April 16, 2020
American Royals by Katharine McGee
The basics
Title: American Royals
Author: Katharine McGee
Series: American Royals #1
- American Royals (2019) - Majesty (2020)
Add it: Goodreads
Goodreads Summary:
What if America had a royal family? When America won the Revolutionary War, its people offered General George Washington a crown. Two and a half centuries later, the House of Washington still sits on the throne. As Princess Beatrice gets closer to becoming America's first queen regnant, the duty she has embraced her entire life suddenly feels stifling. Nobody cares about the spare except when she's breaking the rules, so Princess Samantha doesn't care much about anything, either . . . except the one boy who is distinctly off-limits to her. And then there's Samantha's twin, Prince Jefferson. If he'd been born a generation earlier, he would have stood first in line for the throne, but the new laws of succession make him third. Most of America adores their devastatingly handsome prince . . . but two very different girls are vying to capture his heart.
Read a full summary of American Royals by Katharine McGee below. If you can’t remember what happened in American Royals and you need a refresher, then you’re in the right place.
What happened in American Royals?
- Beatrice is heir to the American throne as the oldest sibling from the Washington line. She’ll be the first ever queen.
- Beatrice is being nagged by her parents about finding her future husband. It’s important to them that the husband comes from nobility. They provide Beatrice with a list of men to choose from.
- Beatrice’s siblings, Sam and Jeff, are currently on their gap year. They’ve been getting into lots of trouble a la Prince Harry in his 20’s.
- Beatrice’s parents host a ball for the eligible bachelors. The twins return for this.
- Nina, Jeff’s friend, is worried about Jeff coming back as they kissed a while back when he still had a girlfriend.
- Daphne, Jeff’s ex girlfriend from back in the day, will be at the ball as well and she’s hoping they’ll get back together. She’s using him for his title, like I imagine a lot of people would.
- Jeff’s other friend, Ethan (how many friends does this guy have?!), shows up at the ball. He promises Daphne that he won’t say anything to Jeff about their relationship, which seems to be more of a hookup than anything.
- Sam and Teddy kiss at the ball, which is awkward because Beatrice also liked him.
- Beatrice asks Teddy out on a date because she liked him well enough and she wants to please her parents. I imagine things are going to get a bit dramatic from here…
- Beatrice kisses her bodyguard, Connor, at the ball. Has anyone seen the TV show Royals? Because that’s basically what this is.
- This date turns out to be a get together with the whole royal family, who go to watch a production about an old Washington. Beatrice doesn’t love the date because she’s not that into Teddy, and she also really liked Connor “as a friend”.
- There’s a family gathering for New Year’s. Beatrice hits the road later than everyone else, and due to a snowstorm she and Connor have to stay in a cabin overnight. Awks. Connor gets a bit funny about Beatrice’s interest in Teddy, so the two of them clear the air a bit. By a bit, I mean Beatrice tells Connor that she likes him. They get together in secret.
- Jeff and Nina secretly hook up during the family’s skiing holiday. Daphne rocks up (seriously, where does she keep coming from) and tries to get someone to invite her to the Washington NYE party. Ethan helps her get in, implying that he likes her more than she likes him.
- Daphne finally tells Jeff that she thinks they should get back together. Jeff turns her down.
- Finally, the storm clears and Connor is able to get Beatrice to Telluride. They struggle to keep their relationship a secret from the others, especially as Teddy is around.
- The holiday is over, and everyone goes back to their normal routines.
- Sam is still pining over Teddy, so she asks to speak to him. He apologises for kissing her, and accidentally tells Sam that his and Beatrice’s relationship has been forced upon them by the king and queen.
- Beatrice chats with her father and he reveals to her that he is terminally ill with cancer. He hasn’t told anyone else yet, but he’s expected to die within the year. He plans to start training Beatrice to be the queen.
- Beatrice is obviously upset by this, and she speaks to Connor about the situation. She then goes and proposes to Teddy?! He accepts the proposal, even though neither of them really want this. Thankfully Teddy isn’t a bad guy.
- The press find out about Jeff’s relationship with Nina and publish photos of them. Nina gets very upset about the amount of attention on her and the horrible comments the media are making, so she starts ignoring Jeff’s calls.
- Sam goes to see Nina, seemingly to console her but more to whinge about her own life. They have a big argument.
- The queen takes Sam and Teddy into the family vault to pick out Beatrice’s engagement ring. The plan is for Teddy to give it to Beatrice during their announcement.
- Connor vanishes for a while, and Beatrice doesn’t have a chance to tell him about the engagement herself. Connor leaves the interview room, presumably upset.
- Beatrice goes to find Connor, who proposes on the spot. Beatrice turns him down, and he resigns as her bodyguard.
- Jeff goes to find Nina, and they decide to get back together.
- Daphne, who is apparently still around, hears about another ball, this time for the engagement.
- Beatrice tells Sam that their father is dying. Sam goes to speak to the king. She wonders about the letters that he makes a point of answering each day. He tells her that she’s likely going to be criticised more than Beatrice.
- Daphne finds Nina and points out that since she has dated Jeff before, she can offer lots of advice if Nina needs it. Daphne gets a chance to look at Nina’s phone.
- Nina heads to the store to pick up her dress for the engagement party, but the store received a call cancelling the order. Nina goes to find Sam.
- Sam lends Nina a dress and the friends make up. Nina admits that Daphne helped Nina find a dress, and Sam finds this suspicious.
- The engagement ball takes place. Daphne recalls how she and Ethan hooked up. Daphne’s mother makes her stop dancing with Ethan.
- Beatrice isn’t enjoying the party as she’s still upset about this whole situation. She goes out for some air, and she bumps into Connor. He apologises for quitting on her, and says he’ll come back if it means he can see Beatrice. Beatrice realises she loves Connor and plans to cancel the engagement to Teddy.
- Daphne admits to trying to sabotage Nina and Jeff’s relationship. She tells Nina that she’s wrong for Jeff. Nina tells Daphne that she’s pathetic. Jeff finds Nina and Nina fills him in on what just happened. Jeff doesn’t believe her, and because he doesn’t want to talk about marrying Nina, the couple break up again.
- Beatrice tells Sam that she’s not planning on marrying Teddy, and Sam offers to tell Teddy for her. Sam meets Teddy in the cloakroom and he takes the news well. They admit to liking one another and plan to get together at some point.
- Daphne goes and comforts Jeff and they drink together. Later on, in the limo, Daphne tells Ethan about how her plan went, and then they hook up.
- Beatrice goes to find Teddy, and asks him not to say anything until Beatrice has broken the news to the king.
- Beatrice goes and speaks to her dad. He offers to delay the wedding to allow Beatrice more time to get to know Teddy. She tells him she loves Connor, and the king says he won’t change the law to allow Beatrice to marry someone who’s not nobility. He says this is to protect her from criticism.
- Beatrice’s father tells her about his first love and how they couldn’t marry. The love he now has for Beatrice’s mother came later. Beatrice and the king argue, and then the king collapses.
- Daphne wakes up to the news that the king has been taken to hospital.
- Nina’s parents reassure her and tell her to be there for Jeff and Sam during these tough times. Nina heads to the hospital and spots Daphne holding Jeff’s hand. Nina leaves.
- Daphne goes to visit Himari in the same hospital, who is the only one who knows about Daphne/Ethan. Daphne recalls the photos she took at the party where Himari was passed out drunk – thanks to Daphne lacing her drink. Himari is now in a coma.
- Beatrice asks the doctor whether or not she caused her father to collapse. The doctor reassures her and then leaves her alone with her dad.
- The king tells Beatrice that she’ll be a great queen before he falls asleep.
- The queen asks the siblings to go outside to speak to the commoners. While they’re talking to people, they get the news that their father is dead. Everyone kneels before Beatrice like it’s The Lion King.
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