Twisted Palace (Erin Watt)

March 25, 201711 Comments

These Royals will ruin you…

From mortal enemies to unexpected allies, two teenagers try to protect everything that matters most.

Ella Harper has met every challenge that life has thrown her way. She’s tough, resilient, and willing to do whatever it takes to defend the people she loves, but the challenge of a long-lost father and a boyfriend whose life is on the line might be too much for even Ella to overcome.

Reed Royal has a quick temper and even faster fists. But his tendency to meet every obstacle with violence has finally caught up with him. If he wants to save himself and the girl he loves, he’ll need to rise above his tortured past and tarnished reputation.

No one believes Ella can survive the Royals. Everyone is sure Reed will destroy them all.

They may be right.

With everything and everyone conspiring to keep them apart, Ella and Reed must find a way to beat the law, save their families, and unravel all the secrets in their Twisted Palace.

Oh wow, this review is so long overdue… let’s see if I can still recall everything I wanted to talk about.

Like I said in my previous reviews of Paper Princess and Broken Prince, Elle Kennedy and Jen Frederick created something unique and highly addictive with this series. The writing is, once again, highly addictive, and just like the previous book, this book is told in dual POV, in Ella and Reed’s perspectives.

I was somewhat expecting more of this book, so while I truly loved it, I was kind of hoping for some more intrigue and intricacies on the plot.

The book starts off right where Broken Prince left off, and it is a wild ride for awhile. But then the plot kind of slows too much in the middle of the book, and nothing significant happens for a long time, apart from some pretty great Reed and Ella moments. This piece of the book felt kind of repetitive and way too slow.

There seemed to also be a little regression in Ella’s development in that middle portion of the book, and again, I wasn’t a fan of that.

Now, there’s a new character in this book, and I knew I was gonna hate him, but in the end, I thought he was too tame?! I thought they would stretch his character’s malice a little bit more.

Slight SPOILER ahead, be warned!!!

A lot of people say a lot how this character “likes them young”, and considering how uneasy Ella felt when she was around him, I truly thought the authors would go there. Overall I thought that if it wasn’t going to be relevant for THIS story, why mention that so many damn times?

Also, such a missed opportunity with Brooke’s baby daddy drama! I was not happy with who it turned out to be.

End of spoiler!

In the end I was expecting more of my questions to be answered. A little more complexity to this story. Instead, this book veers more towards a pure romance than either of the previous books, and while reading the Reed and Ella love fest was awesome, it still felt like something was missing.

I do hope Easton’s book answers some of my questions, because I was not completely satisfied by the end of Twisted Palace…

Have you read The Royals? What did you think of this end for this series?

Broken Prince (Erin Watt)

March 11, 20177 Comments

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These Royals will ruin you…

From wharf fights and school brawls to crumbling lives inside glittery mansions, one guy tries to save himself.

Reed Royal has it all — looks, status, money. The girls at his elite prep school line up to date him, the guys want to be him, but Reed never gave a damn about anyone but his family until Ella Harper walked into his life.

What started off as burning resentment and the need to make his father’s new ward suffer turned into something else entirely — keep Ella close. Keep Ella safe. But when one foolish mistake drives her out of Reed’s arms and brings chaos to the Royal household, Reed’s entire world begins to fall apart around him.

Ella doesn’t want him anymore. She says they’ll only destroy each other.

She might be right.

Secrets. Betrayal. Enemies. It’s like nothing Reed has ever dealt with before, and if he’s going to win back his princess, he’ll need to prove himself Royally worthy.

Warning: This book ends in a cliffhanger.

OMG! This series is awesome! You can check my review for Paper Princess here, but while I loved book 1, this one, Broken Prince, definitly won my heart. I’ll keep this review short, because I don’t think I should talk about the story… I don’t want to spoil anything.

To start the writing is still highly addictive, maybe even more so, because on this book we have dual POV. Yeah guys, dual POV!!! We finally get to see what goes on in Reed’s head, and I loved it.

It was great to see Ella stick to her guns, even if I just wanted her to listen to Reed and for them to be happy. I needed my babies together. But it was so worth it. The angst and the confrontations and the fights… all worth it.

I also loved to see the guys bonding with Ella even more, even if the relationship between them was strained… my poor Reed… he did deserve it though. I really loved the fact that there was a lot more Callum in this book, because I love him and I liked to see him more involved in everyone’s lives.

The drama! Oh my… the drama in this series is unbelievable and so exciting!!!

I don’t know what else to say. Except that I fell for this series and the characters. So good.

Paper Princess (Erin Watt)

March 4, 201712 Comments

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From strip clubs and truck stops to southern coast mansions and prep schools, one girl tries to stay true to herself.

These Royals will ruin you…

Ella Harper is a survivor — a pragmatic optimist. She’s spent her whole life moving from town to town with her flighty mother, struggling to make ends meet and believing that someday she’ll climb out of the gutter. After her mother’s death, Ella is truly alone.

Until Callum Royal appears, plucking Ella out of poverty and tossing her into his posh mansion among his five sons who all hate her. Each Royal boy is more magnetic than the last, but none as captivating as Reed Royal, the boy who is determined to send her back to the slums she came from.

Reed doesn’t want her. He says she doesn’t belong with the Royals.

He might be right.

Wealth. Excess. Deception. It’s like nothing Ella has ever experienced, and if she’s going to survive her time in the Royal palace, she’ll need to learn to issue her own Royal decrees.

Oh My GOD! I don’t know why I waited this long to finally pick up this series, but I’m glad I did, because it would have sucked to wait for the next book to come out.

Also, guys, I’m so sorry, but I have no clue how to review this book =/.

I will start by saying that even though this book fits into the Young Adult category, it is mature YA, it has explicit use of drugs, alcohol and sex. And very strong language. So beware that this book is not your run of the mill contemporary YA, and it might not be your cup of tea.

Erin Watt is actually a combination of two authors, Elle Kennedy and Jen Frederick, and you guys know I’m a huge fan of Elle Kennedy, so I was excited about this one. The writing is wonderful! I was engaged right from the start and this book was highly addicting. Seriously guys, this is addicting!!!

And on a side note… I saw a few bad reviews on goodreads that dismissed this book and its writing because the author (or authors) are erotica writers. And I ask, what the fuck is wrong with being an erotica writer? Is it because you think the genre is beneath you? Do you not like it? Have you tried it? No? Then why are you judging a genre you know nothing about? One of the most beautifully written and lyric books I’ve read last year was an erotica novel. Erotica does not equal trashy writing or abuse or violence. So don’t be judgmental on that front! You might not like the book or the story or the writing, that’s entirely your prerogative. But don’t diss a whole genre based on preconceived notions that are not true.

But also, don’t confuse ROMANCE with EROTICA, because just because a book has explicit sex in it, doesn’t make it an erotica novel!

Back to the review…

This series definitly has an interesting set of characters, and they’re all pretty complex and I can’t even begin describing them. But they are truly complicated and fun and hurting, but I found it worth it to read them.

There’s Ella, and she’s strong, so so strong. But the Royals are the true color of this series. Reed, Easton, Sebastian, Sawyer and Gideon are all mysterious, and so so messed up… all of them. And while they can be asses sometimes, especially Reed and Easton who do and say some pretty bad stuff at the beginning of the book, I can’t help but love them, even with all their faults. Especially Easton, I love easton.

The story is also kind of hard to explain. This book is mostly Ella’s adaptation to her new life, and finding herself in love with Reed, and how they navigate their growing connection. But there’s so much drama! And it’s like soap opera drama, you know? That if it was not well written, it would be boring and way too much. But it works here. It keeps the book interesting and it kept me on my toes. I was never quite sure what to expect.

It was certainly a super entertaining read and I was never bored, not even a little bit.

I couldn’t rate the book higher though, because of some issues in the book. There are a few insinuations of sexual assault, there’s a lot of “slut shaming”, and the boys are very crass towards Ella throughout a good portion of the book. And even though I love them and the book, those are moments I can’t just overlook.

So, if you think you might enjoy this one, proceed!!! But if you have doubts, think long and hard about it, because it might be just a little too out of your liking.

So, guys, have you read Paper Princess? What are your thoughts?

February TBR

February 2, 201737 Comments

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This month will be crazy! I went a little overboard with my netgalley requests, and ended up getting way too many ARCs for this month, most of them YA from Entangled Crush. Check out my enormous TBR for February.

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