The Heir Affair by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

The Heir Affair by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

Release Date - July 7, 2020

Publisher Website - Hachette 
Publisher Social Media - Twitter

Pages - 464 pages
My Rating - 4/5
**received for an honest review from the publisher**

**spoilers for The Royal We**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

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.

I adored The Royal We immensely when it cam out. I was entirely charmed by pretty much everything about it. I was especially charmed by Freddie, the second born heir to the throne. I was delighted when a sequel was announced and while it may not be the Freddie focused read I wanted it was a delight nevertheless. 

The novel picks up pretty much right after the events of the first book. Only a short amount of time has passed and that allows us to deal with the ramifications of some of those events. It also means that you absolutely have to read the first book before picking this one up. It is a direct sequel and not a companion novel.

Similar to the first book it is not as light as you imagine it being. There are a lot of heavy topics dealt with in these pages. The events that happen to these characters are allowed to be felt. They resonate with the characters in palpable, realistic ways. It is part of why I love this series so much. It makes the characters feel real. It pays attention to the public and private personas these characters would have and both aspects of these characters are nuanced.

Freddie may not be the sole focus but he has a very significant role. The fallout from his confession to Bex and his offer to run away with her features heavily in this book's plot. Freddie's feelings for Bex and how that makes everyone else feel (including Bex) is messy and complicated. It isn't easily wrapped up. It is not neat or pretty. It is given the heft it deserves and it impacts so may relationships in different ways. My only issue with the previous book was that this confession was barely dealt with  in a significant way and this rectified that. 

These characters are not always going to make the 'right' decisions. The authors constructed them to be imperfect and that includes making mistakes. I predict many may not 'like' Bex and will feel frustrated with her at times (among other characters). They are characters that you understand however. They are all under intense scrutiny in high pressure situations. The fact that they are disasters every so often makes them more authentic and realistic.

There are some lighter, more fun moments in among the drama and heartbreak. These moments ring like joyful bells and will have you craving more of them. They are timed perfectly and allowed the reader to connect with the characters even more.

Family secrets are revealed and the way everything is wound together is very clever. There are story parallels that will eventually be obvious but I enjoyed how it all came together. It's juicy and scandalous enough to be worthy of a fictitious royal family.

If you loved the first book I highly recommend picking up the second. It gives you more of everything you loved in the first book be that drama, royal family secrets, Bex and Nick cuteness, or (thankfully) more Freddie.

Waiting on Wednesday ... The Heir Affair

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Jill at Breaking The Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

This week's pick is The Heir Affair by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

** Potential Spoilers For The Royal We **

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

Making it up the aisle was the easy part: After marrying the heir to the throne, Rebecca “Bex” Porter must survive her own scandals as she adjusts to life in the glamorous British royal family, in this “highly anticipated” follow-up to The Royal We, the “fun and dishy” bestseller and NYT Summer Reading List pick inspired by Will and Kate’s romance (People).

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.

The Royal We was one of my favourite books the year it came out and I still recommend it to people whenever they ask me about books they should read. I was incredibly excited to find out that a sequel was going to released in 2020 and that it seems to be continuing right after the events of the first novel.

I loved the character of Freddie and am thrilled he will be back, but I am also very nervous about this secret that is being mentioned. Readers of the first book will know what it might be and if I am right I expect this book will be filled with plenty of angst.

It is going to make a great summer read and I anticipate it'll be spotted on beaches and airplanes everywhere as people bring it along on their summer vacations.

Expected release date - June 16, 2020

The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
Release Date - April 7, 2015
Publisher Website - Little Brown/Grand Central Publishing
Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages - 464 pages
My Rating - 4.5/5
**received for an honest review from publisher**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

"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 entire world was captivated when Prince William married Kate Middleton and cemented their fairytale romance, which began what would be the happily ever after. I never knew how much I wanted a fictional account of what that kind of relationship would look like until I read The Royal We. A look at a fairy tale romance that isn't quite what it appears behind closed doors, and a romance that is built on friendship beyond anything else. An overt nod to the real life romance of Prince William and Kate, it'll leave you smiling, happy and eager to read it all over again upon finishing.

I had never heard of Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (aka the girls behind the website Go Fug Yourself) before this book started to appear everywhere I turned. I was delighted to find a witty, engrossing novel filled with heart, and humour. Their writing is filled with banter and made the pages fly by for what is a surprising long book.

There is an depth and nuance to the novel that I hadn't expected. I was expecting something frothy and light. While it is filled with romance and swoon inducing scenes, along with a lot of laughs, this is a novel with something to say about the hard work of relationships in general, and the compromises we make for those we love. It is set on a grander scale, but the issues at it's core are not so unrecognizable. It makes the connection to the characters even easier to form, and allows you to fall completely in love with all of them, even the captivating secondary ones.

The realities and hardships of dating the man who will become King one day are examined in this novel. Being the fiancée to such a man is referred to as a job at one point in the novel, and that feels absolutely true. Bex struggles with moving into this world, and how completely it could take over her life if she allows it to. The fine balance between becoming part of Nick's world, but not abandoning hers is the crux of the novel, and is portrayed as complicated and imperfect as would be expected.

Nick and Bex are effortless together when they are outside of the demands and struggles that come with his title. There is an ease in which they click, and the moments in which they get to be just Nick and Bex instead of HRH and Rebecca are where the story shines. I spent a majority of the novel swooning over the little details of their romance, especially the ones that made it feel like its own real life fairy tale. Things such as him finding a USA/Britain flag pin that she strategically hides under her clothes as part of a sexy game they play, or their bonding over a shared pattern of staying up way too late watching bad TV shows, only add to the romance and make it that much more tangible. You feel as though you're getting to see them fall in love, and that allows you to invest fully into the story and the characters.

Freddie, the flirty playboy Prince with a heart of gold, who just happens to be moulded after Prince Harry, steals the entire novel. He's a charming rogue who is the life of the party. He will entirely win your heart, and leave you begging for a companion novel featuring him as the lead. All of the secondary characters are well crafted, but Freddie has that extra something that makes him memorable. The character connections and how they interact with each other was the most fascinating element to the story. The glimpses of family bonds, friendships, and romances made it feel like a group of friends that you were a part of by the end of the novel. Ones that were hard to say goodbye to when the final page was turned.

Those with Royal Wedding fever (or more recently Royal Baby fever) will devour this novel in one sitting and immediately beg for more. It's funny, romantic, and charming with just the right amount drama to keep you utterly spellbound. It's one that that is sure to be a popular selection on the beach this summer season and with very good reasons. It's hard not to fall in love with this Prince and his bride to be.

New To My Book Closet

It's that time of the week again. Time to show you what bookish goodies made their way into my home and book closet (to be saved from the evil book eating cat monster named Aria). This is inspired by the various "mailbox" posts out there (eg. In My Mailbox by The Story Siren, and Stacking the Shelves by Tynga's Reviews).

I received one physical ARC for review this week and some ebooks! Excited to check them all out.

The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (goodreads)

This is one that's gotten a lot of buzz as it's inspired by the big Royal Wedding that happened not too long ago. Excited to read it as I've heard it's amazing. Thank you to Hachette Canada for sending it along.

I also have two ebooks. One is an  ARC for review, and the other is an e-novella that I purchased.

Leaving Amarillo by Caisey Quinn (goodreads)
The Wizard Returns by Danielle Paige (goodreads)

Huge thank you to Harper Collins for the chance to review Leaving Amarillo. I've been told it's similar to the TV show Nashville! Excited to check it out.

What books made their way into your mailbox this week?

Happy Weekend and Happy Reading!