Monday 29 July 2013

 

Book review: Killer Queens by Rebecca Chance


My edition: Paperback, to be published on 1 August 2013 by Simon & Schuster, 500 pages.

Description: Every little girl grows up dreaming of finding a prince - but what is the fairy tale turns into a right royal nightmare?

Lori is a beautiful, blonde, all-American athlete. When the charismatic ruler of a small, filthy rich European state asks for her hand, she thinks she's snagged Prince Charming. But she soon realizes that all that glitters is not gold...

Belinda was once the most recognized and loved princess in the world. Forced to stage her own death, she lives incognito abroad with her adoring royal lover. Now, she is determined to return to England to see her son Hugo wed, even if it means risking her own life.

Chloe, Prince Hugo's fiancée, is the archetypical English rose. But it's a long road to becoming a princess, even when you're dating the heir to the throne. Perhaps the fairy-tale ending isn't all it was cracked up to be...

Killer queens, scheming kings, murder plots and lashings of steamy sex - find out what REALLY goes on behind closed palace doors.

Rating:



Scandals, schemes and lots of saucy scenes, Killer Queens shows royalty like you've never seen them before...

The novel centers on three women who married or about to marry members of royal families; commoner Chloe is engaged to Prince Hugo of the United Kingdom, American Olympic athlete Lori is soon to be married to King Joachim of Herzoslovakia, and Belinda married and divorced Prince Oliver, Hugo's father, before she died in a skiing accident twenty years ago.

While the promise of marrying into such important families and lavish lifestyles sounds like a fairy tale, for each of these women it is anything but. Chloe while genuinely loved by Hugo does not fit into his world and his sister Sophie is always happy to make Chloe's life miserable by feeding the press awful nicknames and generally being a royal bitch. While Lori seems liked by the family of her husband-to-be there are atrocious rumours going around about King Joachim's hobbies that makes the reader very suspicious of anything he promises his rather naive fiancée. And Belinda, well, her marriage to Prince Oliver was such a fiasco that people now remember her as a very confused woman who tragically died before she had a chance to see her children grow up.

Each of the characters in the novel is fantastic in their own right but I particularly enjoyed the storyline of Chloe and Hugo and the people surrounding them. Hugo's sister Sophie and cousin Toby are especially delicious to read about as they get mixed up in one outrageous situation after another and just when you think it can't get worse, of course it does. CCTV footage of a party in Ibiza, described into detail by author Rebecca Chance, is a particular highlight. And the down to earth Lauren, Chloe's best friend and lady-in-waiting, provides an entertaining commentary to the royals' escapades.

What I also loved about the British story arch is that it isn't too farfetched to imagine there may be a hint of truth underneath it all. Sure, it's clear that a lot of the more eccentric situations the characters get caught up in have been exaggerated but it also makes you think, "what if..."? And nearly everyone involved, from the most prominent members of the royal family to the lowly staff at Buckingham Palace, is implicated in the intricate schemes and shocking lies. They're more absurd than the average Joe can possibly concoct and watching it all unfold as an outsider is pretty darn hilarious.

Rebecca Chance novels are incredibly addictive. Ever since I first read one of her bonkbusters a few years ago I have been hooked and each new book just gets better and better with her latest being my favourite thus far. Loving it so much I raced through the pages but as soon as I got to the halfway mark I tried to slow down my reading pace as I simply did not want it to end. The novel is not just deliciously sexy scenes and insane scheming plots either, there is a proper good story as well and I promise you that once you dig in, you don't want it to end either!

I mean, who doesn't want to read about cunning royalty getting entangled in the most outrageous scandals? So pre-order your copy now from Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, Waterstones or your own preferred retailer.



Would you like to know more about Rebecca Chance? You can find her online at:

Website: www.rebeccachance.net

Twitter: @MsRebeccaChance

Facebook: facebook.com/rebecca.chance.311

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