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Synopsis

These Royals will ruin you.

Easton Royal has it all: looks, money, intelligence. His goal in life is to have as much fun as possible. He never thinks about the consequences because he doesn’t have to.

Until Hartley Wright appears, shaking up his easy life. She’s the one girl who’s said no, despite being attracted to him. Easton can’t figure her out and that makes her all the more irresistible.

Hartley doesn’t want him. She says he needs to grow up. She might be right.

Rivals. Rules. Regrets. For the first time in Easton’s life, wearing a Royal crown isn’t enough. He’s about to learn that the higher you start, the harder you fall.

Warning: This book has a cliffhanger. The story will be resolved in Cracked Kingdom, due out January 2018.

Review

The Royals are back, baby! And it’s Easton’s turn!

4.5 stars

I have so much love for this series – intense romantic YA drama that is also smart and funny. I loved Ella and Reed’s story in the first three books of the series, but like a lot of other readers, Reed’s younger brother, Easton, also completely captured my heart and I have been so excited to get to his story. And this book was exactly what I was hoping for! It took me right back into this world and into the mind of a wonderfully complex, loveable character, and I loved every moment of it!

I’m the design flaw in the Royal family, the one who isn’t quite like the others, the one who crashes and burns more often than not.

Just a note that this book is not a standalone. It contains huge spoilers for the previous three books in the series, so be careful before diving in.

Easton is the middle of the five Royal brothers. Gorgeous, funny, charming and endlessly arrogant, Easton has wealth, popularity, and can (and does) have any woman he wants. But his outgoing persona hides a deeper, secret part of himself that is tormented by pain and guilt, emotions that he tries to block out with alcohol, drugs, women and violence. He’s a complex character who feels deeply and has a huge heart, and this book is written entirely in his POV, and I loved this chance to get to know him better as he meets his match in Hartley Wright.

As ordinary as she might look, she intrigues me. And I, Easton Royal, am bound by the laws of the universe to purse all things interesting.

Hartley is new to Easton’s snobby, upper-class high school. A senior like himself, she shuns attention but completely grabs his when it seems that she wants nothing to do with him. No girl has ever turned him down, and it’s initially intrigue that draws Easton in. He can’t seem to stay away from the shy and quiet new girl, and he soon learns that she’s intelligent and feisty with a quick wit and a smart mouth, and their initial interactions are gold!

“I might be small, but I have the lung capacity of a whale, so if you don’t move I’m gonna have to release the oral Kraken until the entire school is in this hallway rescuing me from you.”
I crack up. “The oral Kraken? That sounds pretty dirty.”
“I’m thinking everything sounds dirty to you,” she says dryly.

Despite Hartley’s complete disinterest in him, Easton wants her. He is drawn to her in a way that he has never been drawn to anybody before, and he can’t stay away from her, even though she consistently knocks back his stellar pick up lines.

“I get it – you want to see me without my shirt on. You know what? Let me give you a sneak peek. It’s awesome, by the way. You might want to close one eye to reduce the effect.”

His flirtiness and dirty mind (and mouth) are both ingrained in his everyday behaviour, but as hilarious as they are, they don’t work on Hartley and in the end, he agrees to become friends with her, acknowledging that it’s the only way he gets to spend time with her, and wanting that more than anything.

I don’t know why I latched onto the idea of being friends, but it sits right with my gut. I want Hartley in my life and if being friends is the way that happens, then friendship is what we’ll have.
It’s different, but maybe that’s not a bad thing.

I loved seeing Easton take Hartley on. His determination to be a part of her life is both sweet and funny, and I loved watching the shift in their relationship as she caves and starts to let him in. But Hartley has secrets, and she’s not one to open up, which frustrates Easton and he doesn’t know how to handle that, or his undeniable feelings for the girl who has very quickly become his best friend.

I feel like I’m cracking open my chest and letting her see inside. It’s not pretty there, but I don’t want to let her go.

In addition, the girls at school have their bitchy claws out, and things are still tough at home with Reed now gone off to college, the twins in a twisted relationship, and the drama of events in the last book still having its effect on the household. Yes, there seems to be drama everywhere, and things only get worse when he’s finally let into Hartley’s world and sees first hand just what she’s dealing with. It’s intense and dramatic, and my heart ached for Easton watching him try to deal with it all.

I’m Easton Royal, superficial and only interested in how to have a good time.
I don’t want to look deep into my being and see the bottomless, black, boring pool of nothingness. I want to live in blissful denial.

And as much as I loved Easton, and as strong a character as he is, Hartley is a wonderful match for him. She’s not the heroine I expected for him, but she’s amazing in her own right, and I loved her strength and resilience, and the way she slowly accepted him in to her life. I’m so excited to see more of them together.

I loved this book. I loved Easton’s narrative, and I love that I was instantly drawn back into the exciting, complicated and dramatic world of this family. Easton is flawed but he totally owns it, and this book feels like a real journey of discovery for him which is just gorgeous to watch. And though the story would have been good enough on its own, seeing it all through Easton’s eyes and feeling everything right along with him made this a really special read.

And that ending! Holy hell, Erin Watt has written some hideous cliffhangers in this series but this one has to top them all. It’s nasty, people! Really nasty. And now the wait begins for January and the release of Cracked Kingdom so that we can see how it’s all going to turn out.

Absolutely fantastic – 4.5 stars.

An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.