Paper Princess
(The Royals #1)
by Erin Watt
Publisher: Timeout, LLC
Publication date: April 4, 2016
Genre: New Adult Romance
Rating:
From strip clubs and truck stops to southern coast mansions and prep schools, one girl tries to stay true to herself.
These Royals will ruin you…
Ella Harper is a survivor—a pragmatic optimist. She’s spent her whole life moving from town to town with her flighty mother, struggling to make ends meet and believing that someday she’ll climb out of the gutter. After her mother’s death, Ella is truly alone.
Until Callum Royal appears, plucking Ella out of poverty and tossing her into his posh mansion among his five sons who all hate her. Each Royal boy is more magnetic than the last, but none as captivating as Reed Royal, the boy who is determined to send her back to the slums she came from.
Reed doesn’t want her. He says she doesn’t belong with the Royals.
He might be right.
Wealth. Excess. Deception. It’s like nothing Ella has ever experienced, and if she’s going to survive her time in the Royal palace, she’ll need to learn to issue her own Royal decrees.
I was completely wrong about Paper Princess. I honestly thought it was going to be a royal’s story, not a Royal’s story… as in their last name. So, there are no prince’s or princess’s. Just a rich dude who takes in a dirt poor teen and tries to incorporate her into his lifestyle with his five snobby rich-boy sons. Which is not exactly the story I was expecting, but it was still an entertaining read.
I actually got this book from my library and it was classified as Young Adult. Me personally, would not give this book to a young teen. There’s stripping at a strip club, drinking, drugs, attempted rape, and some pretty steamy and quite detailed sexual scenes that I would associate more with a New Adult novel than a YA. So, while the story follows a teen, the things that take place inside the pages are not really appropriate for a younger crowd, in my personal opinion.
Now onto the story. I will admit that I rolled my eyes at Ella… a lot. I mean, she’s this girl who’s at the bare bottom, trying to make ends meet. She’s working three jobs, one of which is stripping, and attending school… and her name is Ella. I was not at all surprised that her stipper name is Cinderella. After all, this story is a “Cinderella story.” I just wish her name wasn’t so cliche. Anyways, not only does Ella go from rags to riches but of course she has to fall for the meanest of the Royal boys. The one who runs the show, the one who says she doesn’t belong and gets pleasure from treating her like scum, the one who belittles her and accuses her of doing everything under the sun, the one who propositions her like a total creeper. Yup, that is the guy that Ella falls for. Ugh! I’m a little sick of the heroine falling for the a-holes who probably grow up to become psychopaths. This isn’t healthy, people. Not sure why authors keep writing about it like it is. To say I was disappointed in a lot of the decisions that Ella makes would be an understatement. For having to grow up and be her own adult at a very young age, you would think that she would be smarter… but she isn’t. She got struck dumb by the pretty boy stick, and it was just a little sad to watch.
However, it pains me to say that I really enjoyed this story. Say, what! I know that’s not where you thought I was going with this. I mean, the characters are cliche, the romance was cringe-worthy, and there really wasn’t anything original to the story… but I still didn’t want to put it down. It was like a 300 page train wreck and I just couldn’t look away. It was like getting a glimpse into the rich people’s world where power is everything, and these kids have been playing the game from a really young age. I was fascinated by the dynamics of it all and while there were some really creepy scenes that were way too inappropriate to be considered normal… even for some rich snob. Yet still, I was glued to their story. So, yeah, I have already put the next two books on hold at the library and I’m itching to start reading them.
Favorite quote…
“Somewhere along the line, I started thinking that if I just got through this bad experience, this bad day, that tomorrow I’d have something better, brighter, newer. I still believe that. I still believe that there’s something good out there for me. I just have to keep going until my time comes.”
I read a different one of her books, about a fauxmance with a rock star and it was entertaining, but not entirely my kind of thing. I know a lot of people like this Royals series, so I keep thinking I’ll try it. Maybe!
I would check your library, it’s where I got my copy from. It’s definitely over the top on drama but it was a fun read to just get out of your head for a bit.
I do not feel that Cinderella really works as a stripper name, lol
Right?! I rolled my eyes so hard at that. Like, most people go with Candy, Sherry, Brandy… not Cinderella.
It is a good thing when you can’t put down a book even though you had some issues with this one. I bought a copy of it when it was discounted, so I have this on my to-read list. I hope you’ll enjoy the next two books as well.
I hope you enjoy the story. It’s definitely over the top but still entertaining. Just be prepared to want the second book in your hands ASAP.
I’ve heard this series is addictive even while hating it lol I have to give it a hard pass because I’m so sick of reading that stuff but I get why it would be a guilty pleasure kind of read and several years ago I might have loved it myself O_O
For What It’s Worth
That is definitely true. It wasn’t a work of art in the sense of great characters/world/plot… but it was extremely addicting the the way a soap opera can be.
This is most definitely a New Adult book not a YA book! I read this book when it was getting all that hype earlier this year, and I too couldn’t put it down even though I didn’t think the writing was that good. *shrugs* I think you describe it well when you say it is like a train wreck and you just can’t look away! haha
I was really shocked when the library label on the spine said YA. o.o I would not want a young teen reading this. An 18… yeah sure, but not a 14 year old. It sounds like we had the same reaction to this book. LoL
That’s not what I would have thought this book was about either. lol
Yeah, the title and cover is very misleading and the synopsis doesn’t really help to clarify it. I was definitely surprised to realize it wasn’t a story about a prince and princess. LoL
Ha! I would have thought it was about royalty as well lol. I’ve run across several “YA” books that I’d never classify as YA because of the content, something must be changing lol
Maybe we’re just getting old? I’m only 30 but man, I feel like books and shows are getting WAY too racy and pushing the envelope a bit too far. I remember when (as a teen) reading Nicholas Sparks was “steamy”. Ha! The YA books out now totally top the stuff of his I read as a teen.
Glad it worked overall! but I think I’m okay skipping this one. Doesn’t sound like it would go well for me. And, yeah, I would think royal book, too. lol
LoL Yeah, there’s a lot of drama and a lot of things I could see you wanting to toss your ereader over. There were a lot of eye rolling moments but :GAH: it was like a psychotic reality show playing out on the pages and I just couldn’t stop reading.
It is good to know that in spite of the issues you had a hard time putting it down.
It was definitely an interesting position I found myself. I thought a lot of it was absurd and normally I’d put the book down and move on… on so many occasions this would have happened throughout the book. However, I had to know what kind of stupid craziness was going to happen next and that kept me reading until the end.
Even though you had some issues and still couldn’t put it down says a lot. I might have to give this a try. 🙂
I’ll warn you, it’s crazy. Like, psycho reality show crazy. LoL Which is why I couldn’t put it down. Something over the top was always happening and I just couldn’t stop reading. I highly recommend seeing if your library has a copy before you purchase it. This story isn’t going to be for everyone.
Eeps he sounds like a villain instead of hero. I don’t think I would like this one… Great review, though. 🙂