Royal Review: The Royal We by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan

The Royal We by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan
Published 2015
454 Pages

Based on the premise of The Royal We, one could be forgiven for presuming it is a fictional retelling of William and Kate's relationship. It definitely meets the criteria:

 A Prince (Nick) meets an American commoner (Rebecca Porter/Bex) at university/predictably breakup/make each other jealous while apart/inevitably get back together

 Prince Nick has a younger, sexy brother (Prince Freddie) with ginger hair who likes to party

 Bex has a sister (Lacey) who basks in her sister's limelight

 Bex comes from a self-made family which includes an ambitious mother

 Prince Nick has commitment issues due to what happened to his mother at the hands of the royal family and the press

 Prince Nick gives Bex a royal heirloom engagement ring last worn by his tragic mother

 Bex has numerous fashion blogs devoted to her appearance

 Most predicable of all, because every single fictional royal novel includes emotionally distant royals who disapprove of situations beyond their control. Despite changing the names of the main characters and creating a different royal house, the dynamic is still there.

The beginning of The Royal We finds the bride-to-be, Bex, at The Goring Hotel the night before the royal wedding. Given all of the similarities, it would be obvious to assume that there will be a happily ever after, right? Not necessarily.

Before we can get to Westminster Abbey, we need to get the similarities out of the way. This takes longer than expected as first we need to cover the predicable courtship and breakup, which lasts far longer than William and Kate's. Once they predictably break up, readers are led on a journey which include Bex partying and flirting with guys who could jeopardize her future. After Nick proposes, he ships off to sea, leaving Bex to fend for herself in regal  'shark infested waters.' Predictably, the pressure gets to her and she starts to feel sorry for herself after reading nasty stories on a website called The Royal Flush.  Although unrelenting at times, the pithy remarks from loyal friends provide welcome comic relief along the way.

It is only towards the end of the book - Part Five - where the story deviates from the predictability and becomes a page turner. I literally could not put it down. I think that the suspense of the twist could have been alluded to earlier and drawn out more. As it stands, the twist feels as though it has been dumped in the readers lap without preliminary. The Royal We ends just as the resulting conflict was starting to get unpredictably interesting.

If you have followed William and Kate's relationship from the beginning you will feel as though you have already read the majority of this book. Although fun and light, it is only when The Royal We finally deviates from the similarities and predictability that it becomes a compelling read.

© Marilyn Braun 2015

Thank you for enjoying this article. If you use the information for research purposes, a link to credit the work I've put into writing it would be appreciated.