What happens when the British Crown Prince falls in love with an American influencer who wants to get rid of the monarchy?
Prince Auggie swears he’s no kind of dashing prince: daydreamer, private—and also secretly very gay. He’s instantly horrified when his father, reality TV addict King James, signs Auggie up for a reality TV show to promote the monarchy, where the man with the most talents wins—and to help find Auggie a bride, the very last thing Auggie wants. But duty calls.
When Auggie finds out his co-star is irritatingly gorgeous Thomas Golden, the charismatic dual American-English heir to the Golden hotel fortune, it’s another step too far. There’s at least one problem: Prince Auggie’s already recently crossed paths with Thomas Golden one disastrous night in a London club. Plus, there’s that whole second not-so-small, not-so-secret problem—the Golden family wants to get rid of the monarchy.
Once Auggie and Thomas arrive on set in the English countryside, it’s already unapologetically hate at first sight. It’s going to be a very long summer of filming…until sparks fly behind the scenes. They make a searing heatwave all their own as they secretly date. But soon, real reality strikes, and Auggie must choose between the life he’s destined for as the future king—or dare risk everything for love.
How to Date a Prince
After reading Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston some years ago, Royal Romances have been high on my interest list. Especially the combination of British Prince and US-American love interest has been fascinating—but never more than in this version of it, with an abolitionist in the blooming relationship. And that (in as the too easy conflict resolution) was probably the weakest part of the book, while enjoying it overall a lot and could not stop listening after the first intriguing chapters.
Reality TV meets Royal Romance
I have never been a fan of reality TV, but this one occupied me, as it potentially puts what is usually hidden away on the big screen. Royal Romances live from the constat fear of being discovered, especially those with queer lovers. Presenting the two characters falling in love while participating in a TV show raises the stakes and makes us fear for their reputation. Nonetheless, the author made it work to have us fall in love with the characters just as they were falling in love with each other. I also enjoyed the dynamic between the different contestants as they were naturally not too excited about competing with a member of the royal family, perceiving his privileges and celebrity status higher than their own. Obviously, they are all there for one reason or another, and as we get to see, Auggie is just an ordinary person in a lot of ways—besides the pressure to live up to people’s expectations that has been with him from his birth.
Easy Solutions
The whole plot of the book was mostly about Auggie’s fear of being outed and what that would mean to his royal responsibilities. These concerns eventually became smaller as his feelings for Thomas became stronger. I nonetheless missed a transformative moment in which he realized for himself that he did not want a closeted life. His best friend Katie certainly helped him with this realization, but overall, I felt this development felt a little short. The same goes for Thomas and Auggie’s very different stand on the monarchy, which was quite a breaking point between them at first but was almost irrelevant at the end. Here, I think their relationship has become too romanticized as different worldviews should, in my opinion, be thoroughly discussed and not ignored out of love. This sets them up for conflicts later, which I do not like to imagine after being so engaged with them for the whole book.
In conclusion,
As a Royal Romance, this book had everything I hoped for and more but also tended to romanticize and smooth over (internal and external) conflicts too much and easily. Nonetheless, I loved following the prince and the abolitionist’s small and big moments on their way to a joint future.
The author:
More animal than mineral, Hayden Stone is a writer of fun queer fiction, especially with kissing. He currently lives in Victoria, Canada, and has previously lived in Vancouver, Canada and London, UK. He likes strong coffee and is owned by two cats. You can find out his latest news on Instagram or his website: haydenstonebooks dot com Source
The speaker:
James Joseph is an award-winning London based romance audiobook narrator. With an extensive ear for accents and voices, he has narrated more than 500 audiobooks (over 100 romance titles) for Penguin, Audible, Bloomsbury, Macmillan, Hachette, Bonnier, Harper Collins and many more. He is a two-time Audie Nominee, an Earphones Award Winner and was selected as one of AudioFile’s Narrators of the Year. Source