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A Royal Match. Tyne O'Connell (2011)

by Tyne O'Connell(Favorite Author)

3.65 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1848122128 (ISBN13: 9781848122123)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Piccadilly Books

review 1: A Royal Match has two - make that three - things that drew me to the story: Boarding School, England, and Royalty. You can leave almost everything else aside and for these qualities alone, I am sure to enjoy the book. And I did.A Royal Match is actually a compilation of two books out of a four book series (apparently there's a fifth book as well but I can't find any information about it). The two books are Pulling Princes and Stealing Princes. First thing to know about this book is that it's really a book about boarding school life and friendship. The romance with the British prince is only a very small part of the book and unfortunately isn't that interesting at all.Calypso is in some ways not likable. She wants to be popular, which is understandable at that age and feels... more inferior as a regular (make that only mildly rich) American girl amongst a school of filthy rich British girls. Until the book begins, her only friend is an unpopular, rebel daughter of a British rock star. Calypso sets out to change that by pretending to have a boyfriend. Thankfully this wasn't a case where the newly popular girl ditches her old friends. Becoming popular turns out to be easy. The rest of the story is a series of mini-dramas and shallow popular kid in-fighting. Which is neither bad nor good.What bothered me about Calypso was her crush on Freddie, the Prince. They had a shared love of fencing and flirted via text, but other than that she didn't know him. And she didn't attempt to get to know him. All she ever went on about was her excitement of being liked by a Prince. I would respect her much more if she fell for a boy who just happened to be a Prince. But his status seemed to factor greatly into her feelings for him. I also would have preferred to have a plot more centered on the romance element, but since it was handled so poorly, I'm glad the book stuck mostly to boarding school.I loved being immersed into boarding school life and upper class British culture. The book contains a glossary at the end of British slang terms. Arrogantly, I thought I wouldn't need it since I know a decent amount of British slang, but it came in very handy for certain words. The girls and boys boarding schools are made up but are obviously meant to be Eton and a girls school nearby. I felt like the descriptions of boarding school culture was quite accurate. The author went to boarding school as did her children. She's the poshest of the posh, so she has first hand knowledge of the lifestyles of the rich and British.A Royal Match is a fun book. Don't try to get anything more out of it. Most of the characters - even the likable ones - are shallow, elitist, immature little girls. And that's okay with me, because I read the book to be transported into a world that I've never and will probably never experience. That's exactly what I got.Rating: 3 / 5
review 2: Ooookay. That was... a bit... well let me explain.The first part, "Pulling Princes" was just a typical story of girl and boy or commoner and prince. At the start it sort of reminded me of Will and Kate with the school thing and everything. It was good. It was the typical story but also still interesting."Stealing Princes", the second story however was a bit messed up. I was sooo annoyed of Calypso because she kept making stupid mistakes. And I was annoyed at the author because I had no idea what the hell was going on. But at the end it all added up. (I knew it was her... again.) And it ended up a happily ever after. I just wanted Calypso to explain everything to Portia instead of just summing it up because how are you going to forgive if you don't fully understand the situation, right?I also think that the author should've made the characters a couple of years older. maybe if they were 16 at "Pulling Princes" and 17 at "Stealing Princes" it would've been better since I don't think their situation would apply to 14/15. I am 14 and from what I know, none of the people in my year smoke or drink vodka. And I'm pretty sure that next year people wouldn't be starting to take drugs. But then again I'm not British so their situation might be different. But I still doubt it.All in all, a wonderful book. I can't wait to read the next book with the next 2 stories! I seriously need to know what is happening between the couples! (not telling who... :P!) less

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