I enjoyed American Royalty! Once the story got going I enjoyed it, and it definitely gives Meghan and Harry energy for those who are looking for it. I had trouble with the beginning (the FMC and MMC don’t meet for the first third) and wanted things to move along faster. Then we got into the insta-love and I felt like the pacing was rushed. Overall a fun read for those looking for a fresh take on celebrity/royal romance but a little uneven.

A fun romance with amazing diversity. I really enjoyed the two main characters and loved seeing them grow.

I was rather apprehensive about the book, I can’t put my finger on why but I had a difficult time getting into the first three chapters. However, I am so glad that I stuck with it. A new take on the Royal Family member meets and falls in love with a regular person. Granted she’s a mega music star.

I thought the character development flowed naturally and the romance was overall sizzling. I hope there’s a follow-up or more from this author.

In the latest in an unintentional series I'm calling "Allison reads romances about famous people," I picked up American Royalty about a rapper and prince who fall in love. It's an exciting premise that doesn't smooth over the colonialist, racist bullshit of monarchy. In fact, it digs in by showing how the royal family reacts to a Black rapper in their midst, the assumptions they make and the disrespect they serve up.

Our lovers are Dani, who raps as Duchess and owns a successful skincare company, and Jameson, a grandson of the queen who has thus far avoided taking on royal duties. Dani is by far the more developed and interesting protagonist. The story addresses how her childhood being passed among family members after her grandmother's passing motivates her to seek control in her adult life. This is easier said than done in a male-dominated music industry keen on over-sexualizing her as a Black woman. The media is running stories about a supposed beef between Dani and a nobody pop singer who wants the publicity. When the bad press affects a business deal that would give Dani some of her much-craved autonomy, she needs something else to shift public perception in her favor. A royal benefit concert fits the bill. Meanwhile, Jameson is being dragged from his semi-normal life as a philosophy professor back into the royal fold as the face of the benefit concert. His aunts and uncles largely besmirch the royal name, so the Queen turns to him, demanding he fill a role he can't refuse.

So while this premise is excellent and Dani has a lot of potential, the romance is basically a story about two hot people who are attracted to each other but also want to fight. To make things worse, Jameson has a lot of racist, classist assumptions about Dani based on her career and public persona to start their relationship. He has the hots for her and assumes she would reciprocate if/when his creepy uncle makes moves on her because of how she acts in her music videos. Which he also jerks off to fyi. And we're meant to understand that he learns the error of his ways. I guess that's true, but it felt very surface level to me, i.e. "I was wrong about Dani" and not "wow, I need to consider my general racist, sexist perceptions here." Philosophy professor, my ass.

When the characters first get together, there's a shady consent moment. Jameson's been drinking and approaches Dani about their mutual attraction via liquid courage. Dani says she doesn't feel the chemistry, and Jameson says she's lying and kisses her anyway *sigh*... but it's ok because the readers know she really is lying? This is how allosexuals ruin things for me and for themselves, honestly. It is not ok to assume someone is lying when they say they're not interested, end of story. It becomes obvious fast that Dani's actually interested based on how she responds to the kiss, but that initial steamrolling over "no" pissed me right off all the same.

The love story then hops, skips, and jumps between romantic gestures. There's no feeling of gradual change, of being a part of how their feelings grow and develop. It feels more like an outline or sketch of a romance, focused on big, passionate, showy moments rather than little romantic ones. They also both go through jealousy plots with one another that were very annoying.

A final note is that this isn't a standalone romance, so the characters have more to work through in future books; we're not meant to have a complete arc that leaves their relationship on steady ground. This first part ends well, but many challenges are still lurkingunresolved before Dani and Jameson, particularly from the royal family. I don't think I'll continue to see how the story develops. While I appreciate the author's goals to address racism and sexism in the music industry and from royalty (and everywhere tbh) and to show positive representation of a biracial couple, the romance itself just didn't work for me. I am still grateful to Avon for my copy to read and review.

✨ Review ✨ American Royalty by Tracey Livesay

I'd been putting this one off for a bit after reading mixed reviews but I'm so glad I finally picked it up. I'd been in a bit of a slump and this one cheered me up again.

Borrowing not a small amount from the story of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, this fictional m/f romance features the professor prince Jameson and the American rapper Duchess (Dani) who come together in the UK in preparation for a charity concert to honor the memory of the Queen's late husband. Jameson and Dani quickly realize their attraction but also the necessity of hiding what they have.

This book not only brings together Jameson and Dani in a steamy partnership, but also tackles complex issues around the monarchy, paparazzi and media harassing, and gender stereotypes / patriarchy of the rap world.

While there are some cringey spots around the issues of the monarchy (including some of the supporting characters), overall I really enjoyed this both as a romance and as a deeper reflection on these issues around the crown.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 (4.5)
Genre: m/f romance
Location: UK estate and London
Pub Date: out now!

Read this if you like:
⭕️ the Harry and Meghan romance
⭕️ + their critiques of the crown, the paparazzi and all of the surrounding pressures
⭕️ the mash-up of rapper and philosophy professor

Thanks to Avon and #netgalley for an advanced e-copy of this book!

It was average. I didn't think there was anything new or special about this one. I would still recommend it because I did think it was enjoyable.

4.5⭐️
Perfect spice, sass, and charm!
Author really knew what she was doing with this one, I adored her spin on this story. The 🌶🌶🌶🌶 was bomb and I felt the chemistry between them from the first interaction, also some very funny scenes. The ending was a bit rushed but overall it was a fun romance read. DO NOT REC THE AUDIO LOL

Tracey Livesay's American Royalty intrigued me, but I was unable to get engrossed in the prose. In spite of this, I am intrigued by the premise and the concept of this novel.

First off….I absolutely love this cover! It is gorgeous! ❤️

This book in my opinion is a very Harry and Meghan meets semi sexy hallmark.

It was good but not pow!

An absolute treat of a romantic novel, focusing on the love story of a royal and a pop star, despite all of the obstacles thrown their way. Naturally, the story of Harry and Meghan comes to mind as an inspiration.

Unfortunately, this one just wasn't my personal cup of tea. I am an absolute sucker for royal romances, and this gorgeous cover got me immediately, as did the concept. But the writing just never grabbed me and it all felt a bit cliche and undercooked. I know this will find its readers, but I've decided to DNF.

A steamy, fun, compulsively readable book that I obviously couldn’t put down all day once I started it. I was hoping for a slightly earlier meet-cute between the main pair (they don’t cross paths until over 25% of the way into the book), as well as a somewhat modified resolution of the biggest issue surrounding their relationship (how would Jameson and Dani balance their commitment to each other with his responsibilities to the monarchy?). I won’t lie; I was sort of rooting more for him to cut ties altogether with the royal family and live his own life as a professor, since he never enjoyed the part he had to play anyway. But overall, I was delighted by their chemistry and what an escapist read this was for me!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3.5 stars: American Royalty was a highly anticipated book for me. A member of the royal family falls for a female rapper? What a unique storyline. I will say the first 40-50% of the book moved pretty slow but when Jameson and Dani finally let their guards down and acted on their feelings the storyline moved very quickly. I liked Dani’s no-nonsense demeanor; she matched Jameson’s energy and she was not phased by his status. Jameson never wanted the spotlight or to do any royal duties and that’s what made him so likable- he wanted the simple things. I liked the characters and their chemistry. The flow of the story was a little slow at times. I was super skeptical about the plot but it came together well.

I received an ARC from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the concept of the book and how each character was introduced to us.. It is fast paced so be ready but we all love a good fast read that’s also entertaining.

I loved this book! The “ripped from the headlines” premise was fun, but Dani and Jay definitely read as real people outside of the the stereotypes they face both in the book and perhaps reader expectations of a royal/celeb romance. And WOAH, what a romance. This is probably one of the spiciest books I’ve ever read. I’m not gonna go into much more detail on that to minimize the blush you cannot see forming on my cheeks, but closed door this is definitely not. My only quibble is that that sometimes the dual pov suffered from telling parts of the same scene twice, but it’s a very minor thing to pick on. As the child of biracial parents myself, I love the authors motivation to tell love stories like our and I look forward to her next book.

Oooooo I thought this one was SO entertaining. It was sweet and sexy and oh so satisfying! I adored Dani's (Duchess) character and what a driven badass she was. Prince Jameson was both surly and charming and I really rooted for him (well, them both actually) to get the life HE wanted. I definitely punched the air at the end a la Judd Nelson in The Breakfast Club.

If you love a story that involves royal romance, spicy scenes, and truly decent and cool main characters, I highly recommend American Royalty!

Prince Jameson is a reclusive royal who doesn’t want to be in the spotlight. Dani AKA “Duchess” is an American rapper who wants to give up rap to focus on her beauty line.

When Jameson is tasked with creating a concert for the Queen, he books Duchess before listening to her music. Eager to take a break, Duchess ends up in London early and stays with Jameson in his castle. Romance blooms in a MAJOR way.

I had to suspend belief a lot while reading this one. As someone that reads many royal romances, I considered myself well-versed in the British Royal Family. So there were many scenes I had to remember this was fiction because in no way would some of these scenarios happen.

Still, I was entertained and I loved the ending. I really hope there is a sequel to this one because I’d love to see this story expanded on.

loved the idea, simply couldn’t get into it. that you to the publisher for the arc! i really wanted to love this one but it just wasn’t happening for me. i’ve actually bought a physical copy as well, and hope to revisit it soon because i want to love it so badly!

I've had this title on my TBR shelf for way too long. Loved every bit of American Royalty and will be recommending to my romance readers. Thank you NetGalley for the advance e copy.

3.5⭐

Thank you so much to Avon and Netgalley for providing an advanced copy of this. All thoughts and opinions are still my own.

This book was a bit of a rollercoaster for me. There were moments that I absolutely LOVED. And some that didn't quite work for me. So let's start with what I loved -

Dani is amazing, I loved her chapters. I love that she showed all the different sides of a person. Sometimes she's story and fierce and takes no shit. But sometimes she's quiet and just wants to feel safe.

And I loved that while she always fought for herself, she had amazing friends that fought with her. I loved a good platonic relationship in my romances and this definitely had that. In fact, I wish we had even more of it!!

While the parallels between this and Meghan Markle were clear, it wasn't, by any means, a direct copy of her story. This was definitely it's one unique story with it's own unique characters.

I'm usually very leery of books about famous people - including musicians. But in this case, I thought the concert was a really cool backdrop for the story. And I also appreciated that the build up to the concert took a larger focus than the show itself.

Unfortunately Jameson left a little be desired. I felt like he was such a flat character with little to no personality. Why did Dani like him beyond being attractive? I have no idea. Because we never really got to know him.

In fact the majority of his chapters were just him complaining about how relationship with Dani would never work.

But where this story lost me a little was with the ending. The late 3rd act conflict just really threw me. It was so abrupt and quick that I felt like I got book whiplash. While I knew it was coming, the way it was executed was just too quick and ended without any real resolution. Our characters spent 300+ pages talking about why their relationship won't work and in the end essentially shrug it off and say they'll figure it out.

I wanted them to to figure it out on page...

The little epilogue was super fun though. I'm definitely interested to see what Tracey Livesay releases next (in this world or otherwise!)