This is not a rom com. The tone is more angsty new adult. I really wanted to read it for the Tower of London setting, but I just could not. The heroine is a mess, and there's nothing charming about her to make up for it. The book is just relentlessly sad and depressing. DNF at 14%

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

What a great book, lovely modern day royal romantic comedy. great heroine and loved following her ups and downs. couldn't put it down.

I really liked parts of this book! Imagine how fun it would be to live in the Tower of London. Maggie annoyed me with her messiness. I think the last third of the book was the best part. RomCom fans will definitely like this book
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

Falling Hard For The Royal Guard
by: Megan Clawson
Avon Books UK, Avon
General Fiction (Adult), Romance, Women's Fiction

In her new romantic fiction book, author Megan Clawson excels at vivid descriptions and history of the setting, The Tower of London. The main character, Maggie, works there, and she often has difficulty being on time. She has other flaws and insecurities, but she is someone I had to root for to be successful in her love life and grow as a young woman.

Clawson is a talented writer who writes with details in the setting and information about the locale and traditions. The romantic aspect of the book is slowly evolving as Maggie struggles with finding her way. My enjoyment of the book heightened in the second half, and I felt that the writing really flowed well at that point. This is a fresh, modern, contemporary book full of humor, rich atmosphere, and love.

Thank you to Net Galley and Avon Books UK, Avon for the advance reader's copy. My review is my own.

I love it! OMG, It was so cuuuute, so londonesque, so english that I'm totally into it! I will look at the Tower of London the same way. I adore Maggie, the way she looked at the history, her energy and being a little bit clamsy and I have to admit, I like the way she describe not only the city, but also guards...

The romantic love story is perfect. A little complicated, little twisted, but full of emotions, insecurity, dates and picnics in the heart of the historical center and love that has to fight to have a chance to bloom.

5/5 and looking forward to author's next book!

Cosy romance with good characters and a lot of interesting historical information about The Tower of London. Have to disagree with the Colin Firth/Matthew McFaddyan argument though. It’s an age thing I suspect? Very entertaining with an appealing heroine.

Reviews Posted: April 20, 2023
Goodreads
Storygraph

Overall I thought this was a really cute book, and I had a fun tie reading this. I liked the main character, and as a history nerd, I loved learning more about the Tower of London.

The romance was pretty standard in this book, nothing was super amazing or bad. I think that overall I would have loved to see more of them together. I just felt that there was so much else going on that I didn’t get to fully experience the goring feelings between the characters.

While I love learning all the little secrets about the Tower of London, I do feel, at times, it overtook the romance and plot of the story. I would have liked the history bits slipped in more subtly than they were.

I absolutely loved the main characters’ interactions with all the side characters, and I would read a story about literally any of the other guards.

Maggie was a likeable female lead throughout. She showed some determination and grit when it came to the challenges she faced in her life, but still maintained a charming level of vulnerability and softness. I particularly enjoyed exploring the relationship she had with her dad, even if it was just a small side plot.

Freddie was decent enough as a male lead, but I think author went a bit too far in making him seem distant, as I struggled to connect with him on any level until the last quarter of the book. Their relationship was cute to read, but the conclusion of the story felt rather rushed in comparison to the slow creep of the first half of the book.

My biggest niggle with this book was the attention paid to historical detail / factual accuracy that came from the setting of the Tower of London. While I appreciate that the author was telling her own story in this particular aspect of the book, and while it was enjoyable to read, I feel that its inclusion came at the cost of relationship and character building for the protagonists.

Pleasant enough read, but nothing that blew me away or kept me hooked.

Falling Hard for the Royal Guard definitely makes me want to learn more about the Royal Guard and Towers of London!

Twenty-six year old Maggie has always dreamed of falling in love happily in London. Alas, with her last relationship ending in disaster, she realizes this may not happen. Until she meets a royal brooding guard, Freddie. He's mysterious and cannot talk or handle distractions while on duty. How will she possibly fall hard for the royal guard?

I enjoyed reading Megan Clawson's debut novel. I felt like I learned a little bit more about the Towers of London and my interest has been piqued. However; I wish there was more of Freddie and Maggie's relationship featured in the story. This tale was more about Maggie's friendship with the guards and her failed dates through Tinder. Anyone who enjoys British humor and London settings may enjoy this novel. As a debut, I look forward to seeing what Megan Clawson writes next.

Thank you Avon UK and Netgalley for my earc in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Wow, who would have thought it, the Tower or London being used as the setting for a romcom. It is and it has made for very good read. Find out what happens within those walls. 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC

Unfortunately this title wasn’t for me but as with most titles, I’d definitely still recommend to others!

I found the pacing quite slow and personally wasn't very invested in the romance because of this. I could see the direction it was going and so didn't feel the need to finish. However, this is definitely just my preference and others will love it. I'll definitely still be recommending🥰

A great read, full of giggles and I read this one quickly as I couldn’t put it down. Highly recommended this one. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

I think I'm over the "I'm not like other girls" trope. And this is that trope but like really in your face.

I also struggled to connect/like ANY character and finish this book.

"I can't claim to be beautiful; I hardly have people falling over me to tell me that I am."
BUT SHE DOES and this just really irritates me.

Basically, I almost DNFed this book and I kind of wish I did.

2⭐️

I don’t know what the fuck is going on but this is my fifth 2⭐️ read this month, so take this review with a grain of salt and read it anyways if it’s been on your radar, because maybe it’s just my brain that’s broken 🫠


I enjoyed learning about all the facts around living in the Tower of London and the quirky ways they live their lives in the middle of one of Londons most visited tourist attractions, but that’s unfortunately where it ends for me.

Maggie just didn’t click for me as an FMC, which is odd, because the hot-mess-express is usually right up my alley. I feel like the actual romance between her and Freddie started so late and developed at such a glacial pace, that I simply wasn’t invested anymore by the time I made it to like 60% of the book.

Again, maybe my brain is glitching, because I never have that many “not for me” reads in one month, but at this time this book will not go down as a fave for me

3.5*
It was fascinating to read a story set in the Tower of London and every time another Tower was mentioned I was looking up images on the Internet. The reader gets to know a bit of the history of the Tower and those who have lived there but it is more a fictionalised insider look at the present day lives of the occupants. The story is based on a klutzy girl just out of a long term relationship with a dead beat boyfriend, in a boring job, who falls for a handsome Grenadier Guard who is not quite what he seems.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books UK for this ARC.

I really wanted to love this book. However, I found it slow in a lot of places and struggled to keep going. I pushed through, and I'm glad I did because the last 40% of the book was great. I detested Maggie's co-workers and her ex, but I LOVED the Grenadier guys, and I can say that if it weren't for them, I would have DNF. There are TWs, so please check those, and there is no steam to this book.

This book was so much fun! I loved learning about the Tower Guard nearly as much as I loved the romance. There is some misunderstanding trope in this book, and that isn't my favorite, but the premise in the story is unique enough that it kept me engaged and worked for these characters. Maggie is a bit of a mess, which I can definitely relate to and I loved seeing her growth. And Freddie is a mess in his own way, although that doesn't become apparent until much further into the story. Altogether, this is a strong debut that I thoroughly enjoyed. I'll definitely be looking for more from Clawson.

Falling Hard For the Royal Gaurd

by Megan Clawson
Pub Date 27 Apr 2023
Publisher :Avon Books
Genre: General Fiction, Romance, Women's Fiction

This is a fun quirky read. Thank to NetGalley and Avon book for the arc. This is a quineness British and I loved the setting of the tower of London. The interaction between Maggie and Freddie are adorable.

Bran is an iratting pick and Maggie ex who clearly can't take no for an answer.

I adore the setting and the banter between the two main character adds alot to this book. Thought when Maggie does them dates I miss Freddie and felt sidetracked about where he is.

The end felt a bit confusing and rushed I feel it could of been ekked our a bit more for a clearly ending. Some seems a bit out of touch for this day and age. Never less I'd recommend this book.


4/5
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Having followed Megan on tiktok and hearing about this book, I was really looking forward to reading this as it seemed like a fun read with a lot of detail about the tower and this book certainly didn't disappoint it what was an enjoyable read based in the Tower Of London.

From the beginning of the book how this author frames what is her home is really brilliantly done, the imagery and scene setting is incredibly done with a richness that really allows for this story to come to life where it is set and it makes me want to go and visit as soon as possible? Like I really want to go to the Tower of London now.

The plot is fun, cute and has all that you want from a romance, but the history woven into this story is just, it hit right for me and I really had a great time reading it and hearing about what it is like to live a private life in a very public space.

Thanks to Avon and Netgalley for the ARC, I can't wait to read more from Megan, this is such a cute debut.

I really liked this book and read the majority of it in one day

The setting was really different to a lot of other romance books I’ve read - the fmc literally lives inside Windsor castle and I thought this was really interesting - the author of this book actually lives in Windsor castle

I really liked how the relationship between Freddie and Maggie developed over the course of the book and their banter was cute. And I thought it was really sweet how even when he was in the middle of nowhere and with barely any signal Freddie made a point to always message Maggie

I do think so of the plots seemed to just fizzle out, like there was this plot of her going on 5 dates with 5 different guys to try and find the one, but there was not really a conclusion on that plot line - it just ended without it being mentioned again. And the introduction of the ball/charity event scene just seemed kind of pointless/random, I get it was so that we would find out about Freddie’s engagement to other woman, but I think it could have been revealed in a different way

Also Maggie would also quite often talk down about herself and she worked on the grounds in the ticket booth but was basically always late to work, even though she literally lives where she works. And the fact that all the other staff gossip about her seemed kind of odd and a bit random