Romancing the Throne is a young adult novel written by Nadine Jolie Courtney. I had seen some buzz about this book, and it seemed like a YA version of The Royal We, which is one of my favorite books. I finally snagged a copy from the library, and recently finished reading it.

Charlotte is a student at the posh Sussex Park School, and she has found herself in an elite circle of friends, one of whom is Prince Edward, the heir to the English throne. There is an instant connection, and Charlotte is just thrilled to be dating the handsome young prince.

But conflict arises when Charlotte’s older sister Libby transfers to Sussex Park. Charlotte introduces Libby to everyone in her circle, and is utterly horrified when Libby and Edward start spending time together. Everything seems like a huge mess, but apparently, the worst is yet to come. Can Charlotte salvage everything she holds dear before it is completely destroyed?

This was a cute book, although it was fairly predictable. The characters are not particularly deep, but they work well together to weave together a reasonably compelling story. It was not always easy to like Charlotte, which can be problematic for a protagonist. She is a tad younger than many of her friends, but she seemed much younger. Her feelings of frustration and jealousy were entirely reasonable, but it was still a bit much at times.

As a boarding school alum, I have to say that the portions at Sussex Park resonated with me. That is to say, this story had a decidedly American feel to it. This manifested in the scenarios, the setup of the school, and most importantly, in the way the characters spoke. I would have liked the book to have much more English content.

I would recommend Romancing the Throne, although I am not sure how much appeal this book would hold outside its target audience. It’s a cute, with some minor drama, and it held my attention once I started reading. Sometimes, that’s all you can ask for. I will definitely keep my eyes out for more of Courtney’s books in the future.