Royals

By: Rachel Hawkins

Narrated by: Amanda Leigh Cobb

Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins

Publisher's Summary

New York Times best-selling author Rachel Hawkins serves up a deliciously royal romance, perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Huntley Fitzpatrick.

Meet Daisy Winters. She's an offbeat 16-year-old Floridian with mermaid-red hair; a part-time job at a bootleg Walmart, and a perfect older sister who's nearly engaged to the Crown Prince of Scotland. Daisy has no desire to live in the spotlight, but relentless tabloid attention forces her to join Ellie at the relative seclusion of the castle across the pond.

While the dashing young Miles has been appointed to teach Daisy the ropes of being regal, the prince's roguish younger brother kicks up scandal wherever he goes, and tries his best to take Daisy along for the ride. The crown - and the intriguing Miles - might be trying to make Daisy into a lady...but Daisy may just rewrite the royal rulebook to suit herself.

New York Times best-selling author Rachel Hawkins brings her signature humor, love of Americana, and flair for romance to this addictive Princess Diaries-turned-upside-down story.

©2018 Rachel Hawkins (P)2018 Listening Library

Critic Reviews

"A crowning achievement...this is the pitch perfect teen movie of your dreams." (EW.com)

"Sweet, romantic, and adorable, fans of Meg Cabot will thoroughly enjoy Hawkins' latest!" (Buzzfeed) 

"[A] beach-read-daydream of a novel.... Think Mia Thermopolis meets Pippa Middleton, dotted with romance and scandal for good measure." (Elite Daily) 

Really fun listen

Rachel Hawkins has never disappointed us. Her books are fun to listen to and the whole family always loves them. She writes great characters, and this book isn't really the type of book we normally like (sci-fi/fantasy all the way), but we all adored it. Loved the protagonist, but all of the side characters really shined just like in her Hex Hall books.

Love me some Royal Snogging!

Let's just say this was such a fun book to listen to. I laughed so much while listening to this. The narrator was superb with all the accents and the snarky Daisy.... A girl after my own heart. I am a closet royalist seeing how my ancestry line goes back to King James and Queen Mary of Scotts. Too great of a book not to share. If you love all things Royal, and even if you don't, this book is a must read.

Fun story- great listen

Amanda does a superb job narrating this story. It’s set in Scotland and I felt the accents were genuine. The story itself was pretty fun. Reminded me a bit of Princess Diaries/ Win a date with Tad Hamilton. I do wish there was a little more ... scandal... catharsis? I know it’s a YA novel but it was so utterly vanilla. But I enjoyed Hawkins writing style and the main character was overall relatable and likable! I think I’d like an Adult version of this book. Lol. Enjoyed it though. :)

Well

It wasn't what I thought it would be. I was hoping for something more romantic.

Disappointed

I have mixed feelings about this book.

Pros:
-The narrator does a stupendous job with all the different voices and accents! One of the best narrations I've ever heard.
-It is a unique angle to take for a princess book, I liked that it was her sister becoming the princess, and she was just along for the exciting ride.
-The setting was believable
-There were some funny moments and witty remarks

Cons:
-I found our main girl too whiny. I listened to Meg Cabot's "Princess Diaries" series, and even though that was a younger character who whined a bit too, it was funny and had heart to it--it just didn't bother me as much. With this book I had a really hard time getting behind the constant, "Woe is me." I think that's why I'd say it's for a younger audience.

-I don't like people being petty and mean just to be mean, or immature people causing their own problems, etc. I found the drama and most of the characters too immature. It stopped being fun and just annoying.

-Not for conservatives. I didn't like the teenagers always being drunk, careless sex, etc. While there is no explicit sex scene, it is mentioned quite a bit, and known that all of these teens are doing it.

Overall, the book has some funny moments, it really is a creative and believable princess book, the narration is top notch- but I can't bring myself to finish the last 1.5 hours. I like books that make me happy, and with all the immature drama, it was just a well written bummer.

Cute story

I really enjoy all of Rachel Hawkins' books, so I was excited to have another one to listen to. Royals is a cute, fun story set mainly in Edinburgh and around Scotland. Since I just took my first trip to Scotland over the summer, it was fun to recognize several of the places or areas the main character went. I enjoyed her Hex Hall series a bit more than this book, but it was still an enjoyable read with a bit of romance. I only wish it was longer and that they'd gotten to some of the bigger elements of the story sooner. Overall it was enjoyable, and especially great entertainment for commuting if you have a longer than average drive into work. Perhaps there will be a sequel?

Loved it!

The performance was fantastic and really added to the overall story. Can't wait to find out if there's a sequel!

Funny entertaining and smart

With Prince Harry's wedding just around the corner, this book is THE best road companion for my 2h a day comute. I love it!

The story was lame and boring

I tried to finish this several times, I finally just put it on when I went to sleep and let it run out. The performance was very good, just wasn't for me.

Great Book

I have an hour long drive to work each day, and so I've been looking into audio books to listen to on my way. I'm very picky when it comes to audiobooks. I think that most of the narrators chosen for them are monotoned and their voice has no life in it.
So when I found this audiobook, I was very pleased with the narrator that was chosen. Amanda Leigh Cobb was amazing at reading the story and her accents for all the characters were spot on. I had originally tried to read this book myself, but found myself getting bored. But the way Amanda read it to me made me want to finish it and kept me interested throughout.
The story itself was great. It's your typical regular girl falls in love with a prince, but told from the P.O.V. of said girl's little sister.
Daisy was a breath of fresh air, and I loved her witt and the way that she seems to make the best out of any situation. And Daisy's love interest, Miles? He is the complete opposite of Daisy, and that's kinda what makes it work between them. Opposites attract and all that. I love how Rachel Hawkins could have made Daisy fall for Prince Alex's (her future brother-in-law) younger brother Sebastian, but instead chose an average, non-royal guy.
The only thing I have to complain about is the fact that their romance is VERY slow burning. There isn't any romance burning between Daisy and Miles until the last hundred pages or so, possibly even less. I wish we could have gotten more romance, but it's nice that the romance didn't feel forced and happened naturally.