Name: Jennifer Gosnell's review of Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory
Item: Royal Holiday
Rating: 4
Author: Jennifer Gosnell

Jasmine Guillory

Reese Witherspoon, Oprah and Roxane Gay LOVE her! Readers love her! Have you discovered New York Times bestseller and Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick Jasmine Guillory yet? IT'S THE CHRISTMAS ROMANCE YOU WON'T WANT TO MISS! When Vivian Forest gets the chance to tag along on her daughter Maddie's work trip to England to style a member of the royal family, she can't refuse. She's excited to spend the holidays taking in the magnificent British sights, but what she doesn't expect is to become instantly attracted to a certain private secretary, his charming accent and unyielding formality. Malcolm Hudson has never given a personal, private tour in his time with the royals - until now. Intrigued by Vivian, he finds himself making excuses just to spend time with her. Soon, flirtatious banter, results in a kiss under the mistletoe sure to keep the frostiest winter chill at bay. With Vivian's return to the US fast approaching, she and Malcolm will have to decide if this is simply a holiday romance or a love affair to change their lives. PERFECT FOR FANS OF SOPHIE RANALD, JO WATSON and ZARA STONELEY! 'A charming, warm, sexy gem of a novel' New York Times bestselling author Roxane Gay on The Wedding Date 'The queen of contemporary romance' Oprah.mag

The ONLY romance you need to read this Christmas!

Royal Holiday

Natalie Sypeck 

Rebeca Keren Nuñez

Jennifer Gosnell

One of the most heart-warming and comforting reads! This was absolutely perfect to put me in the holiday mindset and I got SO invested in the characters. LOVED it.

Bria

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Proposal and a "rising star in the romance genre" (Entertainment Weekly) comes a dazzling new novel about a spontaneous holiday vacation that turns into an unforgettable romance. Vivian Forest has been out of the country a grand total of one time, so when she gets the chance to tag along on her daughter Maddie's work trip to England to style a royal family member, she can't refuse. She's excited to spend the holidays taking in the magnificent British sights, but what she doesn't expect is to become instantly attracted to a certain private secretary, his charming accent, and unyielding formality. Malcolm Hudson has worked for the Queen for years and has never given a personal, private tour--until now. He is intrigued by Vivian the moment he meets her and finds himself making excuses just to spend time with her. When flirtatious banter turns into a kiss under the mistletoe, things snowball into a full-on fling. Despite a ticking timer on their holiday romance, they are completely fine with ending their short, steamy affair come New Year's Day. . .or are they?

Steph L 

Omg there are not enough stars to rate how much I enjoyed this book. I loved this book from beginning to end. I loved reading about Vivian and Malcolm. The romance was also so sweet.

Sierra

“Life gets busy, with so many things that aren’t actually important but feel important.”

I wanted to like this book so much, but it just wasn't for me. It's a middle-aged romance that takes place in England over Christmas when a mother and daughter go to stay with the Duke and Duchess so that the daughter can outfit the Duchess over the holidays. The plot just didn't feel very strong and the pacing was a little all over the place as some scenes felt too fast and some felt like they dragged on. Even the writing didn't really feel up to par.

As for the characters, I didn't even like Malcolm as a character despite how he was supposed to be such a "gentleman". He was so quick to get angry and upset over things (and would cause either unnecessary drama or hurt other characters) and his dialogue would drag on sometimes without being entertaining at all. Vivian was okay as a character and I certainly liked her over Malcolm, but even she wasn't as well developed as I had hoped. 

Overall, this book felt like it dragged on and it wasn't very memorable. It became a chore to finish it as I was so frustrated with the immaturity and lack of communication between the characters at times. I do plan to read other books in the series (which can all be read as standalone and this just happened to be the first one I got my hands on), but I can't say I'd really recommend this one in particular. Here's hoping the other books in the series are more promising.

Raag Sudha

Finished this last week or so and while I was looking for a light read after the heaviness of recent books, the chick flick nature of the book still didn’t justify its cheesy, cringey language. I sped through the book, waiting and hoping that it would get better because honestly I liked the protagonist. She was very likeable, even if superficially so. It didn’t get better. Lazy ending & pls don’t waste your time like I did.

Flavia Louise

I kept on wanting to read more about Maddie (who is one of the MCs from The Wedding Party). But I still quite enjoyed this book.

Lauren Attaway

I love romance books and JG books and holidays, so this was made for me. It’s like she mixed It’s Complicated with diversity and Christmas movies.

Tatiana Alvarez 

Such a cute holiday read and one of the first times I read a romcom staring a middle aged couple! That was extra fun.

I loved watching Vivian, a 54 year old mother, navigate personal life with mom life with business life. She puts everyone in front of herself and does what is expected of her, but never really takes the time to do what she wants to do simply because she wants to do it.

Until she meets Malcolm, who is similar to Vivian in a lot of ways but also different. I loved how their traits complimented each other and the way the treated each other was so sweet and cute. I loved reading their little romance.

Such a fun read and now I need to go back and read the first in the series!

Jennifer Dieter

Could have been steamier, but another adorable romance from Guillory.

This is not the Christmas romance I was hoping it would be. I got bored and honestly I wouldn’t have lost sleep if I had DNF at any point. 

Tatyana

I just love how Jasmine Guillory wrote this one. It was cute and unique. Viv travelling with her daughter Maddie so she'll be able to spend the holidays with her while Maddie works. Meets Malcolm and is really attracted to him. Never expected that to happen.

Jill Swan

4.5 stars but I’ll round up for Jasmine Guillory! Not my favorite of hers but a solid fun time. Great for a little holiday romance.

Anna Agarwal

Lisa W.

Finally... I've been waiting for Jasmine Guillory to hit it out of the park again and she definitely did so with Royal Holiday. Thank goodness! I was starting to get concerned about when I would feel this feeling again with one of her books. 

The stacked ranking goes as such 

1. Wedding Date
2. Royal Holiday
..... 
3 (tentative because I know Party of 2 will surpass this) Wedding Party
4. The Proposal 

I believe my heart is so overjoyed by this because it was a complete 180 from Maddie and Theo's book. The characters were sensible (not childish), romantic (not lustful), etc. I relate more to the fact that they are 52 and 54 than I thought I would. Ms. Guillory made the slow burn work for the readers and she did so in record time. At no point did I feel like it was dragging on. Nor did I fear the looming breakdown that I knew was to come with them living in two different countries. I simply enjoyed the moments as they were happening. 

Quite frankly this book made me want to go to England even more. I could have lived without the food, I think at max I would only want some scones. However I want to visit the Victoria and Albert Museum so bad I could hardly wait. I know I would never get a chance to see the sapphire and diamond tiara but the mere thought of being in its presence makes me antsy. I often thought about the Duke and the Duchess being Harry and Megan and of course, we LOVE them! 

I truly appreciated this care Jasmine G took with these characters. She gave them adult problems but with whimsical desires. She didn't try to add in Maddie's storyline with her mother simply because the readers knew her. The best thing was that she didn't try to perfectly wrap up the book and create the perfect HEA. Good job!

I loved the beginning! But what happened? Somewhere around halfway we fell into the weirdest, most awkward "romance" that feels like it ignores reality where it shouldn't and makes the fun of of the premise disappear. I wanted a fun romp in a city with a lovely stranger, not a weird and silent adventure thrown off by the woman saying she doesn't like surprises casually, as if him planning things to do in his country are surprises and therefore a bad thing. Just. Ugh.

I actually finished the first half in a day in 2020 and it took more than a week to finish the rest, because I was so disconnected. 

But seriously, wouldn't it have been more fun for them to just have a great time instead of being stuck in their respective heads for every encounter? I don't think that the focus on the family issue was the right thing.

Lynn

Such a lovely christmas read. The Britishness of the book and the slow burning love story as well as an evolving mother-daughter relationship will have you revel in christmas wonder and wish for a romance like this one at an old age.

Juliana Callahan

3.5, not very realistic but a nice holiday read

Alyssa Jacunski

Being the fourth companion novel to "The Wedding Date", I couldn't wait to read this one. While not everyone's cup of tea, I find Guillory's writing easy to read and digest. The stories are always warm hearted and make me feel all sorts of happy. It's the perfect light read between harder hitting stories.

This one in particular follows Maddie's mom (from "The Wedding Party"), and while these don't need to be read in order, it does help learn about and keep all the characters straight. Maddie and Vivian spend Christmas and the days leading up to Christmas in London. While there, Vivian befriends and spends time with Malcolm - who sounds like a steaming mug of yumminess. 

Vivian and Malcolm have a great time together. But there's only one problem: Malcolm lives in London and Vivian in California. 

This book was fun. Is it the most hard hitting and absolute best book I've ever read, no. But it scratches the cutesy romance itch I tend to have between harder hitting books. 

If you've enjoyed Guillory's other books, take a chance on this one. But know that most romance books follow the same formula, and this is no different.

Amy Buckle

Vivian Forest’s Christmas is going to be a little different this year; when her daughter gets the incredible opportunity to dress royalty in England, Vivian is thrilled to be invited along too. Spending the Christmas in England will be different to what she’s used to, but it’s about time she did something for herself! On her first day in Sandringham, Vivian’s barely settled in when she meets Malcolm Hudson – tall, dark and handsome, Vivian is thrilled when he asks if she’d like a guided tour of the estate! As Vivian and Malcolm spend more time together, she relaxes and realises she may be falling for him a little too much. But regardless of their feelings for each other, they live thousands of miles apart so what’s the point in investing in a relationship that’s so long distance?

Okay firstly I have to briefly mention my gripe with this book – when American authors write books set in England it’s really important they do their research!! Now while I don’t doubt that Guillory did research the places, I think she could have spent just a little more time doing so. At one point Vivian describes them as being in ‘northern England’ while being in Norfolk – very much in the East of England!!!

Bad geography aside, this book ticked every box it needed to for a slushy romantic Christmas story. The way Vivian and Malcolm slowly opened up to each other was heart-warming and while I didn’t think the writing was amazing, I liked the characters enough that it didn’t really matter.

Vivian’s struggles with her career was relatable and grounded the story where it was otherwise a little implausible. For me, this story had a good mix of unrealistic romance and plausible characters and stories.

Other books I’ve read about the fictional English royal family tend to go a little overboard, but what I like about this one was that there was hardly any appearances from royalty, which made it more believable – being English we know how fascinated Americans are with the royal family so I’m glad this one didn’t go over the top!



If you’re looking for a run, romantic, cheesy, festive story then pick this one up! I loved the warmth this story exuded and while it was nothing ground-breaking, it really didn’t need to be!

Ashlee

This book is so sweet and endearing, I really loved Vivian and Malcolm’s story, they were so cute together and just the idea of falling in love on a last minute vacation is charming and romantic.

Props to Jasmine Guillory for giving us Vivian’s story too, I love reading romances with heroines that are outside the typical age range. She so deserves this HEA!

Jessica 

The Wedding Date Series: 
The Wedding Date: ★★★★☆
The Proposal: ★★★★★
The Wedding Party: ★★★☆☆ (3.5-4 stars/Undecided) 
Royal Holiday: ★★★☆☆

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  As always, a copy of this book was provided by the publisher or author in exchange for my honest review. This does not effect my opinion in any way. 
 

Listen, we all know I totally adore the warm and fuzzy (see also: steamy) set of novels that Jasmine Guillory has released so far. I may be biased about her but she just gives me all the feels, you know? I adore her balance of tense banter sessions, feel good chick flick vibes and sparkling chemistry between her characters. For that reason alone Royal Holiday was at the top of my list of most anticipated romances this autumn. 

It only helped that (a) it was centered around Maddie's mom (b) CHRISTMAS BASED!!!!! and most importantly (c) takes place abroad and there is royalty in it. 

Still, I felt a little let down by this one (although, I wasn't let down by Guillory? I THINK THIS ONE JUST DIDN'T CONNECT WITH ME AND THAT'S ON ME, not her) and had an issue with finishing it. It wasn't what I thought it'd be, either, in terms of plotline. A lot of what made Guillory's other books work felt like it wasn't present and that was very, well, dull for me. 

This is the first time I experienced that with a Guillory novel. It's completely disorienting because, whaaat? WHO AM I? As a whole, I thought that Royal Holiday was sweet and had more than a few charming moments. It just felt like it was missing something and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. It really didn't have the same light-my-candle spark as the previous books in the series. 

I found myself wondering if maybe it was a mood read that I simply wasn't in the mood for. 

Admittedly, the second half of the novel felt more lively, and more Guillory, than the first half and I'm glad for it, but I still struggled with it in a way I hadn't with the previous books in the series. 

Let's focus on positives: 

Vivian is a great character and I would 10/10 die for her. To be honest, I probably would have given up on Royal Holiday sooner if it weren't for Vivian. SHE DESERVES THE WORLD, OKAY? And I love the interactions between her and Maddie. We stan a mother-daughter duo. I was excited when I saw that she was the main character because she was definitely a standout minor character in Maddie's story. 

The setting was fun! All the royal elements. I loved the fact that we not only got a holiday romance, but a charming romance. While I felt that it lacked the chemistry that Guillory is known for, it still made my lips tug upward into a smile. There's something undeniably cute about the relationship between Malcolm and Vivian, I just felt like some of it was underdeveloped and that disappointed me. 

Royal Holiday felt a lot less angsty than the other books in the series which was a nice change of pace. Ultimately, though, it was my least favourite of the series thus far. While it had potential to be a favourite, it fell short.

Rebeca Keren Nuñez &
Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory

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Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory