Review: The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

Title: The Royal We
Authors: Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Rating: 5/5 Stars
Hardcover, 454 Pages
Published April 2015
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Summary: 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.

A couple of good blogger friends recommend this book to me, especially Rachel from A Perfection Called Books. I've always been in love with the real life William and Kate - their entire love story is so adorable and heartwarming and amazing. So, needless to say, I was more than on board with being able to read a book that mirrored their infamous love story - meeting in college, falling in love, etc. The Royal We takes you through the paralleled love story of Bex and Nick (aka Kate and William), and the only key difference between Kate's story and Bex's is that Bex is from America while Kate has always been British. So the book jumps around from their college years all the way to the night before the wedding of the century. And contrary to popular belief, it isn't all peaches and cream when you marry a prince.

Before I really share my deeply-detailed thoughts on a book, I just want to say that it is entirely possible that The Royal We isn't even my favorite book on 2015. It's my favorite book that I've ever read. There were parts where I was giggling and swooning, crying and having my heart shattered, and laughing so hard I could barely breathe (especially involving the banter between Nick and Bex at times). This book took me on such a real roller coaster of emotions that it has impacted me in such a huge way and I fell in love with this book like I haven't with any other books for a long time...so The Royal We will definitely be getting a place on the top shelf of my bookshelf, where only my absolute favorites of all time go. And of course, I'll be recommending it to EVERYBODY.

The one thing that I wasn't super crazy about with this book was how much time passed. One section would be from their college years, and the next would be from four or five years later. I know that the authors explain that not many significant things (if any) went on during this time period, but it just felt a little strange to me. We meet Bex and Nick when they're very young and then all of a sudden they're getting married and they're almost thirty years old. I feel like too much time passed in a book that wasn't even 500 pages, but I did understand why it was done.

There was one another thing, which is an absolutely huge spoiler so please skip to the next paragraph if you haven't read this book yet!! The very end of this book drove me absolutely crazy - I'm not mad about it...more like I'm feeling like How could Heather and Jessica end the book like this?! I need to know so much more! I'm surprised I was able to survive such a cliffhanger of an ending, especially since there's no sequel of this book in sight at the moment (*wishful thinking, though*). I was left with so many questions - did Clive leak the info? How did the monarchy react to it? Did they allow Bex and Nick to get married for real? How did the rest of their actual wedding go? How did the public react to everything? Basically - WHAT HAPPENED?!!?!?!?!?! I was in complete and utter shock and super frustrated and left with tons of questions that I desperately needed answers to, but I was still able to look back on the entire book and love it as a whole.

I loved the entire relationship between Nick and Bex the most. Their witty banter with one another from the start, the fact that Bex was able to see past Nick's status and view him as a good friend and companion first and foremost, and especially some of their more intimate scenes with one another. (*wink*) And the proposal scene - *heart eyes so big I practically float away*

A big part of this book that was important to me was the fact that the authors didn't turn this entire thing into an insta-love story. Nick and Bex met, became friends, and then even when they became an item they had a falling out. Several times. It demonstrated that their love wasn't perfect, but if you're truly meant to be with somebody you will find your way back to them somehow, time and time again. It was touching and also very reassuring to know that the end of a relationship doesn't always have to be the end.

All in all, The Royal We was an absolutely amazing tale about love, perseverance, and never giving up on the person that you care about most of all. I would recommend this book to everybody who is reading this review, whether or not you're into love stories or contemporary novels - this one will definitely strike a chord with you. As a matter of fact, I'm off to Goodreads right now to recommend this book to all of my followers, so time to get on that! I am absolutely in love with Heather Cocks' and Jessica Morgan's work and I'll definitely be the first person in line to pick up a sequel to this book if there ever is one!

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