Royal Court by Jenny Frame is a light-hearted contemporary romance. It is the third book in the “A Royal Romance” series. This is the first novel I’ve read from this series, so I can tell you it is not a good standalone book. Many of the important characters in this novel are from the first books in the series, and I felt I was missing information that might have been important to understand and enjoy the story.
I have to say that I didn’t enjoy reading this book. I was never able to connect with the characters, possibly because I never read any other book in the series. Most of the characters seemed one dimensional to me. The unrealistic plotline made it difficult for me to immerse myself in the story. I tend to enjoy more realistic tales. My biggest problem was the way Quincy’s PTSD was handled. From the descriptions in the plot, she had a fairly major case of PTSD. She exhibited symptoms such as triggered aggressive behavior, insomnia, nightmares when she did manage to sleep, flashbacks, and panic attacks triggered by sights and sounds. With all these symptoms, there is no way in the world she would have passed a psych test and been accepted into the royal guard. Also, her symptoms would not have disappeared simply because she and Holly fell in love. Unfortunately, love is not a cure for PTSD, and it is not fair to real sufferers of this condition to infer this in any story.
However, this story is not all bad. The writing and pace of the story are good, and there were some really sweet moments, especially between Holly and Quincy that I enjoyed reading. If you have read and liked the first two books in the series, you will probably like Royal Court. If you enjoy fanciful romances and don’t mind having to suspend belief as you read, you may like this story.
I received this book from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review. You can buy the book from the publisher here
Rainbow Reflections 