3.5 stars rounded up.

A super cute new book from one of the authors of "If This Gets Out" (a personal favorite of mine in recent years), crossing "The Princess Diaries" and "Red White & Royal Blue."

Introverted high schooler Jamie Johnson has been trying to make the most of his last summer before graduation, hanging with his friends, working part-time at the local Cinnabon, and absolutely NOT talking to the hot guys he sees out and about. But then, on his birthday, his adoptive mother drops a bomb on him: he's the son of the king of Mitanor, a beautiful sunny country in the south of Europe, and the king wants him to visit and discover his place. In order to prepare him for his new role, the king hires the second son from the cold northern country of Sunstad, Erik Lindstrom. With the upcoming marriage of his older brother (and the heir to the Sunstad throne), this is Erik's chance to get out from under his grandmother's controlling thumb for a summer as he teaches Jamie how to be a royal.

This was adorable. I wouldn't say it was anything remarkable or unpredictable, but it was a lot of fun and I can see my students devouring it. Jamie is precious and naive and it's so much fun watching him develop into a proper royal throughout the course of the story. But Erik just had my heart from the get-go as the tightly-wound young man just trying to find some freedom in the face of his overly-controlling family. While their relationship felt a little insta-love-y, it was still fun to watch develop over the course of the story as both boys grew into their own.

The narrators were a mixed bag for me, honestly. I had to listen to the entire thing at 2.5x because they were both just so... slow... Which was still tolerable, but sadly something about the voice actor for Jamie didn't sell me whenever he was reading another characters' lines (especially Erik's), and I found myself cringing. Erik's actor, on the other hand, was amazing!

The Rules of Royalty gave me gay Princess Diary vibes, and I was absolutely here for it. This was just so lighthearted and fun, and both Jamie and Erik were adorable.

Thanks, Macmillan Audio, for the arc!

THE RULES OF ROYALTY by Cale Dietrich is a perfect storyline for me. It's pretty much a queer PRINCESS DIAIRIES, and I adore it! What I do not adore is this audiobook. Ohmigoodness, it does not make you sound British, royal, and rich if you talk slow, take long pauses, and literally sound like you are speaking with your nose in the air. I wanted to throw my phone every time Prince Erik Lindstrom spoke. I made it 15% before DNFing it because I couldn't handle it, especially not with how excellent the new Prince Jamie Johnson's narration was. This isn't a story I'm giving up on. I'm too intrigued and enjoying it too much just to fully DNF. I will read it because I need to know what happens and I was almost at the meet-cute!

Storyline so far: 5 stars
Royal cuteness: 4 stars (I think this will rise when I read it)
Audiobook: 2 stars (so much lost potential)
Current rating: 3 stars

I received an ARC from Netgalley for an honest review.
I listened to more than half of the book because I wanted to give it its chance but was ultimately letdown. I was not connecting with the story ether because the writing was a little basic, just telling us what was going on, or because the characters felt a little 2 dimensional, there was no personality to ether of them.

First thing’s first: thank you Netgalley for the ALC of this book!
I enjoyed this book! I thought it was sweet and cute and hopeful. This was Red, White, & Royal Blue meets The Princess Diaries and I ate it up! It really captured all the first love insecurity and excitement and I was kicking my feet. I loved the royals aspect of this!
3.75⭐️