Review: Royal Family

Royal Family by Jenny Frame
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Finished on April 29, 2021

Favorite Scene/Quote: "I know who you are in here and I'm falling for you. Everything else is just details."

4.5/5 rounded up

I was really excited to read this book. I’ve read the three previous books in the Royal series and I was so happy when I was able to borrow this book. This book lived up to most of my hopes.
    
Clay is a protection officer in charge of making sure that Princesses Teddy and Anna stay safe. She’s just lost her mom and is feeling unsure of herself in her position. She loves the girls, and loves her job, but she has some lingering issues. She finds herself suspicious when Katya is hired to be the girls’ new nanny, especially when her record only shows some information, but everyone seems to trust her. Katya witnessed horrendous things when she was a girl, and she has to hide in plain sight for her safety. She is offered the nanny position and is excited to take the job. She’s used to keeping to herself and avoiding forming relationships and friendships with others, but she can’t seem to resist the draw to Clay.

I adore Clay and Katya. Clay is super sweet and fun, especially when around Teddy. She is hesitant and suspicious of the new arrival and she becomes a bit stand-offish and rude with Katya. She honestly just seems very charming and adorable, but serious as well. She freely admits to falling for women easily and always seeming to like the unattainable ones. I feel for her. Katya is sweet too, but she’s also a bit frustrating. It’s not a bad frustration, but it gets to me sometimes. She seems amazing with kids, and even with the adults she’s working with as well. However, she also seems reluctant to get close to any of them. I understand why she has these issues, but it just makes it a bit hard to always back her. She also gets angry with Clay when she realizes that Clay knew her secret and didn’t tell her, but she also didn’t tell Clay her secret. It’s not a huge thing, just mildly annoying.

It was nice to see the characters from the previous books back in action. There might have been a bit too much time spent with them, but I’ve read other books that have done this as well and I’ve gotten used to it. I still love the side characters and the new ones that were added in seemed interesting as well. I would love to read more about Dora (I think I got her name right), but I know that will likely ever happen.

My only issue with this book is Alexander. I was fine with getting scenes with him and his thoughts, but it seemed like everything he did was half-baked. He had someone follow Katya around, but I don’t think that was ever mentioned in Katya’s experience. Once she thought someone was staring at her. I expected more to happen, like her being followed in the car and having to use her Nanny School driving skills. Also, multiple pages with him wrapped up in like two minutes. He attacked them with the intent to finish what he started and kill Katya. Clay sent someone to distract him and then shot him. It just felt like more could have been done with Alexander to add stress and drama to the story.

This isn’t the best or the worst book in the Royal series, at least in my opinion. It’s a worthwhile read with very few things that annoyed me. I might be mildly obsessed with Clay and her desperation to have friends, family, and a lover. She’s so sweet, but she’s also so vulnerable and a bit awkward.

Bonus Favorite Quote: "You may love them, but you're not their family. You are staff - so stick to your job, Sergeant."