Name: Playing the Palace
ISBN: 9780593099414

Paul Rudnick

THEIR LOVE STORY CAPTIVATED THE WORLD...THE CROWN PRINCE AND THAT GUY FROM NEW YORK When a lonely American event planner starts dating the gay Prince of Wales, a royal uproar ensues: is it true love or the ultimate meme? Find out in this hilarious romantic comedy. After having his heart trampled on by his cheating ex, Carter Ogden is afraid love just isn't in the cards for him. He still holds out hope in a tiny corner of his heart, but even in his wildest dreams he never thought he'd meet the Crown Prince of England, much less do a lot more with him. Yes, growing up he'd fantasized about the handsome, openly gay Prince Edgar, but who hadn't? When they meet by chance at an event Carter's boss is organizing, Carter's sure he imagined all that sizzling chemistry. Or was it mutual? This unlikely but meant-to-be romance sets off media fireworks on both sides of the Atlantic. With everyone having an opinion on their relationship and the intense pressure of being constantly in the spotlight, Carter finds ferocious obstacles to his Happily Ever After, including the tenacious disapproval of the Queen of England. Carter and Price Edgar fight for a happy ending to equal their glorious international beginning. It's a match made on Valentine's Day and in tabloid heaven.

Playing the Palace

Kelci

Jennifer mitchell

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm really torn on my thoughts on this book. The story synopsis was really cute and drew me in right away, but I felt like the story didn't flow in a way that was enjoyable.

I'm exclusively a romance reader, so I know a little bit of suspending your disbelief comes with the territory because these books are never fully realistic. However, with contemporary romances, I typically don't need to suspend my belief THAT much, considering the whole point of the story is normally showing real life people living out "real life situations" (even though sometimes it's a little farfetched). With this book, you have to completely suspend your disbelief in order to enjoy this story. Every aspect of this book is so completely unrealistic it became distracting at parts - from the instant way the couple met and got together (like hello THIS IS A PRINCE! it shouldn't have been this easy!!) to the fact that the QUEEN OF ENGLAND randomly appears in a New Jersey apartment. 

The good:
-There were a few laugh-out-loud funny moments that I really enjoyed
-Cute plot overall (who doesn't love a fairytale like romance of ending up with a prince??)
-Jewish representation! As a jewish woman it's always exciting when I find books that include jewish characters. Some of my favorite parts of the book were the scenes with Carter's family and all their wild antics. It reminded me of my own family (and I personally use all those yiddish words every single day!)

The bad:
-The pacing was really off for me. I felt like the middle of this book should have been the end, but then it kept going and I was confused.
-Insta love. I need some tension and build up in my romance books, and that was completely nonexistent from this one. The couple shares their first kiss within the first 25% of the book. I found it very hard to get attached to the characters and their relationship based on how quickly their relationship happened.
-Telling rather than showing the reader throughout the book. One of my main complaints is that I was told a lot of things through the characters inner dialogue, but was never SHOWN these things through their actions. As a reader I like to be immersed in the story by going along for the ride and witnessing these plot points play out in my head, but that did not happen in this book.
-Conflict comes out of nowhere. This can be combined with the telling rather than showing point, but basically the main conflict in this book is just thrown at the reader from way out in left field. There was no build up to it, and nothing to indicate that it was coming. Instead, you're just told that it happened and have to move on from there.

Final thoughts:
I'm a fast reader, and this is a relatively short book compared with my normal reads, yet I felt like it took me so long to get through this whole thing. The story really dragged for me, especially the second half, and I found myself flipping forward to see how much longer I had before I was done.

Overall, I thought the book was a cute, light read, but definitely had some pacing issues. If you can look past the issues outlined above and want a fun, easy read, then I recommend you pick up the book. Otherwise, this might be one to pass on.

riven

Hannah Mcclennen

Honestly not good. Was hoping for something similar to RW&RB knowing it wouldn’t be the same but like just not a good book 😂 didn’t even fully finish it. The plot was okay but I hated how the queen was portrayed like??? I don’t know what it would be accurately but that wasn’t it.

Alyssa Huffman

It’s a good book but it just feels like a red, white, and royal blue knock off so the best I can say is save your time and just read that not this.

Drew Crespo

Emi Gilmore 

I remember absolutely nothing from my 10th grade Chemistry class, but I do know, for a fact, that this book has way less chemistry in it then my brain does. 

I thought I was trash for the American fallz in love with a prince trope. I've seen that fucking Netflix Christmas movie with the girl from that one Power Rangers season like 10 times. I don't know what I'm trash for anymore. 

The characters were annoying. There feelings developed put of nothing. It tried to be funny, but the jokes missed everytime. I couldn't tell the side characters apart. I think I hate myself more for not DNFing this.

lauren carla

i’ve never DNFed a book before but I was so close to DNFing this one 😭 I found Carter insanely ANNOYING and I felt like there wasn’t a real connection or chemistry between the characters. it’s disappointing because I really expected to enjoy the novel when I added it to my tbr 😔

THEIR LOVE STORY CAPTIVATED THE WORLD…THE CROWN PRINCE AND THAT GUY FROM NEW YORK When a lonely American event planner starts dating the gay Prince of Wales, a royal uproar ensues: is it true love or the ultimate meme? Find out in this hilarious romantic comedy. After having his heart trampled on by his cheating ex, Carter Ogden is afraid love just isn’t in the cards for him. He still holds out hope in a tiny corner of his heart, but even in his wildest dreams he never thought he’d meet the Crown Prince of England, much less do a lot more with him. Yes, growing up he’d fantasized about the handsome, openly gay Prince Edgar, but who hadn’t? When they meet by chance at an event Carter’s boss is organizing, Carter’s sure he imagined all that sizzling chemistry. Or was it mutual? This unlikely but meant-to-be romance sets off media fireworks on both sides of the Atlantic. With everyone having an opinion on their relationship and the intense pressure of being constantly in the spotlight, Carter finds ferocious obstacles to his Happily Ever After, including the tenacious disapproval of the Queen of England. Carter and Price Edgar fight for a happy ending to equal their glorious international beginning. It’s a match made on Valentine’s Day and in tabloid heaven.

Rosie

This was an easy read, and it only took me a couple hours to finish. 

Carter is broken up by his long term boyfriends and meets Prince Edgar of England while setting up for Edgar’s speech. The two hit it off and they learn about each other’s families. Carter learns what it takes to be a royal, and how important this relationship is for the LGBTQ+ community. 

Written in first POV, it was a lighthearted easy read with a miscommunication trope (near the end). A great book to read while in a slump and just want something that isn’t difficult to follow. 

Miscommunication trope, made me want to scream, but not to stop reading. 

Louise 

An ok and entertaining read. 
I didn't really like the writing, especially in the beginning. Listing the 15 haircare and skincare products Carter was using at the start of the book had the same vibes as a Wattpad fanfic written by a 15 yearold in 2013. As the book progresses the writing gets better and I could get into the story more easily. 
Bringing back the ex multiple times and having different versions of the same conflict is also a negative for me. 

The characters were likeable and funny. I liked the story as a whole and the concept is very interesting.

Alexis 

3.5/ 5 Stars 

** I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, Thank you!** 

I had a great time reading this book. I love romance books that include royalty, so this was a plus. I like the two characters together. I thought that they were adorable together and made a cute couple. As for the actual story I would say it's pretty pridictable. There wasn't anything that really surprised me. Overall It was short, cute and easy to read, I would recommend it.