I found this book a little difficult to get into but that could be my lack of concentration at the minute but once I got into it I couldn't put it down and read it I'm 3 sittings. I was hooked on Maggie and Freddie, rooting for them from the start. I felt lost when I had finished the book hoping to discover further how the relationship grew between them.

From her bedroom in the Tower of London, twenty-six-year-old Maggie has always dreamed of her own fairy-tale ending.

Yet this is twenty-first century London, so instead of knights on white horses, she has catfish on Tinder. And with her last relationship ending in spectacular fashion, she swears off men for good.

And then a chance encounter with Royal Guard Freddie forces Maggie to admit that she isn’t ready to give up on love just yet… But how do you catch the attention of someone who is trained to ignore all distractions?

This was such a cute story! It was also laugh out loud hilarious at parts. Maggie is entirely relatable, which is a nice change of pace for me with main characters!

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon for an eARC in exchange for an honesty review.

I loved this romantic novel.
filled with humour and great characters, i think that Maggie has summed up how most women feel about romance at the moment, but still hope when you least expect it.
This book made me feel fuzzy inside and brought back my love of romance.

Falling Hard for the Royal Guard by Megan Clawson is a cute, light, enjoyable novel about Maggie Moore, a young woman who lives in the Tower of London (the author lives in the Tower of London as well, who knew?} Maggie is a bit of a mess, works with abusive people, but isn't terribly responsible herself. She's coming off a bad break up, and falls for a good looking Royal Guard with beautiful eyes. She does some crazy things while trying to be noticed by him, including going on a series of online dates with disastrous results. A fun read, with bits of tower history. Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

It was cute in parts, and I enjoyed how much detail Maggie/Clawson went into over the history of the Tower of London and other such attractions, but I couldn't help but feel the plot was all over the place, as was the main lead.

First of all, there isn't a nice, friendly female character - barring the Ravenmaster, as she rarely spoke, and the two we meet in the last 5% - who isn't mean to Maggie. In fact, every other female character is for some reason constantly rude, cruel, or mocking to her.

Maggie struck me as a bit of a mess. She was somehow constantly in embarrassing situations that led to more than a few tears and teasing, and I didn't think it was possible to have this much secondhand embarrassment from a character. She was also working in a job with an awful boss and coworkers and never stood up for herself. She didn't even see herself in a positive light or admit she was happy until she had a boyfriend.

Plot-wise, the Tinder date thing felt like it came out of nowhere halfway through the book, and proceeded to have not much impact on the rest of the story. Sure, she went on ridiculous dates, but that didn't do much else to further the narrative.

I didn't understand the reasons why she was so concerned about all the cameras and gossip. Let me rephrase - I understand why she was concerned, but I didn't understand why it was such a problem. There's an entire story of how a woman's reputation was slaughtered because other women assumed she "comforted" all the soldiers and passed along the story without confirmation from the original woman or any of the other soldiers. It was just so excessive it didn't feel realistic - why were the nighttime security people so nosy? Why did they run their mouths about Maggie's happenings to her dad?

It was an okay story, and I'd give it a 2.5-star rating. I commend Clawson's efforts, though, the historical aspects were certainly interesting.

A laugh out loud enjoyable read. What an impressive debut from Megan Clawson. The characters were really relatable and the storyline had me hooked from start to finish. I can’t wait to read more by Megan Clawson. Thank you for the early proof.

I'll be honest, I requested the ARC copy of this this one because of the guardsman on the cover - we have a history of Grenadiers in my family, and it instantly appealed. When I realised the story was about a girl who lived at the Tower of London, I was even more grateful I requested it! One of my favourite places in London, so I really hoped it would meet my expectations. Did it? Yes, and then some! I didn't expect to find myself laughing, crying and going through the complete emotional wringer, I simply couldn't put it down.

Maggie lives at the Tower, as the daughter of a Beefeater, and works in the ticket office. Returning home from a terrible day at work, she collides with what she thinks is a lamppost, but is in reality Grenadier Freddie. What follows is a will they/won't they romance, with many fabulous supporting characters (the ravenmaster and Freddie's Guard colleagues were my favourites). I loved the little insights into the workings of the Tower, and particularly liked the description of the Grenadier emblem as a shuttlecock - something I've always said myself!

This book was freaking adorable! I laughed. I cried. I cheered. I want to read it again. I loved the premise because I love the Tower of London, and have always been fascinated by the idea of being lucky enough to actually live there.

I love reading new to me authors and I am here for a royal romance. I'm very intrigued to where this will go. This is giving me Sophie Kinsella and Sophie Cousins vibes. Full review to come.

I would like to start by thanking NetGalley, the publisher and everyone involved in allowing me early access to this ebook.

TWs: death of a parent (off page but mentioned), alcohol abuse

Maggie lives in the Tower of London and this was the main plot line that caught my attention. I always fancied seeing royal events, from the British monarchy, in the tv, so I felt I would enjoy a lot the setting of this book. I was not wrong, the setting was amazing! However, the rest could have been better, hence the rating, which is almost based on setting alone.

Maggie falls in love with one of the royal guards, as the title says, but the romance felt too slow paced for me. The two main characters only start interacting more around 70% of the book and the love seemed to come “of of the blue”. There was not a common past between them and I felt they didn’t really get to know one another, I felt they interacted like 2 or 3 times and then were madly in love, which did not seem realistic. This was, by far, my main issue with the book. I would have liked to seen a better character evolution in Maggie, I felt there was a lot of potential there, but the pacing was the main downside for me. Still, I enjoyed the setting a lot and the friendship that Maggie develops with the other royal guards (other than the male MC), which was fun to see and allowed me to laugh a bit!

This review will also be available on my goodreads profile and, later on, on my instagram account - @cat.literary.world

Fluffy, humourous, and a wonderful debut with classic British romcom vibes! Highly recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book

Maggie Moore lives in a castle but her happily ever after seems to be evading her. With her love life in a total mess, she decides to swear off men for good, that is until she meets Royal Guard Freddie, and she realises she’s not ready to give up on love just yet. A fun read set within the walls of the Tower of London. Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books UK and the author for the chance to review.

3.5⭐️

This was a cute romance with a nice balance of history and romance and had a nice sprinkle of humor, but unfortunately it got caught up in cliches a few too many times. I still thought it was enjoyable and felt like I learned a lot about the Tower of London, but at times was frustrated with Maggie. I thought she was relatable at times and liked that she wasn't a perfectly likable main character but she did occasionally grate on me. I also did really like on the British colloquiums and didn't mind stopping to google them every time because it felt like it fit the story well. A solid debut!

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a funny and fascinating read. Having toured the setting in real life, I really enjoyed the insider perspective and the voice was engaging.

A super cute, fun romantic comedy that I couldn’t put down! Accident-prone Maggie lives in the Tower of London with her Beefeater dad, where gossip is rife and your every move is caught on camera - watched closely by the nosey security team. This is not ideal for someone who is always embarrassing herself one way or another. Maggie’s character felt real, her love of the Tower and guilt for hating the Big Brother-esque style security that came with her free accommodation, her passion for history and sometimes overwhelming anxiety and body image issues. I felt she was really well rounded and relatable, and loved how many different facets the author gave her, making them parts of her character but not her whole. Freddie is struggling with his familial duty and is keeping a few secrets under wraps that are bound to escape. Seeing him battling against the draw of Maggie and not knowing why lent an air of mystery to the story - one which I found unpredictable and delicious. My favourite parts were perhaps seeing how into Maggie’s passion for history he was and how much something so simple meant to her.
Amongst the mercurial romance with quiet but sweet hottie Freddie the Royal Guard are a whole host of bad dates - the kind of horror stories that are realistic and therefore the reason those apps are not for me! However, this book tackles a few heavier topics without bringing down the feel good vibes of the story. It looks at loneliness, abusive relationships, army families, class, anxiety and many other things without feeling like it’s trying to do too much. All the things that make a person without them being defined by those things - it takes a lot of talent to do that!
Beyond our main characters are a really great cast of side characters - and I’m not just talking about the ravens! The Beefeaters, the Ravemaster, and of course the soldiers from Freddie’s platoon all added an extra level to this story and I loved them all. This was a wonderful read and the perfect debut!

an adorable read, Falling Hard for the Royal Guard has everything you'd expect a British romance to have (coming from a Brit!); a castle, an Oxford man, and lots and lots of tea.

I quite literally could not put this book down, it was as if it was glued to my hands!

If you're a lover of a slow burn romance, this is the book for you!
It was cute, and the way the characters slowly got to know one another was adorable. I felt like I was cheering them on from the side lines to finally confess their love for one another.

I am a lover of a romance, but especially one where the main character is a curvy gal. It felt much more realistic than the typical romance and I found it to be way more relatable. The main character Maggie is awkward, funny, quirky, and clumsy and I enjoyed reading from her perspective. It felt very real and light-hearted.
Her love interest Freddie was equally as charming (with his own little secret to hide).

The book also dabbles in some history of Britain which I found very interesting. The scene was detailed enough that I could picture myself there right alongside Maggie.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but I felt like the pace was a bit slow until the last 80 pages or so.

Ever been the person that nobody seems to like and always in the back background?

"Falling hard for the Royal Guard" by Megan Clawson is a book about the love story of Maggie and Freddie. Maggie works as a ticket person at the Tower of London. She hasn't been having the most incredible time with love. So the day she literally walks into Freddie, everything changes. This book has everything you could wish for, from; found family, friends to lovers, growth, and courage.

This book is a great read. Maggie in the end is excellent. Freddie is so annoying but in a way, you find out later in the book why. He is amazing and definitely a new potential book boyfriend?

It's a clean romance. It could be triggering due to its undertones of an abusive ex-partner, and the subject of lost one but a great read.

I wasn't sure when I requested this book if I was going to like it. To be fair, this book was much better than I expected, even very funny in places.

However, I wasn't a fan of the workplace bullying and thought Maggie's escape from an unsuccessful date through a toilet window was a bit much. Maggie had some mental health challenges, her anxiety was well described. I also felt that us really getting to know her love interest Freddie in the last couple of chapters was way too late. The simmering love between Maggie and Freddie was lovely, but dragged on for too long.

I did however really enjoy reading about living within in the walls of the Tower of London and getting to know its inhabitants, including the ravens.

I will give this book a 3-star rating.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for my eARC in return for my honest review.

Falling Hard for the Royal Guard by Megan Clawson is an adorable very British rom-com with a historical twist.

Our clumsy FMC Maggie lives in the tiny village that resides just beyond the walls of the Tower of London. The loveable redhead is under constant scrutiny from her nosey neighbours, disgruntled ex-boyfriend, and highly punchable co-workers. Although all eyes are on her, thanks to the security cameras that monitor her every move and the Beefeaters who patrol the tower, Maggie has never felt more alone. That is until she has an awkward encounter with a handsome Royal Guard with a major chip on his shoulder.

He’s standoffish and distant but protective and oddly affectionate. He’s been trained to avoid all distractions but he just can’t seem to stay away. She’s starting to fall hard for her new ‘friend’ but is she reading the signals wrong?

This was a really fun book to get lost in this weekend. It’s such an original idea and I loved all the historical references throughout. The stories of past executions, the importance of the Beefeaters, and the famed ghost sightings and ravens that inhabit the towers were woven perfectly throughout.

I guess some people could find Maggie frustrating at times. “Why doesn’t she stand up for herself!?” Well, her self-esteem has been obliterated by her abusive ex-boyfriend, that’s why. She feels like a failure, unlovable and unworthy. Her relationship and grief have clearly left her isolated and vulnerable. I couldn’t help but root for Maggie. I just wanted to reach out and give her a hug… but also, a bit of a shake because she is the worst when it comes to punctuality!

I definitely could have lived without the Tinder dates. Although they were absolutely hilarious, I would have loved more time with Freddie and I found my attention wandering at these parts. His character felt a little underdeveloped at times and I definitely required more groveling toward the end of the book to justify his actions. With that being said, Falling Hard for the Royal Guard was a satisfying sweet read and a wonderful debut.