Millie Quint is devastated when she discovers that her sort-of-best friend/sort-of-girlfriend has been kissing someone else. And because Millie cannot stand the thought of confronting her ex every day, she decides to apply for scholarships to boarding schools . . . the farther from Houston the better.
Millie can’t believe her luck when she’s accepted into one of the world’s most exclusive schools, located in the rolling highlands of Scotland. Everything about Scotland is different: the country is misty and green; the school is gorgeous, and the students think Americans are cute.
The only problem: Mille’s roommate Flora is a total princess.
She’s also an actual princess. Of Scotland.
At first, the girls can barely stand each other–Flora is both high-class and high-key–but before Millie knows it, she has another sort-of-best-friend/sort-of-girlfriend. Even though Princess Flora could be a new chapter in her love life, Millie knows the chances of happily ever afters are slim . . . after all, real life isn’t a fairy tale . . . or is it?
Title : Her Royal Highness
Author : Rachel Hawkins
Series : Royals (book two)
Format : ARC
Page Count : 288
Genre : YA contemporary romance, LGBTQ+
Publisher : G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers
Release Date : May 7, 2019
Reviewer : Hollis
Rating : ★ ★ ★ ★
Hollis’ 4 star review
Listen, HER ROYAL HIGHNESS is not just a lovely sapphic royal contemporary but it’s also.. fun. I thought this of the first in the Royals series, too. Are they perfect books? No. Infact, I thought the mini breakup in this one to be.. not awesome, both a little sloppy and too out of nowhere, but that doesn’t negate all the warm fuzzies and overall entertainment, and did I mention fun, that it provided. And I needed some (a lot) of fun, so, #winning.
“Millie, you know this is just a school, right? This isn’t your Hogwarts letter.“
“And you’re not an owl but this is absolutely the closest thing I’m ever going to get to a Hogwarts letter, so hand it over.”
Also like the first in the Royals series I’m rounding up (it’s probably a 3.5/3.75 star) because of all said fun. This is a fairly short, and rather uncomplicated, sorta-hate-to-love, between two young women thrown together as roommates at a boarding school in Scotland, with a royalty element, and maybe some staying-warm-for-survival, and listen, I could go on; Hawkins doesn’t skimp on the tropes and clichés and I wanted, and loved, them all.
“Wait, you’re straight?”
“Yeah. Wait, you didn’t think I was? Saks, we’ve known each other since we were five. How could you not know that?”
“It’s hard to tell with you lot, to be honest.”
“My lot?”
“You know. Pale weedy aristocrats.”
We have some fabulous diversity, besides the gay princess element, and I loved the supporting cast of besties, as well as a mini reunion with some of the characters from book one in this series. Really, my only complaint was already mentioned : the break-up was dumb. But whatever it was resolved in like twenty pages, so, voila!
“They’re just people. End of the day, same as anyone else.”
“Do you actually believe that?”
“Oh god, no. Bloody terrifying, the whole lot of them, me included.”
If you want something a little silly, a lot fun, and different from your typical royal YA romance, pick this one up. It’s charming, it’s sweet, and you’ll probably laugh out loud. I know I did.
** I received an ARC from the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **
A Take from Two Cities 