The Queen Has a Cold

- Jane Kolven

Goodreads Book Blurb:

Remy, the heir to the throne of the tiny nation of Montamant, is finally free of their royal chains as they start graduate school in Boston. No one here knows Remy is royalty or intersex. It’s the break Remy has been looking for―until they meet Sam, the sassy lesbian across the hall. Sam doesn’t tolerate Remy’s snobbery and won’t let anything distract her from getting a PhD in gender studies. But Sam understands Remy in ways no one else ever has, and Remy pushes Sam to see beyond her books.

As things are starting to heat up between them, Remy is summoned home. The queen has a cold and can’t perform her royal duties. There’s just one problem: the people of Montamant haven’t seen Remy since puberty and the changes might mean Remy’s not the princess they expect. When Remy asks Sam to come with them, it might be the chance they both need to conquer their fears and find true love.

Genres:

My Review:

***Thanks to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an eARC of this book. The following review is my honest reflection on the text provided.

meh, nothing special:
2.5/5
This was a fast-moving, very inclusive romance with a real The Princess Diaries meets grad school vibe. I enjoyed the story and the characters but you have to excuse a lot of stilted conversations and plot holes to get through it.

If you’re looking for a believable romantic timeline, this is not the book for you. Within 72 hours of meeting, Remy and Sam are on a plane together for an overseas adventure. To be clear, this is before they’ve even decided if they like each other as people. At this point, they’re basically acquaintances. Sam can’t stand Remy’s personality, Remy finds Sam accepting yet overbearing, and they’re both just very attracted to each other. They have yet to have managed more than a few hours together without someone being offended or annoyed, a last-minute overseas trip should be a breeze.

I appreciated the inclusivity of the narrative and the overarching storyline. I did find Kolven’s writing to be a little rough in some instances. Instead of feeling natural, a lot of the relationships seemed forced or awkward in an attempt to be more inclusive. I found Sam lecturing Remy about their choices to be pretty hypocritical for someone meant to be the poster-child of acceptance and a lot of the conversations seem stilted or uncomfortable. It feels like a lot of the characters go into monologues in normal daily scenarios and manage to pull off speeches with an incredible level of detail and supporting evidence on the fly.

Overall, a lot happens in a very short period of time, but the message within these pages is an important one. While I wish the writing was more natural and the plot was more believable, I did enjoy this story.

Suggested Tags:

Any thoughts? Leave a Comment!

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

See All Reviews   |   Quotes   |   Sort Reviews By:    # of Pages   |   Author [ Name | Gender | Nationality ]   |   DNF   |   Genre   |   Rating   |   Series   |   Title   |   Year Published

Share!

Like this:

Like Loading...
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment!x
%d bloggers like this: