A review by fae_princess_in_space
The Rules of Royalty by Cale Dietrich

adventurous emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was a fun YA read about Jamie Johnson, gay American high schooler, finding out he is the Prince of a small European country! He goes for the summer and the Prince of a neighbouring country is asked to give him ‘prince lessons’… although turns out Prince Erik is gay too, and he and Jamie really hit it off!

Unfortunately, Erik’s grandmother, the Queen, is not at all pleased that Erik wants a relationship with Jamie, and forbids him from dating Jamie, telling him he has to date the man she has chosen for him instead, Sebastian. But Sebastian doesn’t want to be in a relationship and definitely doesn’t care about Erik. 

But the boys have grown close and Erik isn’t sure he wants to abide by his family’s rules any more… 

I did like this - the premise of it being the Princess Diaries but gay was pretty accurate, but there were some glaring issues for me. Firstly, Erik’s grandmother is fine that he’s gay, but not fine with him dating a boy he chooses for himself… who is a literal prince? It seems like such a power trip and didn’t sit right with me. There is also a section where Jamie has a press conference after the press find out about him, and Erik agrees to help him prepare for it… by teaching him which forks to use at dinner and how to ride a horse? Huh? I also found the writing style a bit jerky - some unnecessary repetitiveness and unbelievable speech. 

So overall a solid read but not one I’d read again I think. Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC of this book!