The Rules of Royalty reminded me a lot of The Princess Diaries vibes but with a prince as well as Red, White, and Royal Blue. I enjoyed the alternating perspectives as I felt that it pushed the story along and helped me understand the characters better. The book started off slow which tends to deter me from finishing a book but because of the alternating perspectives and TPD vibes, I stuck with it - which I'm glad I did. Overall, it's a light, quick YA-read that I would recommend to students and other fans of The Princess Diaries or Red, White, and Royal Blue.

This was a very fun, sweet book. I enjoyed it and I loved the blossoming romance between Jamie and Erik. I loved how supportive and loving Jamie's family was, and the fact that miscommunication was not a plot device used to keep our leads apart, it's a trope I really hate, and this book did not contain it. Overall, I loved how fun and sweet this book was, and how cozy the characters felt while I read. Reading this book felt like calling an old friend and catching back up like no time has passed.
Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Wednesday Books for this E-arc. All opinions are my own.

I saw Princess Diaries and Red White Royal Blue in the same sentence and I was automatically sold on this book. Unfortunately I think that may have set my expectations for this book negatively. On Jamie's 17 birthday he finds out he is the son of king and that his mom who raised him kept this from him as to respect his bio-mom's wishes. He heads to Europe for the summer with his family and there meets Prince Erik. Everyone loves Jamie. The end.

I thought this book was very fluffy and a light read and although I enjoyed it it doesn't really stand out to me because of the lack of drama/conflict. Everyone is so friendly and just accepts that Jamie is wonderful and adores him from the get go, I kept expecting for the other shoe to drop but it never did (yes there is one person but the problem they caused is solved so quickly I don't think it counts). Its remarked several times that he's good at everything he does and that he's stepped into the role remarkably well. I expected for there to be more angst and grappling with identity/expectations/life trajectories but maybe he's just way more adjusted than I would ever be in that kind of scenario.

All this to say I did like this book, but I do think this is more of a YA YA book, that is too say the younger high school me would have eaten this up no questions asked. I just think that it was a little to sweet for me and had very thick main character armor for all those involved.

As a present for his eighteenth birthday, Jamie learns he is actually a prince. His world is completely thrown for a loop as he goes to meet his biological father, who is king of Mitanor, and also meets Erik, the incredibly handsome prince from a neighboring kingdom.

This book is a sweet, adorable read. You know you’re in for a happy ending when you start it, and that’s exactly the kind of story so many of us need right now. Jamie and Erik are so cute together, and every time they came together in the book I was so happy. I would recommend this book.

If you liked The Princess Diaries, you'll enjoy The Rules of Royalty! Cale Dietrich has quickly become an author that if/when i see they have released a book, I know that I need to read it.

The characters are likeable, and while the plot is quite predictable (we see similar straight versions all the time on Hallmark), it was still a quick and fun read. The romance between the two characters is sweet, and I liked the development.

At a first glance, I really thought I would love this book. The concept seemed interesting, and I’m right in the age demographic for it. However, while there were a few things I enjoyed, it was hard for me to enjoy this book just because of the writing style. The writing style just felt a bit immature for the age of the characters, and the first few chapters had so much exposition dumping that I found it hard to keep reading. I think this would be a fun read if you can get over the writing style, and I’m sure other people would enjoy it.

This is a sweet gay retelling of The Princess Diaries with a taste of Young Royals.

We follow Jamie - a 17-year-old American who goes from a regular school and a job at Cinnabon to finding out he's the prince of a small country between Spain and France. His father, the King, asks the gay prince of a nearby country - Erik - to teach his son etiquette and how to be a prince.

Erik's grandmother is the queen of his country and forbids him from pursuing anything beyond a platonic relationship with Jamie, wanting him to date another young man who will boost both of their public images. Forbidden fruit is the sweetest, and Jamie and Erik fall for each other.

This is a cute YA story, and I love that Jamie's newly mixed family of his adoptive mom/step-dad and the King, Queen, and half-brother all get along. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop the whole time, that there was fake niceness.

I will echo other readers who wished for more drama. Erik's PR boyfriend is too easygoing when Erik suggests they see other people. And the story is resolved too quickly at the end.
Still, it's a book I would have devoured when I was in high school! I think this book will do really well in high school libraries and in YA sections of stores like Barnes & Noble.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for the free book and to Macmillan Audio for the complimentary audiobook. These opinions are my own.

This was just delightful and even more so than I anticipated. Jamie is a regular teenager when his adoptive mom sits him down to share his lineage. It turns out he is a Prince of Minator. And his father, the King, wants him to come visit for the summer. The king recommends Erik, the second son prince of a neighboring country as a contact who can help Jamie with the transition to being a prince.

There were so many sweet moments. I thought the family drama and pressures were handled in a well that transcended the fantastical royal plot and can just resonate with current youth.

I also greatly appreciated that both men were out and accepted. This book celebrates queer joy. I know there's a place for more difficult coming out stories, but sometimes it's such a relief to read a book where people are accepted for who they are and love.

I would have liked a bit more from secondary characters, especially Jamie's friends from the US. They felt like they existed only to move the plot forward and weren't quite as fleshed out as I prefer.

Overall, this was a fun royal romance and a great queer spin on Princess Diaries.

Such a cute book. To me its like a combination of Princess Diaries (but queer) and Red, White and Royal Blue

The romance was appropriate for the audience it was intended for. Jamie an American finds out he is a prince and Erik a prince shows him the ropes They end up finding more than they bargained for and will they follow their hearts or what everyone wants of them.

(fully aware this is an absurd statement): in terms of LGBTQ American Prince romances that came out in 2024 I have to say I prefer [book:Prince of the Palisades|203128337]

and like I know it's meant to be a fluffy romance and god knows I like that, and I understand wanting it to be low stakes but the stakes are like sort of stupidly low hinging around miscommunication and slightly snobby royal relatives?

idk it's a fine line bc I wanted it to be dumb but then for me it was really like
too dumb

First of all, thank you to Wednesday Books, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for the ARC of "The Rules of Royalty!"

I have been a fan of Cale Dietrich after reading "The Love Interest" in 2018. Since then, I have read everything that he has put out and loved his writing. "The Rules of Royalty" is by far my favorite of his books. I would say anything with a Princess Diaries theme and I am all in, but this book was better than my expectations. While at moments seeming a bit forced and fast, the development of the characters and their stories was great. Definitely recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of the early 2000's teen rom-com movies.

I purchased this book for the library, but it wasn't my favorite. I definitely think some teens will grab it off the shelf. However, I really didn't like at writing style and it just lacked depth to me.

I love royal romances and RWRB is one of my favorite books, so I had really high expectations for The Rules of Royalty and it did not disappoint! I absolutely loved Jamie and Erik's story and I was really rooting for them the whole time. Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the advanced copy!

Pitched as a gay Princess Diaries, I was incredibly excited for The Rules of Royalty. I only heard about it a few days before it was published, but I requested it immediately. Especially since the one other book by Cale Dietrich that I have read, If This Gets Out, I really enjoyed. Unfortunately, I found this one to be kind of bland.

On his seventeenth birthday, Jaime's adopted mom sits him down to tell him about his bio parents: his dad is actually a king of a small European country, Mitonar, and Jaime is a prince. Soon, Jaime is flying to Mitonar and meeting his bio father and the rest of his family. He is also introduced to Erik, the prince of Sunstad who is going to help Jaime learn the rules of princehood. And although Erik's grandmother, the queen, specifically told him to keep things platonic with Jaime, he is finding that increasingly difficult to do.

Although we get alternating POV chapters from Jaime and Erik, their voices were not distinct, and were easy to blur together. I just found that neither of them had very strong personalities, and there was no chemistry between the two of them. Not to mention the myriad of things that just screamed unrealistic. I would say that at best, this book is boring.

I enjoyed this book. It was a very light-hearted read with very little angst. I would say if you are looking for a book with more conflict and struggles, this one may not be for you. I enjoyed both of our main characters. The relationship between them was very slow, taking almost the whole novel. I don’t mind a slow-burn romance, but I know it is not everyone’s cup of tea.

The Rules of Royalty is a queer, royalty romance. Following 17 year old Jamie as he learns how to cope after discovering that he is a prince and Prince Erik, the spare prince of a European country. The two work together to prepare Jamie for royal life all the while Jamie teaches Erik a lesson on individuality and standing up for what really matters.

Sometimes, I just need a light, comforting read—something Hallmark-esque to escape into. *The Rules of Royalty* delivered on that: fluffy and fun, with lovable characters like Jamie and Erik (who’s a bit icy, but in a Northern Europe, *Young Royals* Wilhelm kind of way).

That said, the plot had its quirks. Erik’s royal family forcing him to date at 17? A bit much. The fake dating felt underdeveloped, and of course, the third-act breakup made an appearance (sigh). Still, the cozy vibes and possible nods to Dutch royalty—King Alexander and Princess Amalia—kept me engaged. A solid 3.5 stars, rounded up for the charm.

I am going to have to give up on this author - I always love the premises but somehow the characters are either boring or two-dimensional. This latest book was especially frustrating: ludicrous world building, a really tepid romance, and a very by-the-numbers plot.

Story: Jamie is an ordinary guy in the US living a good life. Erik is the son of the Queen, though only the spare. When Jamie discovers he is the illegitimate son of the King of Mitanor, he is flown to meet his father. Erik, meanwhile, is talked into giving help to the American as he navigates his new role of prince. As they begin to fall for each other, they find it may be difficult to express that relationship when Erik's mother wants him to find a 'sensible partner' - and that does not include Jamie.

Nothing much happens here. The worldbuilding is a joke - "Mitanor"?? I guess that Erik's country is supposed to be a Scandinavian type like Denmark while Jamie's is more of a Spanish/Iberian. But I didn't get a feel of culture from either. Even the kingdom names felt incredibly silly.

There was no chemistry between the leads -something I am finding in all Dietrich's books. Here, we get two POVs which helps a bit but still both characters feel more like archetypes than people. Yes, you have the quirky female best friend, the overbearing royal relatives, the stuffy rules. But the only plot point is that Erik's mother has a specific person in mind for her son to be with in order to show royal stability (a la British politics). The chosen partner turns out to be a tool, of course.

In all, I couldn't even finish. It was so bland and felt like writing by the numbers. There was no charm, no humor, no spark, and definitely not much in the way of romance. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

This was a really good book. Definitely gave off "The Princess diaries" vibes. Jamie finds out his father is a king. Like in the princess diaries Jamie will have to be schooled in how to behave like a prince. Erik, from a neighboring kingdom is picked to train him. Both of them are gay, but Eriks grandmother, the queen of Sunstad, does not want Erik to get involved with Jamie.
I loved the interactions between Jamie and Erik. It was so well written and I didn't want to put the book down till I found out what happened.
Well worth a read!

The Rules of Royalty by Cale Dietrich
#mmromance
#yaromance

Fun book reminiscent of The Princess Diaries. But in this story Jamie, an American teen guy, finds out on his 17th birthday that he is a legitimate prince of some Hallmark-type pretend country in Europe. Then bc he needs to learn how to act like a prince, a fellow prince from another pretend country tutors him. And they slowly get attached.

I liked that the reader gets to hear both sides of their feelings in this dual POV book. Each of the young men questioned if what they were choosing to do was the right thing. I also loved that the Jaime pulled the Erik out of his too restricted, proper ways. And got him to question why those ways were necessary. I also appreciated that Erik had an older sibling who was crown prince. He was able to help guide his little brother as any average older sibling would do.

I took away a whole star bc I kept finding things happening that made me think that the author needed to do some more research. These things pulled me out of the story by me thinking, "huh, how could that be?" but overall, it was a decent little love story.

#netgalley #stmartinspress #wednesdaybooks
#therulesofroyalty #caledietrich

This everything that I thought it might be. I heard it was going to be like The Princess Diary and although I wasn’t sure this was going to be as good, it definitely was. It was basic, but also had some LGBTQ+ characters and royals, which of course I loved so much. Definitely made this a little more less basic lol

So the characters were one of the reasons I said this was basic. They didn’t exactly have anything that made them different than any other royal. The best part was Jaime finding out that he was a Royal. There wasn’t a lot of back story on them, so I just had to judge them on what they were finding out about each other in the book. I think it was ok since this was more like a new beginning, but I didn’t really FEEL anything for them. And then there was Erik who was just ok. I felt sad for him, but I was not happy with any of his family. They were terrible. Why is every adult in YA books such horrible people lol But they were too sneaky for me. But I didn’t feel any real empathy to them because we don’t really know much about why she was so extra.

The romance was cute. I like forbidden romance and even more so when it’s royals lol It was interesting trying to see how they were sneaking around and trying to find different ways to be by themselves. Their flirting?! Top tier! They didn’t exactly have “banter” but their flirting was very sweet. I wouldn’t call it elite, but…. Well you get the idea. I didn’t like that they brought someone else into this whole thing tho. Even if he did seem like he didn’t want to be there. I don’t think they should have kept that one person there. But here we are.

The writing style was the best part of this tho. I think if there was more like descriptors and some more in-depth information about the characters or something I would have given them 5 stars. But this was ok. I still love Dietrich and will read what they have. This was good, make sure you pick it up and let me know what you think!