American Royals III: Rivals - Softcover

McGee, Katharine

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0593567439 ISBN 13: 9780593567432

Verlag: Random House Books for Young Readers, 2022

Inhaltsangabe

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING SERIES • The third book in the bestselling American Royals series is here, and a meeting of monarchs will test everyone's loyalty to the crown…and their own hearts.

Beatrice is queen, and for the American royal family, everything is about to change.
 
Relationships will be tested.
Princess Samantha is in love with Lord Marshall Davis—but the more serious they get, the more complicated things become. Is Sam destined to repeat her string of broken relationships…and this time will the broken heart be her own?  
 
Strangers will become friends.
Beatrice is representing America at the greatest convocation of kings and queens in the world. When she meets a glamorous foreign princess, she gets drawn into the inner circle…but at what cost?
 
And rivals will become allies.
Nina and Daphne have spent years competing for Prince Jefferson. Now they have something in common: they both want to take down manipulative Lady Gabriella Madison. Can these enemies join forces, or will old rivalries stand in the way?
 
 

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Katharine McGee is the New York Times bestselling author of the American Royals series and the Thousandth Floor trilogy. She studied English and French literature at Princeton University and has an MBA from Stanford. She lives in her hometown of Houston, Texas, with her husband and son. Visit her online at katharinemcgee.com. Follow her at @katharinemcgee.

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Can Queen Beatrice hold on to the throne? Readers are dying to know what happens next for the American Royal family in this third book by the New York Times bestselling author Katharine McGee. Crazy Rich Asians meets The Crown.
The third book in the New York Times bestselling American Royals series is here, and a meeting of monarchs will test everyone's loyalty to the crown…and their own hearts.

Beatrice is queen, and for the American royal family, everything is about to change.

Relationships will be tested.
Princess Samantha is in love with Lord Marshall Davis―but the more serious they get, the more complicated things become. Is Sam destined to repeat her string of broken relationships…and this time will the broken heart be her own?

Strangers will become friends.
Beatrice is representing America at the greatest convocation of kings and queens in the world. When she meets a glamorous foreign princess, she gets drawn into the inner circle…but at what cost?

And rivals will become allies.
Nina and Daphne have spent years competing for Prince Jefferson. Now they have something in common: they both want to take down manipulative Lady Gabriella Madison. Can these enemies join forces, or will old rivalries stand in the way?

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1

Beatrice

Beatrice pulled her arms overhead in a stretch. She wondered if all brides felt like this when they returned from their ­honeymoons: flush with a warm, relaxed pleasure.

Except that Beatrice—­Her Majesty Beatrice Georgina Frede­ricka Louise, Queen of America—­wasn’t a normal bride. Actually, since she hadn’t gotten married, she wasn’t a bride at all.

She glanced at Theodore Eaton, the man she was supposed to have wed earlier this year. His hair was an even brighter blond after three weeks in the Caribbean sun, his skin burnished to a golden tan. Beatrice knew she looked just as relaxed and well rested.

Not that it would last, with everything that lay ahead.

In the weeks following their non-­wedding, Beatrice had ­remained in the capital, dealing with the aftermath of her decision. She had reviewed infrastructure bills and ambassadorial appointments, and had studied foreign legislation and trade policies in preparation for the upcoming League of Kings conference. It was all the tedious, unglamorous work of being a monarch—­the work Beatrice should have been doing since her father died, if she hadn’t allowed herself to be sidetracked with planning her wedding.

Porcelain platters were scattered on the table before her and Teddy, laden with the remnants of their scrambled eggs and fruit. Franklin, the golden Lab puppy that she and Teddy had adopted together—­not a puppy much longer—­nuzzled her leg, whining. Beatrice surreptitiously broke off a piece of toast and passed it to him under the table.

“Glad to be back?” Teddy asked.

Beatrice leaned down to rub Franklin’s velvety-­soft ears. “Glad to see this guy again,” she said, and sighed. “Though I have to say, I already miss our bungalow.”

Beatrice had never really been on a vacation before. She’d traveled all over the world, but always for a diplomatic visit or state business. Even on family trips she’d been too busy skiing, or sailing, or catching up on school assignments to relax. It was a trait she’d inherited from her father. King George IV had never taken a day off work in his life. And now that he was gone, Beatrice wished that he had.

A knock sounded at the door. “Yes?” Beatrice called out.

“Your Majesty,” the footman announced, “the Lady Cham­berlain is here to see you.”

Surprised, Beatrice glanced down at her watch: a platinum one that her father had given her on her eighteenth birthday, its hands starred with tiny diamonds. It wasn’t like her to be running late. She’d gotten too accustomed to island time—­all those mornings when she and Teddy had lingered over breakfast, only to end up falling into bed again afterward.

Beatrice glanced at the footman, struck with an idea. “Why don’t you tell Anju to come on in?”

“Into the breakfast room, Your Majesty?”

“Why not?” Beatrice’s relationship with her former chamberlain, Robert Standish, had been stiff with formality. But beneath the incessant bowing and Your Majesty–­ing, Robert hadn’t respected her at all. He’d been silently undermining Beatrice’s authority, trying to keep her from exerting any real power.

Robert had been far too stuffy and old-­fashioned to even consider sitting down in the Washington family’s private breakfast room, which was precisely why Beatrice had suggested it. She was determined to do things differently this time around.

“Bee.” Teddy cleared his throat. “Do you think you could run some of my thoughts past Anju, see if we can get moving on any of them?”

She nodded. “Of course.”

America had never had a king consort before. The only real precedents for Teddy’s position were the eleven queens consort who’d come before him—­most recently, Beatrice’s mother, Queen Adelaide.

So Teddy had drawn up some ideas for responsibilities he could help take on. He’d been trained as a future duke, after all; he had a great deal of experience in allocating budget, looking out for the good of his people. Beatrice knew he wouldn’t be happy doing what queens consort traditionally did—­cutting ribbons, arranging tablescapes.

Of course, it wasn’t fair that the queens had been limited to domestic roles in the first place. Beatrice’s mother was one of the smartest people she knew. And, like Teddy, Adelaide had been trained to rule a duchy someday—­two duchies, in fact. But once she’d married King George, she’d been relegated to a position that was more ceremonial than political. That was just the way the monarchy worked.

Until now.

Beatrice was determined to change all of that, to show people that a woman could rule as effectively as any man. Still, she didn’t want Teddy to feel purposeless. He was too talented to sit around waiting for her to need him. Even if that was, technically, the only item in his job description.

“Thanks. I’ll catch up with you later.” Teddy stood, dropping a kiss on Beatrice’s forehead as the Lady Chamberlain walked in.

After she’d fired Robert Standish, Beatrice had launched a full-­scale search for a new chamberlain. She’d interviewed dozens of options before settling on Anju Mahali, who, as the former CEO of a software company, might have been the unlikeliest candidate of them all.

“Are you sure you want to hire her? She knows next to nothing about politics,” Beatrice’s mother had warned.

Honestly, Beatrice thought, the royal family needed someone with a fresh perspective. And anything Anju needed to know about politics—­not to mention the intricacies of protocol—­she could find in Robert’s binders and file folders. He’d certainly left enough of them.

At least Anju had some experience managing public opinion. When Beatrice had called off the wedding of the century, offering no more explanation than a vague security scare, she’d expected a public reaction. There was always a reaction to every last one of her decisions, no matter how insignificant they seemed to Beatrice. She’d met with a congressional leader at his office rather than summoning him to hers—­was that a gesture of respect, or of disdain? (In ­reality, the palace’s air-­conditioning had been out that day.) She’d worn a pair of amethyst earrings—­surely that was a silent cry for help, since amethysts were known to have healing vibes. (Beatrice had been especially bemused by that claim; she’d worn the earrings because her stylist thought they matched her purple dress.)

The scrutiny had only gotten worse after her controversial decision to postpone the wedding. All summer, people had been speaking out against her, in op-­eds and on talk shows and in social-­media rants. It’s not that I’m antifeminist, they would begin, but—­

As if that single but absolved them of anything they said next. But she’s so young and inexperienced. But it’s hard to imagine she could ever live up to her father. But she called off her own wedding; don’t you worry that’s a sign of emotional instability?

For the first time in both their lives, Samantha’s approval ratings were higher than Beatrice’s. Sam had just completed a successful royal tour, while Beatrice was the woman who’d left America’s favorite duke at the altar. The magazines that used to rave over “Queen B” now piled criticism on...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Random House Books for Young Readers
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2022
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0593567439
• ISBN 13: 9780593567432
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 400
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Purmerul LTD; https://strengholt.nl/en/; ; 22 Liuleburgaz Str., floor 4, app. 9; Plovdiv; Bulgarien