Series Review: The Royals by Kim Karr

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 Washed Up Royal (from Goodreads):

A simple notification turns my world upside down…

The tabloids are reporting,
I’ve taken the crown and run. (Not entirely true)

As you might have guessed,
I’m not an ordinary girl and I don’t lead an ordinary life,
But that doesn’t mean I always follow the rules.

This time, though, I feel compelled to obey.
Which means I have to find a king,
To sit alongside my throne,
Or lose it all.

With only the clothes on my back,
I head to the land of majestic playboys,
Where a royal rebel strides right into my life.

With his sultry eyes and sinful lips,
He turns my world right-side up.

The press is calling him washed up. (I think he’s anything but)

Gorgeous, sexy, irresistible,
And utterly charming,
He’s exactly what I’m looking for.

Everything is almost too perfect,
Too easy.

Until I discover,
This hot-blooded royal has a reason for being here.
And it’s more than just me.

That thing I said about easy,
Turns out…
Nothing ever is.

My royal rebel has a name,
It’s Prince Adrien Laurent.
My name is Princess Victoria Blanchette.
And this is our story.

SERIESous’ Top Picks: Must Read Author
Series: The Royals
Author: Kim Karr
# of Books: 4 (Full Reading Order Here)
Book Order: Connected
Complete?: Yes
Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Heat Rating: Smokin’
Point of View: First Person, Alternating
Publication Dates: February 2019 – March 2020
Source & Format: Public Library–Audiobook

Why I Picked it Up / My Expectations:

In recent years, I’ve become a fan of Kim Karr’s contemporary romances. Her stories just have a great blend between romance, character development and plot — they’re simply entertaining! So when I needed a new audiobook series to read for my commute to work, this fit the bill perfectly.

The Concept / The World:

This is a modern day royal romance series but the kingdoms aren’t countries you are already familiar with (ie real places). There are some overarching plot themes throughout the series so there is some world-building to keep up with. I feel like we get the best overview of the royal system and the kingdoms at the start of Book #3, Wannabe Heir, which was a little too late for me to keep up with everything but I did find it helpful.

The Plot:

I liked that all these books had a few tropes at play and how they kept the plot moving. At times I was reminded of the TV show, The Royals, (oh, how I miss it!) where there is a great blend of family secrets, monarchies, danger and romance.

I felt like all the books had a fresh take on modern royal romances with the blending of social media, reality TV, tabloids and expectations for royalty.

The Characters:

These books are substantial enough to allow for some solid character growth. I really liked all our leads and I enjoyed watching them evolve as characters individually. Life might not always go to plan so sometimes you adapt and pivot, and I thought these characters all did that very well. They were easy to connect with, even if I don’t live as royalty.

The Romance:

Things happen quickly in some of the stories but thanks to the character development and the scenes we do get, it was easy to like all the couples. Plenty of steam to compliment the great sexual tension and chemistry!

My Audiobook Experience:

I struggled a bit keeping straight all the kingdoms and the secondary antagonist characters but the productions themselves were great!

I will say that in Book #2, Would Be King, I thought that the character accents were inconsistent. Like our hero spoke with an accent in his dialogue but when his brother from the same place spoke, there was no accent. And the inner monologues would or wouldn’t have accents and then the dialogue would. It just threw me off a bit.

Series Rating: 4/5

Washed Up Royal 4/5 | Would Be King 4/5 | Wannabe Heir 4/5 | The Pretend Prince 4/5

One of the more consistent modern royalty romance series I’ve read in recent years. It’s packed with lots of sexual tension and drama with solid characters; making it a great series to binge read!

Read if You Like: modern royal romances
Avoid if You: want full-blown erotica