Sorry for gushing. I’m having a hard time containing my enthusiasm for this novel! It’s early in the summer, and I haven’t been anywhere close to the shore. But I’ve been on a quest to find the ultimate new beach read to share with my sister and Bacon readers.
I’m here to tell you I’ve found it. The Royal We, by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan, is a sunny, funny, witty, suspenseful, romantic, steamy and deeply satisfying page-turner. You don’t even need that pina colada if you’ve got this book in hand. It’s a sweet escape of the highest order.
You know where you’re headed the moment the book begins: a royal wedding! But you also know there may be a crisis or three along the way. American Rebecca Porter has won the heart of Prince Nicholas of Wales, grandson of the ruling matriarch, Queen Eleanor. “Bex,” as Rebecca is known to her friends, met Nick while they shared a dorm at Oxford, each of them romantically involved with others. Their friendship grew, despite the royal establishment’s very different plans for Prince Nicholas. Bex is – gasp – an American, whose father earned his own fortune (the horror!). Nick is a prince of a guy, but also sad; his parents were ill-suited for each other, and Nick carries deep wounds. In The Royal We, his mother “Emma” has gone into seclusion on a remote estate, entirely withdrawn from the public eye. Meanwhile, Bex’s sexy sister Lacey has come to England and is stirring things up with Nick’s playboy younger brother, which makes things even more complicated for Nick and Bex…
Any of this starting to sound familiar? Deliciously so. The book sometimes feels a little cheeky – assuming to tell Will and Kate’s story, with modifications – but it’s never snarky. If anything, it feels like a bit of insider-y fun. In short – “the kind of book that Pippa would sneak into Kensington Palace” (Entertainment Weekly.) Brilliant!
Co-authors Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan have written two Young Adult novels and run a high profile celebrity fashion website – gofugyourself. Talk about summer fun! I’ve signed up and have already enjoyed some charming photos of Prince Harry in his polo whites.
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I also found a beach read for those who prefer something a little more – shall we say – heated. This novel contains material well north of Fifty Shades, yet it’s (shockingly?) available in your local family bookstore, maybe even on the table at the front of the store. Anne Rice, writing as A.N. Roquelaure, is concluding her sexed-up Sleeping Beauty series, which began with a trilogy of novels published in the 1980s. In this summer’s installment, Beauty and her husband Prince Laurent return from self-imposed exile to govern the kingdom they left behind. They’re changing up the rules a bit, but let’s just say there’s still plenty of BDSM action and lots of variety. As the reviewer at one blog put it: “if erotica is what you’re after, and you don’t mind a lot of kink, this is guaranteed to put a bounce in your britches.” Anne Rice (or A.N. Roquelaure, if you prefer): Just wow! You’re not letting the young authors have all the fun.
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Other lighthearted summer reading recommendations:
From Flavorwire, “17 Unrepentantly Trashy Beach Reads for 2015.”
From Buzzfeed, “What New Book Should You Read This Summer.”
From USA Today, “25 Hot Books for Summer.”
The New York Times Book Review devoted its issue this past Sunday to summer reading. If you’re feeling serious.
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Please share any other summer reading ideas in the comments! I’d be delighted to hear them and know other Bacon readers would be as well!
This self-proclaimed Royal “wanna-be” and frustrated Anglophile is in queue for the Royal We! Thank you for sharing!
Ashley, you were the first person I thought of when I picked up this book – and I thought of you often while reading it!! You will LOVE it!! xo
Thank you, Jennifer for the two enthusiastic and entertaining book reviews. This summer I am reading FIFTY SHADES OF L. PATRICK GRAY, a name people my age are likely to remember from the Watergate summers of 1973 and 74. Yup, this is another summer of the guy who invented the term, California cool, Richard Nixon. I am reviewing two excellent works about RN, one by Pulitzer Prize-winner, Tim Weiner and the other by much praised biographer, Evan Thomas. Both are based on records and documents declassified since 2007. Neither one puts RN in a redeemed light; actually he seems worse than we remember. I have another RN book on the way and I just reviewed a chilling one about Nixon’s lapdog, Henry Kissinger. If you remember Nixon fondly, you’re just going to love Kissinger 2015. He is 92 now. Well, that is my summer reading. A previous bout of skin cancer keeps me away from the beaches, but between Nixon and Kissinger, how many sons of beaches do we need?
A parting comment. I’m somewhat perplexed about Anne Rice writing as someone else. Who is going to fall for that with her real name plastered in large print on the cover of a book assuring us she is writing as someone else?
Have a great summer and give a smooch to Pepper for me.
Karl, thank you for keeping me laughing!! RN might have done a little better with a sense of humor. It’s great to hear about your summer reading!! All good wishes to you. My thoughts on Anne Rice, admittedly uninformed: she could write as someone else back in the early 80s, not so much now. She’s claiming her pen name and her real name as a matter of marketing and simple expedience I would suspect. xo!
Dearest sister of mine! I received The Royal We (from you) via Amazon yesterday and I cannot WAIT to get started on it! I intend to draw a full bath, pour a glass of champagne, and savor a good dose of it tonight. (Well, in my dreams at least!) Thank you as always for being “my book whisperer”…
C, you’ve got exactly the right idea about this book!! Much love to you, and I hope your dreams for tonight come true. Xo
Love this book! And their website is my guilty pleasure.
I love that you’ve already discovered the book and website, Linda!! So look forward to your guest post later this summer!! Xo