This book is so good! Duchess is a rap star getting bad PR because of a doctored video posted by a competing singer. Jameson is a prince who has tried to avoid the spotlight as a professor of philosophy. When the Queen pushes him to participate in a concert in honor of his grandfather, he recommends Duchess as one of the acts based on her stage name alone.

This book really delves into the media and paparazzi and loss of privacy for anyone with celebrity. It does so in a way that felt nuanced and served as the basis for an emotional connection between the two. Their interactions were steamy with great chemistry, and they ultimately had a romance that felt like it was based on their similar views.

But my favorite parts are all about Duchess. She is such a smart business woman (even if she does not see herself that way enough). And she leads a line of skin care for women of color that sounds so essential and necessary.

My only wish is that the ending were more complete. It felt rushed, and the epilogue didn't address that for me.

Thank you to Avon and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.

I loved the premise of this, but the pacing made the relationship between the main couple hard to get into. I get what Livesay was trying to do--give us the full Harry and Megan romance in novel format--but when the central couple doesn't even meet until 20% of the way through, and then there's an attempt at a reluctant slow-burn, and then a whirlwind affair, and then the narrative of how to deal with the public in announcing a long-term relationship....it's too much for one novel. I felt like we had a great sense of Dani as a character, but I didn't care about her relationship with Jameson AT ALL--and I wish I'd just either read a slower burn (a rare take from me) or the meet cute portion had happened quickly enough to dwell on the public aspect, because both was just too much for the novel to support and adequately explore.

A great royal romance with fantastic characters but wasn’t the complete package.

It had been too long since I read a Tracy Livesay romance and I was SO excited for this one, it made my list of the most anticipated romance books of 2022.

I’d say that overall I enjoyed it but a few things unfortunately kept me from rating it higher.

A Great Storyline

I love how Livesay used Prince Henry and Meghan Markle as her muses for this royal romance.

We are first introduced to Jameson who is a reluctant member of the royal family.

Jameson is content living as a professor, out of the limelight of his royal family which has been marred by scandals.

When the Queen decides to host a celebration of her late husband’s life, she gives Jameson no choice but to be the royal liaison to the event.

A concert is one piece of the celebration and without knowing anything about musical acts, suggests that Duchess, on a suggestion from a student, perform.

Unbeknownst to him she is a rapper who is then invited to stay in his house for the two weeks of the royal celebration.

Strong Characters

Livesay did a great job with her character development in this romance.
By the time Duchess and Jameson met, I had a really good understanding of who each of these characters were, what they struggled with and what their dreams were as well.

I totally fell for Jameson and his quiet ways but Duchess was a force that stole the show for me. I loved her climb to fame, her entrepreneurial spirit and her desire to live her life on her own terms.

While a bit of an opposites attract story, I loved them even more together. Their first meeting did NOT go well which set up a bit of an enemies to lovers vibe, but that didn’t last long.

I’ll admit however that I really cringed at the moment that they became more. It just seemed so out of character for Jameson and a bit abrupt from how they had been acting toward one another.

Had there been a different way to get them together, I think I would have enjoyed this more but that moment of disconnect just left me a bit off-kilter for the rest of the book.

From then on, Jameson was also quite the different man that I had initially pegged him to be and which he projects to the public. Behind closed doors with Dani, this man was quite the dirty talker! 😊

While it was quite the disconnect from who I thought he was, I totally jumped on board with it because these two were hot and steamy together.

Stories Left Unfinished

While I loved Dani and Jameson’s whirlwind romance (which only covers 2 weeks), I was disappointed by the ending because there were so many side stories that were left unfinished.

What happened to Dani’s skincare business?
Did the truth about Samantha finally come out and vindicate Dani?
Is Jameson going to be able to continue teaching?
How are they really going to make their relationship work?

If some of these side stories (which were pretty big plot points in my opinion to propel Dani’s storyline) had more of a conclusion to them I think I would have rated this higher, but instead I was just sort of left to wonder and it left me feeling unfulfilled once I hit the end.

While I totally recommend this as a steamy read for the amazing romance between Dani and Jameson, I wish it all came together more solidly.

If you love royal romances, romances with musicians and a steamy forced proximity story, give it a read!

*Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

I’m DNFing this one at 50%. In theory, this is right up my alley. I love royal romances! I was excited that it was an interracial couple, intrigued by the similarities to Harry & Meghan. But in practice, I was bored stiff. Major yawn. I could not get into this. I wanted to like the characters but never did, just didn’t enjoy the story, and thought the technical aspect of the writing could stand some improvement. It felt a little rudimentary and didn’t do anything to elevate the material. There were no romantic parts in the first half of the book and the sexy parts were… weird. I never got to a point where I wanted to root for these people to get together. Once they started having a sexual relationship, I still couldn’t understand why they were interested in one another.

Circling back to the royal comparisons, if The Royal We gave us Will & Kate fanfic, this one is definitely trying to give us Harry & Meghan. In fact, the blurb on the back makes direct a comparison to Harry and Meghan’s royal romance. I just have to say that right from the very first page, there is little similarity between the book’s FMC ‘Duchess’ and Meghan Markle. The book is about a royal prince who marries a black American woman, and that’s pretty much the only similarity as far as I could tell.

Dani “Duchess” Nelson is a rapper & hip hop star who is more akin to Cardi B. Her lyrics are raunchy, her videos are lewd. But she’s tired of the powerlessness and objectification she’s subjected to within the music industry. She’s ready to leave it all behind to put her full attention into her successful skin care business.

Prince Jameson, Duke of Wessex, is the analogue for Prince Harry, and we know this because 1) he doesn’t want to be part of the Royal Family, and 2) one of his parents was tragically killed in an accident when he was a teen.

Both Dani and Jameson are looking for independence and autonomy, which I thought was a great way to introduce them that held a lot of potential. What they find is a physical attraction to one another despite not exactly getting off on the right foot. This part of the book just took forever to come together and kind of lost me.

I did appreciate that the story tackles topics like racism, misogyny/misogynoir, objectification, and hyper sexualization. I liked that the relationship was interracial - and that Jameson acknowledged and made an effort to learn about the cultural differences between him and Dani.

So aside from using Harry & Meghan to sell this book, it had a lot of potential but just didn’t live up to it in my opinion.

I thought this book had a really strong start but then the insta love was just too fast. I think the reader had to rely on the sex scenes to create the chemistry and with it being a forbidden romance, some slow burn love could have been used here. I did LIKE the steam, the social commentary and the opposites attract characters.

Dani is an American rapper who is in the midst of a publicity nightmare when she is invited to perform at a British royal event. She arrives early and is given a place to stay with Prince Jameson. Cue insta-lust.

I tried very hard to enjoy this but the characters take way too long to meet, and though there is plenty of potential with the two of them sharing a home together before the performance... insta-lust just ruins everything for me. Jameson seems like he will be an interesting love interest from the start because he is studious and avoids his royal duties, but all I learned about him through the bulk of this story is that he thinks Dani is soooo hot. *shrugs* Dani is better developed with more depth, but this wasn't enough to save the story for me.
The sex scenes were incredibly abrupt. There was not enough build up or time spent showing their emotional connection, and by the time the book is over I am still unconvinced that this pair is a good idea. The conflicts are predictable and the resolution was way too simple.

I usually find contemporary romances about royals pretty irresistible, but this one was just missing the emotional connection for me. I was also mildly scandalized by the rap lyrics at the start of the chapters. I am all about steamy scenes, but raunchy lyrics bring out the ol' grandma in me!

Kind of inspired by Meghan and Harry. I loved this modern day love story. And the cover is hot af 🥵🔥Thank you NetGalley for this Arc !

Loosely inspired by Meghan and Harry, American Royalty is about an American rapper Duchess (Dani) and Prince Jameson. Duchess needs to rehab her public image so when the opportunity to play at a royal benefit concert comes around, she eagerly accepts. When she finds herself a house guest at Jameson’s country estate, the proximity and privacy gives them a chance to explore their attraction to each other under a mutual understanding that their fling is only temporary.

I wanted to love this book so much more than I did and it had a lot of potential. In the end, I felt like the author told us about Dani and Jameson’s chemistry much more than showing it to us. The only chemistry I really felt was sexual. The two characters don’t even meet until 28% through the book and then their first sexual encounter is at 47% so there’s very little development of their relationship in anyway. The conflict with his family was predictable and a bit rushed.

Content warnings: references to deceased parents, the prince’s mother has a similar story as Princess Diana with the paparazzi but is not dead

Thanks to Avon and NetGalley for the gifted copy. All opinions are my own.

I read an ARC copy, always thankful for that but this story needed more time to breathe. I liked Dani! SHE was well rounded, a great lead heroine. But the Prince fell short for me in many ways because his motivations were all over the place and driven entirely by his small head. He was built up to be this logical, stern, closed off type and that just flew out the window immediately. I would have preferred, key word as this is my opinion, for that right hold on his studious façade to have crumbled rather than be poofed away. Because of this, he just kinda decides to bone anywhere and everywhere. All of that would have been fine if this was pitched as "all balls and no plot, but it wasn’t."

There were a lot of different routes this story could have followed. There were little tidbits about Dani that dropped early and never came up during her quest to free herself from other peoples' expectations. For example, it's established that she can actually sing. What if the plot included that later during the concert. Maybe the prince, instead of immediately salivating over Dani, could have taken two seconds to consider that he suggested a rapper who would be pussy popping in front of his Queenly grandmother. So WHAT IF instead of their fight being caused because he demands to be called "Your Highness," it starts because he asks if plans on performing her normal music, she said yes, and he responds not well. THAT would have been more fitting for conflict because Dani would have felt looked-down-upon and the Prince would have still done something he didn't quite mean to.

It was just unfortunately clear that it stopped being about the characters and more about the coitus. Again, if that's what it was marketed as, GREAT! But I kept hearing about this great love affair and it didn't have a lot of substance to make it so.

The subplot with Sparkle also could have been used as a more effective tool. Again, my opinion. I just feel like this book had too many “just because” moments and not enough “because this happened” moments if that makes any sense.

But I will come back and adjust this if the final copy changes any of this.

Unfortunately this one just didn't work for me. This is a contemporary romance inspired by Harry and Meghan in which we are following Jameson, the Prince of England and Duchess, an American rapper who meet when Duchess comes to England to perform as part of a charity concert series in honor of Jameson's late grandfather.

While I liked each of our main characters well enough separately, I just never felt like they had any chemistry together at all. They spent a lot of time having lusty thoughts about each other, but those thoughts never manifested into on page chemistry for me and as such I did not care at all about their relationship. I actually thought Duchess had better chemistry with a side character than she did with Jameson. And the lusty inner thoughts they had about each other were just not my thing at all and were more of a turn off than anything.

In addition, this book leaned so hard into villifying the rest of the royal family that I also did not believe at all in the longevity of this relationship past their two weeks together at the country house in the book which left this book feeling like it didn't have a true happy ending (though it technically did).

There were a few things I did enjoy. The whole Great British Bake-Off scene was amazing, I loved that scene so much and thought it was so fun. I was also definitely rooting for Duchess to have success with her makeup business and was bummed when we didn't get a good wrap up on that story line. The steamy scenes in this book were also plentiful and well done.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of the year! And while I liked some parts of it, it did ultimately fall a little flat for me. It’s about an American Rapper called Duchess who is in the middle of a public scandal. She’s invited to perform at a benefit concert honoring the life of the British King Consort. She meets a shy, academic Prince and well…it’s a romance novel.

It was fun and there was a lot that I liked, but overall, I didn’t love it. I’m so sad about it!

Synopsis:

“In this dangerously sexy rom-com that evokes the real-life romance between Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan Markle, a prince who wants to live out of the spotlight falls for a daring American rapper who turns his life, and the palace, upside down.

Sexy, driven rapper Danielle “Duchess” Nelson is on the verge of signing a deal that’ll make her one of the richest women in hip hop. More importantly, it’ll grant her control over her life, something she’s craved for years. But an incident with a rising pop star has gone viral, unfairly putting her deal in jeopardy. Concerned about her image, she’s instructed to work on generating some positive publicity… or else.

A brilliant professor and reclusive royal, Prince Jameson prefers life out of the spotlight, only leaving his ivory tower to attend weddings or funerals. But with the Queen’s children involved in one scandal after another, and Parliament questioning the viability of the monarchy, the Queen is desperate. In a quest for good press, she puts Jameson in charge of a tribute concert in her late husband’s honor. Out of his depth, and resentful of being called to service, he takes the advice of a student. After all, what’s more appropriate for a royal concert than a performer named “Duchess”?

Too late, Jameson discovers the American rapper is popular, sexy, raunchy and not what the Queen wanted, although he’s having an entirely different reaction. Dani knows this is the good exposure she needs to cement her deal and it doesn't hurt that the royal running things is fine as hell. Thrown together, they give in to the explosive attraction flaring between them. But as the glare of the limelight intensifies and outside forces try to interfere, will the Prince and Duchess be a fairy tale romance for the ages or a disaster of palatial proportions?” —NetGalley

What I Liked:

The Concept—Royal fiction is always something I’m drawn to! I was so excited for this book since I first saw the synopsis on TikTok.

The Tone—This book is pure escapist fun. It doesn’t take itself too seriously but also addresses very real issues like racism, classism, and families.

What Didn’t Work:

Pacing—I say this a lot in my reviews but I think it’s one of the most important aspects of a book. I thought the beginning was way too slow and then the end was way too fast. The middle peaked and valleyed so many times, I just couldn’t get attached to anything.

Length—It was almost 500 pages! Sometimes, I love a long, chunky book. But it just felt overwritten.

Character Authenticity: 3/5 Spice Rating: 2/5 Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Content Warnings:

racism, strained parental relationships, loss of loved one

SHE. IS. A. 10/10!! A superstar! A stunning summer romance read!

I LOVED this novel. This is the perfect way to get you out of a reading slump. You need to read this book if you are trying to have a hot girl summer.

The novel follows Dani, who goes by the stage name Duchess, and is one of the biggest rap artists in the world. On top of her immense commercial success as a performer, she has also started a skincare line specifically for black women. Through a series of well-timed incidents, Dani is invited to perform at a large-scale celebration for the Royal Family in England, and she accepts. She meets Jameson, who is a prince, and the two begin a fast-paced love affair that they must keep secret from the press.

This book is giving very much Meghan and Harry vibes, and it was such a sweet romance. The cover of this book is jaw-droppingly gorgeous. The moment I saw it, I knew this was gonna be a good book. The pacing was great. The chapter-length was exactly what you want in a romance book. The steam... THE STEAM IS THERE, FOLKS! Don't say I didn't warn you.

I loved that author Tracey Livesay has included lyrics to Duchess songs throughout the novel, and I wished there was a soundtrack to go along with the book because the lyrics are so vivid and lush in the story.

There is an interesting dynamic (feud?) set up between Duchess and a pop star named Samantha. This was one of the plot points I wished was further resolved by the end. I felt like things were left a little too much to the last page for there to be a real sense of justice (or karma) being served.

Thank you to Harper Collins Canada for an e-arc of this novel as a part of their influencer program, My thoughts and opinions are my own!

An engaging, fun romance read that's reminiscent of the real life Price Harry/Meghan Markle but fresh in its own right!

Dani "Duchess" is an American rapper that has shot to stardom through hard work and determination, and when the opportunity arises to perform for the British royalty among world famous performers, she jumps at the chance and hopes this can take her career to new heights. Prince Jameson is no stranger to fame and fortune and has been under public scrutiny since birth and even more so due to the recent family scandals. A project from the queen, Jameson is heading this royal celebration and needs it to go off without a hitch. However, a certain American is making it more difficult than Jameson even expected....

I REALLY enjoyed this read. More than expected.

The characters are really well done. They felt fresh, easy to understand, and I was able to empathize with them. Also Dani being a rapper and all of the rap lyrics was so fun and positioned her as a very self aware character.

Also THE ROMANCE?? So well done. I was surprised by the level of spice and was here for every second of it!
The relationship between Jay and Dani was so easy to buy into and felt like a whirlwind! Made for a great reading experience.

My only issue with this read was the pacing. The romance happened very fast. I wasn't expecting it to go from 0 to 100 and span the majority of the book. But then the ending which felt like the most climatic moments of the book was kind of rushed, especially if this book is to be read as a standalone book.

Overall, I'd absolutely recommend this one and have found a new author to love!

Dani Nelson is an up-and-coming, sexy rapper known as Duchess. She’s worked hard over the years to cultivate her image and take control of her life. When a video goes viral not painting her in the best light, she may lose the deal of a lifetime. Reclusive, royal Prince Jameson tries to live out of the spotlight. He’s an amazing professor and prefers to separate himself from the scandals that other members of the royal family constantly find themselves in. To generate good press, his grandmother, The Queen, wants to throw a concert. Who better to perform than a performer named “Duchess?”

After seeing the cover for this book, I could not hit the request button fast enough! It’s absolutely stunning, and the synopsis left me sold.

I really admired Dani’s confidence throughout this story. She owns her sexuality and strives to have control over her own narrative. I always enjoy dual perspectives, and I think this book allowed us to dive into Dani’s life and the Prince’s perspective pretty well! Dani was vibrant and her personality jumped off the page; while the Prince’s version seemed posh and debonair. Unfortunately, I don’t know if I really buy the romance between the two. Things just happened quickly and there was so much happening individually in their lives; it wasn’t believable. It didn’t feel like a fairy tale romance either, as it felt like they established everything based on lust.

I wish the climax of the story hit harder! It felt like I knew what was going to happen at every turn. Plus, I didn’t feel an overwhelming connection to the characters, and the ending did not leave me with a “wow” factor. I liked this story, but I would not say I loved it. This was my first time reading a royal romance, but I wish we were just given a little more depth and some surprises along the way!

This was a fun read but it wasn't anything extraordinary. It took a while to get into it and felt long in spots.

I have no idea how accurate this is in regards to the Royal Family but it didn't feel realistic. I'm not familiar enough with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's story to know if this is actually based on it or not.

Here we have a British Prince who wants to stay out of the spotlight, who falls for a brazen American rapper. I did enjoy the characters but I never felt a strong emotional connection between them.

The story has some funny moments and some great sex scenes. I recommend it for readers of romance, particularly those who like royalty/celebrity stories.

#bookreview American Royalty by Tracey Livesay

I was lucky enough to receive an eARC of this book via NetGalley from the publisher (HarperLuxe). It is set to release June 28, 2022.

☺️ the good ☺️
- Prince Jameson doesn’t want to be in the spotlight. He was somewhat traumatized as a child when his father died and his affair was exposed. He’s so protective of his mother because of this. He felt helpless at the time and never wants to feel that way again.
- Duchess aka Dani just wants to control her own life. She’s not just a rapper and musician; she’s also running a skincare line that she wants to succeed and thrive. She wants to transition to being more of a businesswoman because she knows she can’t live on her music forever.
- There’s so many sex scenes in this book. These two cannot keep their hands off each other once they finally give in.


🤨 the bad 😒
- Sometimes it was a bit disconcerting transitioning from sex to serious situation, but that also reflects better to it being realistic.
- It felt too long. I got about 3/4 of the way through this book and started feeling like “omg is this ever going to be over” and then the end felt rushed when it finally did happen. I felt like some scenes could’ve been cut.
- The comparison to Harry and Meghan did not feel appropriate at all. It just didn’t vibe the same way to me at all. It more felt like the comparison was just because she was black and the Prince was white and that felt like the end of the commonalities to me.


😍 the beautiful 😍
- These two fall in love of course.
- The entire GBBO knockoff obsession of Dani’s 😂 and her attempts to bake. And his surprise.
- The entire scene towards the end of the book with the royal family. I don’t want to spoil anything but if you know YOU KNOW.
- These two are endlessly supportive of each other. She doesn’t want to drag him even more to the public eye and he wants her business to succeed in all the ways she desires.


rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
steam: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
my face while reading: 🙂☺️☺️☺️🫤😂😯☺️😱🤩🔥🔥😂🤦🏼‍♀️🙂🤩😍😍🥺🥺☺️🥺😍🤩😂🤩😂

#bookstagram

This novel is perfect for those who love British royalty, Meghan and Harry in particular, with a dash of Megan Thee Stallion, which makes it a hilarious romance! They find themselves thrown together in the English countryside for two weeks, and romance and hilarity ensue. I thought this romance was a fun premise that didn't quite land the way I was hoping, but still made for an entertaining read!

Fine romance novel. Some of the descriptions of the sexy scenes were off-putting but overall the relationship was romantic and you root for the characters.

Opposites attract, close proximity, and an American rapper paired with a prince make this a must read! Who doesn't love a royalty romance?! The heat in this book was sizzling and the tension with the queen was just as hot. I kept turning the pages to find out if the prince would tell his grandmother (the queen) off and say that he was leaving the royal family for the "Duchess." Prince Jameson just wants to live a normal life, but by getting involved with Danielle, he is never going to have that, even if he does leave royalty.

With some of my favorite tropes included, this book took a twist that made the storyline so unique that you can't stop reading. The two leads play well off one another and are a perfect combination of spice and spicier. And that cover! gorgeous!

Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I am a big fan and follower of Harry and Meghan’s love story so when I saw this book was inspired in their relationship, I was super excited.

This story had a lof of potential and I liked Jameson and Dani separately, but I couldn’t see any spark between them aside from the physical part. There aren’t many real conversations between them, and even though the book is long (or at least, that’s how it felt to me), there isn’t much emotional development for them to be madly in love like they are by the end. Both Dani and Jameson were juggling too many personal things (Jameson his personal conflict between Royalty and his life outside of it, and Dani her drama with Samantha and her skincare company issues), so the romance came second in this plot.

The steam, though, it was GREAT. I was expecting it to be super steamy for some reason, and it was even better than my expectations.

Rating: 3/5
Steam: 4/5

Thanks to Avon and Netgalley for my ARC.