The whole world’s got the fever… Royal fever that is!
A Guest Post by Nana Malone
You can’t turn around these days without seeing something about the Duke and Duchess of Sussex or the adorable Baby Archie. (I’m still waiting for his red curls to make an appearance!) OR even the sassy and hilarious Prince George via Gary Janetti on the Gram.
We’re all obsessed. Why? Because we love a fairytale! And the royals deliver.
On this side of the pond, we don’t get much of the royals unless there is a wedding or a scandal. And we haven’t really had a juicy scandal since Harry’s naked hot tub days, am I right?
But weddings? A wedding can give you enough royal feels to last you a decade. Who doesn’t remember that frosting like dress at Princess Diana’s wedding?!?!? I was only a tiny thing in Ghana, but I remember watching on TV wondering why she didn’t look happier…
But I digress, because now I know. Lol. But I was obsessed with that whole wedding and dressed up my dolls as I marched them down the aisle of my cousin’s Barbie dream house.
Meghan Markle and Harry looked vastly different when they got married and the whole world could feel it! So even if you didn’t have royal fever before the wedding, you certainly had it after.
I mean that dress, the veil, his whispered words to her, we SOAKED it up. Because that was the stuff fairytales are made of. And Meghan was ALL of us. And for us little brown girls, their wedding told us fairytales were for us too.
In our romance loving hearts, we often substitute billionaires for royalty. And while our men in thousand-dollar suits and watches that cost more than your average car scratch that opulence and fantasy itch, nothing replaces a crown does it? Not to mention the lavishly made up countries and the parties in locations most of us could only dream of.
And while Royal fever has been with us in our beloved romance historicals, it’s spreading to contemporary romance reading too!
If you haven’t yet jumped into the opulence, and splendor and sheer fantastical fairytale goodness of contemporary romance royals, let me dish out a few recs for your tiara reading pleasure.
1. The Rourke Series by Kylie Gilmore
In book one, Royal Catch, meet the gruff Prince Gabriel who’s in need of a wife, but falls for the commoner, Anna, who just so happens to be impersonating a princess. When a bridal competition goes terribly wrong, secrets start to surface and and a kingdom’s very survival hangs by a thread.
These books are just fun and flirty romcom goodness.
2. The Royally Series by Emma Chase
Nicholas Arthur Frederick Edward Pembrook is the Crowned Prince of Wessco. He’s wickedly charming, devastatingly handsome, and unabashedly arrogant. But on one snowy night in Manhattan, he finds the one person who doesn’t bow down and kiss the ring. Instead, Olivia Hammond throws a pie in his face. And all Nicholas wants from then on is the waitress, even if it means he might lose his crown.
They’re sexy, fun and let’s face it, “His Royal Hotness” is basically every alpha hero we love to hate, then love again.
Casey McQuiston
What happens when America’s First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales? When his mother becomes president, Alex Claremont-Diaz promptly became the American equivalent of a young royal. But there’s one problem, diplomatic relations between Alex and the actual Prince Henry is anything but a special relationship. In an effort of damage control, Alex and Henry start a fake friendship to ease tensions. And soon they find themselves hurtling towards a secret romance. One that could upend two nations…
You know what I love about fairytales? They are for everyone and this is great for a MM royal recommendation. It’s just exquisite and sheer fun.
4. The Selection by Keria Cass
For all those YA lovers… prepare to be swept away into a world of breathless fairytale romance. For thirty-five girls, the Selection is the chance of a lifetime. The opportunity to escape a rigid caste system, live in a palace, and compete for the heart of gorgeous Prince Maxon. But for America Singer, being Selected is a nightmare. It means turning her back on her secret love with Aspen, who is a caste below her, and competing for a crown she doesn’t want.
Then America meets Prince Maxon—and realizes that the life she’s always dreamed of may not compare to a future she never imagined.
5. The Prince by Jillian Dodd
An eighteen-year-old covert agent is pulled out of training before graduation by Black X, an espionage group so secret even the President of the United States doesn’t know it exists. For her first mission, she must go undercover as the long-lost daughter of a recently deceased billionaire and protect the Prince of Montrovia from threats of assassination. But Prince Lorenzo is known as the Playboy Prince for a reason and his sensuality and charisma add a whole other level of complication to her mission.
This is more New Adult, but will still scratch that royal itch along with that badass heroine itch too!
6. Reluctant Royals by Alyssa Cole
A tale of a city Cinderella and her Prince Charming in disguise… Between grad school and multiple jobs, Naledi Smith doesn’t have time for fairy tales or patience for the constant emails claiming she’s betrothed to an African prince. Prince Thabiso is the sole heir to the throne of Thesolo and shouldering the hopes of his parents and his people. Ever dutiful, he tracks down his missing betrothed. But when Naledi mistakes the prince for a pauper, Thabiso can’t resist the chance to experience life—and love—without the burden of his crown.
For diverse royals this is a great pick!
7. The Princess Trap by Talia Hibbert
He’s reckless, dominant, and deliciously dirty. This prince is no fairytale. Prince Ruben of Helgmøre is his family’s greatest scandal, but the defiant royal won’t change for anyone. He always takes what he wants, and his current obsession is Cherry Neita. The feisty beauty has no idea she’s being seduced by royalty—until they’re caught together in a compromising position. All Cherry wanted was a night or two with the hottest man she’d ever seen. But now he needs her to play princess. The deal seems straightforward enough: one year as Ruben’s fake fiancée, and he’ll make all her problems disappear. Or just create all new ones…
8. Bodyguard to the Billionaire by Nana Malone
If these aren’t enough for your tiara and hot prince fix, join me where the intrigue is as hot as the princes and the princesses who wear tiaras and occasionally carry weapons…
Derrick Arlington is one of the world’s most eligible billionaires. And I just so happen to look exactly like him. Go to the Winston Isles, stand in as his body double for a few weeks, go back to my life. But when our carefully constructed plan goes awry and the billionaire goes missing, I have no choice but to take his place and hire a bodyguard. Zia Barnes is the LAST thing I want, even if I need her. She’s determined, smart, and has no idea I’m a total imposter.
Happy reading my fellow queens. Pardon me while I adjust my tiara and hunt for any news of who baby Archie’s godparents are.
About Nana:
USA Today Best Seller, Nana Malone’s love of all things romance and adventure started with a tattered romantic suspense she “borrowed” from her cousin.
It was a sultry summer afternoon in Ghana, and Nana was a precocious thirteen. She’s been in love with kick butt heroines ever since. With her overactive imagination, and channeling her inner Buffy, it was only a matter a time before she started creating her own characters.
While she waits for her chance at a job as a ninja assassin, in the meantime Nana works out her drama, passion, and sass with fictional characters every bit as sassy and kick butt as she thinks she is.
Connect with Nana:
Website: http://nanamaloneromance.net/
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