monica, Duchess of Fairfax move in next door, along with their broody and sexy bodyguard, Harrison. Before getting into the romance and characters, I have to talk about two other things. First, the representation of mental health and the power of therapy in helping is just outstanding. Piper’s mom has two mental health disorders, and Piper is such a wonderful support, but she also has her own anxiety, and I think the light it shown on these issues was amazing, and I just thought it was so well done. And secondly, I felt so seen as a romance reader, there’s a full defense in this book about why we should be proud romance readers and it was just perfect! Now for the romance, Harrison and Piper are fantastic, I loved their sarcastic banter and the slow burn of their romance! It had a little bit of a forbidden element to it too, and I just loved how they came together. As a narrator, Piper is so approachable and quirky and adorable. And Harrison is just so supportive and kind and I love his alpha attitude. Their chemistry together is sizzling, and I loved their sarcastic, flirty banter. The supporting characters are also so great, the royals, Eddie and Monica, were so friendly and bubbly, and I definitely got some Prince Harry/Meghan Markle vibes from them. I also loved how the sense of community was built up as Piper worked to find her place. This is a romance that’s so much bigger than Piper and Harrison, it’s just as much an ode to romance novels and the power of not settling for anything less than what you deserve. This book is fun and heartwarming, sexy and sweet, and poignant and smart, and I just absolutely loved it.

This was such fun! I definitely picked it up for the tempting storyline of some parallel-to-real-life royals moving in next door and upending the life of a local teacher, but there is so much good stuff in this one about what it means to be a romance reader, about rooting yourself where you're planted, and particularly about mental health.

This was such a fun book with one of my favourite Romance tropes, falling in love with a bodyguard. Now this book definitely took inspiration from Harry and Meagan and the time that they spent on the West Coast of Canada, but it was such a fun read.

Piper is an elementary school teacher who lives a pretty quiet life, until the giant mansion next door, which is usually empty, has new house guests in the Duke and Duchess of Fairfax. Their arrival brings a lot of frenzy to the island, but it is their bodyguard, Harrison Cole, who rocks the world of Piper.

This book was sweet, inviting, and a treat to read. I found myself smiling through much of the book and it was really a treat to read.

Rating: 4.5★

“You can’t choose who you fall in love with, but you can choose to be with them, and that was my choice.”

Piper Evans is a local schoolteacher and a romance enthusiast. She lives a quiet and reclusive life with her mother. That is until the royals rented the property next door. With their broody bodyguard, Harrison Cole, seeing her as a threat, Piper finds herself in constant company with him.

This novel had me smiling like a fool with all those goofy and swoony scenes. I love the witty and passionate characters in the story. Piper, her mother, Harrison, and even the royal couple brought life to the narrative in their beautiful way. I also liked how the book contains elements that are distinct from the cliche romance storylines. For instance, it was so cool to learn that Piper is a romance reader and an anonymous podcaster that discusses romance novels. Somehow, this draws us closer to her since we can relate to her interests. Another thing is that the love interest in the story is not the royals, but their (super-hot, grumpy, pure-hearted) bodyguard instead!

Despite the fast-paced story, it amazed me how it turned out great overall. The development of Piper and Harrison's relationship took its time to blossom into something beautiful and sweet; it had me gushing at how cute they both are! From their nosy bickers, heart-to-heart conversations, to their steamy romance. Apart from that, I also love their character development throughout the story. To see Piper speak up for herself and what she believes in, to see Harrison slowly recover from his past traumas and choose the path of happiness. My heart is so happy for them!


Overall, this was a very refreshing book. Karina Halle nailed this grumpy/ sunshine, slow-burn, hate-to-love trope. If you're into that kind of romance tropes, then you'll surely enjoy this book!

It was a nice read. The plot was well written. I started reading it without reading the synopsis so it took me by surprise with a lot of scenes.

The female read is an elementary teacher who also has a romance reads podcast. It was fun to read her take on breakign the stigma around romance books.

The male lead was closed off which was in-lime with his character but it also made me not connect to him as I would have if more of his emotions had been revealed.

This is a nice summer read with mental illness, community, inclusiveness and Royals!

The Royals Next Door 👑

Thank you to @berkleyromance #berkleypartner for the free finished copy of The Royals Next Door!
I have been on such a romance kick this month and we all know I adoreee a Royal themed romance!

This romance follows a small town girl, new to an even smaller island, as she somehow winds up entangled in the very Harry-and-Meghan-esque royal couple and their hunk of a body guard that rent a house next door.
This book was witty and swoon worthy and fast paced and steamy!
It entangled mental health, self worth and deserving to have a life private from public eye, all while taking so many heavy subjects and combined them into this summer romance so well.
The slow burn between Harrison and Piper was perfectly done and had me screaming at them to just do it already throughout the book!

I also adored that this book was so romance reader positive!!!! There is such a stigma around reading romance and this book absolutely crushed that problematic thinking out of the water!!

Thank you again @berkleyromance for the copy!
#berkleyig #berkleybookstagram

This was a perfect summer read! Piper Evans is looking forward to another chill summer when a literal Prince and Princess move in next door. Now she has to deal with paparazzi, security, and a ridiculously handsome royal body guard.

I absolutely loved the premise of this book! Piper and Harrison had amazing chemistry and they had some great quality banter, which, for me, is a must in any good rom-com. From the setting, to the friendships, this story was so fun to read and I know I won’t hesitate to pick up Halle’s next book.

There were a few things that stopped this from being a 5 star for me. Though I enjoyed the writing and dialogue overall, the characters in this book are prone to long speeches. Longer than usual. While I enjoyed that Piper got a chance to defend her hobby (and the romance genre), her defence speech felt a little long and a bit preachy.

Second was the podcast. I initially loved that Piper had an anonymous podcast because it was another element to her character that didn’t involve the royals or Harrison. However, after the initial introduction, Piper’s character barely engages with this hobby. Instead, it took a backseat until it came time to introduce a potential consequence. I just felt that if it was more integrated into the story, it would have made the ending more impactful.

Lastly, I’ve sat for a while to think about this, the inclusion of a character with BPD really put me on the fence. On the one hand, I really liked seeing this mental illness in a rom-com and I agree with the author when they say we should have more mental illness in light hearted books (because we still have lives outside the mental illness!). But as someone struggling with my own BPD diagnosis, I did find some of it triggering for me, especially some of the language used to describe how Piper feels about her mother and needing to “handle” her illness. That being said, I think the author did a great job of covering the basics of BPD, which was nice to see, and I definitely think it was treated with respect. It’s always nice when a person with BPD isn’t the villain :)

*ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley

First off I LOVE this cover! But I will admit I was a bit nervous because I was afraid it'd be a story that mimicked real life Royal drama. I was pleasantly surprised! Though there were obvious similarities this story has actually very little to do with the Royals themselves. I loved the characters and really enjoyed the entire story. This is the first book by this author for me but I will for sure be picking up more!

The Royals Next Door is totally Meghan and Harry fanfic, but with a super cute and sweet bodyguard romance. It was the perfect plane read on a quick trip to Dallas with the perfect amount of banter, steam and fun. If you are royals obsessed, love a cast of characters that adds humor and connection to the story, and need an easy read for the end of summer, you NEED this book.

I ended up enjoying this one more than I expected, although a little silly, it was a lot of fun to read. It does feel a little like Meghan and Harry fan fiction which was a bit hard to get past at times, but ultimately just a gentle romance.

I enjoyed the island setting and the little quirks of the community. Perfect for a warm summers day. There is also some great stuff about sex positivity and the right to privacy towards the end of the book, and a reminder that it's ridiculous to judge people on their choice of reading material.

Overall a cute read, totally unbelievable in so many ways, but a great bit of escapism!

i always love a good "falling in love with the bodyguard" story.

royals next door was so cute and fun. I was hooked on the story rather fast. piper was so fun and honest. her growth from the beginning to end was nice to see. putting herself out there and getting a little bit more confidence. harrison was also a guy after my heart, he really didn't take any shit from people. i also loved our royal couple in this book. it was rather easy for me to picture them in my mind, haha.

I do wish there could've been more (positive things) about piper and her podcast in the book since it was an interesting hobby. we got this in the beginning but it kind of disappeared a bit then was brought back in such a negative way. the last fourth of the book did feel a little all over and moving a little quickly, there wasn't much time to spend on what just happened since more needed to come. it also would've been nice to actually see more scenes of piper and her friends instead of quick summaries. I did think there might be a little more hesitation with harrison and his career path, leaving the bodyguard life, even just with his family. also, did we ever see harrison's room throughout this? haha

overall, I really enjoyed this!

as always, thank you to the author, netgalley, and berkley for my eARC copy ✨

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Definitely different from the other books I have read by Halle. This was fun and on the lighter side. I must admit, I am not a royal watcher, but I can get on board with some fictional royals. I was not too keen to find the royals were essentially Meghan and Harry, who are constantly in the news cycle. That sort of put a damper on the book for me, but once the royals went more into the background, it picked up for me.

The bright spots had been the interactions between Harrison and Piper. They had so many fun and crackling exchanges. I was glad when that took center stage in the second part of the book. I really liked both Harrison and Piper, and Harrison was full of surprises. I loved the ending Halle gave these two as well. I was definitely wearing a great big smile at the end of this book.

This book was solid. It was funny, it was cute, it had intimate moments in a laundry room. And can we not forget its brooding British hero, the stoic PPO who hides behind aviators? But I do think I went in with too high of expectations.

But c'mon. This freakin' adorable cover? A story that's so very clearly loosely based on what would happen if Prince Harry and Meghan Markle moved next door? I was so excited!! And the book was good. It just wasn't the best thing I'd ever read. It's a book I'd recommend, especially considering it's a very fast read, but isn't making my top ten romances of the year list.

I do think this book got better as it went along, and maybe it just needed to get its sea legs. In reality, I think the improvement can be chalked up to our hero, Harrison's character development. In the beginning of the book, he was a bit of a caricature, and it wasn't until halfway he became a real, living, breathing--fictional--human.

Thanks to Berkley for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4 stars - 8/10

In short: It’s summer break for local school teacher Piper and everything’s about to change when the Duke & Duchess of Fairfax move in next door, along with their Personal Protection Officer Harrison.

What to expect:
Opposites attract
Laugh Out Loud Scenes
Hot British bodyguard
Steamy scenes

My thoughts: This was such a fun book to read! Light hearted, quick read, instant chemistry that grew from teasing to much more and a romance reading heroine. This was definitely inspired by Prince Harry and Megan Markle and I was here for it. Having the Royals as neighbors was a fun twist, especially as the book explored everything from their normal everyday life’s to the loneliness to the unrelenting media.

The Royals were really a secondary story to Piper and Harrison. Piper is annoyed, and excited, at the news that the Royals are moving in next door. They actually share a driveway which causes some concern with their PPO Harrison. From their 1st awkward but funny exchange there’s definitely a connection with these two. I really enjoyed seeing their relationship grow and the evolution both characters took choosing their own happiness over duty to others.

This was pretty light and cute, featuring a Royal Family, very similar to one were all familiar with.
Grumpy/sunshine, which I adore, although I wish we had gotten some POV from the grumpy aspect.
Overall, enjoyable, and a fairly quick read.