Somehow I missed the third book in this series, so I had to catch up on story lines (this is definitely a series that must be read in order.) I loved the character development of Daphne and Jeff especially, and I also liked watching Sam and Beatrice grow and change. I was so happy with this book until I read that it was the last book in the series. Overall, I was pleased with how she ended many characters' story lines, except for Nina's. That was left unwritten! This series gives me all the feels that the TV show "Gossip Girl" did but with an alternate reality of American Royals. It was a delight to read, though it's not really a series that I would reread.

Reign is billed as the final book in the series, and as such, the author makes sure to tie up as many loose ends as she can.

When the last book ended, Nina and Daphne’s growing friendship had splintered, Daphne was back with Jefferson under dubious circumstances, Sam had run off to Hawaii with her boyfriend Marshall, the heir to the Duchy of Orange, and Beatrice is in the hospital in grim condition after a terrible car accident. Reign picks up each thread a few weeks later.

Not all readers will be satisfied with all the resolutions, but I think the author tried to have as many good endings as possible. It’s not at all a bad conclusion to the series.

I have loved the American Royals series since the very first book game out. I would add the new releases to my calendar and buy each new one immediately. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to have access to the ARC of the fourth and final book. Thank you so much for that!

I knew this was going to be a packed book, with all the loose ends that needed tied up and relationships that needed clarifying. I couldn't have asked for the book to end ANY other way. It was perfection and I thoroughly enjoyed each page and was just so fulfilled at the end.

Beatrice and Teddy end up going through some ups and downs, which I would not have expected after book three. It was a great way to add turmoil to the novel without it all surrounding Jeff/Nina/Daphne, which is what I full expected. There were a couple moments I questioned if Beatrice and Teddy would end up together, and I just love the way that Katharine finished their story. I selfishly want MORE, but understand all great stories must come to an end.

There were times I felt that the Jeff/Nina/Daphne/Ethan story was dragged on a bit much, but the tension added to the story and again, I just love how it all ended. Although I would have preferred a more final ending to Nina/Jeff/Jaime, I appreciate the open-endedness. I will make my own guesses about how that all works out ;)

And finally, Sam. The character I related to most. I feel like I am a better person having lived through her, and feel I better understand what is important and what isn't thanks to her own growth.

BEAUTIFUL ending. Thank you!

It was a bittersweet feeling to finish up this series! Katharine McGee has had a hold on me since she published American Royals years ago. I cant wait to finish more of her backlist. I think it was such a satisfying ending for all characters. I like how the character arcs were closed out. I feel so honored that I was able to get an ARC of this book! I felt a range of emotions reading this novel. I also like how some past characters made reappearances. It was like a tv show closing its last season and everyone said bye one last time. I had multiple ways I predicted the book was going to go but I was really glad I was wrong. There were good plot twists in typical McGee fashion. Everyone should pick up the series! It’s a delight!

Thank you NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

I didn't realize this was the end of the series until I read the acknowledgements at the very end! It picked up directly after the last book and it was such a whirlwind of drama and shockers. I need this series to be picked up for a television series or movie asap.

Beatrice is in a coma and the royal family is in shambles. Luckily, she wakes up but realizes she has retrograde amnesia and lost a year of her life. She wants to see Connor and has completely forgotten she loved Teddy. I was so sad. I never thought we'd see Connor again after she changed her mind about him in previous books but it was nice to see her get closure. She knew in her heart that what she had with him was over and it was nice to see her reaffirm her love for Teddy.

Daphne is pregnant? And getting married to acting King Jeff? This was the biggest plot twist in the last book and just when I was beginning to establish Daphne as one of my favorite characters, BAM. She does this. I was back on Nina's side. She pretends to be pregnant to get Jeff back. They end up getting engaged but she begins tangling with Ethan, Jeff's best friend. The chemistry is off the charts with these two and I was hoping Daphne would drop Jeff for Ethan. I have had enough of Jeff. I hope his short time role as acting King helped him to grow up a little so he could actually figure where his heart truly lies.

Sam is in Hawaii living her best life in complete ignorance of Beatrice being in the hospital. Good for her for choosing herself, but talk about timing. As soon as she hears of the tragedy, she rushes back to be by her sister's side to find out her titles have been stripped and she's no longer a Princess. She works on accepting this new path of hers and finds friends to help her, including an old friend from the past. Her and Marshall get a little rocky but they end up finding each other again. The only thing that bothered me was how Sam let someone else kiss her. She technically cheated on Marshall and it was never brought up!

Nina is in college and meets a new guy, Jamie who is dashing. The two become close during their school play and start taking things slow to hopefully begin a romance. She felt more sidelined in this book but the ending made sense once we find out how big of a role she was actually playing.

I really loved this book and have loved this series since the beginning. I was pretty happy with the ending. I love how we don't exactly get closure, instead we are able to use our imagination to write our own endings and choose what satisfies us.

I absolutely loved this series!! This last book was a satisfying conclusion, even if it left some to be desired.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

By the end of this series, I LOVED Daphne. She was my favorite character by far - she's complex, entertaining, layered. etc. I guess I am truly a sucker for a morally gray character. I also loved her and Ethan the most by FAR. They were so fun to watch. AND, I enjoyed her friendship with Nina and how she rubbed off on Nina and made her less unbearable.

I HATED the amnesia plot for Beatrice. I saw someone say that it basically undid her entire character development from books 2-3, and I wholeheartedly agree. She made so much progress and grew so much, only for her to forget all of it and revert to her book 1 self. Very frustrating.

Despite this and other frustrations, I really enjoyed this series and will definitely recommend it to my students!

In the conclusion to the American Royals series, Reign leaves off from the cliffhanger of book 3. Beatrice is in the hospital, Samantha is missing, Nina is picking up the pieces of her life at college, and Daphne is standing by Jefferson's side as he serves as acting King.

It's incredibly bittersweet to say goodbye to this world and goodbye to these characters, especially being a fan of the series since the very beginning. I will forever love the way McGee writes, interweaving multiple POV's and layers of plot to create a world and characters that feel real. It was a treat to see how Beatrice, Samantha, Nina, and Daphne ended up after getting to know them so intimately over four books. There are less twists and turns than the previous books, and while I was content with where each of the young ladies ended up, I didn't necessarily love their journey there throughout Reign. Some of the plots felt under-developed. I wanted more out of the relationships of the four young ladies and the emotional growth within those relationships felt lacking at times. With readers watching these characters grow up over four books, I was hoping for more maturity in the final book.

What an awesome ending to a series! All loose ends are tied and each has a promise of a future. It has been amazing to watch the characters grow and learn throughout the series.

A page-turning ending to a beautiful series! I have loved every book in the series and Reign is no exception! I am sad to see the series end. The complexity of each character and the nods to real American history made this book one I could not set down.

I am so beyond excited and grateful for this ARC because this American Royals series has been EVERYTHING to me, and so, to say I'm thrilled to learn how it all ends is an understatement. Reign features as compelling of language as ever, and it's truly perfect for fans of the existing series yearning for more of the same ladies' (Beatrice, Sam, Nina and Daphne) alternating perspectives.

It's so much fun and literally the perfect way to wrap up the series, as we get even more insight into their inner psyches as they grow up. It's such a sweeping conclusion to a beloved series and I truly loved watching the foursome's growth as individuals. For Beatrice, I loved *finally* getting Connor closure (because he + Bea were my OTP for the past three books) and finally understanding her relationship with Teddy. For Samantha, I really enjoyed watching her find her place outside of the monarchy. Daphne was the toughest for me to like but here, I could understand her more and yassss that epilogue, love it. And then Nina, I loved her princely love triangle, like seriously, GET IT GIRL, but yet her desires were still No. 1 priority. Quite simply, I loved this one and am already counting down the days before I can re-read.

Reign is the final book in the American Royals series, and picks up from the cliffhanger that the third book, Rivals, ended on…Bea in a coma after a horrific car accident, Sam having run off with Marshall to escape the pressures of the media attention and familial obligations that were making being a couple difficult, and Jeff all of a sudden becoming the acting monarch. Daphne’s years of scheming appear to finally be paying off as she and Jeff are engaged, and Nina tries to move on from Jeff, a task made easier due to an exchange student named Jamie that Nina feels like she’s met before.
While I’m sad that the American Royals series is officially finished, I am mostly satisfied with where each of the characters ends up. I had hoped for a different ending for a couple of the characters, but overall, each character did show growth that was true to who they were, while not seeming overly forced.
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

After the mixed bag that was the third book, I was worried but very excited to receive "American Royals IV: Reign" by Katharine McGee, the final book in the American Royals series.
I would recommend this book for people that like
-reality tv
-AUs
-The Princess Diaries
-American history

Once again the format of telling the story from multiple characters perspectives was utilized, and was done very well.

Beatrice: Is in a coma, but quickly comes out of that, only to realize that she has lost the last year of her life's memories. The last thing she does remember is being with Connor, so he is brought back into the mix. Personally, I did find this a good thing as I thought that her change from Connor to Teddy was abrupt to begin with, in fact a lot of the relationships in the book tend to change in what feels like the blink of an eye, so it felt nice to revisit it again in this book. She also has to hide the fact that she has memory loss from Congress, which is no easy feat with the Duke of Virginia breathing down her neck.

Sam: Has fled the country and made her way with Marshall to Hawaii. They have made a nice little life for themselve's down there but when she hear's of the accident she leaves him and makes her way back home only to find that she has been stripped of her titles and basically been exhiled from the castle. She finds a guy whom you only really know if you have read the prequel book and ends up staying with him and his friends for awhile, forging her own path.

Nina: Is typical Nina, friend when needed but making her own way for once away from the royal family which good for her. She makes a new friend, Jamie, who turns out to be the prince of Canada! While becoming close to him she finds a love of theater and even gets cast in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and it is nice to see her flourish it reminded me a little of Carmen in "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" in the last book. The one that was always unassuming and didn't stand out but finally getting their chance to shine in the spotlight for once.

Daphne: Is Daphne. What else needs to be said? She doesn't grow or change in these books, I wonder at times if the author just doesn't like her. Or maybe she likes her too much because this character could get away with murder. Pretends to get pregnant, tricks Jeff into getting engaged to her, they stay engaged even when he finds out the truth, strings along Ethan. Also, Jeff is one fickle guy going from kissing Nina to 10 minutes later saying he wants to be with Daphne because she is pregnant, both girls deserve better than that. Daphne is also getting blackmailed throughout the book and honestly that plot is probably the weakest of all of them.

Overall, the book is enjoyable and gives a satisfying ending to characters that we have grown to love and care about. It can't be an easy task wrapping up that many books and characters, but Katharine does it in a way that I believe will satisfy and please her audience.

**Thanks to Netgalley and Randomhouse Children's Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review**

It’s always bittersweet to reach the end of a series, and I always feel this potent mix of curiosity, hope and trepidation as I begin the final book in a series.

The curiosity is obvious- I long to know how the things will work out for these characters that have become so cherished to me. Will Beatrice be okay? Will she become the queen we’ve seen glimpses of? Will everyone get the ending they ‘deserve’? Will the kids untangle, will the truths come out, will we get some or any HEAs? The hope is my longing for that satisfying wrap up, for everything to come together in a way that makes sense and feels right. The trepidation? Will it manage to live up to all my high hopes.

Once again, McGee has done it. Snared me with her carefully woven world and characters that feel so real to me, that I care way too much about. I was swept up in the drama and intrigue, quickly absorbed and so eager to find out how it would all come together. I love how her deft writing was able to convey the greys of each character- we are all light and dark, it’s all choices, growth and moving forward. I still have to tip my hat to the skill she showed in creating the character I most despised in book one, one that I by the end wanted a happier ending for.

This final installment proved to be all I could have hoped for. Entertaining, endearing, delightfully soap-y and distracting but heartwarming. Full of growth and surprises, and for me at least, truly satisfying resolutions.

A series I’ll continue to recommend and enjoy rereading, I’m so excited to see what Katarine McGee writes next.

Thank you to the amazing author, NetGalley, and Random House for the opportunity to read and review an early copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own and freely offered.

I have been a huge fan of this series since book one! The last book ended on a cliffhanger, so I was really excited to get an early copy of this book! The book picked off right where the last book left off. I loved the direction the final book took and the way the characters changed and grew.

I'm sad to see this series end, but what an ending it was! Of course I want every series like this to end on a completely happy note, but I found the ending to be hopeful and sweet. I would definitely recommend this to YA (and older!) readers!

A truly satisfying conclusion to the series - thank you for the full arcs each character traveled. Well structured and very fun.

Kathrine McGee brings her American Royals series to a close in the fourth installment, Reign. Queen Beatrice has ascended to the throne after her father’s death, but her rule is in jeopardy after a terrible car crash. Samantha has run away with Marshall, leaving Jefferson to take Bea’s place until she is able to rule again. The Washington family is in chaos, and McGee allows each character to exert agency as they maneuver within the royalty protocol and societal expectations. McGee continues to comment on the intrusiveness of the media in the lives of those who are in the spotlight, highlighting the fact that every decision is made understanding how the media will frame the choices of the royal family. The difficulty with a series like this is that the reader is invested in all of the characters and McGee must provide a complete story arc for numerous characters. This is the one weakness of this last book; some arcs are not as developed as the others. Nevertheless, the book follows in the footsteps of the earlier books of this series. Readers will be delighted to find out how the story ends for their favorite characters.

Such a fitting end for a fun series! I really liked how the storylines all came together in the end. Beatrice's storyline has always been my favorite and Reign was no different. I still have a love/hate relationship with Daphne, which is kind of the point of her character. Sam tends to frustrate me with her decisions but I'm thankful she usually finds her way back to where she should be. I very much enjoyed where everyone ended up at the end of the series. I'm super sad that the series is over, but I'm sure I'll be revisiting them with a re-read soon. :)

The American Royals Series is perfect for fans of:
🗽 U.S. History
💭 Speculative Fiction
👯 Gossip Girl
🔍 Multiple POV
🕵🏽‍♀️ Olivia Pope

This series has truly become a piece of my heart. When I fell back in love with reading prolifically a few years ago, American Royals was one of the first books to really draw me in. The concept is genius, but paired with all the drama, intrigue, and a little bit of whimsy, and I was sold. McGee has taken us on a ride these last few years. I can’t say that I loved every second of it, but it’s a ride I’m happy to have taken.

With this fourth and final installment, I think people are going to be split firmly into two camps. Camp One: Some of you are going to be REAL mad. I imagine McGee is beefing up security now because the hate mail is about to commence. Camp Two (My Posse): We’re waving goodbye as we decide it’s time for fresh lemonade and a soft pretzel, feeling very content.

I enjoyed getting to slip into this world one more time. I could totally see another novella or two, but McGee did a nice job of wrapping up the story, even if it isn’t going to be everyone’s happy ending. Here's to Queen Bee. Long may she reign.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s for access to the ARC. All opinions are my own.

It’s always sad when a beloved series comes to an end so reading the final book of the American Royals series was very bittersweet for me. While I will miss this characters, I can’t wait to share the series with my students and other readers. Katharine McGee also did a great job of wrapping up all the loose ends and while some of my questions weren’t answered, I’m happy to imagine how these stories could play out. I also can’t wait to see what other amazing stories McGee brings in the future!