I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an insanely cute book and was a very easy read. The way that this author describes the Tower of London makes me feel like I was actually there as I was reading it. It felt so clear and I could picture it perfectly. I loved being able to picture this setting and all of the people who live there and make up Maggie's life.

I was happy that this book was different from many others and didn't feel the need to have the main character go through this major change and try to become different. She was perfect as she was and didn't need to be changed. The only thing I would have liked to see is for her to be happy with a job she loved.

Maggie lives in the Tower of London with her father after a rough breakup. One day, she wakes up late for work and the day gets progressively worse from there—from rude coworkers to a visit from her emotionally abusive boyfriend. Walking home that night, she’s not paying attention and thinks she’s slammed into a light pole. It turns out to be a man and he’s short with her. It’s the worst ending to the day she’s had and it leaves a bad taste in her mouth.

She then sees that one of the Grenadier Guards is the man she collided with. She confronts him while he’s on duty, so he can’t say anything. Later, he finds her in a spat with her ex and saves her from him. This slowly forms into a friendship and she learns his name is Freddie. She starts spending a lot of time with him and the other soldiers on duty. She wants more but he keeps saying she’s a “friend.”

This comes to a head when Freddie invites her to a gala. I won’t give away the specifics, but they both take it equally hard. They are both from vastly different worlds but are in their own little world together. Can that bit of respite be enough for the challenges they face from the outside world?

It was a very sweet romance and some moments at the end had me in sobs. It's a heartfelt, but light tale that can be enjoyed in a sitting or two—I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This comes out on April 27th in the UK and May 2nd in the US.

“Love is in the Heir”

Maggie Moore has always dreamed of starring in her own fairytale. Living in the Tower of London is the perfect setting. The trouble is, Maggie seems to be one step from utter disaster in her every day life, especially in the realms of love and work. After a truly disastrous day, a chance meeting with a mysterious person has Maggie thinking maybe things are finally looking up.

This was seriously the cutest book. I love a good slow burn and this definitely delivered. I would rush home from work and try to get through a few chapters before having to be a “responsible adult”. Maggie is the most relatable character I have read all year. She’s spunky, quirky, funny, and just plain adorable. I think most of us have a good bit of Maggie in them. I loved seeing her character develop throughout the story, not just rising above and people pleasing, but to put herself on the line and stick up for herself.

Freddie is swoon worthy. He’s so British and proper in the beginning that it’s good to see Maggie be able to make him more himself. He finally gets to discover who he really is and what he really wants and go after that.

And the angst of almost kisses and stolen thoughts…they are my favorite part of the slow burn. Pure bliss

I loved the side characters who really formed a found family for Maggie: from the guards, to the Beefeaters, to the Ravenmaster…they all had a special place in her heart, and her in theirs.

I will say, as a side note, I was a little worried in the beginning about all of the historical facts and references. But once I really got into the book, I loved them, so much so that I want to go tour the Tower of London and see all of the places Maggie loved so much.

This was solid four star read for me and I cannot wait to see what the author comes up with next!

Thank you to NetGalley, Megan Clawson, and Harper Collins Publishers for this ARC.

Maggie lives in a castle - literally. From her home in the Tower of London, it is easy for her to get to work but not so easy anymore to avoid her pesky ex. Her life overall isn't where she wants it but after an encounter with a Beefeater, she sees another chance for love.

I thought this romcom had potential, but it didn't really live up to it for me. The writing just didn't engage me like I expected.

I don’t typically gravitate towards the romance genre at the moment unless the plot sounds unique and/or interesting so when I saw that the main character of Falling Hard for the Royal Guard actually lived in the Tower of London, I knew I had to read it!

I LOVED this! This gives me 90s classic rom-com vibes… like Bridget Jones or Notting Hill… especially the scene towards the end where Maggie is running and is told to “Keep off the King’s grass!” . It’s so cute, I’m going to buy a physical copy just so I can hug it and draw hearts all over the last couple of chapters.

There isn’t any spicy scenes, but in this story, they aren’t necessary.

This is a charming debut romance from a new author who brings a very unique setting to life. Not many people get a glimpse of the going-ons behind the scenes at famous tourist attractions. Therefore, not many people are aware that there is a community living and working within the Tower of London.

The inside expertise that Clawson offers allows for some very interesting moments. From the haunted vault cellar to the difficulty of getting a pizza delivered, there are many unique, tiny “plot twists” that wouldn’t be possible anywhere else. At the same time, this insider knowledge creates a bit of difficulty for the average reader. The enormous cast of secondary characters—many complete with names, nicknames, and backstories—makes it difficult to keep up sometimes. I don’t often have to double back and re-read paragraphs to understand what is happening, but sometimes I’d find myself doing that just to keep the names straight. At the same time, I’m well aware that these secondary characters make the story so much more realistic. Maggie would be dashing to work and thinking about each person she saw, she’d know the soldiers who work with her dad, and she’d feel overwhelmed by the rapid announcements of names at the party. If anything, the insider details that the author brought to this novel makes it stand far apart from the typical novels in the genre: settings in romances are often quickly announced, briefly described, and idealized out of memory. This novel makes no attempt on any page to reduce the characters into empty jackets that readers can try on for size. Maggie is an extremely realistic and human protagonist who struggles just like anyone else to find reasons to roll out of bed, put herself together, and get to work in the mornings.

I found the descriptions of weight a bit problematic. From Maggie’s point of view, she’s curvy while many other women are basically walking skeletons. It’s realistic, but also a bit troublesome for those who have struggled with body image issues. I do wish that there were a bit more pages allowed for the “happy ending” where she might have worked through some of those self-depreciating moments with Freddie. I was hoping that Freddie might use his connections to help Maggie get a job interview, but I suppose it’s far more realistic that she’s going to have to gain work experience elsewhere first. There were many little details like this that I wish the novel had addressed before it ended.

There were just a details in the novel, specifically toward the beginning, that I didn’t understand. Things like turning the defensive moat near the pet cemetery into a welcoming garden—which, as a person who has never visited the Tower, I didn’t follow. I think if the author had presented some of that insider information with a slightly different sentence structure—there used to be a moat around the pet cemetery for defense, but it became a welcoming garden years before for safety purposes—then it might have made more sense to me. These seemingly small moments throughout the book clearly flex the author’s unique perspective, but they sometimes threw me out of the story as I struggled to imagine what was being described. Oh well, I suppose I’ll have to plan a trip and see the setting of this story for myself!

Freddie as a male lead was interesting. However, his tendency to disappear, his social anxiety, and his limited interaction with Maggie left me feeling a bit confused throughout the book. I do wish they’d addressed those character flaws as well. Even if Maggie pointed some of those things out to him—maybe they finally go on a date and he holds her hand the entire time to show that he won’t disappear on her again. I suppose it’s a good thing that I wanted to see more of their romance, when the whole thing is done.

Anyone interested in British history, modern romance, and realistic characters would enjoy this book. I wouldn’t call it a beach book, but it was certainly enjoyable fiction.

I received a digital copy of Falling Hard for the Royal Guard via NetGalley to read and review.

I love how the author brought life to the royal guards. It’s easy to think of them as having zero personality since we only think of them as unmoving statues. This was a slow burn romance but even with the slower build up I really liked following Maggie around and her love for history.
I really hope we get more stories from the Tower of London….maybe from a guard’s POV?

Cute quick read. Clawson's writing is character-forward, quick-witted, and burns bright. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and I will most definitely be recommending to friends and colleagues. I am looking forward to what comes next!

Falling Hard for the Royal Guard was a funny read, for the most part. Like other romance novels, it handled deep and emotional things with a veneer of humor or romance, like the ghost and Maggie's mother. It was also well on its way to being one of my favorite new romance novels reads of the year, when it blew it completely in the last 15-20%.

The book was very informative about the Tower of London, with history and culture woven into the story in a way that really worked. The detail about the Guards and their uniforms was a nice touch.

I knocked the first half star off when I realize that it was hard to tell if the story was set with the current royalty - King Charles III, etc - or with a faked monarchy, a la that Hallmark movie I watched last year, where the structure was there, but the author changed around the members of the BRF to suit their novel needs. Either would have worked, but making it clear from the get go would have been better. Especially when several chapters were spent hinting at an identity that Freddie could not have, with the current monarchy.

Freddie did not turn out to be who I was expecting him, since I kept expecting him to the Prince of Wales or maybe the Spare, to quote Harry. I liked how and when we learn his true title, and that scene added a lot of depth to their relationship. It's pretty clear pretty early on that we have what is considered <spoiler>mutually unrequited, where both of them think that the other would not be interested in going any further than friendship</spoiler> and that, when done well, can add to the story. It was done very well here. Mix that in with the ghosts in the Tower, the famed Ravens, the men in uniform, the clear love the Beefeaters have for Maggie, and you've got a wonderful story.

Then the ending. It was a good one, but it felt rushed, like the author had to cram 100 pages worth of content into 30 to keep the book from being too long. This story would have benefited greatly from those extra 100 pages, and I think the relationship between Freddie and Maggie would have been all the stronger for that.

Maggie's coworkers were evil, and something should have been done about that a while ago.

All in all, a good story, full of history. 3.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the eARC!

This book was absolutely fantastic. Even more so knowing that it was a debut novel. I loved Maggie. I seriously adored her so much. I just felt myself able to connect with her and could see myself in the character. I really liked Freddie too. Well, when he wasn’t being his grumpy closed off self. But I do realize that was part of who he was and I still really liked him. I loved the story, I loved the friends she made, and despised her coworkers and ex. I could have had a whole book written around her interactions with the guards and I would have loved that too. Highly recommend this book and giving the author a try. Absolutely not spicy at all but it didn’t need it. But as a warning, I absolutely SOBBED for the last 4-5 chapters of the book. So get your tissues.

The title brought me in and I thought that the story was super cute but I just was not feeling it. The MC just seemed immature and I couldn't really connect with the things that she was going through. I think things escalated really quick after not being anything there in the first part of the book. Cute, easy read, but just not for me.

The romance genre is flooded with so many different tropes and plotlines that it can be difficult to find a unique premise that isn't lost in the sea of overdone publication. Falling Hard for the Royal Guard is certainly an original plot and features the author's own experience of living in the Tower of London. I first saw her content on Instagram and she convinced me to read her debut novel with her fun videos. Unfortunately, her bright introduction on social media didn't translate well to the book's content. I found the novel to be verbose and you could fill a guard's enormous cap with all the overexposition. I thought there was an overemphasis on the heroine's ex-boyfriend and the new love interest didn't come into play until much later in the book. I prefer to treat my romances as fresh slates where I don't care for history that happened off-page and I avoid second chance stories at all costs. I was far more invested in the royal guard than I was in her loser ex. There's a reason she broke up with him, pal.

As unique as Falling Hard for the Royal Guard may have seemed, I didn't feel any real connection to the characters. I'm fascinated by the fact that the author based this story on her real life, including her father and boyfriend both being royal guards. If I lived that captivating life, I would write a book about it too. The writing was clunky and it took too long to move the plot along. Although I didn't enjoy the book, I think the author's videos on social media are far more engaging. I personally believe she works better in a visual medium than a literary format. I did learn a lot from her book, like knowing there is a difference between the King's royal guard and those who specifically work in the Tower of London, known as beefeaters. I can appreciate what the author was doing, but it didn't shine like the royal jewels, at least for me. I didn't fall hard for the royal guard, but it certainly turned my head.

Cute! I’m not 100% on board with how fast things progressed but honestly, the ending had me bawling. The setting go the story was super interesting. I didn't know people lived inside the Tower of London

Incredibly cute, fun and very, very romantic!!
I absolutely loved this book, it's like stepping into a dream - I mean who hasn't dreamt of living in the tower of London with a handsome guard and the ravens?
Maybe, that's just me!
But something about it rather appeals, which is why I have been completely swept away with this wonderful debut, I loved the story, the clever and relatable Maggie, the writing is immersive and highly enjoyable and I fell in complete love with the whole idea of living in the tower.
The characters are fabulous, Maggie is so relatable, she is the stereotypical girl next door, she could be anyone of us she has the same worries and body confidence issues and huge dreams. The guardsmen are a contradictory bunch, with lots of brash and humourous bravado you would expect, but there is gentleness you wouldn't have imagined, I thought they all brought a certain charisma to the overall story and I really liked that..
This is a super cute romantic comedy, there are plenty of laughs and lots of heartfelt emotion and 'awww' moments, a definite must-read!!

The title of this book caught my eye right away as well as the fact that the author is actually married to a Royal Gaurd and lives in The Tower of London herself. I learned a lot about English history, which I loved, and felt immediately transported to the setting with all the funny gaurdsmen and Beefeaters.

However, I couldn’t connect with the main character Maggie at all and found her clumsiness and immaturity a little much. There was a lot of internal dialogue that lagged on and found there to be no character growth in her end.

My biggest challenge with this book was that we barely got to see Maggie and Freddie fall in love. Despite the meet cute, a few interactions some weeks later and an epilogue, there was really no romance or chemistry between the MCs until the last 30%. I really did like Freddie’s character and wanted to get to know him and wish this piece wasn’t missing.

Read if you like:
-British humor
-The Tower of London
-Hallmark movies
-Clean romances

Thank you Avon for the ARC. Pub date: 5/2/23

This one was super cute! I loved learning new phrases they use in England. It was a slow burn romance but Maggie and Freddie were perfect for each other. It was a fun easy read?

Super fun romance set in my favorite place! I’m obsessed with the tower ravens and loved the memoir written by the current Raven Master. So when I realized this was set in the tower and featuring people who live there I was hooked! Wonderful romance with a quirky and unique setting. Loved it!

I love the city of London so any setting in London was a win for me. Unfortunately, the history behind the Tower of London and all the descriptions of it was boring for me. I started to skim through those boring bits. I almost dnf this book but then I thought maybe there was potential since I liked Maggie. At times, she was annoying. Even still I wanted the best for her. I felt bad that she had such low self esteem and low self confidence. Freddie was okay at first, but then he grew on me as well. The romance was good. Nothing to write to your friends about. The great parts in the story was in the last 30% of the book. Because of that I increased my rating, but wished the whole story was as great as the last few chapters. Overall, it was a nice sweet romance with tons of history sprinkled throughout. If you enjoy history and romance this will work for you.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Falling Hard for the Royal Guard sounded awesome, but it didn’t live up to the description. The history was a cool drop in, but it clashed with the exaggerated story. I would think if you’re using real history and landmarks the story should feel reasonable. Plus, there wasn’t much interaction or chemistry between the main character and the love interest.

The title and cover got me! Adorable!

This is a cute one. An accident prone heroine falls for a member of the royal guard…what’s not to love?

If you love all things royal and sweet romcoms I think you would enjoy this one! It’s a clean romance with only kissing and has a relatable heroine that makes you root for her each step of the way!

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for this fun read!