At seventeen Ella Harper has lived harder than most girls her age. She’s had to come up with unconventional ways to take care of her dying mother and pay off her hospital bills. Stripping is the easiest way to make a buck and she can still go to school for her GED. When a strange man shows up at school saying he’s her guardian Ella does what comes easiest and runs, but unfortunately for her this guys has a ton of money and tracks her down- hauling her out of the strip club she’s in and back to his home to live with he and his five teenage sons. Those teenage sons? Handsome, built, and angry that she’s been brought into their lives.

Paper Princess is so many things! It’s irreverent, fast paced, dramatic, sexy, and really just a lot of fun to read. The contrast between Ella’s poor upbringing and the spoiled rich kids she encounters at home and school makes this a compelling read. It would be so easy for Ella to conform and yet she remains the same girl despite the easy access to sex, drugs, and money. The Royal boys are the biggest obstacle to Ella’s happiness. They control the school and whether someone is accepted or not and they all look to Reed for how to treat Ella. Let’s just say it doesn’t go in her favor. At first.

My public school upbringing was nothing like what I read in this novel, it was really fantasy life at it’s best. The normal cliques you typically read about were present but over dramatized 100%. The mean girls? They didn’t just bad mouth her they stuffed her locker with garbage and used tampons. Most of these scenes were not true to life, well at least not true to my own life but a fun escape from reality.

The Royal boys were the most fun to read about. Reed was tough, mean, beautiful, and brutal. Easton was funny, sarcastic, over-sexed, and ambivalent. Sawyer and Sebastian (twins) were not as large a part of this novel, but they looked to their older brothers for how to act and react. There is also an older brother, Gideon, who is off at school and makes several appearances, but all the brothers seem to look to Reed as the leader of the group. Ella realizes this quickly and doesn’t even try to play up to him, instead antagonizing and remaining true to her roots, but deep inside she wants to belong.

I really liked this book and thought it was entertaining and fun, but when I think about how this is directed towards teens I cringe a little. Some of the references and situations seem a little adult and I wonder if young adults think this is how they should be acting? Of course it’s not, it’s a fantasy world, but I worry that it will be taken seriously by some too young to understand the authors intent. If you don’t take it seriously, it’s great fun to read!

I would advise anyone who plans to read this series that there is a lot of mature content with some pretty explicit scenes. Be warned!

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Opinions from around the Blogosphere!

“In general I don’t think it’s a bad book. I finished it in two days, it’s entertaining and very fast paced. I didn’t care much for the abuse and rudeness in the first part of the book, but I did began to like it when the relationship between Ella and the brothers started to lighten up and they treated her like a sister. ” My Bookish Rambles

“This series is geared for more of a mature audience because there are sexual scenes throughout all of the books. This was such a fun read and kept me on my toes through not just the first, but all of the books throughout the series. I would recommend this to anyone likes contemporary!” The Book Instruments

Click this link to purchase!* Paper Princess: A Novel (The Royals)

Copyright 2019 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

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