Ralou’s Review: Royal Affair by Marquita Valentine

Posted April 18, 2017 by ralou in Book Reviews, Collage, Release day / 0 Comments

Royal Affair From the series: Royals in Exile
by Marquita Valentine
Find the Author: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads
Published by Loveswept on April 18th 2017
Genres: Adult, Chick Lit, Contemporary, Fiction, New Adult, Romance
Purchase links: Amazon, iTunes
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Source: NetGalley
four-half-stars

A sheltered princess goes wild—and makes the best mistake of her life—when she falls for a roguish reporter in this fun, sexy romance from the bestselling author of Royal Scandal.

Online muckraker Brooks Walker has a reputation for exposing the political elite. Now he’s set his sights on the Sinclair siblings, who’ve been embroiled in their fair share of drama ever since their exile to North Carolina. But Brooks has never been afraid to get his hands dirty—until he meets a royal wallflower at a charity ball who makes him reconsider everything. Is Brooks feeling guilty because he knows all the sordid details of her family’s history? Or because he’s putting their relationship first, before his journalistic integrity?

As the “spare” twin, Princess Charlotte has always been the responsible one. So when her sister finally agrees to fulfill her duty as queen, Charlotte gives herself permission to break a few rules by flirting with the very off-limits CEO of Walker Media. Brooks is the worst sort of man to start an affair with, but Charlotte just can’t help it. The trouble is, since she’s no good at playing games, soon she’s tiara over heels in love. And when Brooks comes clean, Charlotte must decide whether his confession is worth a royal pardon.

We received this book/audiobook for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect our opinion of the book or the content of our review.

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Book Review: 4.5 Princess stars!!

Damn, Marquita is on the roll!! First Colin and now Charlotte! And I bet all my money that Theo and then Imogen will blow me even more away. These Sinclair siblings are proving to be quite a deal. And I can’t help fall madly in love with each one of them.

Royal Affair is the second installment in the Royals in Exile series. In the first book, Royal Scandal, we met Colin Sinclair and followed his romance with his best friend, Della, and savored their HEA. Now, Charlotte’s turn has arrived to lay out her love story. Charlotte and Imogen are the twin sisters of the Sinclair family. Now, you might wonder why the second book is about Charlotte and not Imogen. Well, for those who have read the first book, you already know that the Sinclairs were exiled from their country after their parents’s death. Also, you know that at the end of Colin’s story, Charlotte did something that caused their exposure to the public. Which in turn caused one specific journalist to set his sights on them and set on broadcasting their secrets.

She’s made her decision. Who am I to deny a princess?

Brooks Walker is a journalist and the CEO of his online company, Walker Media. Brooks didn’t know anything about The Sinclair’s location until the moment he stambled onto Charlotte’s post on IG. From there, there was only one way this situation would play out. Although, neither he nor Charlotte saw what was coming down the road. Ironically, both got obsessed with each other’s posts on social media; but for different reasons. Or so that’s what they were telling themselves. One moment was all it took for these two lovers to find their way to each other. Everything started with a deal which neither could shoot down. The thing between them escalated pretty fast and in the end, both ended up with something that they needed more than anything but they wouldn’t admit it to themselves.

A wallflower she might be, but this flower can weather anything.

Both characters have a very strong presence in the book and their head-strongness only adds to that intensity. It’s like watching two wild animals fighting for domination. That’s not where the battles stop. Each one of them during the whole journey they take together is indulging into its own mind-heart battle. Especially Brooks whose battle is the most vocal one and more intense. Almost from the very beginning, he finds himself experiencing feelings for Charlotte and creating subconsiously a connection with her which ends up being impossible and unwanted to break. But Chalotte isn’t far behind on that account. She knows that she was super attracted to him while looking only his posts. He was for a long time a sexy fantasy of hers which pushed her to propose the deal that set everything in motion. Though her heart and body attach themselves more and more every day with him, her mind and her responsibilities towards her family holds her back from living her desire to the fullest. But when there is an undeniable love connection between two people, these obstacles only makes them that much stronger and lasting.

I know most women want a Prince Charming, but you can have him and the castle. Give me the villain who will take me away from it all… and never gives me back.

Another two things that I loved about this book was first, the relationship and interraction of Brooks with his twin – talk about coincidence – and second, the hints Marquita was throwing here there about Imogen’s story, even though I know it’s two books and a lot of months down the line. Brooks and his twin brother have a relationship that has been through a lot but neither stopped loving each other, even in the shadows. The entertainment I got from these two every time they were together and the hilariously amazing dialogues they were indulging themselves into, were more than enough to make me love this couple and story even more. Also, the thing that along with the captivating love story, Valentine was extrolling the tight and soul-mate-y connection the twin siblings – not only Brooks and his brother, but also Charlotte and Imogen – share, is something that always make me cherish this book even more. As for the hints, the only thing I want to say is that the way their place in the story was beyond clever. From the one side, they made me even more impatient about reading her own journey through love and from the other, was providing underground aid to the evolution of her sister’s affair with Brooks.

Marquita Valentine has never stopped surprising me with how good each new book of hers is. Her love stories are super special and they have an incredible, balanced dose of fairy tales that you can’t deny. This new series of hers definitely has become one of my favorites and one whose each book I wait at the end of my seat to read. Thank god Royal Chase isn’t that far away so I will be able to dive really soon in The Sinclairs pool of romance. As for the forth book, Royal Duty (Imogen’s story), September never looked more remote.