I loved the characters but i think Helene was my favorite. It was fun to see who was going to end up with whom. I kept wondering which characters were real. Good job of throwing rocks into each couples happiness. It ended with open questions so i am assuming there will be a sequel. I need to know more about Agnes.

A Queen‘s Game is exactly the type of book I want to recommend to my students. I want a fun, fast, delightful book with history (not perfect history, but it’s getting the point across). I read the entire last American royal series and so I was really intrigued that they were gonna go back into the Victorian era with real life Royals this time. This book was super cute. Definitely not as soapy as the last series but what can you do? It’s actual will history. Definitely recommend this book!

Thank you, #netgalley the ARC in exchange for an honest review

Alix, Héléne, and May are all single, a little older than those usually looking for husbands, and are each expected to marry someone they do not want to marry. Each of them desperately does want to get married, though, as they are each escaping different things. Up for grabs is the future King of England and several other high level princes who each girl is perfect for....it's just their matchmakers have not gotten them in the correct order yet.

This book reminded me of a Victorian romance I read often when I was younger, "Mayfair" by Nancy Fitzgerald.. This is a great book to add to this genre; the romance parts would probably be okay for older middle school kids. I was a little confused when I realized this book intended to be a series. I'm curious where McGee is going to take it because she had everything wrapped up towards the end of the book, and at the end changed gears and shook all the romances up again.

I loved this! Katharine McGee’s American Royals series was so fun and I’m so glad she decided to delve into historical fiction, and use some real life royals. A Queen’s Game is such a fun, quick read but still has really great character development and some cool story arcs. Even though it’s loosely based on real royals, it’s not predictable at all. What a delight, I hope there’s more to come!

What an absolute treat this book was! I loved the authors previous series, and this was a great start to a new world!
Nothing pleases me more than royal drama and princesses fighting over princes!! I had such a great time reading this one and really enjoyed the 3 perspectives.
We left on a bit of an open ending so I’m hopeful for book 2!

I enjoyed this! I didn’t know how I felt at first, getting to know the characters. But I like the personalities of the three princesses and their challenges. I feel so bad for them in a lot of ways. I’m excited to see where the story goes. I think I liked American Royals a little better, but this was still good!

Katharine McGee is queen of flawed female characters. I absolutely loved the way she created such complex and interwoven stories in American Royals, so was excited for this book.

The way I pity, adore and hate May of Teck all at once…

If you like the old, marriage mart vibes of Bridgeton, but want a slightly more modern twist, you will love A Queens Game. Sitting on the edge of my seat until the next book gets here!!

This book was so fun! If you liked American Royals you will love this book! It really reads like American Royals but historical fiction, heavy on the fiction. The characters are historical figures but the drama and romance is flowing throughout the book, regardless of the historical accuracy. But Katharine McGee is incredible at writing engaging characters, so I didn't mind the historical inaccuracies at all. Even her annoying characters are so engaging that I loved all of the main characters, even when they were making terrible decisions. I hope this is just the first book in the series. I am not ready to be done with these characters and these romance plotlines yet.

Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I'm going to have such a hard time reviewing this, but here we go.

Let me preface this with the fact that I'm a huge McGee fan. American Royals will be one of my go-to recs for teens who love some historically-inspired drama.

I wanted to love this as much as AR. I'm admittedly not as interested in European history, but McGee does her homework. As an adult reader, it was enjoyable. The writing is fantastic, the history is easily digestible, but goodness gracious I can't in good conscience tell a teacher to keep this on their shelves. There are *at minimum* three scenes where I had an eyebrow raised wondering if I'd want a teen reading this in front of me in a classroom. Short answer: no. The romance is just a litttleeeee too open door for my tastes. I don't think teen readers shouldn't read it, it's not that bad, I just would not want to shelve it at school. That's my official take. Read what you want at home. I'm just going to suggest keeping scenes that toe the open door line out of your classroom library. There are several here.

So, that's my review. I'll probably keep reading as there will inevitably be more, but I won't be recommending this to educators, unfortunately.

I loved Katharine McGee’s American Royals series, and I was excited to read A Queen’s Game. Both are full of escapist glitz, glamour, romance, and political drama. While the American Royals series envisions a fictional world in which America was founded as a monarchy, A Queen’s Game explores some real life European monarchies, which made it feel less like an escapist fantasy.

In A Queen’s Game, Alix begins a flirtation with the future Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. I couldn’t get into their romantic relationship because any time they were together, I wanted to yell at Alix, “NO NO, RUN AWAY FROM HIM. THIS WILL NOT END WELL FOR YOU.” Nicholas, of course, was executed along with his family by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution.

I struggled also with the female relationships in this story. I can only think of one relationship that passes the Bechdel test, and the only one that does is proven to be driven by manipulation for political gain. I wanted more “women supporting women” rather than women soley focusing on their marriage prospects. Of course, I understand that women were in a totally different position in Victorian England to modern day, but I still was wishing for more genuine female friendship here.

A Queen’s Game transitions between Alix, Hélène, and May’s points of view. This certainly added to the dramatic irony, particularly around Alix and Hélène’s relationships with Eddy. This did highlight for me that I felt that May was the weakest of the characters. May makes a friend in an American, Agnes, but lets Agnes boss her around and take control. Alix and Hélène both seemed much more able to fight for their own interests.

I enjoyed the snippets of history of European monarchy given in A Queen’s Game. Reading this book lead me down a rabbit hole looking up what actually happened to the real life people portrayed in the novel (and how some of these relationships really turned out). I already wanted a sequel based on how this book ends, but now that I know the history, I really want to see how it plays out in McGee’s version of the story.

After reading A Queen’s Game and the American Royals series, I am curious to see what McGee tackles next. Whatever it is, I’m sure it will be as fun and enjoyable as her other work.

I was so excited to receive the arc of this book. I really enjoyed The Royals so yay for a new series. However it felt incredibly similar to the point of just changing names. The story itself was so slow. It’s like everything happens but there’s no plot movement. It also ended on a cliffhanger which was unexpected both in that it wrapped up too quickly and that it is a stand alone so why leave it like that so open ended. Was not expecting a cliffhanger and it was not welcome.

I’ll still continue to read Katharine McGee but this was a complete miss for me.

This is a very entertaining take on historical fiction. While it's YA, the older age of the characters and the popularity of British royalty in historical fiction will broaden its appeal to readers of all ages. It's quickly paced and the different perspectives are all interesting.

Alix of Hesse knew she was expected to marry royalty, but what happens when she falls for the wrong prince? Helene d’Orleans may not be a princess anymore, but she loves to go against what’s expected and she has her sights set on Prince Eddy. May of Teck is not royal but is working toward her own prince. These strong women want more than a royal marriage, they want love, but they must overcome a fierce adversary, the Queen of England (Queen Victoria), who wants to meddle in relationships around her empire.

A Queen’s Game is a stand-alone historical fiction story that is full of intrigue. This is a good starting point for those who are not familiar with this time period, yet it is also engaging for those who love everything Victorian England. There was some hanky-panky, but nothing descriptive. This was not a deep read and I had to fight NOT to look up these young women to find out the true story. A Queen’s Game is a fun romantic novel that teaches a little history along the way.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Katharine McGee for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for A Queen's Game coming out November 12, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I’ve read a couple books by this author. I think this is my favorite from her! It felt like the show Reign, even though they’re Royals during Queen Victoria’s time. There was a kind of modern spin on it, but I still really enjoyed it. I thought it was fun. There was a lot of glamour and lavish balls. The characters were in similar circumstances, but I loved their differences. Seems like there will be more books in the series. I would definitely read more by this author.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Victorian era books!

👑🩷 A Queen’s Game ARC Review 🩷👑

Thank you so much to Katharine McGee and Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read and review this book!

A Queen’s Game is a European historical romance inspired by true events. In the Victorian era, three princesses are on a mission to find love. But little do they know that their search will impact history more than they ever imagined

This book was a fun read! I really enjoyed how May, Helene and Alix navigated the politics of Victorian era high society. Every one of them had their own battles to overcome, and I really enjoyed them all. I do wish we could have had the PoV of some of the male characters, but otherwise this was an enjoyable read

Overall this was a solid four star read. I liked this world and really look forward to more in this series. This book does have some potential triggers, so please check if you’re sensitive. This book does have a few romantic plot lines, but the scenes so far were closed door, so one flame for spice

If you’re a fan of historical romance with strong women, Victorian era high society and lots of gossip, then absolutely pick this one up!

I liked this book! But I did not like it as much as I liked her American Royals series. I was hoping for it to be more similar to that. But I do like that this book has the multiple points of view. The overall story was really good and it set itself up perfectly for next book!

✨Publication date: 11/12/24

“It felt like he saw her- really saw her, through the facade she showed the world, all the way to the insecurities and the regrets that twisted like snakes at her core. He saw, and he wasn’t afraid. If anything, understood.”

👑 Genre: Historical fiction
👑 Steamy rating: Mild
👑 Profanity: Mild

I feel silly as a 30-something reading books about princesses, but they are just so good. I absolutely loved Katherine McGee’s American Royals series and was so sad when it came to an end. Luckily, The Queen’s Game did not disappoint. I adored the first book and couldn’t put it down.

The story is told from the perspectives of three royal princesses- Alix, Helene, and May, who navigate the complexities of 1800s royalty. Despite their noble status, they face many of the same challenges as American women of the time- family drama, relationships woes, love, and the struggle to pave way to their places in history. I especially enjoyed reading about the lavish formal events, cross-continent royal visits, and all the juicy royal intrigue. And of course, there’s plenty of scandal and the tension of arranged marriages to keep things interesting!

I couldn’t recommend this book more and can’t wait for the next book. Get busy, Katharine.

I came into this book blind, thinking it was the next book in the infamous American Royals series. However, I was surprised to learn that it was set in Regency times and featured a bunch of characters I hadn't met yet. That being said, I had a hard time getting into it. I don't know if it was the historical aspect of it all, but I was hooked once I got a little further in. This was a fun three-in-one romance read. You see each woman's potential relationship with Eddy, the future king of England, as well as some of their other suiters.

Here are some of the tropes you see in this book.
• An arranged marriage & love triangle with Alix, the granddaughter of the queen, who has heavily suggested she marry Prince Eddy, but Alix has her eyes set on someone else entirely.
• Forbidden love with Helene, a dethroned French princess, and Prince Eddy. Can their differing religious backgrounds and social standings be overlooked?
• Unrequited love with May of Teck, a lesser royal who is hoping to score a royal wedding, not only with Prince Eddy but with his younger brother too.

Each story was complete on their own but it was fun to see them twist together, especially with some of the secondary characters. Not to mention the cliffhanger at the end! Oh boy! I am hoping we see another book in the series. I need some resolution on who ends up with Prince Eddy.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review. This book releases 11/12

I am a big fan of the American Royals series, and this one didn’t measure up to my expectations, but it was still fairly enjoyable. I liked the plot and the history was interesting, it just didn’t hit quite like I was expecting.

A Queen’s Game by Katharine McGee
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 stars
368 pages
Releasing: November 12th, 2024

A 19th- century Victorian Era historical romance inspired by true events. 3 princesses struggling to find love, one falling in love with someone she isn’t supposed to marry. A beautiful story of lives and love that change forever!

What a fun read this is! I loved her precious American Royals series! This was a tad bit hard for me get into due to the time period but thag quickly changed as the story unfolded. My only dislike is there were too many characters/names to keep up with, I had to frequently orient myself.

Read if you like:
✨Forbidden Romance
✨YA
✨Royalty Reads

#katharinemcgee #royals