Where do I begin? First off, I wouldn’t consider this a romance book as it was described. The first couple chapters, yes. There were elements of romance, fun loving, sweet banter between Hugh and Jennie which I enjoyed but then it abruptly stops.

Unfortunately, the story is riddled with aspects of the current royal family as well as the late Princess Diana. Calling Princess Penelope the “English Rose” , having Hugh and Jennie spend time in Botswana, the fire, the ongoing harassment and hate, the death of Princess Penelope, the affairs of King Edmund who eventually remarried his true love? With the amount of documentaries and movies on Harry and Meghan and the Royal family I only wish the Author would have been more creative instead of pulling from their story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for providing me with an E-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I had extremely high hopes for this book and unfortunately in a lot of aspects I was let down. The story progresses so slowly that I almost DNF’d it less than half way in because it felt like we weren’t getting anywhere. The author drew lots of inspiration from the current royal family which could have been interesting but instead it read more like some kind of fanfic. What saved the book for me was the mystery and wanting to know who was behind everything.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for providing me with an E-ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Was a cute, fun read. As a lover of all things royal-this book was just the right mix of a storyline based on the royal family we know and love and some fictional characters and plots.

Positives:
The book had not only a romance storyline, but also included and focused mainly on a mystery.
Told from two different povs, Jennie Jansen-the newest heir apparent and Princess Penelope (Princess Diana)
Light-hearted mix of a mystery and romance
Quick read

Negatives:
Pacing, the end was rushed and if you were hoping to spend a lot of time on their wedding, you will not get that
Not much development of Prince High and Jennie's relationship-focus was more on the threat toward Jennie

Would recommened to those who love the royals like me.

Jennie Jensen becomes engaged to Prince Hugh, crown prince of Great Britain. As royal life swirls around her, threats face her life. Jennie feels like her fate is tied to the fate of her mother-in-law, the deceased Princess Penelope. The closer Jennie gets to the truth about Penelope's death, the more danger she is in.

I didn't care too much for this book. It was reasonably well written, but the similarities and differences to the royal family were just jarring. If you like royal family fanfic, this is the book for you. It wasn't the book for me.

I've said it once and I'll say it again, give me a book with any kind of a royal premise, and I am all over it. This book was definitely interesting and I couldn't help but draw parallels between it and the death of Princess Diana. It has been a conspiracy theory that Princess Diana was worried about dying in a car crash that the palace made look like an accident. It also makes you wonder what would have happened or how history would be different if Princess Diana would have survived that car crash/never died. I love a book that keeps me entertained and a story that is fast paced, and this one delivered on all fronts. Thank you to the publisher for giving me the chance to read a digital ARC of this book!

Soapy, gossipy, and very loosely based on the British Royal family, The Royal Game is even more outlandishly entertaining than the Crown.

Royal watchers will find plenty of fictionalizations of real royals with an overlay of drama as the latest new bride marrying in thinks someone is out to kill her. Just like they did her mother in law! You can't take any of it seriously but it is very amusing!

I flew through this book! I'm a sucker for any royal romance so I had to pick up this read. I liked how the book had a mystery about it and it wasn't strictly romance so it kept me wanting more as I read. However, I thought that this was a little too close to the Megan Markle and Prince Harry story and felt like I had already knew the story.

This book is a solid book choice if you are looking for a story about the royal family, set in London with the beautiful palaces, story infused with a little mystery / secret notes and royal sabotage. I liked the pop sensation meets the royal prince love story and fairy tale romance aspect. It's an enjoyable and light.

Jennie, an up-and-coming American popstar, is the luckiest girl on the planet. She is engaged to Prince Hugh and is about to become a member of the royal family. While staying at the palace, Jennie starts receiving mysterious messages from an unknown sender. The message is clear... they do not want the wedding to happen.

Add that with attacks from the press, it would be hard not to get cold feet, especially considering what happened to Hugh's mom, Princess Penelope, who died in a plane crash that many speculate was arranged. Jennie works to uncover what really happened and who may be behind it all to avoid ending up with the same fate.

The Royal Game is filled with mystery and romance, and as a sucker for books featuring royalty, I knew I had to pick this one up! Overall, the story was cute and a quick read! I liked that the authors inserted excerpts from Princess Penelope's diary throughout the chapters, allowing readers to recognize some of the struggles associated with marrying into this family. I wish the authors had included more of Jennie and Prince Hugh's relationship leading up to their engagement. I felt like I was missing parts of their story. I was also disappointed by how quickly the authors covered the royal wedding at the end of the book and was not a fan of Prince Hugh and Jennie creating their own traditions. With as many parallels as there were to actual events, the ending felt off. I gave this book three stars on GoodReads and would still recommend it to fans of royalty-inspired fiction.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

4.5 stars rounded up
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I was expecting a bubble gum royal romance. But instead got a royal suspenseful mystery. We have a story of an Jennie Jensen an American pop princess falling in love with the Hugh, prince of England. We follow their engagement and follow Jennie getting acclimated to the royal family. Jennie discovers notes written by his mother Princess Penelope who tragically died in a plane crash. Jennie starts asking questions. I really enjoyed this book. The writing kept me intrigued and wanting to know who the snakes were.

3.5 rounded up

This was an entertaining Royal romantic suspense story steeped in the Prince Harry/Meghan Markle experience. Prince Hugh falls for an American singer and while they eventually fall in love, the media and a mysterious force threaten to derail their plans. I really enjoyed that the story was interspersed with letters from Hugh's mother. It lent to the double timeline mystery and kept the reader on their toes. Perfect for fans of authors like Tracey Livesay and anyone who enjoys British Royals drama. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

Steam level: kissing only/closed door

Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the ARC of this novel. I liked this book and it was a very thinly veiled story with characters that are exact matches for Princess Diana, King Charles, Queen Camilla, and Prince William if he was marrying Meghan Markle. This would also be if the death of Princess Diana was more of a mystery rather than paparazzi chasing her. Jennie felt down to earth as a character with the paranoia I would expect from being threatened and I enjoyed how Hugh tried his very best to love and support her. I devoured this book on a flight and cab ride and it kept me really engaged. Romance and mystery can be quite fun together especially if you are intrigued with seeing inside the Firm. 4.5 stars.

American pop singer Jennie Jensen is ready to marry the love of her life, England’s Prince Hugh, but someone is determined to keep her from becoming a princess—in anyway they can. To give her fairy tale a happy ending, she’ll have to play the royal game.

I had high hopes for this book and it was just ok. This was VERY clearly meant to be like Megan Markle/Princess Diana fan fiction. If you like that royal conspiracy theory stuff, you will enjoy this book. First off there is no actual game. I don't know why the title and description makes it sound like she's gonna have to win something and that is not the case. This story was slow. I almost DNF'd this book because 40% of the way in I felt like we weren't getting anywhere. The last maybe 20% is where most of the action took place and I found it more interesting. However, once we found out who was responsible for all of this Jennie and Hugh were just like ok we did it now let's forgive everyone else and absolve them of their part in this hellscape and I found that weird.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review. This book releases 1/30

This book is part royal romance, part mystery, and part historical fiction. It took awhile for me to really get into the storyline, but 2/3s through I was invested! I loved the ending!

My first book I have read by this author & it won’t be my last. I ate this book uo so quickly! It was thrilling, lovely, and amazing all in one!

Royal enthusiasts this is a book for you. There are many parallels to the British Royal family (an American popstar marries into the royal family) and their history (the death of the Princess of Wales). Although, there is clear influence there is creativity licence throughout.

I wasn’t sure how much I was going to enjoy this book; it is more about Jennie’s transition into the Royal family than Jennie and Hugh’s love story- there is their initial meeting and then it does flash ahead to preparing Jennie for life as a Royal and the famous royal wedding. There is suspense and mystery surrounding who is threatening Jennie to keep readers engaged. I also really enjoyed the flashbacks to Princess Penelope’s life, her diary entry and the mystery surrounding her fatal plane crash. Although, it wasn’t what Initially expected I did really enjoy the story.

Thank you Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Royal Game was such a fun read! It was very obviously inspired by recent royals in the English Monarchy, which only made it more fun. Jennie Jensen is an American pop star, who meets Prince Hugh while on tour and they quickly fall in love. This book follows their preparations for their wedding as it becomes clear that someone does not want Jennie to be joining the royal family. She finds threats in their private apartments and feels as though it has something to do with the death of Princess Penelope, Hugh's mother, who died in a plane crash. The romance was very cute and the mystery was engaging. Would recommend to anyone who is interested in the English royals or enjoys cozy mysteries.

#NetGalleyARC This was a decent read. There were definitely a lot of parallels to Diana/Harry/Megan, maybe a little too much if you ask me. Overall I enjoyed the book, especially because it was realistic but it’s not my fave royal read.

The Royal Game follows Jennie Jensen, a famous American pop-singer who is engaged to Price Hugh of England. Jennie moves to England to be with Hugh and is quickly put to the test as to whether or not she's cut out to be a princess. Also, someone is not happy that Jennie will someday be a princess and sets out to sabotage her. The story also draws parallels to Hugh's mother, Princess Penelope who died when Hugh was younger and the scrutiny and stress that she was under.

The author drew lots of inspiration from the current royal family. Several times I kept thinking oh, that's Harry/Megan or William/Kate which was a little odd.

Overall it was an easy weekend read if you like to read fiction inspired by modern royals.

Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the early copy to review!

Thank you to @NetGalley and @Celadonbooks for letting me read this ebook in advance in exchange for my honest review.

Wow what can I say!! This book was suspensful and had me hooked. If you are a fan of the current British Royals this book is for you! The charcters felt similar to what you would expect of Royal Family and conspiracies surrounding them.

I loved the different POVs from Princess Penelope and Jennie. The twists and turns ultimatley figuring out who did what and determining their motives. However, Jennie also recognized a few questions she had left unanswered and left me disappointed

I loved Hugh and Jennie and their relationship. Through all the hardships and struggles, they stood by each other and supported each other. It made my heart so happy to see. The teamwork and support from her family throughout the book without wavering in the face of media and public backlash was heart warming.

Overall, a great book! Didnt like the unanswered questions but kept me wanting more. Would recommend to people who enjoy suspense and the royal family!