American Royals 2 by Katharine McGee

US Cover                                      UK Cover

Beatrice Washington now rules America as its first ever queen, but her family are more concerned about rushing through her arranged marriage to a man she barely knows. No one can know that her heart really belongs to her bodyguard - but even their love is under threat.

Meanwhile, Princess Samantha is under more scrutiny than ever before - and she still longs to be with her sister's fiancee. But with no sign of Bea's wedding being called off, she's surprised to find someone else catching her eye.

Nina Gonzalez is also tangled up with someone she never expected to be. She and Ethan are both nursing broken hearts, and it's not long before they find themselves pulled irresistably together.

Luckily for Daphne Deighton, Prince Jeff's grief for his father makes him a prime target for her attentions. She's the closest she's been in years to getting what she wants . . . so why can't she let the idea of her and Ethan go?

As the royal wedding of the century creeps ever closer, will these four young women get what they want - or will their hearts be broken forever?

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What a roller coaster. Seriously, after a while I started feeling like I needed a flow chart to keep track of who was doing what to who to spite what other person.

There's a delicious teen romcom flavour to this novel; the scene where someone finds out exactly why someone else is going out with them, and the betraytor says "Yes, it started out like that, but!" is played out a couple of times with different parties. There's also some fabulous themes around personal power, about choosing and accepting your power. I wanted to smack a few characters here and hug others, so Katherine is clearly doing something right.

I'm really looking forward to reading the (as yet unconfirmed) third book in this series. If there never is a third - well, most of the storylines are at an acceptable stopping point, with one exception I won't spoil here. You'll know it when you read it.

I love the tiny details that make it clear this is not quite America as you know it; for instance, Lady Liberty is in Washington DC! It's such a clever little thing that makes it very clear.

Now I kind of want to dig out my old Princess Diaries DVD and watch it again, can't think why...

American Royals 2 publishes on the 3rd September, 2020.