And because Millie cannot stand the thought of confronting her ex every day, she decides to apply for scholarships to boarding schools.

Synopsis: Millie Quint is devastated when she discovers that her sort-of-best friend/sort-of-girlfriend has been kissing someone else. It's the ideal summer read, one that melds the hilarious crass-mouthed sarcasm of HBO's Veep with supremely steamy scenes.Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance Following a tabloid-fueled international scandal involving one of their public altercations, the sworn enemies are pushed by their families and publicists into a faux-friendship - which eventually leads to an unlikely romance. Yes, there is royal drama and lurking paparazzi and an overbearing Queen, but Hawkins subverts the tropes to make Her Royal Highness a relatable, heartwarming story about young love in all its beautiful complications.Ĭasey McQuiston also plays with the stereotypical royal romance story in her adult novel Red, White & Royal Blue, which follows Prince Henry of Wales and America's First Son, Alex Claremont-Diaz. But as they get to know each other over mandatory chores, one disastrous night in the Scottish wilderness, and a makeshift American Thanksgiving, they begin to grow fond of one another. But then she ends up with Princess Flora as a roommate.Īt first, the two do not hit it off, and instead dive head-first into an animosity that includes at least one bar brawl. She has no intention of making a romantic connection there, especially not after her sort-of-best-friend/sort-of-girlfriend back home broke her heart. Rachel Hawkins's Her Royal Highness is a spin-off of her young adult novel Prince Charming (originally titled Royals.) Set in the fictional world of Scottish royalty (for which Hawkins actually created an alternate history that spans four centuries), the book follows American exchange student Millie Quint as she embarks on her senior year at elite Scottish boarding school, Gregorstoun. If you want to read a royal love story without the tabloid headlines, pick up Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins or Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston, two new romances that feature queer characters who get their fairytale endings.

Between the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle last year and the birth of the couple's first child in May, unsubstantiated rumors of cheating spouses, brotherly rifts, sister-in-law rivalries, and spurned fathers have plagued both the Sussexes and Cambridges. There is something so undeniably compelling about the pomp and circumstance (and, yes, the romance) of royalty, but it can be hard not to feel a bit burned out by the headlines at times.

Royals rachel hawkins