Thursday, January 12, 2023

American Royalty (American Royalty #1) by Tracey Livesay


American Royalty by Tracey Livesay was all the rage last year and on a lot of best of lists for romance novels in 2022. Basically, a beautiful American rapper named Duchess and a minor prince fall in love. That's the story. If you are immediately thinking of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry, you'd be right to do so.

Interesting characters: You know what? Yes. This book is a slow burn and one of the reasons for this is that these two characters don't even meet until about a quarter of the way through because the author takes time to develop each of them. Duchess grew up in an unstable family and seeks stability through success. Unfortunately, her music career involves a lot of people telling her what to do and how to do it, so she's been developing a skin care line for women of color. Meanwhile, Prince Jameson is a professor (I melt) and he just wants to stay out of the limelight and away from attention. I thought this was well done.

Believable conflict: Sure, of course. Just like in The Royal We, these two are going to have issues. The royal family isn't going to just let this happen. Even if you ignore race (which this book essentially does), the sexual nature of Duchess's lyrics and performances are huge. Also, in this version (ahem), the royal family is struggling because of some scandals within the royal family (ahem) and the queen needs Jameson to rehabilitate the image of the monarchy. If Duchess didn't like being told what to do and how to do it in her career, imagine what it will be like if she marries into this family.

Emotional tension: Yes, this is a great example of a slow build. They don't meet for quite some time and when they do, they don't really get along. I thought Livesay did a great job building up the tension.

Happily ever after: Another book in which I just think that there is no way this couple can make it. There's a follow-up, but I honestly don't see how this can work and it brings the whole book down for me. The conflict is too real and too big to overcome. If they were normies without fame, it would be a different story.

3.5/5 stars

Line of note:

"...You listen to music? Know which artists are popular with the kids?" As soon as the words vacated his mouth, Jameson was well aware that he sounded like a man in his dotage rather than his thirty-two years. (location 791)

Ha ha ha. Haven't we all been there?

Puzzling line:

Dani twisted her bottom lip...(location 4375)

Is this physically possible to do? I can twist my top lip, but nothing happens with my bottom lip unless I'm moving my entire jaw.

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