Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins

"Her Royal Highness will make you swoon."—Entertainment Weekly Regal romance abounds in this flirty, laugh-out-loud companion novel to Prince Charming, by New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins. Millie Quint is devastated when she discovers that her sort-of-best friend/sort-of-girlfriend has been kissing someone else. Heartbroken and ready for a change of pace, Millie decides to apply for scholarships to boarding schools . . . the farther from Houston the better. Soon, Millie is accepted into one of the world's most exclusive schools, located in the rolling highlands of Scotland. Here, the country is dreamy and green; the school is covered in ivy, and the students think her American-ness is adorable. The only problem: Mille's roommate Flora is a total princess. She's also an actual princess. Of Scotland. At first, the girls can't stand each other, but before Millie knows it, she has another sort-of-best-friend/sort-of-girlfriend. Princess Flora could be a new chapter in her love life, but Millie knows the chances of happily-ever-afters are slim . . . after all, real life isn't a fairy tale . . . or is it? New York Times bestselling author Rachel Hawkins brings the feels and the laughs to her latest romance.

This book has been on my radar for quite a while, and I won't deny that I do love me some royal romances; they are fairytale-esque and provide some cheer in a gloomy world. And after really having a lot of fun reading the shenanigans of a gay Prince in Red White and Royal Blue, I wanted to indulge in some sapphic goodness and enjoy the story of a gay Princess this time around.

Amelia or Millie is a young Texan who is very excited to spend her senior year in the charming mountains of Scotland at an exclusive fancy boarding school. I loved how nerdy she was and her love of rocks and her budding geologist ambitions were awesome. Princess Flora on the other hand is not happy about being at the school away from her family, is always trying to get expelled and just cross with Millie for being her roommate. There never really is much of a reason for their antagonistic dynamic and it changed into an unlikely friendship and then a crush pretty quickly. It was sweet and adorable to read about and I quite enjoyed all their moments together. There are also some fun side characters, and I really loved both Saks and Perry. I definitely wouldn't mind a book featuring more of them.

I haven't read the first book in the series, so I didn't know what to expect from this one, but the writing was very easy and pleasing to read. I just flew through this one and there were quite a few laugh out loud moments. It's a fairly short read and that might be a reason, but I felt there was not much of a plot. While I loved some of the descriptions of the Scottish Highlands, there's not a lot of it to appreciate. The characters and their relationship while being cute, also felt pretty superficial but I'm not holding that against it because I guess that's the tone the author was aiming for. Everything just happens within the span of a few months but these are teenagers, so I'm not too surprised. There is a little bit of conflict too but I thought it came out of nowhere and then was resolved within a few pages. The sexuality of the characters is also just all fine, and everyone is very accepting (even the royals). While it feels unrealistic for our times, we can all hope for that future.

Finally, I just want to say that this is a very sweet and adorable, low stakes and no angst high school Royal romance, and all the sapphic vibes you can ask for. It's a light, breezy and fun read and will definitely make you smile, or atleast make you forget your woes on a bad day. Read this book when you need a little pick me up and you won't be disappointed.

Ending felt a bit rushed and weird but overall a good read. Good dialogue again. I felt like there were a lot less active characters in this one.

This is the sequel to Royals, which I reviewed a little while back. At the time, I wasn't terribly enthused by Princess Flora, and that actually stuck through this book. I do, however, really like Millie. And I LOVE Rachel Hawkins. This woman writes sweet, fluffy romances that you know will have a happy ending, and makes them a joy to read. To see that approach with LGBT representation - lesbian and bisexual, in this specific case - is fantastic. Give us more! Hawkins still has several characters she could write stories about in this world, including the most eligible bachelor, Prince Sebastian. (Flora's brother.) She could also write a prequel about the other Prince, since the first book was the romance between the Prince Alex's fiancée's sister and one of Sebastian's best friends. Prince Alex and his fiancée were already a thing when the series opened. Daisy and Miles, the couple from the first book, do make an appearance in this one as well, as do Seb and the rest of the “Royal Wreckers.” (His posse of noble scoundrels.)

I liked that Millie explicitly likes both “lads and lasses, in the general sense” in the book; it's not just implied. Far too often we're just left to wonder, when a character dated or was married to one gender, but is shown loving a different gender, whether it's because they discovered the new gender is their actual preference, or because they are bi/pan. Plenty of homosexuals were married to an opposite-gender partner before coming out. So it's really nice to see explicitly bisexual rep!

I may have liked the side characters more than I liked Princess Flora. Lady Sakshi Worthington, especially, was great, and I may have been cheering more for her romance than for Millie and Flora!

My dislike of Flora aside, I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick, fun read, and Hawkins had better get working on the next story. I NEED Seb's book!

You can find all my reviews and more at Goddess in the Stacks.