this was a super cute queer YA romance! I couldn't put it down, I loved seeing this relationship bloom though the texts felt so awkward at the start. I like how he kept his friends from back home, the main character is just a good guy that definitely deserved to be born a prince if anyone did. I liked how he actually helped people in the book.

DNF at 15%. Mostly, I struggled with the writing style and found it stilted, which made it hard to get into the book. This was disappointing - I liked Dietrich's book with Sophie Gonzales. From what I did read of this book, the pacing and character reactions to the things that happened also felt forced for plot without much reaction or emotion or logic behind them, and I do not think I would be able to get invested in the main relationship if this is how both characters act.

I admit I DNF’ at 53%
I wanted to love this book. A queer Princess Diaries? Come on. I wanted to eat this up in a weekend but I couldn’t connect with the characters. Sometimes when I write, I feel like things are happening and it’s emotionless and that’s how I felt reading this. Plot points were happening but I couldn’t connect to them. Then when the two MC decide to hide the fact they were dating? I knew media was going to spill it and it would “horrible” and I couldn’t keep reading. I really wanted to love this book but it wasn’t for me :(

The Princess Diaries meets Red, White and Royal Blue in this sweet, light, easy and comforting queer royal romance. A perfect book for fans of Young Royals to read on the beach this summer!

The Rules of Royalty is a dual POV story following American Jamie who on his 17th birthday finds out that he’s in fact the son of king in a foreign country, and Erik, the spare of the neighboring kingdom who is doing his best to live by the strict rules set by his grandmother.

It felt quite a lot like The Princess Diaries meets Red, White and Royal Blue. Very YA, very sweet, very light and easy. Compared to RWARB it didn’t have the same intensity, nor the same chemistry and yearning between the two love interests, but I nevertheless rooted for Jamie and Erik together. They were truly adorable and good for each other.

I think the story could have benefited from a little more drama and emotions. It was a little too much telling not showing at times and the way Jamie just accepted his new reality without any real meltdowns was perhaps not the most believable thing. But sometimes you just need a sweet, modern day queer fairytale, and Cale Dietrich sure delivered that!

All in all, this was a sweet and entertaining story about two princes from neighboring countries finding support, friendship and eventually love in each other, but also heartbreak and the need to figure out what’s worth fighting for.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press for the ARC, which I have voluntarily reviewed.

3.5 stars rounding up to 4.

This book was simply adorable! I loved how everything came together and I absolutely adored Jamie and Erik. The whole cast of characters was so well written, but they were especially perfect. It warms my little queer heart to see such fantastic queer writers and queer stories! This was a magnificent experience to add to the rest. Kudos on a great book and I’d love to see more from this author!

Overall I thought this was a cute, sweet YA with cute, sweet characters. The style here feels very simplistic and spends a lot of time telling rather than showing.

Additionally, I found the MCs to be difficult to distinguish from one another. They felt to me like vanilla renderings of teenagers with few defining characteristics. I think they could have been given a bit more personality, drawn a little deeper.

However, between the innocence and kindness of the two MCs and the general level of sensitivity and empathy with which most of the secondary characters treated them, the story had a very positive vibe.

I give it 3.5 stars. I enjoy reading a lot of YA but, for me, the writing just wasn’t there with this. It just didn’t do it for me. It has a hyper-realistic, Hallmark movie feel, perfect (imo) for royal romance-obsessed teen readers. If you enjoyed The Princess Diaries and Young Royals, this may be for you.

Thank you to netgalley and Wednesday books for sending me this digital arc to read and review. (And please tell me the editor of this took their red pen to the phrase “dry humidity.” I beg you. 🙏🏼 )

Young Royals meets The Princess Diaries

Sometimes, I just need an easy and captivating read. A book that won’t reach deep into my feelings, a story I smile at, main characters I swoon about. A comfort read to sink in and daydream about. A Hallmark-like story. The Rules of Royalty did deliver all of these things.

Fluffy, that’s what I’d call this story. Jamie and Erik are lovable main characters, even though Erik could be a little icy at times. Probably because he came from Northern Europe, synonymous with cold. But northern Europe is also beautiful with the northern lights, lakes, mountains, and, of course, those endless long days in the summer. Think of a ray of sunshine poking through the clouds, warming your face. That’s how I see Erik. A bit like Wilhelm from Young Royals.

What I didn’t like was Erik’s Royal family forcing him to date another boy because he needed to have a steady relationship? At seventeen??? I didn’t buy it. And said fake dating was nonsense because Sebastian and Erik only met once for a long time. And I hated the third-act breakup. Like always.

Anyway, even with the things I mentioned above, I enjoyed myself. And I think Cale thought of the Dutch Royalty while writing this story: King Alexander and Princess Amalia. For that, I rounded my 3.5 rating up instead of down.

I stopped after chapter 4 (8%). It’s billed as a new spin on the Princess Diaries, and that’s exactly what it is. The plot beats are there from the get-go. The prose is fine, readable, accessible. Probably a 3-4 stars for the target audience.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC.

This book was full-on delightful. I wasn't expecting to be quite that emotionally affected by a sweet romance, but it made me cry. I recommend it a thousand times over. The perfect romance novel to escape into.

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Publishing Group for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.