Royal Disaster by Parker Swift

Blurb:

“He’s not who you think he is . . . “

Meeting Dylan Hale has turned my life upside down. I’m dating an actual duke who’s devastatingly handsome and deliciously naughty. On the surface, I’m living the high life. But this surreal world of royalty and paparazzi is getting out of control.

Someone knows way too much about Dylan and me-about the moments when we’re alone, about how his hands leave a trail of fire over my skin . . . about the complete control he has over me between the sheets. And worse, it’s starting to become clear that Dylan’s keeping secrets from me, too . . .

 

     

My Review:
3.5 stars — I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

Well huh.  I basically feel almost identically about this book as I did the first book in this series.  LOVED the characters and the witty back and forth and dialogue, and generally the chemistry was spot on.  BUT, I also got a bit bored in places and wanted to skip ahead.  There was slightly less sex I think, but I did get a bit bored with that as well, which does not seem like a great thing for an erotic read.  Honestly, I reread my review for book one and could have just vomited it here verbatim.

Sooooo…what can I add?  Well, the intrigue and mystery with the threatening e-mails wasn’t as prevalent as I expected…and I’m kinda meh on how that played out.  Like, I didn’t dislike it, but it wasn’t as interesting as I had anticipated.

What did surprise me?  I had no idea how this book would develop with their relationship, but I kind of appreciated having that bit more and seeing them stumble over obstacles and grow and change together.  Some of those obstacles felt contrived, but some were very genuine.  I still haven’t the foggiest how we’re going to get a whole other book out of their story.  Maybe we’ll finally learn something about Lydia’s mother?  I keep waiting.

I enjoyed some of the tiny side characters we got more of — Will, Emily, Mrs. Barnes, Frank….  And the friendships with Fiona and Josh were great (and surprising, particularly with Fee).

I guess the crux of the problem for me is that both this book and the previous one would have been more enjoyable for me if they were edited down…in the end they had great stuff, but they dragged.  Which is a shame for such great story potential.  I’m still curious about the next book, but I’m going to assume I will feel similarly.  Good, but could be better.