Series Review: A Queen’s Game by Katharine McGee

Series Review: Is this series worth your time? Does it get better as the novels progress? Or does it get worse? Find out below:

Synopsis for A Queen’s Game (from Goodreads):

The New York Times bestselling author of the American Royals series invites you to visit 19th-century Europe amid the glamour and intrigue of the Victorian era. In this historical romance inspired by true events, three princesses struggle to find love—and end up vying for the hearts of two future kings.

In the last glittering decade of European empires, courts, and kings, three young women are on a collision course with history—and with each other.

Alix of Hesse is Queen Victoria’s favorite granddaughter, so she can expect to end up with a prince . . . except that the prince she’s falling for is not the one she’s supposed to marry.

Hélène d’Orléans, daughter of the exiled King of France, doesn’t mind being a former princess; it gives her more opportunity to break the rules. Like running around with the handsome, charming, and very much off-limits heir to the British throne, Prince Eddy.

Then there’s May of Teck. After spending her entire life on the fringes of the royal world, May is determined to marry a prince—and not just any prince, but the future king.

In a story that sweeps from the glittering ballrooms of Saint Petersburg to the wilds of Scotland, A Queen’s Game recounts a pivotal moment in real history as only Katharine McGee can tell it: through the eyes of the young women whose lives, and loves, changed it forever.

SERIESous’ Top Picks: Must Read Author
Author: Katharine McGee
Series: A Queen’s Game
# of Books: 2 (Full Reading Order Here)
Book Order: Chronological
Complete?: Yes
Genre: New Adult, Historical, Romance
Heat Rating: warm
Point of View: Third Person, Multiple
Publication Dates: November 2024 – November 2025
Source & Format: Public Library–eBook

Why I Picked it Up / My Expectations:

When I first saw the cover for A Queen’s Game, I actually thought it was a spin-off of Katharine McGee’s American Royals Series. But when I read the synopsis, I saw that this was focused on true events around the British Royal family at the end of the 1890s. I thought the concept was something I rarely come across (I don’t read a lot of “inspired by true event” novels) and I was in the mood for a historical romance after my binge rewatch of Bridgerton. Plus, I knew I was in for a good story with Katharine McGee at the helm! She has written some of my guiltiest pleasures over the last few years.

The Concept / The World:

The story follows 3 princesses who were all tied to the future king of England, Prince Albert Victor (aka Eddy) in one way or another. But the story really focuses on the link between the women’s stories and how they navigated court, love and female friendship with their statuses in high society. It attempts to fill in the blanks about some of the events that surround the young women of history before they become the adult figures of history we know today.

Katharine McGee includes Author Notes at the end of each book to explain how she used documentation of true events and personal letters as the inspiration for her character’s actions and monologues. While we will likely never know what the real reasons were (as they are lost to history), I appreciate the attempt to use known facts to ground and mold the stories around.

The Plot:

Katharine McGee is a master at writing multiple POV stories. This is my third series by her and she never disappoints in this respect. She has a talent for weaving different stories together and amping up the suspense as she does it. I loved watching the blanks be filled for the time between big moments of history.

I just found the whole plot so suspenseful and I had to really resist reading the Wikipedia entries for all these ladies just to get my answers a little quicker. (I will admit I looked up Alix early on because I suspected I knew who she was historically but I stopped there!) I wanted to be immersed in their stories in this series and not be influenced by the known facts of history – I read all of that later.

My only negative with the plotline is that I really struggled with what I perceived to be a plot hole with Hélène’s story. I understood some of her motivations for her actions in A Queen’s Match (#2) but I felt like her reasoning wasn’t completely sound and it soured me to her story a bit. See

Spoiler

when Hélène gets blackmailed about her past lover, I thought it was a little silly she didn’t tell Eddy about it right away because he did know she had a paramour before they met (they talk about it in the first book!). I get that she didn’t trust his reaction to the action of her being blackmailed itself and not what the blackmail was. But I feel like that was needlessly melodramatic.

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but I get that it was trying to sum up what happens in her story.

The Characters:

I’m wasn’t overly familiar with May, Hélène or Alix before I started this series. I did recognized a lot of the other players in their lives though. So it was fun to learn some history along the way – even if it wasn’t 100% accurate all the time – and more about these women. And I really gravitated to each of their stories at one point or another.

I really felt like these ladies really came into their own throughout the duet. They were in a time of history where women are trying to carve out their roles in society and break away from traditional norms. So I appreciate their evolutions; how they loved, learned and lost to become stronger as a result. I think I had moments where I felt every range of emotion (happiness, anger, frustration, pride) when reading their POVs – and I love when a story can make me feel that!

The Romance:

I enjoyed all the romances! I think they added to the suspense of the plot as they were big factors for each heroine’s story. Each one had so much passion and chemistry that it made me excited to watch them fall in love. It’s that time in history (Victorian onwards) where royals start to marry for love and not just political gain – but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. It was fascinating to watch how these romances were pieced together.

Series Rating: 4/5

A Queen’s Game 4/5 | A Queen’s Match 4/5

I couldn’t put these books down – I binged the duet in a week – and it’s been a long time since I’ve read a book or series like that! I loved the blend of history, romance and drama as three very different stories intersected each other.

Read if You Like: historical romance, stories inspired by true events
Avoid if You: dislike romance, dislike multiple POVs