The Royal We by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan

Publisher: Grand Central
Published: April 2015
Genre: fiction
ISBN: 9781455557103
Goodreads: 3.91
Rating: ★★★★★

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.

Rebecca would’ve thought twice about making a syphilis joke in front of Prince Nicholas if she had known Prince Nicholas was the one opening the door to her Pembroke home at Oxford University. But she didn’t meet Nicholas — she met Nick. Nick, an insomniac who pigs out on Twinkies; who runs before dawn just to find a quiet, outdoorsy place to work on crossword puzzles; the young man obsessed with Devour, a strange American TV show that blends humans, witches, vampires, and leopards in a small town. One night on the town, Nick solidifies his place in Bex’s heart, and the two can’t look back. But loving Nick also means loving Prince Nicholas and all that entails: media, family secrets, tight social circles, and keeping up appearances. On the night before their wedding, Bex wonders if giving up who she was almost a decade ago is really all worth it.

England is the motherland, and I am their loyal [American] subject! So when The Royal We came out (perfect timing for HRH Princess Charlotte’s birth), it was an automatic buy and immediate read. This is a fictionalized — although recognizable in many respects — Will-and-Kate story. All the best characters are there, from the gorgeous sister Lacey constantly making the papers to the younger, more charming brother Prince Freddie. Prince Richard, Nick and Freddie’s father, is a distinguished figure though not loved by many, and Queen Eleanor is quite regal and humorous to boot. But what really makes The Royal We stand out are the secondary characters. I haven’t seen secondary characters this fleshed out in adult fiction in quite some time. I fell in love with Cilla and Gaz, with Bea’s posh-ness and Marj’s strict code, and even with Clive to some extent. Nick and Bex rely on their close Oxford circle, and the way they bring Bex into the fold from the very beginning is endearing and wonderful and made me miss college.

Bex’s family is remarkable. While I was invested in the Nick-and-Bex story, I found her interactions with her family deeply compelling. She’s away from them for most of the novel, but they influence her decisions every day. Bex is close with her father, and he has a way of bringing her mind down from the clouds. Lacey, her twin sister, is competitive in every aspect of their lives without it feeling like a competition, and yet her selfish personality made her downfall somewhat inevitable. Despite all of this, she and Bex are incredibly close, and they go through their ups and downs as any adult sisters would.

The same could be said with Nick and Freddie. The Heir and the Spare. Freddie is fun and playful, trying to make it into the papers the further Nick’s immersed in the family politics and responsibilities — something to distract the public from what’s going on underneath. He was obnoxious and fun, and soon he cracked and gave a glimpse of his character on the inside. I couldn’t help but feel deeply for him! The whole family, really. From the Queen Mum cracking jokes and whacking people with her cane, to drunken aunts and snobby cousins, to the cold father and mysterious mother. This family is full of secrets, and it was thrilling to discover each one as Bex moved deeper into the circle.

Nick and Bex grew as characters as time moved on. Like life, I didn’t notice how much they had grown up independently and together till I re-read the first couple chapters again. It was amazing how Cocks and Morgan could immerse the reader into this story and show the progression of Nick and Bex’s relationship from college students to adults, secret to public, private to daily media, and broke to royal. Though the story may seem familiar, The Royal We can definitely stand on its own. It’s a dream come true smashing headline into the reality of modern celebrity, and it was a phenomenal ride!