Shannon C’s review of Royal Games (Royals of Monterra, Book 3) by Sariah Wilson
Contemporary Romance published by Montlake Romance 05 Jul 16
It’s been a while since a book promised everything I love – second chances! Geeky heroines! Good groveling! – and then so utterly and completely failed to deliver on any of them. I tried, gentle readers, but this is a ridiculous mess that no amusing Star Trek references can fix. Read on to find out why.
Royal Games is the third book in the Monterra Royals trilogy. I didn’t read the other two, and I was able to follow the events in this one without any confusion. It features Genesis Kelly, who has moved back to her home town of Frog Hollow, Iowa, to nurse a broken heart after she was publicly rejected by Prince Rafael of Monterra on the reality show “Marry Me.” Unfortunately for her, Rafael never actually wanted to do that, so he’s moved to Frog Hollow, too, and insinuated himself into Genesis’s life, trying to make her forgive him for the humiliation he caused her.
I’ve said numerous times before that I’m a heroine-centric reader. That’s why I love a good grovel. I’m always willing to take the woman’s side in any romantic conflict and give the hero all the side-eye until he can prove that he’s good enough for her. But even though this book is told in Genesis’s first person POV, I was not on her team from the first. I thought she was being childish for not listening to Rafe when he tried to talk to her. She’s rude and bitchy, and everyone around her keeps pointing out that she’s not being reasonable. She tends to have klutzy dim bulb heroine syndrome every time Rafael is around. Her attempts at personality–she’s a geek and a Star Trek fan–come off feeling a little forced. (The Trekkies I have met would never use phrases like “Holy Shatner!” or “What the Spock!”, but Genesis sure does.) I’m told over and over in the text that Genesis doesn’t carry grudges… except for the one she’s carrying against Rafael. And when her reasons for continually pushing Rafe away and not letting him explain are revealed, I didn’t think they were so dire that we had to wait for nearly two thirds of the book for a decent conversation in which things were explained.
Not that Rafe is such a great catch either. Again, he’s everything I should want in a hero. He’s a sweet beta guy who quietly takes care of things for Genesis and her friends. But I found him to be a martyr and something of a nice guy. Not only that, but he’s a stalker who simply won’t take no for an answer.
The bumpy road to true love for Rafe and Genesis is further hindered by a suspense subplot that didn’t work at all. I got the sense that the author didn’t think there was enough conflict and tacked it on for added backstory angst and to make the inevitable black moment more intense. But she has to work to get her characters into a situation where the suspense plot can take effect. I felt like I could see her hand throughout the last part of the book, manipulating the puppet strings, and it took me right out of the story.
In fact, that authorial manipulation is evident throughout. Why won’t Genesis just talk to Rafael? Because they don’t have much to resolve, really, and he clearly wants to apologize. She’s obviously going to forgive him, but then the story would be over. Are people in Frog Hollow having financial difficulties? No worries, Rafe has all kinds of money and will swoop in and fix them for everyone in such a way that Genesis can’t complain.
Though the book features unlikable leads, it wasn’t quite an F read for me. I liked the glimpses of Frog Hollow, and I often found myself wishing I was reading about the much more sane people Genesis surrounds herself with. I particularly liked the secondary romance between Genesis’s Aunt Sylvia and an older gentleman named Max who tells lots of bad jokes about Iowa State University. And Genesis clearly had supportive friends, which I always like to see in contemporaries.
Unfortunately, the great friendships and the fun and quirky small-town characters weren’t enough to save this book. There are lots of contemporaries that try for a fairy tale feel and succeed better than this one… but the glass slipper didn’t fit for me.
Grade: D
Summary:
Genesis Kelley didn’t just get her heart broken. The aspiring veterinarian had it crushed in front of millions of viewers on the dating reality show Marry
Me. Now, just as she’s getting her life and dignity back together, her royal heartbreaker, Prince Rafael of Monterra, has landed in Frog Hollow, Iowa.
And he’s renting out her aunt’s guest cottage.Deceiving TV audiences for his brother’s sake cost Rafe the girl of his dreams. But he’s going to fix it, even if it means moving from his mountain-kingdom
home to small-town Iowa. A prince doesn’t give up on his rightful princess—especially once he realizes Genesis is in deeper danger than she knows.Between fixing her truck, whisking her off to Monterra for a whirlwind date, and charming the entire town, Rafe is thawing the ice around Genesis’s heart.
Will it be enough to earn back her trust, protect her from her past—and sweep her into a real-life fairy tale?
No excerpt available.
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