I loved Katharine McGee's American Royals series, and this book has her signature writing style. I enjoyed the different, historical setting compared to present day America. I didn't realize until the end that these are all historical women. I appreciate that she stayed true-ish to their story and timeline while putting it in more of a current writing style.

The main thing keeping me from giving it a 5-star review is that it ended very abruptly. I wish she would have said this was a series or closed the book on more of an ending point.

A Queen's Game by Katharine McGee sucked me in right away.
This was such a fun book.
I’ve enjoyed her previous titles and her newest one is no different.
I love the world building and character development, and I love love love devouring her writing.

A Queen's Game is a historical fiction following three women who are in the market for a husband. Queen Victoria is ready for the heir to the throne, Prince Edward, to settle down and find a wife. Alix, her favorite granddaughter, is her choice. But Alix has a secret that she thinks would keep her from being a good queen and dreams of marrying for love. She finds the prince of her dreams but it isn't her cousin. May, another cousin, wants to marry so she can get out of her father's house and away from his hateful personality. They are frequently forgotten during royal/family events as her parents blew their money and May knows she has to be a bit conniving to catch the favor of a higher ranking family, especially as she has to make over old dresses to rewear. Helene's a princess without a throne as her family was exiled from France. She enjoys the freedom of not having to be caught up in all of the pomp and circumstance of having royal obligations.

I loved the American Royals series so I was excited to see that McGee had another book out focusing on royals. This is more spicy than the AR series but not fully open door - door partially open would be a better description. This book took longer for me to get into than AR, but I really enjoyed it once I did. It does end on a cliffhanger, which I was not prepared for but now I'm looking forward to the next installment.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

Three young courtiers determined to find their fortune set their sights on the highest royal in the land. As they scheme against one another, work with each other, and try to navigate the challenges of being at court, the women will discover that the best course of action may be the most unexpected. Author Katharine McGee, well known for her American Royals books, comes back with a novel full of historical whimsy but only somewhat compelling in A Queen’s Game.

May of Teck knows one thing: if she can marry up, she can definitely get out of her wretched household. The problem is that May isn’t exactly the most desirable young woman on the fringes of Queen Victoria’s court in 19th-century England. She does have some royal ties, yes, but they’re almost tangential. Add to that the fact that her father is an absolute boor, a drunkard, and known to be loose with coin, and May’s marriage prospects are practically doomed.

She does have experience at court, though, and May knows that if she can catch the eye of the crown prince, Edward, she’ll be set for life. But Edward doesn’t seem to want to settle down for anyone. He’s too busy enjoying all the women at his disposal.

One of these women is Alix of Hesse. Fair and favored by Queen Victoria to marry Edward, Alix is practically squirming under her grandmother’s attention. Everyone assumes Alix and Edward will be the future king and queen, but Alix doesn’t want to marry for convention or even convenience. She wants to marry for love.

Helene d’Orleans loves the idea of love too, but she doesn’t like the confines of her station in life. A princess in exile, Helene’s father was the king of France until France kicked him out. The d’Orleans family returned to their cousins in England where they’ve been given safe harbor, but life in England is stuffy and uncomfortable. Everyone has all these rules about the way a princess should behave, and Helene is determined to break every single one.

May will do what she can to get into Edward’s good graces and, if need be, his heart. Alix wishes with all her might that she could follow where her gaze has recently landed, even if it’s on a foreign royal. Helene finds herself meeting Edward and, at first, being amused by him but then discovering that amusement turning to affection. The question of queen is on the line for all three young women, and so is the question of who will be the one to help Edward go from lover boy to family man.

Author Katharine McGee’s book rings with authenticity. The author has clearly done her research and leaned into it for this novel, which details the life and adventures of three real-life young royals as they maneuvered and manipulated their way onto the throne. McGee’s masterful writing will make it hard for even the most astute readers to distinguish where historical fact leaves off and creative license begins.

It’s unclear, however, how much these three women mingled or interacted in real life, and McGee’s caution in this regard makes for a novel that feels more like three separate stories that happen to intersect on occasion instead of being essential to one another. Readers will, no doubt, choose their favorite of the three and be more interested in her particular story than in that of the others. The result is a book that offers a collection of tales rather than a cohesive novel. McGee orchestrates occasional meetings between the three women, but the sense comes that the book would have proceeded in exactly the same way even without these meetings.

Fans of McGee’s previous work will certainly enjoy this, however, and anyone with any kind of Anglican fascination will certainly want to check it out.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC. The American Royals is one of my favorite series, so I was so excited to get my hands on this. And I loved it. It's historical fiction and three real woman. It was an easy read that I loved.

This book was fun...but felt exactly like American Royals. All the characters had different stories and motivations which made it interesting but I have to admit that the characters weren't my favorite :((((

overall, an enjoyable book!!

I was so excited to hear about this book as I adored the American Royals series by Katharine McGee! This was a fantastic historical fiction telling of what I figured out were all real people.

At first, I didn’t realize these were are real historical figures. I love the Romanov family and a few chapters in realized Alix was Alexandra Romanov, which led me to research the others and I was shocked to learn who May was. I hadn’t ever heard of Helene before or heard of Albert referred to as Eddy. This was an adorable story overall, but I do wish some dates had been added in to reference the year that the events took place in, since the book seems to span 1-2 years. I am very much looking forward to reading the 2nd book, even knowing where the characters ended up in history.

Thank you to Random House, Katharine McGee and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This was so fun! I really enjoyed this YA historical fiction retelling full of Victorian era royal drama and love. And then imagine my surprise when I learned these characters are based on real historical figures from this time period! Do yourself a favor and don’t Google them like I did…although I’m looking forward to the next book despite knowing how everything turns out!

Pub Date: 11/12/24
Review Published: 11/12/24
eARC received from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Katharine McGee has done it again! I absolutely love every single book she has written. This book was amazing! The characters, the history, the setting…it was incredible! I follow Katharine on social media and it was fun to see a post about the real historical men the two kings were based on. This was a great read.

This was an interesting read. To have the historical figures, Alix, Helene, & May, as the lead characters and see their stories intertwined & unfold was intriguing. Knowing what happens to these women also makes it an interesting read as well. I need another book to see where they go from here.

Thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for advanced copy, & I give my review freely

May is the kind of girl I would want to be friends with…and while she may have grown up with royalty, she has a solid head on her shoulders. As wedding season abounds, it’s a mad dash to marry a prince! This fun story dives deep into the royal world in a unique and enchanting manner that will draw readers in.

Katharine McGee, one of my favorite YA authors who knows how to write drama filled historical fiction, returns with A Queen's Game. McGee tells the tale of three princesses. First is Helene, the ousted princess of France who’s caught the eye of the future King of England. Then there's Alix: the stoic beauty and granddaughter of the queen, intended to marry the future king. And finally there's May: the poor granddaughter of the queen, who’s been treated as an outsider her whole life and is plotting to win over the future king. Nothing can go wrong with three strong willed women fighting to live their lives as they wish. Just add some illicit romances and blackmail! A Queen's Game is a solid 4 star read, and I look forward to seeing where McGee will take this in the future!

Three women in Victorian England are living in a man's world, where everything hinges on the quality of your marriage. This is a quick and easy historical fiction that was a joy to read - and I can't wait to see how the characters stories conclude.

Thank you to the publisher for sending a copy of the book to review

I enjoyed reading A Queen's Game by Katharine McGee. You will fall in love with all the characters. I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely. Happy Reading!

A Queen's Game by Katharine McGee was a delightful story! I adore the time period this was set in, and each of the 3 POV's were so unique and interesting, I couldn't put this book down. The ending had me frantically flipping for my story so I hope this will end up with a sequel....
Overall, this was my first Katharine McGee book and I am excited to read more from her! Thank you to Netgalley, Katharine McGee and Random House Children's for this ARC!

Thank you to Random House and Get Underlined for the free book.
This book was a fun look into 19th-century Europe. While these stories are fictionalized, the author’s note mentioned they are inspired by truth, and honestly who doesn’t love a royal love triangle? Here we see 3 of Queen Victoria’s granddaughters look for love and their place in the world. Of course, there is drama, there are secrets, and some wild family dynamics. This book was a lot of fun and with that ending, I am hoping it is a series.

Well, done! This is historical fiction with real people. They are all dead and you can easily google their stories. They aren't all happy endings either. In fact, they are quite sad. I essentially went into this book knowing the ending. Despite all that I was utterly addicted. I found myself engaged in the story and wishing for different choices from the characters. That's a real testament to McGee's writing. She makes you want to follow the story even if you know how it ends. I found myself thinking about it and googling different characters when I wasn't reading. Thank you for making history fun! I did have some pacing issues with it, but I anticipate those being improved in the next book. McGee had a lot of ground to cover to set us up for multiple romances in one novel while keeping to the historical timeline.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children's for this eARC!

I'm not sure anyone is doing it like McGee. Her books are so compulsively readable and what she does here with actual HISTORY is sort of remarkable. I know exactly what happens and yet she still kept me on the edge of my seat and inexplicably left me with a cliffhanger? For actual history! It's very impressive. I think fans of American Royals will really love this book (start of a series). McGee manages to keep everything that was present in American Royals in this book which is essentially YA historical romance "retelling" of Victorian royal politics. The book follows three very real historical figures, Alix of Hesse, Helene d'Orleans and May of Teck. You may not think you know these names but if you've ever watched the animated Anastasia then you are more familiar than you think.

For the most I was able to shut off my "but actually" brain and enjoy this CW version of Victorian history. All the juicy romance and palace intrigue of American Royals is present here. All three women in this book fall into similar categories as American Royals as well so even if this is based on real history and also is set in a very different time period, a lot of it remains in the same wheel house. WHich is mostly a good thing because McGee is very adept at crafting interesting stories that will have you turning pages.

Generally I liked all three POV characters. I think of the three May of Teck will prove the most divisive because as she is written on page, she is sort of a villain character. I find myself sympathetic to her on page counterpart because of the place she is in society and the only options available to her. As always with McGee's books, the men tend to fade into the background even as they play major romantic leads. Prince Eddy in particular, for how much he is present on the page, is not very interesting and is more interesting as a vehicle for drama than he is as a character. Also *spoilers for HISTORY* I find myself trying to not get that attached to Eddy (and Alix either but that's another story...).

This was very fun and diverting and I look forward to the next installment. Thank you very much to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

An heir to the throne with…Affairs. Gossip. Scandal. Betrayal.

Some players want love and others just want a title.

A YA with royals is my FAVORITE!

It ends on a cliffhanger and I 100% recommend!

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this as an ARC.

This books was full of twist and turns, provided all the drama, romance, secrets, mystery, while also giving an inside look into royal life.
I loved the multiple POVs of all the princesses and how everyone had their own secrets. I also enjoyed watching them all basically compete for the prince's hand in marriage. It was interesting how they were all so interested in a title and status that they barely even knew the prince as a human being.
The prince also had his fair share of secrets and was doing lots of things he probably shouldn't have been doing. I love how much drama he brought to the table and that it wasn't just about the princesses.
I also really enjoyed Agnes' character, she threw some interesting curve balls into the mix and I would love to see a book from her POV eventually.
By the end I had gotten so attached to these characters and really didn't want this one to end. I so hope this author will make this a series, because I would really like to continue following this story!
I was absolutely honored to receive this arc from Katharine McGee and Netgalley and my opinions are my own!