The Royal Game

Keir (The Three Mrs. Wrights) explores the dark side of royalty in a fast-paced contemporary love story that will put readers in mind of the relationship between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. American musician Jennie Jensen teases a latecomer during an intimate concert in Spain only to discover that he’s actually Prince Hugh, the heir apparent to the British throne and a true prince charming. The pair fall into a whirlwind romance and, after Hugh proposes, Jennie is initiated into the life of British royalty. It’s rough going: who knew it was possible to curtsey too deeply? Soon, she starts receiving threatening notes originating from inside the palace. Who wants to break Hugh and Jennie up and why? That mystery is intercut with flashbacks to Hugh and Jennie’s very different upbringings, showing how Jennie’s birth mother fought her adopted parents for custody and detailing the tense marriage between King Edmund and Princess Penelope, a thinly veiled analog to Princess Diana. Keir ends the tale with a bang, revealing the truth about both the plane crash that killed Penelope and the threats to Jennie. With empathy and emotion—plus a large supporting cast with questionable motives—Keir reveals the cracks in the princess fantasy, even when one has the perfect prince. Royal romance fans will be hooked. (Jan.)