In this riveting sequel to American Royals, Katharine McGee spins familial and romantic tension, dark secrets and political drama around four remarkably motivated young women.
Beatrice Washington, America's first queen, is prepared to assume her deceased father's throne. Congress, however, is "twisting the Constitution" to bar her reign until she marries palace-approved Teddy Eaton, sister Sam's love interest. But Sam has moved on; that is, to fake dating Lord Marshall Davis, hoping to make Teddy jealous. The tabloids pounce on the relationship, "a scandal" because Marshall is Black and the royal family is white. Prince Jefferson's ex, Latinx Nina Gonzalez, is avoiding the royals for exactly this reason. Except she starts dating Jefferson's best friend, an event Daphne Deighton, Prince Jefferson's other ex, orchestrated in her quest to win back the prince--and become a princess. But Daphne's plot is threatened by her friend Himari, who has just awoken from a coma Daphne accidentally caused. As each girl questions her next steps, the royal wedding approaches.
Entertainingly interconnected alliances, romances and betrayals among compellingly flawed characters ignite this series with its indefatigable spark. None of the young women think alike, ensuring that, as their alternating perspective chapters mount with intense revelations, the four transform differently. Grappling with their fears--Beatrice, "most alone when she [is] most surrounded by people"; Sam, "so much less than Beatrice"; Nina, "hardly dar[ing] to want things"; and Daphne, not "real unless someone else's eyes [are] on her"--each girl turns brashly, unhesitatingly into the woman she believes she must become.
With love and rivalries, a heady pre-wedding atmosphere, and a country's future poised to change, American Royals II: Majesty is an indulgently fun escape. --Samantha Zaboski, freelance editor and reviewer