Series Review: The Royals Series Books 1-3 by Erin Watt

Book info:
Titles:  Paper Princess, Broken Prince,  and Twisted Palace
Author:  Erin Watt
Series:  The Royals #1-3
Genre:  YA contemporary romance
Published:  2016:  April, July, and October respectively
Source:  E-books purchased from Amazon
My rating: 5 stars

So I'd been seeing people talk about this series all over the blogosphere, and decided I needed to check it out.  The first book in the series was on sale for 99 cents, so I gave in and had to purchase it.  I rarely like to spend much more than that on an ebook, but when I finished this one, I couldn't wait to go on, the cliffhanger at the end of the first one was one that I couldn't wait on, just like at the end of After by Anna Todd.  So I gave in and paid the $4.99 for the sequel, then I won a gift card and bought the final book when I was ready to read it.  In the end, I loved all these books so much that I ended up ordering physical copies of all three of them into the bookstore where I work so that I could buy them when we had our employee appreciation days at the end of November and got 40% off instead of our usual 30%.  I'm so nervous though about loaning them to my sister who I normally do loan to, because the last few books I loaned to her came back in not so great condition, and these are such pretty white books.  

Since I ended up reading pretty much straight through the series, and am also pretty far behind on my reviews, I read these in October, I'm just going to do one review for the whole series below, with a few comments for each separate book.

Paper Princess (The Royals #1):

Of course in the first book we meet all of our main characters, starting with Ella.  Ella has had to spend her whole life basically moving from town to town with her mother, barely able to live.  When her mother dies, she ends up trying to take care of herself by working at a strip/dance club.  And this is where Callum Royal finds her.  Turns out Ella's father was Callum's best friend, and he just recently passed away, and wanted his daughter to be found and taken care of.  Callum has five sons, and they kind of rule the private school they attend. They are all gorgeous as can be, but they are also not happy to have this poor girl come into their home, and they feel usurp there already limited attention from their father, who spends all his time with his girlfriend.   They are cruel to her, taunting her, making her feel very uncomfortable in their home.  They figure since their father found her at a strip club, she must be a slut, and that she must be after their father as well.  And not only does she have to deal with them, but she also deals with the "mean girls" at the school.  She does make a friend, Valerie, the unpopular cousin of the most popular "mean girl".  

But Ella stands up for herself, and doesn't let the boys get to her, at least as much as she can.  One of them, Reed, who is closest to her in age, she feels an attraction/connection to, and he has decided that he will be the one to "take care" of her needs, sexually, so that she won't go out and "embarrass the family" by sleeping around with the guys at school.  It takes a lot, but eventually Ella starts to win the boys over, Easton even starting to see her as a friend, Reed maybe as something more.  Ella is not used to being rich, and tries to keep her life as normal as possible by finding a job in town, something that she has to fight with Callum over, but that she soon wins that fight.  And she starts hiding the money that Callum gave her, and that she makes working, in case she decides that it would be in her best interest to leave, to get away.  Of course at the end the will gets read, and there is a blow up between her family and her father's wife who doesn't want Ella to get any of this money.  Her stepmother, is the wicked stepmother, and also friends with Callum's girlfriend, making more problems for Ella.  That's all I'm going to tell you, just know that when you pick this up, it will be impossible to put down!  And you'll need to be able to get to a copy of book two soon after you finish book one thanks to the cliffhanger.

Broken Prince (The Royals #2):

Okay, so book 2, I have to do my best to not give any spoilers.  I read the first 75% of this in one day, and then finished the next day basically.  And, like the first book, this one had a major cliffhanger, but it was one that I totally did not see coming!  If I'd been reading this during the summer time, I might not have gone to bed until I'd finished the whole thing in one day.  And it was a good thing I'd already given in and purchased book 3 at the same time.  

As I mentioned above, the boys and Ella are able to move past the resentment, and the boys come to feel as if she is their sister, well, not Reed, as he and Ella kind of think about their attraction and giving into it.  But Ella knows it isn't going to be good for her to be with him, and of course his father doesn't really want that to happen.  Callum is supposed to be taking care of her for his friend, not setting her up with his sons that she is living with.  But this new attitude with the boys and Ella is one that even though she still thinks that she wants to leave after school and never come back, maybe even leave now, they don't want her to.  They really are glad to have her in their lives, most of them as part of their family, and they will do what they can to keep her there with them.  

I won't go on, don't want to do any spoilers!  But again, have copy 3 ready for when you finish this one, as you won't be happy if you have to wait after this cliffhanger.

 Twisted Palace (The Royals #3):

Okay, the final book in the series, after the huge cliffhanger at the end of book 2, I couldn't wait to start reading. I went to bed when I had to for work the next day, but then, when I took the dogs outside at about 3 am, I picked it up, telling myself just one chapter and then I'd go back to sleep.  Let's just say I read another 15% of the book before I put it down to go back to sleep.  This book had a really major twist.  I don't want to say what it was, because it would be a major spoiler.  But it has to do with two different deaths, a new one, and an old one.  Reed will get blamed for the new one, and at first be unable to prove any differently because he doesn't really have an alibi, and he was drinking.  Again, Reed and Ella have given into the feelings they have for each other, but someone doesn't want them together, and rules start being placed on them, keeping them apart.  Ella gets set up with other boys, trying to show that she and Reed are giving a try to be apart.  However the other guy is one of Reed's friends, who may actually like Ella's friend, Valerie.  In the end, although Reed tries to push Ella away with what he is afraid will happen to him over this murder if he's found guilty, she will do her best to stick by him and help to see him found innocent.  

Things at the school are getting crazy, problems between the popular  kids, even one boy who tried to get Ella to do something she didn't want to do.  And this boy's father is an important person in town, one that could either help or hurt Reed's case.  Then there's both Ella's stepmom, as well as Callum's girlfriend, what all do they have to do with all of this, and how does her father tie this all together.  

Like I said, no more because I don't want to spoil it.  You just really have to get ahold of this series and read them all the way through! 

I grew to love not just the main couple, Ella and Reed, but also the brother Easton, and I was so glad when I heard that there is going to be a book for Easton.  I loved him so much.  I can't wait to get back into this world, and hope the author (authors since it is actually two working together), can get it written and available this coming year!