Royal Affair by Marquita Valentine 
Series: Royals in Exile #2
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Source: ARC, NetGalley
Also in this series: Royal Scandal
Also by this author: When We Fall, Prime Target, Love So Perfect, Hard Target, After We Fall, Hard to Fall, Royal Scandal
Goodreads
A sheltered princess goes wild—and makes the best mistake of her life—when she falls for a roguish reporter in this fun, sexy romance from the bestselling author of Royal Scandal.
Online muckraker Brooks Walker has a reputation for exposing the political elite. Now he’s set his sights on the Sinclair siblings, who’ve been embroiled in their fair share of drama ever since their exile to North Carolina. But Brooks has never been afraid to get his hands dirty—until he meets a royal wallflower at a charity ball who makes him reconsider everything. Is Brooks feeling guilty because he knows all the sordid details of her family’s history? Or because he’s putting their relationship first, before his journalistic integrity?
As the “spare” twin, Princess Charlotte has always been the responsible one. So when her sister finally agrees to fulfill her duty as queen, Charlotte gives herself permission to break a few rules by flirting with the very off-limits CEO of Walker Media. Brooks is the worst sort of man to start an affair with, but Charlotte just can’t help it. The trouble is, since she’s no good at playing games, soon she’s tiara over heels in love. And when Brooks comes clean, Charlotte must decide whether his confession is worth a royal pardon.
Royal Affair is light and fun! While it can be read as a stand alone, it would help you understand this family. The family is quirky and irreverent which adds a lot of levity to the story.
Charlotte is the ‘spare’ heir so she has always been kind of second fiddle to her twin and really, Charlotte is okay with that. But, she wants to break out of her ‘wallflower’ shell and decides to do so with a reporter who has been focused on finding dirt on her family. Brooks is the type of character you aren’t quite sure about. You are skeptical that his motives are pure and that he won’t take advantage Charlotte. Their relationship starts as a fling and Charlotte is well aware of Brooks’ job and reputation, so there is no hiding. I appreciated that. The tension from the story comes from the relationship, which is never my favorite type of plot conflict. First, there is the wonder if/when Brooks will sell Charlotte and her family out, then there is the bigger ‘will this turn into a real relationship’ tension that takes over as the book goes on. I think part of me wanted Brooks to make ‘the grand gesture’ or something. I enjoyed the story but the love left me feeling a little meh.
- POV: 1st
- Tears: no
- Trope: royalty
- Triggers: none
- Series/Standalone: stand alone within an interconnected series
- Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
- HEA: View Spoiler »
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Royally Matched by Emma Chase, His to Seduce by Stacey Lynn, Going Down Hard by Carly Phillips…then you will probably like Royal Affair!
Royal Affair
This sounds fun, and yes while books like this work as standalone, I often find I enjoy them more when reading in order. Great review Samantha!