Tag: royalty

What's Your View on Romances Featuring Royalty?

Bookish Question #256 | What’s Your View on Romances Featuring Royalty?

This is similar to a couple of previous questions:

I have reconsidered this question, and find my opinion has changed … but only slightly.

I previously said:

I’m not a big fan of contemporary fiction (especially romance) featuring royal families.
I’m not interested in fictionalised versions of the lives of still-living people—I haven’t even watched The Crown. I’m also not interested in made-up contemporary royal families, perhaps because the lives of our real royal family have more than enough drama.

I’m from New Zealand (as you probably know), so grew up seeing Queen Elizabeth II on all the stamps, and listening to her Christmas message each year. King Charles III has succeeded his mother as our head of state, and we all watched people we knew or knew of attend the Royal Funeral or march in the funeral procession. We also had the Commonwealth Games, where the countries of the British Commonwealth compete in an Olympic-type tournament every four years (conveniently timed to be midway between the Olympics).

As such, the Royal Family were and are part of life, even if they are far removed from our everyday life.

However, I have read and enjoyed Toni Shiloh’s stories set in the imaginary African kingdom of Ọlọrọ Ilé, In Search of a Prince and To Win a Prince, and I would definitely want to read more in this vein.

I might even be interested in romances about royalty set in non-European countries, especially if the author could come up with some kind of twist. But I am still not interested in contemporary romance in European countries (particularly English-speaking countries), as that’s too close to real life.

What about you? What’s Your View on Romances Featuring Royalty?

Do you prefer romance novels with “just like you” characters, or billionaires or royalty?

Bookish Question #242 | Do you prefer romance novels with “just like you” characters, or billionaires or royalty?

Do you prefer romance novels with “just like you” characters, or stories with billionaires or royalty or superstars of some kind?

I tend to prefer characters I can relate to, which tend to be the “just like me” characters.

I don’t mind the occasional sports star or rock star or actor. They add interest, and glimpse into a different world … especially if they’re paired with a more relatable character.

I’m not normally a big fan of royalty romance, but I did enjoy In Search of a Prince by Toni Shiloh (a Christian twist on The Princess Diaries, set in a fictional African island kingdom). I have the sequel, To Win a Prince, on my to-read pile.

But there are exceptions.

For example, I enjoy Regency Romance (and Victorian and Georgian romance), and stories in those time periods often feature the affluent members of the upper classes, if not actual royalty. Many of these characters are rich—not billionaires, but certainly the equivalent in their times.

For example, I have read and enjoyed several series set in the Restoration era, such as the Empire State series by Elizabeth Camden (starting with A Dangerous Legacy). But I’m not as much of a fan of billionaire romance, although there are exceptions.

So I guess I don’t mind reading about royalty or rich people in historical romance. But I definitely prefer the main characters in contemporary romance to be “just like me” characters.

What about you? Do you prefer romances novels with “just-like-you” characters, or fairy tale stories with billionaires and royalty?

Do you like reading novels with royalty themes?

Bookish Question #180 | Do you like reading novels with royalty themes?

Yesterday was the annual Queen’s Birthday holiday in New Zealand and parts of Australia, a day off work to observe the official birthday of HM Queen Elizabeth II. Her actual birthday is in April, so I don’t know why we celebrate it in June. As a child, I was told it was because June was summer in England. That’s true, but the English don’t have a holiday in June, so why do we?

Anyway, that raises this week’s question: do you like reading novels with royalty themes?

I have to say yes and no.

I don’t mind reading speculative fiction with made-up royal characters.

After all, made-up royal characters fit with a made-up world and made-up religion. It’s always interesting to see how authors create their worlds, cultures, and religions. Royalty is often a part of that. And it’s almost to be expected in Christian speculative fiction, with themes of God as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and us as His adoptive children–which makes us all princes and princesses.

I also don’t mind reading fictionalised versions of real, historical events involving royalty.

Having said that, I have read rather too many novels about the Tudors in particular and English royalty in general, and I’d welcome good fiction—especially Christian fiction—that showed royalty from other countries.

However, I’m not a big fan of contemporary fiction (especially romance) featuring royal families.

I’m not interested in fictionalised versions of the lives of still-living people—I haven’t even watched The Crown. I’m also not interested in made-up contemporary royal families, perhaps because the lives of our real royal family have more than enough drama.

What about you? Do like reading novels with royalty themes?