The Heir Apparent
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4.0 • 162 Ratings
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
An irresistible modern fairy tale about a British princess who must decide between her duty to her family—or to her own heart.
It’s New Year’s Day in Australia and the life Lexi Villiers has carefully built is working out nicely: she’s in the second year of her medical residency, she lives on a beautiful farm with her two best friends Finn and Jack, and she’s about to finally become more-than-friendly with Jack—when a helicopter abruptly lands.
Out steps her grandmother’s right-hand-man, with the tragic news that her father and older brother have been killed in a skiing accident. Lexi’s grandmother happens to be the Queen of England, and in addition to the shock and grief, Lexi must now accept the reality that she is suddenly next in line for the throne—a role she has publicly disavowed.
Returning to London as the heir apparent Princess Alexandrina, Lexi is greeted by a skeptical public not ready to forgive her defection, a grieving sister-in-law harboring an explosive secret, and a scheming uncle determined to claim the throne himself.
Her recent life—and Jack—grow ever more distant as she feels the tug of tradition, of love for her grandmother, and of obligation. When her grandmother grants her one year to decide, Lexi must choose her own destiny: will it be determined by an accident of birth—or by love?
"One of the best books I've read all year." —Natasha Lester, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Seamstress
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
We loved all the royal drama in this compelling listen about what happens when “the spare” suddenly becomes the future queen. Lexi Villiers is living her best life in Tasmania, completing her medical residency and sharing a farm with her closest friends, Jack and Finn. That is, until she learns her father and brother have died and her formidable grandmother insists she come home to England at once. Oh, did we mention that her grandmother is the queen? Australian journalist Rebecca Armitage makes Lexi’s choice between the comfortable world she’s created and her duty as princess feel authentic and deeply human. There’s plenty of glamour and pageantry, but grief, guilt, long-standing family rifts, and the pull of her budding romance with Jack come with real emotional stakes. Shakira Shute’s smooth, expressive narration captures it all, shifting effortlessly between palace formality and Tasmanian warmth. The Heir Apparent is smart, modern royal fiction with heart.
Customer Reviews
My Rating: 4.5 / 5 👑👑👑👑👑
My Review:
4.5 out of five stars!
👑👑👑👑.5
This royal romance with a surprising twist revealed in the last 1/3 of the book was a quick and easy read. The storyline greatly parallels the English royal line, but thanks to Armitage’s imagination, it is a delightful fiction, perhaps it should be called a fairytale. I thought the characters were believable. The good guys were good and the bad guys were bad. The main character, Lexi, was a little bit bland, but she was never meant to be the star of the show. She stepped in after a devastating accident and did the best she could. Overall, this was a fun, imaginative read.
Suspenseful
I really like this book and how it ended I also like the suspense in it. And the character development was great!
Love a Royals Story
If you love royal drama, romance, layered characters, unexpected twists, and moral dilemmas, this book delivers. It’s a story about identity and sacrifice, about the dangerous pull of power, and about the courage it takes to choose your own path when the world has already chosen one for you.