Julie's Review: The Heir Affair

Author: Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
Series: Royal We #2
Publication Date:  July 7, 2020
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Pages: 481
Obtained: Bought and Paid For
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 4.5/5
Bottom Line: It's not so easy being royal and being married to one
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Summary: After a scandalous secret turns their fairy-tale wedding into a nightmare, Rebecca "Bex" Porter and her husband Prince Nicholas are in self-imposed exile. The public is angry. The Queen is even angrier. And the press is salivating. Cutting themselves off from friends and family, and escaping the world's judgmental eyes, feels like the best way to protect their fragile, all-consuming romance.
But when a crisis forces the new Duke and Duchess back to London, the Band-Aid they'd placed over their problems starts to peel at the edges. Now, as old family secrets and new ones threaten to derail her new royal life, Bex has to face the emotional wreckage she and Nick left behind: with the Queen, with the world, and with Nick's brother Freddie, whose sins may not be so easily forgotten -- nor forgiven. ~amazon.com 

Review: I don't think there's enough money to make me want to marry into the royal family. That being said those that do it should go in with their eyes wide open to ensure they understand all of what is going to be asked of them now and in the future. I feel like Bex did go in with her eyes wide open, it's why she struggled to make sure her feelings for Nick were real. They were and they are. Nick and Bex clearly adore and love each other but running away from their problems to start of a marriage could be a sign of a rocky beginning. At least that's what the British Media want you to think. The truth is they enjoyed their time together as Steve and Margot; it cemented them to each other; it gave them a firm foundation. Which is a good thing because their lives are going to be a whirlwind when they get called back to London on a family emergency.

From there they are forced to face what they ran away from and the domino effect it had on familia obligations. In Nick's absence, Freddie stepped up but can they repair their relationship. It won't ever be the same but it can be something different and maybe something better. Bex also has to change her relationship with Freddie because maybe they were too close before. They never crossed the line physically but sometimes emotional support can be more than physical.

I think my favorite part of the book was the developing relationship between Queen Eleanor and Bex. At first it was a stand off of wits and stubborness but it grew into something more. I also love the backstory and mystery of Georgina, Eleanor's sister. It all dovetails nicely into the current plot line.

I wasn't sure what the timeline span of The Heir Affair would be but I'm glad they chose to set it over a few year period and didn't advance the storyline with trival plot points. When there was nothing left to be said, they moved on to the next important piece of the story.

I enjoyed the ending of the book and I wouldn't be terribly upset if they didn't write another one in the series but I would also read the next one if they decided to go that route as well.

The Heir Affair is a fun book with some serious angles to it that will let you escape 2020 for just a little bit.



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Julie's Review: The Royal We

Author: Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan
Series: None
Publication Date: April 7, 2015
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Pages: 464
Obtained: from a friend
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
Rating: 5.0
Bottom Line: Outstanding. The real side of a fairy tale romance.
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Summary: "I might be Cinderella today, but I dread who they'll think I am tomorrow. I guess it depends on what I do next." American Rebecca Porter was never one for fairy tales. Her twin sister, Lacey, has always been the romantic who fantasized about glamour and royalty, fame and fortune. Yet it's Bex who seeks adventure at Oxford and finds herself living down the hall from Prince Nicholas, Great Britain's future king. And when Bex can't resist falling for Nick, the person behind the prince, it propels her into a world she did not expect to inhabit, under a spotlight she is not prepared to face. Dating Nick immerses Bex in ritzy society, dazzling ski trips, and dinners at Kensington Palace with him and his charming, troublesome brother, Freddie. But the relationship also comes with unimaginable baggage: hysterical tabloids, Nick's sparkling and far more suitable ex-girlfriends, and a royal family whose private life is much thornier and more tragic than anyone on the outside knows. The pressures are almost too much to bear, as Bex struggles to reconcile the man she loves with the monarch he's fated to become. Which is how she gets into trouble. Now, on the eve of the wedding of the century, Bex is faced with whether everything she's sacrificed for love-her career, her home, her family, maybe even herself-will have been for nothing. ~amazon.com

Review: There are few books I really do gush over but get ready for some serious love here for The Royal We. I'm not a "Royal Watcher" but I admit being curious about Kate and Wills. More so about Kate than Wills but I digress. This wonderful, funny, witty, heart-wrenching, joyful book is about Bex and Nick. We join Bex on the eve of her marriage to Nick or rather Prince Nicholas of Wales but she's not real sure if it'll go through.

The rest of the novel takes us back in time to when they first met, how they fell in love and the obstacles that were in their way. We know that it isn't smooth sailing for them because of what Bex tells us and also because what relationship is. Bex is instantly lovable and adorable. She's a fish out of water but she doesn't let it hold her back. She quickly befriends her roommate, Cilly and then the rest of the lot. This band of merry men and women are the inner circle for Nick. They have his back in all the ways you hope your friends do.

Cocks and Morgan have an excellent cast of secondary characters. It is easy to get caught up in their world. They are all privileged in one way or another. Bex isn't exactly a slouch but she's also not British or from a proper blood line. I knew from the start that Lacey, while trying to be excited and happy for Bex, was really jealous and/or envious of her life. It was never what Bex had dreamed of but it was always what Lacey had dreams about.

As you can guess things spiral out of control and for a while Bex and Nick go their separate ways. I can only imagine what it's like to be under the microscope and the spotlight simultaneously. It is not something that Bex and Nick handle very well. When thrust into the spotlight neither of them knows how to react or respond.

What I loved what how Bex tried desperately to remain her own person. We all lose a little of ourselves when in a relationship but it's the degrees that can make the difference. She realizes that there are ways to keep who she is but she realizes that she will also have to be the the Duchess the Palace needed too.

You can't help but feel sorry for Nick. He didn't ask for this life but it is his life. He doesn't have choices, his life has been planned from the day he was born. His relationship with his father is tense and his mother isn't in the picture much. He's close with his great-grandmother but it really comes down to is this is his job. Being the Prince of Britain is his destiny. Bex has a choice but do we really have a choice once we decide that we can't live without that person?

The Royal We is a book about relationships, love, friendship and what it takes to be in a relationship with the one(s) we love the most. There is humor and sorrow, joy and sadness in the book. I laughed out loud and I cried. It is probably one of my favorite books of 2015. I really can't gush enough about this one. Do yourself a favor and read this one! You really won't regret it, even if you aren't a "royal" watcher.

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