ROMANCING THE THRONE

Courtney whips up a frothy, modern fairy tale, dealing with everything from sibling rivalry to protection of privacy.

Libby and Charlotte Weston are more than just sisters—they’re besties. Even attending separate prep schools, the nouveau riche white girls text daily. So narrator Charlotte’s ecstatic when Libby must switch schools, joining her at prestigious Sussex Park, where England’s wealthy scions come to be educated. As Charlotte reaches out to smooth the way for her older sister to fit in with her “in” crowd, Libby finds that she too can make friends in this rarified group…especially with her sister’s new crush, Prince Edward, heir to the throne. In the same school, in a tight-knit circle of social elite, all seems to be going well until something becomes obvious: there are two sisters but only one prince. Choices need to be made…and someone will be hurt along the way. Starting off slowly, Courtney builds a solid cast of characters, spreading out from the sisters and the prince to their coterie of friends—the jet-setting, jealous heiress, the lesbian society girl still looking for love, the boy who tries too hard to fit in, the responsible dorm proctor…they’re all here and very recognizable even if their world appears to be more shallow than glamorous.

A light and fluffy read with a solid life lesson lending structure