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mickaelareads's review against another edition
Royal Expose was my first book in the series it stems from, so I don't think I'm fully able to appreciate all of the side characters as much as I might have had I known about that going in, but this was still a good standalone/first in a spinoff series.
I was hooked from the beginning, where we meet Casey as she's changing her appearance in a gas station bathroom. Admittedly the stakes seemed higher than they really were, but it was a good hook. Casey is retiring from undercover investigative journalism at the young age of 32, but her boss shows up with one last job. She's off to business school.
We then meet Poppy, who is the down-to-earth sister of the Crown Consort of this fictional country, who has finished a stint working for UNICEF and now is on her way to business school so she can create her own sustainable and ethical fashion line. But Thea, the villain and ex-girlfriend of her sister-in-law Queen Roza, wants to kill her, which complicates things.
Casey and Poppy are in the same class, and Casey's bad-boy attitude gets on Poppy's nerves from the start. But it also attracts her.
There's something I can't quite put my finger on that I didn't really like about the characters; maybe that I didn't relate to any of them or they didn't feel altogether authentic. Or I just knew where the story was going so I didn't really care about any of the conflict. But this one gets four stars, because literally every significant character is gay. All of 'em. And I think it was well done, if not my taste.
I'm excited to read more from Jenny Frame. Thank you to Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I was hooked from the beginning, where we meet Casey as she's changing her appearance in a gas station bathroom. Admittedly the stakes seemed higher than they really were, but it was a good hook. Casey is retiring from undercover investigative journalism at the young age of 32, but her boss shows up with one last job. She's off to business school.
We then meet Poppy, who is the down-to-earth sister of the Crown Consort of this fictional country, who has finished a stint working for UNICEF and now is on her way to business school so she can create her own sustainable and ethical fashion line. But Thea, the villain and ex-girlfriend of her sister-in-law Queen Roza, wants to kill her, which complicates things.
Casey and Poppy are in the same class, and Casey's bad-boy attitude gets on Poppy's nerves from the start. But it also attracts her.
There's something I can't quite put my finger on that I didn't really like about the characters; maybe that I didn't relate to any of them or they didn't feel altogether authentic. Or I just knew where the story was going so I didn't really care about any of the conflict. But this one gets four stars, because literally every significant character is gay. All of 'em. And I think it was well done, if not my taste.
I'm excited to read more from Jenny Frame. Thank you to Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
caitvis's review
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.25
Not my favorite Jenny Frame book, if I’m being honest I was looking forward to this mainly because I wanted to read more about Lex and Queen Roza, since they’re probably my favorite couple of the series. But, even their parts weren’t that interesting and the main couple/story didn’t succeed in keeping my attention, didn’t feel that attached to Poppy or Casey.
randomnotes's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
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