Title: The Heir & The Spare

Author: Emily Albright

Publisher: Merit Press

Publication Date: January 18, 2016

Source: The Fantastic Flying Book Club

About: Family can be complicated. Especially when skeletons from the past pop up unexpectedly. For American Evie Gray, finding out her deceased mother had a secret identity, and not one of the caped crusader variety, was quite the surprise. Evie’s mom had a secret life before she was even born, one that involved tiaras.

In this modern day fairytale, Evie is on a path to figure out who her mom really was, while discovering for herself what the future will hold. Charged with her late mother’s letters, Evie embarks on a quest into her past. The first item on the list is to attend Oxford, her mom’s alma mater. There, Evie stumbles upon a real life prince charming, Edmund Stuart the second Prince of England, who is all too happy to be the counterpart to her damsel in distress.

Evie can’t resist her growing attraction to Edmund as they spend more time together trying to unravel the clues her mother left behind. But, when doubts arise as to whether or not Edmund could ever be with an untitled American, what really ends up unraveling is Evie’s heart. When Evie uncovers all the facts about her mom’s former life, she realizes her mom’s past can open doors she never dreamed possible, doors that can help her be with Edmund. But, with everything now unveiled, Evie starts to crack under the pressure of new family responsibilities and the realization that her perfect prince may want her for all the wrong reasons.

Nopeity nope nope. I hate to be such a downer in a review, but this book was just not for me.

Let me start from the beginning: as a follower of the Fantastic Flying Book Club, I got an email about the blog tour and the book. (You can submit an application for the book you want to receive an ARC of and if you are chosen, you get to be apart of a blog tour promoting the book with reviews an such.) It’s such a fun website and I’ve been apart of it once or twice before. I was stoked for The Heir & The Spare. I mean, the cover alone looked amazing.

I was expecting a Princess Diaries meets The Prince and Me. (And it really was just that. MINUS the plot.)

(But let’s face it those movies – and book – are classics and can’t be re-created.)

But either a) I misjudged the cover and synopsis or b) it’s very misleading or c) IT’S JUST NOT FOR ME. And I think it’s a mix of the latter two because I have many complaints.

#1: It’s cheesy. Like, Ghouda-Swiss-Cheddar-Colby-Jack-Monteray-Melt-In-Your-Mouth Cheesy. And normally, I don’t have any problem with this because I love cheesy. I EAT IT UP. (Pun intended.) But then there’s a difference between cheesy and plot holes, and that’s where this book falls apart I think. (Though cheese DOES have holes in it, right? Ha. Ha. Ha… okay never mind me.) This is the main issue, because underneath comes a whole slew of problems that really only leaves the synopsis. It’s a tough one, this book. :-/

#2: There’s no setting, and quite honestly I feel that zero research went into the book. The main character, Evie, attends Oxford University in England. I was thrilled because I love books set in England! I’m just in love with the idea of all things British, and I was excited to learn a bit about the scenery and setting and such. But… NOTHING seemed to tell me “different setting here, she’s in a big name school in a different country” because based on the descriptions (or lack thereof) Evie could easily be in a plain college in Nowhereville, USA. And that was a total let-down. As for the research portion, Evie’s love interest is the PRINCE of England. I think more detail about how a commoner from America would fit with a royal of another country would go well together would have been much better, because… PRINCE Edward didn’t seem to have a royal thought in his head about it.

#3: Insta-love guys. Mega insta-love. I haven’t read a book with such insta-love before, truly. Evie looks at this guy and she’s all “dear lord he looks tasty” and I do mean it was that fast and silly-like. This goes along with the cheesiness, but I wouldn’t have a problem with that if it didn’t go so fast. And while we’re on the topic of romance, it did not sit well with me. Evie and her love interest didn’t seem to have a relationship so much as she had a kissing-fling with him, and that highly annoyed me. It was a whole drama-saga-up-and-down-rollercoaster type “relationship” (if you want to call it that, but I digress) and it exhausted me.

#4: The main character seems too immature for her age. Evie is nineteen in the beginning of the book, and turns twenty about half-way through. But she’s so daft and rash she bothered me, a fourteen-year-old. She had no further aspirations for herself: she considers dropping college and returning home to Seattle at one point. But she attends Oxford University. I assume you have to work very hard to make it to a university like that, but she considers dropping it like a hot potato just because exams and relationship are “too much.” It drove me bonkers. And I also have a more personal complaint as well: Evie had no respect for herself. She goes way far way fast with this prince of hers, but still doubts his feelings for her and whether or not they are, in fact, boyfriend/girlfriend. Um. WHAT.

It frustrated me so badly I can’t even express myself in a single post. Moreover the fact that she wasn’t the smartest character when it comes to relationships, I hated it because personally I feel that’s a bad example for any reader who picks this book up. I just hate characters who spend the book wondering what their relationship status is. Because that’s why it’s a personal opinion of mine: that shouldn’t even be considered a plot. I believe relationships should be taken far more seriously and with much more care, and it Irritates The Heck Out Of Me. *rant over*

I did enjoy a few things. Evie is a likable character. Lemme put it this way: she craves Netflix marathons, sweatpants, and pizza. And she’s an avid fan of Jane Austen and other classic novels. The story itself is nice enough; easy to get into, and very short. So if you’re looking for a very light romance go for it. Frankly my dear… I just wasn’t attached enough to the characters or book to care about anything. (if you caught that go you!) Wasn’t my cup of tea.

2 stars.

 

 

 

so what do you do when you read a low-rated book? how do you feel about cheesiness? and tell me: british accents do make everything better right?!! oh and the princess diaries or the prince and me? 🙂