Book Review: American Royals by Katharine McGee

**Disclaimer: I received a free electronic ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**
Genre: Contemporary, Romance, YA
Release Date: September 9, 2019  
Description:

"What if America had a royal family? If you can't get enough of Harry and Meghan or Kate and William, meet American princesses Beatrice and Samantha.

Two princesses vying for the ultimate crown. 
Two girls vying for the prince's heart. 
This is the story of the American royals.

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. Like most royal families, the Washingtons have an heir and a spare. A future monarch and a backup battery. Each child knows exactly what is expected of them. But these aren't just any royals. They're American.

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."

The concept of an American Royal Family is what really piqued my interest in this book. Although I'm not a fan of books that take place in a political setting, this book didn't really focus much on it other than the simple notion of Beatrice being the first woman to rule over America. It doesn't get deep into politics which is probably why I was able to enjoy it so much because too much can make me bored with the story. 

I'm not sure why, but the summary of this book was awfully confusing to me, but to simplify the characters, there are a total of four perspectives: Beatrice (the eldest child and first in line for the throne), Samantha (second daughter and the older twin to Prince Jefferson), Nina (Samantha's best friend who is a commoner), and Daphne (Prince Jefferson's ex-girlfriend). Out of all of these characters, Beatrice by far was my favorite, while Samantha and Daphne were my least favorite. Beatrice is painted to the public and to her family as a strong, smart, and elegant young woman who seemingly has it all. She is loved by almost everyone, but what makes her such a great character is that she tries her best to put her country first rather than herself. She makes so many self-sacrifices to stay in line with her role that no one notices how much she is suffering. In contrast, Samantha, on the other hand, is the spare to the throne, so she lives her life with more liberties than Beatrice ever had. Unfortunately, she isn't that pleasant of a character because she is basically a rebellious, self-centered, spoiled brat. She does redeem herself later on in the book, but still, the number of chapters that I had to read to get to that point was annoying. I'm a bit neutral about Nina because she is the most "normal" out of the girls because she's a commoner, but that was it. Her perspective just seemed normal, average even. I wasn't as excited as when a Beatrice chapter came up but was more grateful when a Samantha/Daphne didn't. Speaking of Daphne, she is simply defined as a gold-digger...or title-digger? Basically, all she cares is for a royal title and since she can only get one through Prince Jefferson, you can only imagine what her goals are.

The general tone of the story is very "Gossip Girl"-ly as there is drama between almost every character and of course there's the romance that just complicates things. Some romances I liked, others not so much or I just didn't really care for. I didn't know that this book was part of a duology, and since this ended on such a cliffhanger, I'm definitely going to be reading the sequel because I NEED A RESOLUTION! Overall, this was a fun, easy, quick read. 

Overall rating:  4/5