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A review by thephdivabooks
Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory
4.0
Perhaps one of her best books yet, Jasmine Guillory’s Royal Holiday left me with a smile on my face and joy in my heart! Guillory continues to push contemporary romance into showcasing diversity in the genre, while still maintaining the steamy, fun, sassy, and heart-warming moments that make you forget you are also learning a valuable lesson. Lovely!
Jasmine Guillory’s books are some of the ones I most look forward to. Each book somehow ties loosely to the book before it through the characters. Last year’s The Wedding Party starred Maddie Forest, a stylist in California who is probably my favorite protagonist of Guillory’s books to date. Maddie was tough and vulnerable, and wholly easy to adore in my opinion.
In Royal Holiday, Maddie’s mother Vivian is center stage, and I didn’t realize how excited I would be to read a wonderful, charming story about love over 50. As if that is shocking? But somehow, it is. We rarely see women in contemporary romance older than mid-30s, and a black woman over the typical age range seems almost unheard of.
But as with every book Guillory writes, the diversity is as important as the romance itself. She manages to constantly remind us that love is universal, but the way society treats love stories is not always equal depending on surface characteristics. All of this combines to have me both loving the rom-com of her books, and also feeling more tolerant, accepting, and educated about the struggles faced by people of color.
Let’s get to the story!
When Maddie is hired as the stylist to the Duchess for the Christmas holidays, she and her mother travel overseas to spend holidays in royal fashion (pun intended!). The queen is also at the estate with her private secretary Malcom Hudson (whom Vivian calls “Hot Chocolate” to my delight!). When a holiday romance heats up between Vivian and Malcolm, the attraction is much deeper than just physical.
Of course, with Vivian living in Oakland, CA and Malcolm’s duty to the queen, the romance seems doomed to be not much more than a holiday fling. But perhaps, as they say, love will conquer all—even those pesky thousands of miles keeping them apart!
I felt like this was the type of book that you could love just on the surface, and also for the brilliance of Guillory’s writing. The diversity didn’t feel like it took precedence over the story, but it also didn’t take a backstage to it. It was as much a part of their identities as their hilarious banter and their hearts. I felt that the book both showcases the inherent lack of diversity in the genre, while also making it seem almost silly that we don’t see more age and racial diversity historically in romance books.
And then of course, in addition to all of that, is the message that we should always allow our hearts to be open to love!
Thank you to Berkley Publishing for my copy. Opinions are my own.
Jasmine Guillory’s books are some of the ones I most look forward to. Each book somehow ties loosely to the book before it through the characters. Last year’s The Wedding Party starred Maddie Forest, a stylist in California who is probably my favorite protagonist of Guillory’s books to date. Maddie was tough and vulnerable, and wholly easy to adore in my opinion.
In Royal Holiday, Maddie’s mother Vivian is center stage, and I didn’t realize how excited I would be to read a wonderful, charming story about love over 50. As if that is shocking? But somehow, it is. We rarely see women in contemporary romance older than mid-30s, and a black woman over the typical age range seems almost unheard of.
But as with every book Guillory writes, the diversity is as important as the romance itself. She manages to constantly remind us that love is universal, but the way society treats love stories is not always equal depending on surface characteristics. All of this combines to have me both loving the rom-com of her books, and also feeling more tolerant, accepting, and educated about the struggles faced by people of color.
Let’s get to the story!
When Maddie is hired as the stylist to the Duchess for the Christmas holidays, she and her mother travel overseas to spend holidays in royal fashion (pun intended!). The queen is also at the estate with her private secretary Malcom Hudson (whom Vivian calls “Hot Chocolate” to my delight!). When a holiday romance heats up between Vivian and Malcolm, the attraction is much deeper than just physical.
Of course, with Vivian living in Oakland, CA and Malcolm’s duty to the queen, the romance seems doomed to be not much more than a holiday fling. But perhaps, as they say, love will conquer all—even those pesky thousands of miles keeping them apart!
I felt like this was the type of book that you could love just on the surface, and also for the brilliance of Guillory’s writing. The diversity didn’t feel like it took precedence over the story, but it also didn’t take a backstage to it. It was as much a part of their identities as their hilarious banter and their hearts. I felt that the book both showcases the inherent lack of diversity in the genre, while also making it seem almost silly that we don’t see more age and racial diversity historically in romance books.
And then of course, in addition to all of that, is the message that we should always allow our hearts to be open to love!
Thank you to Berkley Publishing for my copy. Opinions are my own.