About Books #26: The Royal Treatment

Here’s the thing: teenagers have The Princess Diaries. Late teens to early twenties get The Prince and Me. And I love both of those. But now that I’m starting to grow out of both those age groups, I felt like I wasn’t really getting my “commoner turns royal”-fix anymore. And we all know I love me something royal. Well, do I have some good news for you: MJ Summers’ The Royal Treatment? Totally fills that gap!

Quick disclaimer: I got the chance to read this book via Netgalley. All opinions are completely mine, though!

Story

“Ultra-private, ridiculously handsome Crown Prince Arthur has always gotten by on his charm. But that won’t be enough now that the Royal Family is about to be ousted from power once and for all. When Prince Arthur has to rely on the one woman in the kingdom who hates him most, he must learn that earning the love of a nation means first risking his heart.

Twenty-eight-year-old Tessa Sharpe, a.k.a. The Royal Watchdog, hates everything about Prince Arthur. As far as she’s concerned, he’s an arrogant, lazy leech on the kingdom of Avonia. When he shocks the nation by giving her the keys to the castle, Tessa has no choice but to accept and move in for two months. It’s lust at first sight, but there’s no way she can give in to her feelings—not if she wants to have a career or a shred of pride left when her time at the palace ends…

Can two natural enemies find their forever in each other’s arms, or will they ruin each other to save themselves?”

This story, basically, has everything. A woman trying to make it as a journalist and/or blogger (recognisable, much?). A prime minister cruely betraying the very royal family that supported him all the way into his current position. An absolutely adorable pig. A bunch of big brothers that – most likely – you’ll want to punch at the end the story. And of course: a whole bunch of euphemisms for anything to do with *ahem*  a man’s lower regions.

Characters

Usually, I tend to not really like the ‘so embarrassing” moments. You know, the ones that make you cringe as well, almost feeling as if you’re the one being humiliated? But here’s the thing about Tessa: I actually could really recognise myself in her. Now, I haven’t been shocked by a torture device that is promoted as a running aid lately. (Then again, this has re-affirmined my opinion that running is just not for me). But the way she handles her constant embarrassment? It’s kind of amazing – but it never ceases to be realistic.

Prince Arthur, on the other hand, is just too meta to handle. We’re litterally introduced to him with the words

I hate to tell you this, ladies, but if you’ve ever watched a Hollywood film— or even worse— a made-for-TV movie about a royal family, you’ve been served up a steaming plate of horseshit. I know, because I am the Crown Prince of Avonia, but I’m not just speaking for myself. Several of my closest friends are also princes or dukes from various countries around the world. We’ve discussed it and we all agree— the film and romance book industry has done us all a great disservice by setting up unrealistic expectations of what it means to date and/ or marry a member of the Royal Family.

Quite frankly, he’ll be a bit of an arrogant twat throughout this book, but he does redeem himself – as does Tessa, for that matter 🙂

Narration

This was actually the first book by MJ Summers that I read, and she starts it with a disclaimer that she doesn’t usually write this kind of books. Honestly? I think she should.

Sure, there were some huge cliches

“It matters to me that you’re here, Tessa. I need you to know who I am. Even if we lose, I could almost live with it if I felt like you understood.” I blink back tears and whisper, “I see you, Arthur.”“You may be the only person who ever has.”

As I already mentioned, there’s some interesting euphemisms as well – Arthur grabs for an heir stopper, his scepter hasn’t been polished in forever or his Excalibur starts begging. At least they stay in theme?

Those cliches are more than balanced out by the cultural references – Kate and William having another baby, Harry getting engaged. Oh, and of course this gem:

I really should have tried harder to be ‘the people’s prince’ long before this month. It was all fine and dandy when the referendum was just an idea, but now that it’s been announced, it’s like finding out that the White Walkers have breached the wall and we don’t have even one dragonglass dagger among us. We’re well and truly fucked.

Overall: 3.75/5

Let’s be real, this is not in any way a thought-inducing novel. Well, maybe a little, in that it gives you some background into blogging, politics, be it in a very light tone.

Mainly, though, this is just a really fun read. It’s not too high-paced, actually had me laugh out loud a couple of times and somehow managed to stay realistic – even while having a blogger lives with a prince. Because that’s gonna happen.

If you want to give this one a try, you can find it on Amazon
(affiliate link) – if you’re looking for something nice, happy and fluffy? I would definitely recommend it!

-Saar