Review: Playing the Palace by Paul Rudnick
SYNOPSIS:
THEIR LOVE STORY CAPTIVATED THE WORLD…THE CROWN PRINCE AND THAT GUY FROM NEW YORK
When a lonely American event planner starts dating the gay Prince of Wales, a royal uproar ensues: is it true love or the ultimate meme? Find out in this hilarious romantic comedy.
After having his heart trampled on by his cheating ex, Carter Ogden is afraid love just isn’t in the cards for him. He still holds out hope in a tiny corner of his heart, but even in his wildest dreams he never thought he’d meet the Crown Prince of England, much less do a lot more with him. Yes, growing up he’d fantasized about the handsome, openly gay Prince Edgar, but who hadn’t? When they meet by chance at an event Carter’s boss is organizing, Carter’s sure he imagined all that sizzling chemistry. Or was it mutual?
This unlikely but meant-to-be romance sets off media fireworks on both sides of the Atlantic. With everyone having an opinion on their relationship and the intense pressure of being constantly in the spotlight, Carter finds ferocious obstacles to his Happily Ever After, including the tenacious disapproval of the Queen of England. Carter and Prince Edgar fight for a happy ending to equal their glorious international beginning. It’s a match made on Valentine’s Day and in tabloid heaven.
REVIEW:
I had high, high hopes for this novel, after seeing the cover and reading the synopsis, I was sold. And the first third of the story and this budding romance were rom-com perfection. But then things took a turn and the story became a hot mess. The ending was cute but the first 35% of this story was drastically different from the rest of the book.
So lets start with the first 35%, it was adorable, awkward, and cute. I truly enjoyed Carter and Edgar’s unconventional meet-cute. They had several dates, and while Edgar is still elusive, Carter is enjoying any stolen moments together that he can. They definitely have chemistry but they also needed more time to get to know each other better before being whisked away into family drama on both sides.
And this is where things took a turn and the story became disconnected. After a few dates and an unfortunate photo leak, Edgar takes Carter home to England for a week; meet the queen, his family, and do some PR. And this whole situation is one unfortunate event after another; at first Carter’s bad luck was funny and endearing, but after the third “oh no” event, it just became cringey and uncomfortable. Carter and Edgar couldn’t catch a break; at the same time, their relationship didn’t really seem to progress. Sure they were continuing intimately but there were no stolen moments or tender conversations; in fact there were hardly any more meaningful conversations between them at all. Everything became centered upon one PR disaster after another.
This continued for 15+ chapters, disaster after disaster and honestly after everything that played out, I was starting to think that maybe Carter and Edgar aren’t meant to be. This doesn’t even include the Queen’s horrendous treatment of Carter or Edgar’s greedy brother. And after maybe spending a total of 10 days together, Edgar confesses his love and it literally came out of nowhere that I was like ‘WTF is happening’. Meanwhile, Carter refuses to confess his feelings (if he has any) and foolishly meets up with his ex which turns into another scandal circuit.
The story from the moment they enter England to the last chapter was a discombobulated mess. It was didn’t flow, felt choppy, and their relationship just didn’t progress emotionally at all. And as I wrapped up the story I can now see why it had such a mediocre reception. What started off as hilarious and promising, ended with cringe and confusion. I am just disappointed…deeply disappointed.
LINKS:
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
