A Queen's Game

McGee, Katharine. A Queen's Game. 2024. 368p. ISBN 9780593710708.

Queen Victoria rules over the British Empire. Despite her advanced age, she continues to be concerned for the survival of the monarchy. With several granddaughters and eligible foreign royals, Victoria is looking for the perfect match for her grandson Eddie, who will become the future King of England. She would prefer Eddie marry her favorite granddaughter, Princess Alix of Hesse, in Germany. Alix is beautiful, well-spoken, and genteel. But Alix has a dark secret. Under stress, she hyperventilates and even passes out, something a royal should not do. Plus, she feels responsible for the death of her younger brother.

Princess Hélène is the unfortunate daughter of the former King of France, who has been removed from the throne following yet another revolution. Without a kingdom, Hélène's prospects for a royal marriage are slim. This has given her a liberty most girls her age do not have, allowing her to escape conventions that are strictly enforced against British royalty. When she catches Eddie's eyes, she suddenly finds herself at the center of a web of power.

May has always been on the fringes of the royal family. Her father has depleted the family estate, and they are essentially living on handouts. Unlike other royals, May can ill afford the clothes and the experiences others have, and her prospects of marrying a prince are slim. But armed with information, she may be able to eliminate her rivals and attract Eddie's attention.

Based on historical events, A Queen's Game illustrates the strictures that governed the British royal family and those who hoped to marry into it. Fans of historical romance and royalty will enjoy reading a story told from three different perspectives. As the three young women compete with each other in a cut-throat environment, will they be able to secure their dreams and desires? 

That Inevitable Victorian Thing

Johnson, E.K. That Inevitable Victorian Thing. 2017. ISBN 978-0-525-49352-5. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

At 18, Victoria-Margaret is poised to make her entrance in the world of adults. As the Crown Princess of the British Empire, and a descendant of Queen Victoria I, Victoria-Margaret has a heavy heritage to uphold, The Empire has long since adopted arranged marriages based on genetics for its royal family, so Victoria-Margaret will soon be matched with someone who will bring political advantages to the Empire.

Before her debut, she is allowed to go spend time with Elizabeth Highcastle, the daugther of a Canadian Admiral who is friends with her father, the Queen's Consort. Her father and royal mother hope that this last summer in semi anonymity will provide her with great friendships and good experiences. Arriving in Toronto with only Elizabeth and her family knowing her true identity, Victoria-Margaret transforms into Margaret Savage and joins Toronto's circuit of social events. Margaret has received her genetic profile from the Archbishop of Canterbury, and this profile is all of her information, except for her name so she can explore the Empire's genetic computer network for fun if she wants. Margaret sets up a profile for a girl called Lizzy.  At Elizabeth's debut, Margaret meets Helena Marcus, a shy and quiet girl.

Helena has always known that she would marry August Callaghan, heir to a lumber and shipping empire on the Great Lakes. From a tender age, they have spent all of their summers together, and now that Helena is preparing her own debut, she looks forward to August proposing. But then she discovers that her genetic heritage marks her as male. She is intersex, which means she has male characteristics including testes, and she will never bear children. Crushed, she doesn't know how to reveal this information to August, but she uses her male profile, which she named Henri, on the Empire's genetic computer network and soon attracts the attention of Lizzy, who is a perfect genetic match to Helena's Henry. Lizzy is funny and soon her and Helena's fake persona start to feel more than just a passing interest.

Meanwhile, August has been busy illegally bribing American pirates from attacking the Callaghan ships in the Great Lake, and now finds himself caught in a wheel of deceit that he wants to escape. Unwilling to drag Helena with him, he postpones his desire to propose, and instead casts about for solutions to his problem.

Soon the three of them find themselves spending the summer at Helena's cottage. Together, they have a chance to change the Empire for the better, if only they can get past their secrets.

Fans of Victorian England will enjoy this story of love and romance set in a near future where the British Empire survived and thrived. The characters are authentic, and their struggles to find their own identity is real.

Royals

Hawkins, Rachel. Royals. 2018. 296p. 482 mins. ISBN 978-0-525-63200-9. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

Daisy has looked forward to her summer trip with her best friend all year. Unfortunately her family has to uproot when her perfect sister announces her engagement to the Crown Prince of Scotland. For someone like Daisy, being in the spotlight of the tabloids, newspapers and social media is almost as bad has having to abandon her Florida home to find herself in a dreary world of rich and idle teens.

Daisy is then matched with Miles, the Crown Prince's younger brother, in the hopes that he can quickly teach her how the court works. Miles, however, finds himself in trouble more often than not, and he regals the tabloids with his antics. Along for the ride, Daisy finds herself becoming the source of scandals, which distracts from her sister's upcoming wedding. Can Daisy regain control over her precarious situation at court and become the lady everyone expects her to be, or will she be able to tear out the royal rulebook and remain her quirky self?

A delightful romance set in a fictionally independent Scotland, Daisy and Miles dance around each other throughout the book, not exactly sure where each other stands. Their fears and hopes are realistic and easily relatable, even if the setting is not. Fans of rom-com will enjoy this easy read.