I requested and received an eARC of The Rules of Royalty by Cale Dietrich via NetGalley. I saw this title and since it gave gay The Princess Diaries vibes I knew I had to request it. Jamie Johson is an average teenager who is suddenly thrust into a new life on his seventeenth birthday when his adoptive mother reveals that his biological father is the King of Mitanor. Erik Von Rosenborg, a prince from Sunstad, may be the spare but with his brother’s upcoming nuptials he feels pressured to put his best foot forward. When enlisted by King Alexander to help Jamie adjust to his new life, Erik jumps at the chance. As Erik guides in his new role as a royal, the boys grow closer and cannot ignore the feelings they have developed for one another.

I had a few misgivings during the first quarter of this novel. Everything seemed to be going too smoothly (for Jamie anyway) and I couldn’t help but feel like I wanted to see more of him on the page before the news of his parentage was revealed to him. I also wasn’t sure why we didn’t get much of Jamie actually learning more about his biological parents, particularly his mother who seems to have existed but not much else. I felt more connected to Erik’s character, as he sort of wrestles with the weight of his responsibility and his feelings of jealousy.

Although there were moments when I felt a bit more depth would have helped this story, it did have plenty of charm. I enjoyed the friendship and blossoming relationship between Erik and Jamie. There were several moments in the story that felt like they were handled perhaps a little bit too simply, which left me with a few lingering questions. Jamie’s existence and parentage never seem to cause any controversy or emotional reactions from any of the supporting characters (Maria and Tomas in particular) which felt off to me. The lack of any serious drama, however, did allow this book to be a nice, light YA read!

Millennial that I am, I LOVED The Princess Diaries. So, a YA mm retelling (ish) of The Princess Diaries is right up my alley.

It was very cute, but alas, I am a millennial, which means I am no longer in the same place in life I was when I first saw The Princess Diaries, and I am not the target audience for this novel. I feel like I would have liked a stronger conflict to overcome and maybe slightly more realistic depiction of royalty and expectation.

Erik had a lot of great potential as the prince trying to live up to expectations and get out from under the thumb of his grandmother. I got some Young Royals vibes there, but would have liked that to be further developed. For the amount of build up that plot thread really fizzled out.

Jamie was wonderful and earnest, but maybe a bit bland. I honestly can’t think of much else to say about him.

I do think this is a very sweet novel and I would probably have rated it 4* if not for a rather rushed and anticlimactic ending.

This was just the syrupy sweet fluffy read that I needed. It really is the right combination of The Princess Diaries, The Unlikely Heir, and Red, White and Royal Blue. It truly is the embodiment of a fairy tale - The Brothers Grimm without the violence.

Jamie is such a golden retriever character. His ability to just role with the punches when he finds out the truth is enviable. After taking some time to process his new role, he jumps in feet first with no hesitation. He learns, and he grows, and he's not afraid to ask for help. The fact that the royal family is so welcoming to him, rather than resorting to the cliche of the jealous stepmom or half brother, is a breath of fresh air.

Erik is the character living in a cage. There are certain aspects of his life where he has more freedom than is typical of books like this. He's out, he's proud, and he's a role model for the people of his country in that respect. It's heartwarming to see just how much he learns from Jamie about what his role could be, and who he could be, despite him being the one who is supposed to be teaching.

It was also refreshing to see a story that wasn't "We have to be a secret because we're in the closet." for once. It did move a little bit slowly for my taste at times, but overall this was a wonderful, warm fuzzy kind of read. Exactly the kind of book one needs to escape into from time to time.

I received an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 rounded up

This was just a genuinely adorable YA romance. I’m a sucker for a royal romance, and this was a really cute one. It follows Jamie, a “normal” teen from America, who finds out on his 17th birthday that he is the prince of a small European country; and Erik, another prince from a different European country, who has been tasked with teaching Jamie how to act like a prince.
It was truly just a wholesome and lovely story about what happens when you fall for someone you can’t have, and was a quick and easy read.

The only thing holding me back from the full 5 was just a little bit of repetitiveness on some of the conflict, just the same problem being talked over by the character in their mind. But besides this I really enjoyed it and will definitely be buying a copy when it releases later this year.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for a review.

Cute romance novel better suited for the younger YA demographic.

I appreciated how much queerness this book included. However, the writing style was very simplistic and it was hard to distinguish the two POVs. Everything felt super matter-of-fact easy and taken in stride without much of a rollercoaster of emotions.

Combining the origin story of the Princess Diaries but having a more developed plot similar to that of a love child between the wholesomeness of Heartstopper and the comfort of Red, White and Royal Blue, this book has the potential to become a source of warmth for LGBTQ+ youth in their late teens/early adulthood.

Following the love story of two royal teens, this book was gentle and upbeat and celebrated queer joy while keeping everything as realistic as the situation of finding out you’re a royal at seventeen could possibly be, while throwing problems their way, without dismissing their age and the fact that they are still growing, enjoy playing and think everything is the end of the world.

I definitely got The Princess Diaries vibes from this story and found it easy to become enamored with the lead characters — Jamie, the young man who discovered he was a prince on his 17th birthday, and Erik, the prince tasked with teaching him the ins and outs of being a royal.

I liked the easy chemistry between the characters and how their friendship grew into something more intimate and meaningful. It's a clean romance with sweet queer representation and the royal families who accept, praise, support and love them.

I really was looking forward to this book. The concept of RWRB meets The Princess Diaries sounds amazing. And I'm sure this book will be amazing for someone but that person is not me.

While I do understand that this is an unproofed copy but the writing needs editing. I finally DNF'd after an entire chapter long description of a fencing match and the author using the same word in one sentence three times.

This book was very cute but ultimately not super memorable. Erik and Jamie are very similar protagonists, to the point that sometimes it was difficult to differentiate which chapter was from which of their points of view. The lack of any sort of adjustment period for Jamie was also a tad too unbelievable for me, even for a new take on the Princess Diaries. Jamie was a very eager protagonist and very cute, but there were also moments that bordered on cringe — particularly when it came to his use of social media post-prince-reveal.

princess diaries but make it gay?

i thought this book was really fun and pretty lighthearted. i found the characters to be likeable and i think this would be great for young queer readers to have access to.

Read, and now in support of the boycott, I'm waiting on SMP to give an improved statement about how they're planning on doing things moving forward before I post my review.

I went on a bit of an LGBTQ+ royalty reading bender. Was lucky enough to recieve this eArc. This book was well paced and super easy to read. But still gave you allllll of the feelings. Another great queer modern royalty book for all!

This was the super-adorable, fluff-filled regency romance LGBT YA needed!!! I loved getting to know Jaime and Erik, and the little flashes of Princess Diaries was the perfect amount of relatable without being overbearing. The side characters were… there, but you didn’t notice because you spent the whole time in love with the main two!

I wish the blurb hadn’t compared this to the princess diaries. I found myself making comparisons every step of the way which ruined a lot of it for me.

The plot is predictable and obviously has been done before but this a fresh take and it works. The two main characters are lovely and from the beginning I was rooting for them. The book honestly made me both laugh and tear up and then smile again.

Jamie’s wonder at everything he sees when he arrives at the palace is really expressed well. He is so in awe as it’s so much grander than anything he’s ever seen.

Erik being trapped in the life of a royal, a life which is not his own, is alsodone really well. I really felt for him. From my plebeian American perspective I wanted to say, “Just do it!” but I wasn’t raised in that environment and can’t really internalize what it would be like for someone in his position. The book did its best to explain it to me.

Jamie is a good kid and takes it all in stride. But for the first half of the book he seems young for his age. He’s into Pokémon and Mario Kart is the first game he mentions he wants to play. I love Mario Kart but these are teenagers. He doesn’t play the big online RPGs because he’s afraid he’ll become addicted. He’s like a younger kid trying to be cool like his older brother. Maybe that’s on purpose. His naïveté juxtaposed with Erik’s maturity, who seems like a man.

Jamie does grow a lot during the course of the book and he’s genuinely a good guy. The way he handles being a royal is impressive while still being believable. Erik grows, too, but in a different way.

I feel that the pressures being put on Erik are ridiculous. He’s seventeen. Someone getting married so young is frowned upon by upper crust societies who want their children raised and educated to be appropriate diplomats for their country. He’s not even an adult yet. He’s still in high school! What’s he going to do, court them from his dormitory? And if he breaks the law and marries someone they don’t approve of, are they going to throw him in jail?

Likewise, they aren’t letting Jamie grow up. When they talk about possibilities for the future, it’s always with the parents permission. The king is his father. There’s no reason he couldn’t stay in the country (not telling you whether he wants to, just what is discussed). When they talk about after he graduates, when he will legally be an adult, he would have to get his mom and stepfather’s permission. How is that different?

The sexual and emotional tension is off the charts, very well done, which is just an uncomfortable thing for me to say about 17-year-olds. It isn’t really sexual, it is about kissing but it’s the same thing at a tamer level. When they finally kiss, I discovered I had a huge smile on my face.

I do think a lot of things work out too easily and everyone is too nice. Everyone is so supportive and the sole truly evil person barely makes an appearance. I think the conflict between Jamie and one of his friends is necessary even if it is a bit contrived. It adds a secondary level of conflict that keeps the story more complex and not-put-down-able. There are a couple of places where things didn’t make a lot of sense but I was reading a galley so perhaps those will change.

I would love to see a sequel with these two because I don't think their story is over. Regardless, I would definitely read another book by Dietrich.

I received this copy free for the purpose of review. These opinions are solely my own.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc!

What a great book. Such a quick and easy read. I enjoyed this book. All of the characters are great. Also great story and awesome writing style.

This book was okay, but it could be better. I don’t know if this was not American formatting or something because the texting was all on the wrong sides based on POV and very confusing. Please fix that before publishing or it will flip because of that inconvenience.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I found this an easygoing, cute novel, but it wasn’t really compelling. The plot was rather predictable and I considered giving up a couple of times. A pleasant enough framework but without much depth.

This was a very sweet and easy read. It loses a star though because everything is a little bit too ~perfect~. I expected a lot more drama and a bit more hardship for a male version of Princess Diaries. I really liked Jamie and Erik and thought both boys were really fleshed out and enjoyed how natural their relationship seemed. I am a sucker for royalty and especially surprise royalty books. I also enjoyed that both boys were out and everyone seemed fine with it.

The Rules of Royalty is a YA contemporary romance inspired by The Princess Diaries. This is the third novel I've read by Dietrich alone (having read another that was co-written). The story follows two princes who spend the summer together; Erik has grown up a prince and is tasked with tutoring Jamie, who has only recently learned that he is a prince, in the ways of royalty. There were no surprises for me knowing what it was inspired by; it was an easy, quick read that proceeds exactly as you would expect.

My main concerns with this book were the lack of a major conflict and the voices of Erik and Jamie. The conflict that arises was a little too easily solved, and their voices were so similar in tone and content that it felt a bit like they were speaking to themselves at times.

Overall, this was a cute story that felt very much like a beach read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to review this ARC!

This is a sweet story that reminds me of the show Young Royals with a dash or two of The Princess Diaries. I feel those comparisons are much closer than Red White & Royal Blue, which it’s also being compared to.

Jamie is pretty happy with his life. He is close with his mother and stepdad, has a great group of friends, and can’t really imagine anything different. Yet on his 17th birthday, his mother tells him a long-kept secret: his father is King Alexander of Mitanor, a European country near France and Spain. Jamie’s mother, who adopted him, promised her best friend she’d not reveal the secret until Jamie was old enough to choose his own path.

When the King reaches out to Jamie, he invites him and his parents to spend the summer in Mitanor. He also shares with him the contact info for Prince Erik of Sunstad, who, like Jamie is also gay, and understands what it’s like to be a teenage prince.

Jamie and Erik hit it off, and the King invites Erik to Mitanor to help Jamie learn the etiquette and other aspects of being a prince. At the same time, Erik is getting pressure from his family to begin dating a suitable man—and Jamie isn’t their choice.

As Jamie deals with the responsibilities and publicity of his new life, he has to navigate issues with his friends back home, and control his attraction to Erik. He doesn’t understand why Erik can’t do what he wants, and as Erik sees Jamie making a difference in Mitanor after only a short time, he decides he might need to fight for what he wants.

Jamie and Erik are adorable characters, and I loved the way their relationship unfolded. Even though there is some friction in the book, it’s devoid of the typical melodrama, which I really appreciated. I’d love a sequel someday!

Thanks to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the advance copy. The book publishes 12/10.