Ok, I admit I did not have super high expectations for this one. I love the Fug Girls — their blog, which I’ve been reading for a freaking decade, cracks me up — but I found Spoiled and Messy (their two other YA novels) to be fun, but vapid (and in the case of Messy, occasionally annoying). The Royal We seems aimed at a more adult audience, and while it has its faults, I also think it’s probably the best book these two ladies have produced so far.
“Well. You never have to be on with me. I promise,” I said, kicking out my legs and lying down on the blanket. “You can do your crosswords and drink your heathen coffee and chill. You’re not my sovereign.”
American college student Bex Porter falls in love with Nick when she takes a semester abroad at Oxford. Nick, of course, is actually Prince Nicholas — heir to the British throne. She knows his identity right off the bat — this is no undercover prince, everyone know who he is — but it takes a while for her to figure out the “in love” part. Once they realize their feelings for each other, they have family to navigate, as well as Nick’s responsibilities to his country.
The falling in love part of the novel is, by far, the best. They become friends after a few false starts, and their friendship (based on a love for a Passions knock off called Devour) leads very naturally to their romance. The girls knocked it out of the park on those chapters. The other 2/3rds of the novel, of course, deal with Nick’s family’s rejection of this low class American (despite her family’s wealth — her father invented the Coucherator, which these girls need to patent ASAP) and Bex’s issues with her twin sister, Lacey. Lacey gets much more wrapped up in the “he’s a prince” thing, and makes Bex crazy (me too, Bex — I hated Lacy from the start and found more and more justification as the novel goes on).
You know that they’ll end up together, of course, but it’s a rough journey to that place. I cannot wait for the Fug Girls to sell the rights to this one. They deserve it, and the book will make an excellent romcom.