Release Date: April 7, 2015
"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.
The real focus and strong point of this book, in my opinion, are the relationships between the characters. The story of Bex and Nick is adorable. I really understood their friendship and that growth before it turned into the love story that is hinted at at the beginning of the book (the infamous Bexicon). I loved their witty banter and friendship and I loved seeing them around their crew of eccentric British friends. I loved Bex's relationship to her parents, especially her dad and her complicated relationship with Lacey. They all worked to build Bex up as a wonderful character and narrator. They were the driving force behind all the laughs and drama and sadness and I think that Heather and Jessica did a great job with their cast of characters.
That being said, the form of the story was a little off and the plot was a little flat. The laughs are great and the romance swoon worthy but the writing was just fine and, to me, nothing spectacular. The retrospective form of the story was nice, because on the one hand you get to see how happy Bex and Nick are in the present and you know everything's going to turn out fine. On the other hand, you already know everything's going to turn out fine. Likewise, even though you know the story you are jumping in to, the plot was extremely predicable. It ran a little on the long side, despite the amount of time covered, because it just has a lot of content. While that content adds to the laughs and the eccentricity of the (wonderful) side characters, it got a little lengthy at times.
This is a fictional William and Kate story (though probably with a lot more drinking and sleeping around and jokes about syphilis then any actual documentary about William and Kate). It's the perfect book to chuckle at and swoon over while chilling on the beach (or in your house, if you experience winter). If you are looking for a cute, funny, romantic happily ever after, this is the book for you!
I received a copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
AND you can read the first seven chapters for free right now! I read the sampler before requesting this book on NetGalley because I was so amused by Bex's story. Check it out!
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