REVIEW; Royally Screwed, by Emma Chase

Rating: ★★★★☆

Genre: Romance, New Adult

Recommend: Yes

Book 1 (Individual Story)

SPOILERS 

Summary:

Nicholas and his brother Henry are under the rule of their grandmother - The Queen of Wessco. Henry is off partying after being released from service, and the Queen has informed Nicholas he must marry by the end of the Summer, choosing from a list of noble women she has picked, and also fetch his wild brother from New York. Nicholas wants nothing less than to get hitched, and begrudgingly goes to find his brother and bring him home. 

Olivia runs a café, famous for their pies, whilst taking care of her 17y/o sister and her drunken father, who never coped with the loss of his wife. Olivia has set her life aside to continue her mother's business, until one day Nicholas walks into the café and tries to buy a night with her. Olivia. not knowing who he is, throws a pie in his face, and ultimately begins their forbidden romance. 

My Thoughts:

I have been holed up for a few months focusing on my thesis for university and have picked up a few books and not made it past chapter 1. This was the first novel I have managed to read in among exams/assignments etc and has made me fall back in love with reading. 

I am a sucker for any royalty type love story - The Princess Diaries was one of my favourite series growing up (with a reference to them in the first chapter!). However, this wasn't the typical story of the girl being wrapped up in the drama and chaos of taking up a royal position and the trials and tribulations that follow - really, it was just a love story between two that weren't allowed to be together. 

Olivia: I really love her! She is one of my favourite heroines and I'd love to be friends with her IRL. She is oblivious of who Nicholas is when he walks in and tries to charm her, and I enjoyed her battle between having fun and knowing her worth - i.e. from her POV we often got an insight into the true mind battles girls have, and not just a heroine who always does the noble or right thing. I would have liked her to be a little more like that girl we say throw a pie in his face though. Since that night, the only big standing up she did was go back home after he hurt her. It would have been nice to see her be a little "hard to get" at times whereas sometimes I wondered if she made it all too easy for him? 

Nicholas: Whatta guy! Cocky, arrogant and excessively charming, he's everything a book boyfriend starts out to be. What was refreshing about his character was that he didn't fall hard and fast for the good girl. Intrigue and wonder was the hook and he stayed realistic by putting the end of their time together out there to begin with, He didn't just meet her and become a changed man and fight to marry her; instead he fell in love gradually, as a journey. He also didn't always do the right thing either. The book is written from dual POV so we get an insight into his mind and thoughts and he's one of the best presented male characters I've read in a long time! I think Henry or Logan will be my book boyfriend from the series however. 

Story: The story was probably predictable but there were some shock horrors and twists. Half way through I did find it lulled a little, which is why I rate it 4 stars, as I did start to speed read until it picked up again. However, I was expecting the whole story to be a little sub-par and it definitely was not! I liked that the reader got a wrapped up ending and there was no cliffhanger. 

There was loads of character development and every scene felt it had purpose in adding to the overall web of events. Often I find with NA, there are countless scenes which add nothing and are just page fillers, so I enjoyed this aspect of the book a lot. 

The author, Emma Chase, has actually linked her highlights and notes of the book here. I read this after reading the book and it really made me connect more with the story - I was able to nod in agreement with the points I had spotted, but also it emphasised how every description or word spoken had a role to play and added conviction to the whole narrative. 

Overall:

I had this book in my wishlist before it had been published as it sounded like just my type of romantic drama - it did not disappoint! It's a cliché storyline, but that's obvious from the blurb, so if you like to get lost in a fictional world of romance and drama, this is totally for you! 

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