Published: July 7th, 2020
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Royal Romance
My rating: 4.5 stars
Acquired this book: From the publisher in exchange for honest consideration
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Buy: Amazon Canada || Amazon US || Indigo
After a scandalous secret turns their fairy-tale wedding into a nightmare, Rebecca “Bex” Porter and her husband Prince Nicholas are in self-imposed exile. The public is angry. The Queen is even angrier. And the press is salivating. Cutting themselves off from friends and family, and escaping the world’s judgmental eyes, feels like the best way to protect their fragile, all-consuming romance.
But when a crisis forces the new Duke and Duchess back to London, the Band-Aid they’d placed over their problems starts to peel at the edges. Now, as old family secrets and new ones threaten to derail her new royal life, Bex has to face the emotional wreckage she and Nick left behind: with the Queen, with the world, and with Nick’s brother Freddie, whose sins may not be so easily forgotten — nor forgiven.
Since I was late to the game reading The Royal We, I was able to start The Heir Affair with all the happenings and characters fresh in my mind. After spending over a week with Bex, Nick, Freddie, and the gang, they became very real to me, with their saga feeling as if it played out like a movie in my head. Now I miss these characters and their world!
Part of why The Royal We was so fun was because it was familiar in a way. I didn’t follow Will and Kate’s relationship in the early days, but I became obsessed with the couple when they announced their engagement, so getting to read a fictionalized version of a story with many similarities to their relationship was entertaining and amusing. The Heir Affair was completely different, though; it was still a lot of fun and I was still entertained and amused, but it all felt fresh and new and much less like Will and Kate fanficiton.
We so rarely get to see what happens after the ‘and they lived happily ever after’. Most romances feature couples falling in love and, while they struggle and overcome obstacles, you know a happily ever after (or happy for now) is guaranteed. But what happens when the shine of a new relationship wears off and the honeymoon is over? What happens when the obstacles in a marriage seem insurmountable? That’s what we got in The Heir Affair. We still got the ‘behind the scenes’ of royal life/life in the public eye and how that affected every aspect of Bex and Nick’s life, but their relationship had more depth because more was at stake. While most people can’t relate to dodging paparazzi and having every aspect of their life scrutinized under a microscope, the authors managed to make it relatable. It helped that real-life issues like infertility, infidelity, secrets and lies, and mental health were woven through the plot.
While The Royal We felt mostly like fun escapism, The Heir Affair dealt with much heavier subject matter. It was still hilarious and definitely had plenty of fun, light-hearted moments, but it also made me tear up and outright cry on several occasions because Bex’s pain was so authentic. Also, as someone who has had mental health struggles for years, I appreciated the way mental health was dealt with in an honest and open way, with references to therapy and coping mechanisms. I also continued to enjoy Bex's relationship with her college friends (I want a friend like Gaz in my life - in fact, I think we all need a Gaz), the different (and healthier) dynamics between her and her sister Lacey, and Bex's relationship with various royals. There are several scenes with the Queen that had me grinning and laughing throughout. With all the heavy subject matter, this book easily could have turned depressing, but the authors struck a good balance between the parts that felt like an emotional gut-punch and the parts that were truly hilarious.
If you haven’t read The Royal We, I highly recommend picking up a copy, along with The Heir Affair. This royal saga will make you laugh, cry, rage, and fall in love. Full of surprises and lots of heart, The Heir Affair is one of the best sequels I’ve ever read, and I'm grateful to the authors for giving us the opportunity to return to this world. I know Bex, Nick, and the others will stick with me for a long time.
Read my review of The Royal We
Have you read The Heir Affair or The Royal We? Do you have a favourite sequel? Or a book you wish would get a sequel?
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~Marie