Royally Not Ready

By: Meghan Quinn

Narrated by: Emma Wilder, John Hartley

Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

An unexpected steamy yet laugh-out-loud royal romance.

©2022 Hot Lanta Publishing LLC (P)2023 Hot Lanta Publishing LLC

Royally Not Ready

I know a lot of people will says it’s like a modern day retelling of Princess Diaries and yes it is but not really.
Lilly Campbell is about to get the biggest wake up, I 100% loved her attitude and how she is herself. Swear words and all, Keller had no idea what he was about to get into. I think I loved that the most, she surprises him at every turn in all the best ways.

The banter and the chemistry are the best part of the book in my opinion. I like that she tried to shock him but he isn’t really shockable which makes them the perfect pair. It’s very spicy and I loved that I want more spice like that yes please.

I have been trying to think of the word that describes both Lilly and Keller, the word for Lilly is sass yep she is total sass. Keller would be stoic and loyal oh very loyal I liked that about him.

I wasn’t a fan of how long it took Lilly to meet her family, that felt like it just took way too long. That part of the book really dragged for me.
But when she does get to meet them it was perfect they all clicked and that was really the whole point.

Now I liked the narration, I think John Hartley was perfect for Keller, Emma personally isn’t a favorite of mine because she sounds very posh. And yes it works because this is a “Royal” book but Lilly wasn’t until she was so there is that.

Silly but entertaining

Meghan Quinn is known to me for her humor so it came as no surprise that this story had its laugh out loud moments. Very whimsical and entertaining, enjoyed the “Princess Diary-like” theme.

Meh

The narrators are phenomenal and made it bearable because the story is mediocre. The female narrator’s character reminded me of an heiress/socialite,who met the male narrator’s character, which reminded me of Sean O’Conner in the Rock. Didn’t like the fact the lead female came across as co-dependent & the male lead had low self esteem.
It’s entertaining enough to listen to when doing chores or running errands.

Royally, Too Long

I have enjoyed this author in the past, but this book stretched out way too long and was not at all realistic. I could have suspended belief in the storyline, but not when I had to skip ahead in so many places because I got tired of the characters telling me what they were thinking over and over again (after it was already shown or told to me at least once before).

While I know long, explicit sex scenes (using some coarse words especially ones that I hate!!! eg. both "c" words...ugh) seem to be the preference in contemporary romances these days, I'm getting tired of fast forwarding through these drawn out sections that don't move the story along. I'm not into romances that are "inspirational" or super "sweet", but what ever happened to contemporary books or rom-coms with sex scenes centered around romance and finesse that culminates after a tense buildup? Unfortunately, these days they are hard to find.

I am still giving this 3 stars instead of the 2 that I originally was going to give it because I did finish the book and the book ended on a high note The H's method of wooing was a great way to wrap things up.

I'm ready to take a break from reading this author and may try her again in the future, if I don't have anything else of interest on my TBR list.

🔥⭐️💯

Royally Not Ready
by: Meghan Quinn

5/5 ⭐️

Keller is a dreamy SNACK, actually a full on FANCY FEAST! Meghan Quinn did it again with another sexy, strong, grumpy, lovable man. I’d call him “king” any day 😘

The relationship that develops between Keller and Lily was so cute. It’s very dominating and enthralling, physically and emotionally. Nothing like a Floridian wet t-shirt contest turn princess royalty with the help of the trust king’s personal secretary/security. The forced proximity was perfection, not cringey at all. And of course, the “will always be you” trope was perfection with all the things he does to win her over. Not only did she fall in love with him but also her family’s heritage. I finished this in one day, so now I have a void that cannot be filled 🥺

Spicy Princess Diaries with a meh romance

So this book was not as good as I wanted it to be. All the reviews say it's a spicy Princess Diaries retelling which is true but the main character Lily started out strong and slowly became really annoying to me. Shes extremely snarky and loves to push boundaries which was super fun to read. But her reaction to Keller's choices at the end seemed really selfish to me. The whole story was about her and her needs and the minute he does something selfish he's suddenly ostracized. Idk... It just didn't work for me.

Some of the things I loved though was...
✅ Witty banter
✅ Sexy leading man
✅ Found family tropes
✅ Definitely spicy

The spice in this book was high, and if you're not comfortable with BDSM this probably isn't the book for you. Keller is a dominant, protective alpha. However, not having much experience with the BDSM content I really loved the aspects at the beginning when they discuss how important safety is and how much Keller values his partners. Even though the language was domineering and controlling, you know as the reader its more about cherishing her. I appreciated that addition from the author.

Overall, this story was pretty "meh" and having read some of her other books I found this one lacking. The romance was prominent but the hurdles they faced seemed pretty bland and it became less about them empowering each other and more about Lily feeling like she couldn't function without him. And I'm just not here for that narrative personally.

Story ⭐⭐⭐
Spice 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
Audio 🎧🎧🎧🎧

Cute story, funny at times, but FMC got on my nerves

The story was cute and funny at times. Typical rom-com. Recommend as a palate cleanser between deeper/darker books. The male narration was very good, the female narration was just ok, but it sounded like whining a lot of the time so it got on my nerves. Again, it’s a cute story, good banter, that’s it.

I've rarely laughed so much at a story

I chose this book by a new-to-me author because I like Emma Wilder and the story seemed interesting. I loved it!! The other narrator is great also. I will look for other books he narrates.

Not for me

I love a good romance novel but this is not it. It’s a bit much if you ask me.

A good read

Easy to get into. I love both characters voices. Would recommend. Can’t wait for read part 2!!!