Royal Holiday

5/5 stars

Vivian has never been to England, but when her daughter invites her to go over Christmas, she can’t refuse. She never imagined she would be staying with a duke and duchess nor did she predict she would possibly-maybe have a holiday fling with the private secretary to the Queen of England! Jasmine Guillory is back with another charming romance!

I really loved this book. I’ve been a big fan of Guillory’s, and this was no different. It was the perfect holiday read and added royalty into the mix. As always, there are (not-so) subtle hints to challenges with being a person of color that I really appreciate. Guillory does a great job at keeping the mood light while not letting you forget you’re reading about minority characters. Some of the dialogue and interactions may seem odd to non-minority readers, but as a WOC, I found myself chuckling in agreement at seeing my experiences being represented in a book. 

All of her books fall in the same universe. I loved following Vivian, Maddie’s single mom, on her unbelievably amazing trip to England. The small nods to characters that took starring roles in previous books put a smile on my face. The great thing about these books is while they are all in the same universe, I think you could get away with reading them out of order –there may be a spoiler or two about who ends up with whom, but let’s be honest, there’s almost always the fairytale ending we wanted. 

Overall, this was the perfect holiday read for me, and I can’t wait to see what’s next.