ARC Review | Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory

Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory
Series: The Wedding Date
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publication Date: October 1st, 2019
ARC provided by the publisher

| Book Review |

Jasmine Guillory is back with Royal Holiday to spoil readers with a fun Christmassy read. This is the fourth book in her The Wedding Date series, and while this does include a main character from a past book, you could read this one on its own. I’ll be honest; after The Wedding Date, which was a lukewarm read for me, I wasn’t sure I’d pick up another Jasmine Guillory book. But then The Proposal came out, and I couldn’t resist a copy. Same with The Wedding Party. Neither of which I’ve read yet. But at the end of the day, I found The Wedding Date so compulsively readable that I felt like I’d be missing out if I wrote this author off. And I am so glad I didn’t. I enjoyed Royal Holiday so much! This book was fairly slow pacing-wise, but I thought it served the plot well. Some might call it slow burn, but I found there wasn’t really a burn at all, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. This book was more sweet than anything. And I’ll attribute the fact that the slow pace makes sense to Vivian and Malcolm being older than your typical romance pair. They spend a lot of time reflecting – on the situations they’re in as well as themselves, and that’s something I would expect with the amount of life experience they each have.

When Vivian accompanies her daughter, Maddie, to England for the holidays, she finds herself with a bit of time on her hands while Maddie is hard at work styling a duchess. She quickly charms the entire staff at the ‘cottage’ they’re staying in, and it’s not long before Malcolm, the queen’s personal assistant makes an appearance and charms her. Vivian and Malcolm had chemistry from the get-go; they genuinely enjoyed being with each other, and they were on the same wavelength when it came to almost everything. Malcolm loved showing Vivian his favorite parts of England, and she loved the new experiences. I really enjoyed the progression of their relationship, and even though the time frame was short, it felt like they really took their time to get to know each other. I loved the Christmas setting and the events surrounding it, and I loved their banter about the differences in what words meant in their respective countries. All in all, I thought everything about them was enjoyable. My one gripe about this book, ironically, is my favorite thing about this book. Their story was simple – that I loved. Their wasn’t a lot of drama, and I really didn’t feel like there needed to be. They were a mature couple who had learned from their mistakes. But, unfortunately they were simple as well. At least, they felt like it. They were constantly laughing at things most people wouldn’t laugh at, and I couldn’t figure out why. It almost felt like the author didn’t know how to write older people’s personalities. (I use the term ‘older’ loosely, as they were in their 50’s, if I recall correctly.) The laughter felt incredibly forced and out of place, and it often left me confused. But having said that, I still enjoyed this story, and loved seeing an older couple getting their happily ever afters. Also, like I mentioned before, Maddie makes an appearance here, and there are mentions of Theo. Maddie is the heroine from a previous novel in the series, and her character here felt like the catalyst in getting her mother to England. She didn’t feel gratuitous or like she didn’t belong here; her part in this book was perfect, and I think fans will be happy to see her.

If you’re looking for a sweet holiday read that, like the first book in this series, is compulsively readable, you can’t go wrong with Royal Holiday.

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