His Royal Favorite

As soon as I read the blurb, I knew I had to read this book, and HIS ROYAL FAVORITE is ten times what I wished for! James, Prince of Wales, is facing the most challenging situation in his life: his father has had a heart attack and James is now Prince Regent. His love for Ben Dahan has changed his outlook on life, James is tired of living a lie, and if he is to be one day King of England, he must be come out with the truth, literally: he will announce to the people of Great Britain that he is gay. If the unthinkable happened, his younger sister Amelia – known to her friends as Indigo – would be in no position to become Queen. It was a very daring move of Lilah Pace to use a real monarchy for her story, and I thought it made it more real; fictional kingdoms seldom work for me. It added to the realism and the power of the narrative as well, so much so that sometimes I had the impression of reading magazine articles instead of fiction: the paparazzi, politics, the Royal protocols; everything felt completely authentic from beginning to end. Every character is supremely well-defined, the story enthralling in all its ramifications, because while it is James’ and Ben’s romance, their relationship is also inseparable from their friends’ and the Royal Family. Obviously, both Ben and James face humongous hurdles: their lives will never be the same upon James’ coming out, from a political point of view but even more from the personal one: their relationship is new – five months, thus they are still in the stages of getting to know each other – but while they are indubitably in love, they have serious adjustments to make to their daily lives, and will they be able to deal with them? HIS ROYAL FAVORITE is the second book in a duology, and I regret not having known about the first book when it came out. HIS ROYAL FAVORITE stands firmly on its own, but it was obvious that I had missed certain details, the worst of all being not really knowing James’ and Ben’s ages until towards the very end of the book; I thought them rather older than they actually are. This was also a problem regarding Indigo, whom I adored; she is evidently young, but how young still remains a mystery, but her story is heartbreakingly wonderful. I have seldom seen characters of such depth, experiencing so much growth in the course of one book, and not only Ben and James. I thought Ben was a bit naïve regarding the paparazzi, and what entailed having a Royal boyfriend; even if Ben is an American-Israeli with a German passport (fascinating story, that!), he is after all a respected journalist and author, not a country bumpkin! There was also something that James did years prior that was not coherent with his character and his sense of responsibility. I also thought that five months was a very short time for James to risk choosing a new love over the Throne, albeit it was not a foolish endeavour on his part. I thought there was also a tad of preachiness at times, and yet the story is so fabulous, nothing could detract from my final five-star rating. HIS ROYAL FAVORITE deals with real issues, some painful ones, amidst a somewhat unusual family and a growing relationship whose complexities are amplified because of James’ royal status. HIS ROYAL FAVORITE is absolutely engrossing, there is not one dull moment. The characters all feel authentic, the love between James and Ben felt real at all times as did their challenges and doubts, the chemistry is definitely there, and the few explicit sex scenes are extremely tastefully done, and there is I believe the most beautiful description of how it feels to be in love. Positively magnificent! I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.