Name: sarah's review of Prince Charming by Rachel Hawkins
Item: Prince Charming
Rating: 3
Author: sarah

Rachel Hawkins

Originally published as "Royals," New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins serves up a deliciously royal romance, perfect for fans of Sarah Dessen and Huntley Fitzpatrick. Meet Daisy Winters. She's an offbeat sixteen-year-old Floridian with mermaid-red hair, a part time job at a bootleg Walmart, and a perfect older sister who's nearly engaged to the Crown Prince of Scotland. Daisy has no desire to live in the spotlight, but relentless tabloid attention forces her join Ellie at the relative seclusion of the castle across the pond. While the dashing young Miles has been appointed to teach Daisy the ropes of being regal, the prince's roguish younger brother kicks up scandal wherever he goes, and tries his best to take Daisy along for the ride. The crown--and the intriguing Miles--might be trying to make Daisy into a lady . . . but Daisy may just rewrite the royal rulebook to suit herself. New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins brings her signature humor, love of Americana, and flair for romance to this page-turning Princess Diaries turned-upside-down story.

Prince Charming

Kayla Sairs 

sarah

just the cute contemporary i needed at the moment 🥰 loved loved the main character, diasy, her humor is SO SIMILAR to mine so i rly vibed w it 🤩🤩 would have loved to see more development and detail from the other characters, esp from that of the royal wreckers. ending felt a little rushed but the entire novel was really cute overall 🤠🤠

victoria

This book was so cute???? It's adorable, cliché and it works super well, the chapters are short and the story is fun so you can read it all in one or two days.
The characters are really great, Daisy and her parents are very funny that caught myself laughing out loud, Miles is kinda grumpy but it's really cute to see him trying not to laugh at Daisy's jokes, the rest of the royal family (Alex and Ellie aside) are what we expect from royal families: snobs.
The book feels like a modern fairy tale and it even scored points with me for the sapphic representation, the romance is slowburn and the tension stretches to literally the last chapter, most of the story focuses on character development so some people may miss it the romance — but for me it was all great.
 A great read for those who want to read something cute or get out of a reading slump, now I even want to visit Scotland.

Raquel 

4,5 stars ⭐️

I was not expecting to love this book this much! But it just was such a light hearted and fun read! Daisy and her dad were just so funny I couldn’t stop laughing. I really recommend it if you want an easy, cute, fun and short read.

Jude Moon

4.5/5 ★.

I've been screaming non-stop for the last two days because of this book. It's just... It's not the best book ever, but it had all of the tropes I LOVE and very well done! Also, I laughed out loud numerous times, which hardly ever happens, and overall I loved the characters and how witty Daisy was. The pacing had me completely hooked and honestly, it gave me a lot of Elizabeth/Darcy fanfic vibes and I was there for it.

sophia n

i didn't expect to love this so much!? it was so much fun, sweet, and enjoyable. the publishers blurb is not at all a good representation of the book or plot itself which is awful, but i'm glad i read it anyway. it was a lot less of a 'romance' novel as it was just a really fun story of a ~normal~ girl who gets thrown into the life of messy royals because her sister is engaged to the crown prince. i loved daisy, she was sharp and witty, and i just enjoyed her perspective and narration so much. critically it's not a perfect book in any way, but it was a great light read, super fun, made me laugh a lot, and i'd def recommend it.

as an aside, the only heavy criticism i seem to see about it on goodreads is the 'scottish representation' and how unrealistic it is and i ... am kind of like ... lmao ... first of all, i'm dutch & american so i can't speak on the legitimacy of the scottish cultural details specifically, and yet i CAN say, as a person who is from two commonly misrepresented cultures in novels by authors who are not from that culture AND that culture being western & still white and racist, there is more than enough in this book from scottish culture to make it believable and realistic, it's fiction, and if there ARE some discrepancies ... it is harming literally no one

elizabeth church

I loved this book so much!! Maybe it’s just my inner ya contemporary reader coming out, but I truly loved it. To further convince you of this, here is an excerpt from the text rant I sent my friends immediately after reading it:

“I need some time to rant about this book because it was so gooooood... I literally loved it; amazing!!! So good so good so good!! The drama in this book was enough to last me a lifetime of gossip! And the the guys... holy freaking cow the guys!! They were written so well... most specifically Miles who I am now devoutly in love with and will fangirl over him for a while cause he is just *a million chef’s kisses*, I loved this book!!! Literally loved it!! 5 out of 5 stars! Incredible, astounding, ... *tries to emobdy my inner thesaurus for more words to use* ... wonderful, I don’t know anymore words but I loved it!!!”

Emma Kamer

Camila 

I feel like objectively this book should be 3 stars, but once I reached the half and more stuff started to happen I was so involved in what would happen next, and in the upcoming romance, and just had so much fun listening to it that it is 4 stars for me.
I wasn't expecting a life-changing book, I wasn't expecting the next high literary novel, I wanted fun contemprary with a side of romance and a little drama and that's what I got, that enough makes it 4 stars for me.
Going to read/listen to book 2 later today :)

Laura Yaneth Martinez

So cute & enjoyable and honestly that’s all I really need.

Katie

This is the kind of book where the things I liked, I REALLY liked or even loved, and the things I didn't like, I hated so so very much.

The story follows Daisy, whose sister is about to marry the crown prince of Scotland. Daisy is swept off to various royal abodes in Scotland to undergo a crash course in How To Act Around Royalty and Not Look Like an Ass (note: she fails horribly). There, she meets a host of hot boys who also happen to be part of the Scottish nobility, and hijinks ensue.

The first thing I loved was the setting. I feel like Scotland is usually pretty close to the cultural forefront because of the popularity of Outlander, both the book series and TV adaptation, but the writing in this book made it feel IMMEDIATE. Like yes, intellectually I know that Scotland actually exists in the modern day and is only a measly few thousand miles away, but it doesn't always feel that way. Rachel Hawkins made it feel that way. The descriptions of settings were definitely my favorite part. 

The romance was also swoony, so that was a major plus, but I wish a little bit more of the book had been focused on it. It's not often that I look at a fluffy contemporary romance and wish that it had a bit more of the last part, but I do! It was a suuuuuuuper slow build and then it very quickly got very serious, with so little falling action I thought I was getting whiplash.

Now, getting into my main issue of the book: none of the characters really talked to each other.

Yeah. It's one of those.

So many of the conflicts, especially between Daisy and her sister, Ellie, could have been so easily fixed if they had just TALKED TO EACH OTHER. Damn, ladies, grow a backbone and tell someone when something is bothering you! There were so many secrets and hidden emotions and ugh. Calm down and get a therapist, maybe?

Daisy was also way too "not like other girls." I somewhat understand this attitude, since she is a normal American teenager suddenly thrust into the middle of a bunch of duchesses and ladies and such, but it was a little over the top. Especially because the author had to remind us every three pages how QuIrKy Daisy is. I get it, she likes weird clothes. You don't have to remind me every two seconds.

Overall, this was cute and a nice palette cleanser for all the high fantasy I've been reading lately. I didn't absolutely love it like I was expecting to, but that's okay. I'll survive.

Taylor 

I like this book, it wasn't as great as what I was hoping for but I definely felt the feels. A couple of times I found the time jumped really suddenly and it takes a while to realise. Also feel as some points had been forgotten about and left behind

Julia

Clara hash

This book was all I needed at the moment. A light and cheesy read. I wish we had an epilogue because I need more of 'Maisy' (view spoiler)[and their life in America (hide spoiler)], but finishing on such a funny note wasn't bad either. 
I am all set to dive into book #2 on the 7th of May! (view spoiler)[(secretly hoping we will get to read about the wedding and have insights of 'maisy' as well) (hide spoiler)]

Insiya Ghadiali

This was so adorable! The characters were really likable and funny. Daisy is funny and sassy. She gets caught in this royal family drama and handles it really well I think. She and Miles were adorable together. Miles was one of my favourite character in the book. I really liked Daisy's family especially her dad. He was so funny and also understood Daisy really well. I liked Eleanor and Alex as well even though I feel Alex was not completely fleshed out. Seb was another character that I felt could have developed more and was only a plot device.
Overall a pretty good romance.

Laura Springall

Alright so this was completely unexpected and I’m so here for it!! I only picked this one up because I heard the second book is gay, and that’s really all I want in life let’s be real here. So I read this one expecting it to be a complete snooze of heteronormativity, and boy was I wrong! 

I absolutely fell in love with this. Daisy is hilarious, Seb is a hot mess in the best way possible, and Miles is swoon worthy even for my sapphic self. I’m SHOCKED that I loved this so much, and even gave it 5 stars. Who am I ??

My one critique is that the ending felt a bit rushed; everything was wrapped up in like 15 pages and left me with a lot of questions, mostly about Miles. But otherwise, this is a very light, fun read and I’d definitely recommend it!

Melea Mullican

This book is really light, cute, and fun. It is exactly what I was in the mood for. I enjoyed the fluffy aspect, and there really isn't anything super deep to this story, but I really enjoyed the writing and the characters. Daisy completely steals the show, and I found myself snorting out loud from some of the things she says. If you like YA contemporary with a touch of romance, I highly recommend checking this one out.

K.J. Haakenson

Exactly the cute and cheesy romcom I was looking for 😍

Hayley 📖🌈💜🌸

THIS WAS SO GD DELIGHTFUL.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I can’t wait to read the next one. One of my new favourite books. 

JUST DELIGHTFUL.

Megan Rose

** spoiler alert **
           This was a fun although somewhat forgettable read. I thought there were a lot of plot jumps and unnecessary twists that didn’t really move the plot forward. Also, because there were so many characters and this was a shorter book, there wasn’t much time to give them depth. Overall, this book kind of reminded me of cotton candy- super sweet but not very substantial.

Jessica 

Royals Series: 
Prince Charming: ★★☆☆☆ (2.5-3 stars)
Her Royal Highness: TBD

Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Direct link to this review can be found here. 

Did I just read Prince Charming because (a) RACHEL HAWKINS (b) I judged a book by its cover and I am a sucker for illustrated cover designs so THIS ONE OWNED ME AT FIRST SIGHT? (c) I really, really (REEAAALLY) want to read Her Royal Highness? Yes. Fair enough? I kind of went into it blindly because I felt like maybe I'd enjoy it without knowing too much about it. 

Which, in retrospect, might have been a bad decision on my part. I haven't quite sorted how I feel about Prince Charming and find myself leaning more towards indifference than any other emotion. Which isn't an insult, it just means that the novel itself wasn't my cup of tea. Plus, I've been having a massive winning streak with fictional royal family based works lately and I've had a better time connecting with those emotionally than I did with Prince Charming. 

Here's the deal: I think I'd have enjoyed this novel a lot more if I was at the beginning stages of my recent "Let's binge read all the royalty fiction I can get my hands on!" kick. I liked it well enough, but not in a particularly memorable way. Rachel Hawkins' writing was fun and smooth and upbeat in the way that contemporaries need to be. BUT, I just couldn't connect with it. Like. At all. 

In fact, I found myself wanting to like Prince Charming more than I did. It had so much going on for it. Romance. Coming of age stories. Set in Scotland. A fictional monarchy that had SO much potential. My issues lay in the fact that the potential just felt wasted at the end of the day and a little stilted. The development was weaker than I'd have liked. This version of Scotland felt like a Scotland that was worlds away and just... not Scotland. Which in theory is fine, considering this is fictional--but. I wasn't terribly keen on the way it was portrayed? 

There was this disconnect, too, in the tropes that Hawkins relied on. I felt like it had been done in a rush and it just didn't work for my taste. Looking back on the novels I've read by her, it felt like it was written by another person entirely because it didn't strike the same cords that she does in other works. At the end of the day, the prose; the characters, the plotlines, etc all felt like they were merely an outline written by Hawkins and never fully explored. It was underwhelming. 

BUT. But, but, but. There were positives. I swear! This sounds like I've just spent a good portion of my review dragging Hawkins and Prince Charming and I swear I'm not. I still love her. I'm still going to read Her Royal Highness, which, frankly, sounds more my cup of tea anyways. I genuinely liked Daisy and her family. I kind of wish we had more focus on them and that bond. I also didn't hate the main romance, although it still wasn't OTP status. 

Ultimately, Prince Charming isn't something I regret reading. I definitely sat outside with a cold coffee and read it quite quickly. It was an entertaining summer read that felt like a good filler between other books I'd been reading--its fluffiness really eased my mind and that's worth noting despite any complaints. I liked the flirtatious banter we saw fairly often and found myself smiling at its highest points. While it wasn't my favourite read of the year--or Rachel Hawkins best--I did have a mostly fun time with it!

Milana Marie Waller

I honestly just felt majorly detached from the character and I never wanted to pick up the book. It’s not that it was all that awful, I just had no concern or emotion for any of the characters as they were all pretty flat and indistinguishable from one another. The premise was somewhat cute I just didn’t get into it at all.

Kayla Sairs &
Prince Charming by Rachel Hawkins

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