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A Royal Pain
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A Royal Pain
Unavailable
A Royal Pain
Ebook400 pages6 hours

A Royal Pain

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this ebook

USA Today Bestseller!

"A delightful love story...worth reading again and again."—Publishers Weekly Starred Review

A life of royalty seems so attractive...until you're invited to live it...

Smart, ambitious, and career driven, Bronte Talbot started following British royalty in the gossip mags only to annoy her intellectual father. But her fascination has turned into a not-so-secret guilty pleasure. When she starts dating a charming British doctoral student, she teases him unmercifully about the latest scandals of his royal countrymen, only to find out—to her horror!!—that she's been having a fling with the nineteenth Duke of Northrop, and now he wants to make her...a duchess?

In spite of her frivolous passion for all things royal, Bronte isn't at all sure she wants the reality. Is becoming royalty every American woman's secret dream, or is it a nightmare of disapproving dowagers, paparazzi, stiff-upper-lip tea parties, and over-the-top hats?

"Laugh-out-loud funny with super sexy overtones."—Catherine Bybee, New York Times bestselling author of Wife By Wednesday

"Take one sparky, sailor-mouthed American girl and one handsome English aristocrat. Put them together and watch the sparks fly. Sizzling fun!"— Jill Mansell, New York Times bestselling author of Nadia Knows Best

"A whole new twist on trans-Atlantic romance-sexy, fresh, and delightfully different."—Susanna Kearsley, New York Times bestselling author of Mariana

LanguageEnglish
PublisherSourcebooks
Release dateNov 1, 2012
ISBN9781402269981
Unavailable
A Royal Pain
Author

Megan Mulry

Megan Mulry writes sexy, modern, romantic fiction. She graduated from Northwestern University and then worked in publishing, including positions at The New Yorker and Boston magazine. After moving to London, Mulry worked in finance and attended London Business School. Mulry is a member of RWA. She has traveled extensively in Asia, India, Europe, and Africa and now lives with her husband and children in Florida.

Read more from Megan Mulry

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Reviews for A Royal Pain

Rating: 3.499999979787234 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

94 ratings15 reviews

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  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Bronte was a very unlikable character in my opinion. She was written as a stereotypical millennial and I did not enjoy her character. The book itself seemed to both move fast and go nowhere. I believe the only reason I finished this novel was because I was hoping for it to get better.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    so good and funny and well written.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    it was good. I could of done with out to much of the back and forth from the lead female character with her hesitations. I can't stand a female characters who is supposed to be a tough take no nonsense but when it come to love she is a silly twit
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I do not where to put this book in a way, it's kind of chick-lit, meets contemporary romance meets romantic fiction meets neurotic New Yorkers (ok so not a genre but I could not think of anything else.) Sure it's funny at times, romantic at times, but there is much more too.

    The lovestory takes time, in all ways. It takes time for them to meet, to fall in love and more. I guess I was expecting instalove and a trip to England but no My Lord, that was not in the cards. There is drama, hardship and one woman that sure has a hard time believing in something. Which then makes it more than just a lovestory, it's about finding yourself so that you feel that you are worthy to be loved.

    Oh and yes it's also about finding out if you are cut out to be nobility ;)

    I do have to admit (it ends well, duh but..) that I did feel at the end that maybe they will have a few good years and then split up. I must be in a mood today.

    Anyway, this was a funny and romantic story. Mix in lords and ladies, ad a couple that really want to be together, but have a hard time doing so.

    Royalty meets commoner, what is there not to like.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Another fun fast read.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I thought Bronte was a spoiled, self entitled jerk who couldn't compromise and made everyone around her feel like shit, meanwhile she thought she was merely being witty. I was not a fan of this character but I did like her counterpart Max.

    2 people found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Review also published on my blog: AWordsWorth.blogspot.comeARC received from publisher for reviewBronte Talbott has loved the British Royal Family her whole life, following their exploits and tracking their choices (fashion and otherwise). Until her hotshot Texan boyfriend leaves her in a lurch, and she swears off love and other foolish notions. Determined to take all her hard-learned lessons to heart, Bronte decides to transform herself into a modern woman - able to have a no-strings-attached relationship with any hott guy she wants, without getting her heart tied into knots or shattered to bits. Enter Max, a handsome, charming - British - PhD student who agrees to go along with Bronte's "just have fun, no questions, no attachment" demands until his dissertation is completed at the end of the summer.Everything seems to be going great - Max is the perfect "non-boyfriend" - and Bronte is pleased with the success of her plan. Until the one thing she never counted on happens, and she falls in love. When faced with the choice to go with Max to England, Bronte panics (on an epic scale), realizing too late that letting Max go was quite possibly one of her biggest mistakes. So she does what any girl does: she Googled him, discovering that quiet doctoral student Max is actually royal. No, really. His grandmother was a princess, and he's a Duke -- and subsequent highly-eligible-match -- back in merry old England. To bury her shock (and unspoken heartbreak), Bronte buries herself in work, making a successful name for herself in boutique PR. And then, Life plays a trick on her still raw heart, letting Max cross Bronte's path in NYC a year later. What happens next makes their previous quasi-relationship seem cold and impersonal.A Royal Pain is more than a feel-good love story ((with quite a bit of sexy-times, consider yourself forewarned, as it's a bit more sexed up than I expected)), it's also a story of personal growth as Bronte learns to come to terms with the ghosts of her past. Especially the distant specter of her father, and the role he played in shaping her character. Fighting to maintain her identity of a "modern, independent woman" while yearning to give in to the romantic dreams in her heart. It's a real struggle, and Bronte is a character I could relate to -- and whom I'm sure other young women can as well. Her personal journey is a nice balance to the sparkle of the love story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Bronte Talbott has a successful career in NYC and in the beginning of the book meets the wrong guy and moves to Chicago to be near him, which he does not appreciate. However, Bronte meets the right guy finally, but keeps flubbing it up. So does Max. Oh, man, these are some frustrating characters . . . I enjoyed the book overall, but parts of it just moved oddly. It felt as if I was waiting half the book for Bronte and Max to just get together. It felt sloggy as I waded through all the back story as to how Bronte ended up in Chicago (which was very important for her career trajectory, too.) At the same time, we are supposed to understand Bronte's difficult relationship with her now deceased father, but there were very few flashbacks to help us understand what the real problems are/were. I also hope that this is the first of a series, because it also feels as if it ends rather abruptly.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Great storytelling, but terrible packaging. More complex than chicklit or genre romance.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Bronte Talbot is a modern American woman brought up by a mother she adores and a father she hated for reasons never fully articulated. At least not that I completely grasped - not for the level of hatred she had for the man. She is career driven and she curses. A lot. I didn't understand the need for that particular personality quirk because it came and went and added absolutely nothing to the plot or truly to the character. She has problems with men because she feels that by compromising within a relationship she is thereby granting control to her partner and she will be in control of her own life, damn the consequences.After some really bad experiences with men she meets the man of her dreams, Max, but he is keeping a small secret - he happens to be just lightly royal. In fact, he will be the next Duke of Northrop. Oh, Bronte is quite fascinated by the royals and Max is loathe to tell her of his lineage for fear of losing her when she realizes she would have to a.) move to England and b.) the amount of responsibility involved and c.) his mother is a bitch.There were some entertaining moments in the novel but there was much whining on Bronte's part. Whining about her father, whining about "giving up her freedom", whining about the aforementioned control. Whine, whine, whine. Bronte was not a 19 year old girl - she really should have had it figured that two people can work together and they do not "control" each other unless one of them needs serious help. Can you tell the angst annoyed me a bit? I think I am just too happily married and getting to old to enjoy these "finding myself and the man of my dreams" books. The book is well written and I suspect for the right reader it would be very enjoyable. I was just not that reader.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book is an awesome combination of laugh-out-loud and endearing moments. I loved every moment with all of the characters... Bronte Talbott is a New Yorker at heart - stubborn, independent, hard-working women with a hilarious trash-talking mouth - she's living a good, happy and successful life in New York. Until she's swept off her feet by a country boy and begins a long distance relationship. Thinking that things are moving along and that this is IT, she makes the decision to move to Chicago to be closer to him. What?! It's not like she's moving in with him and expecting more... she couldn't have been more wrong! Now stranded in Chicago all alone she fills her nights and weekends with books. Yes her job is doing well and everything else seems to be good. But her heart feels like its beyond repair and so she decides that what she's needs is a 'rebound guy' to get her over the heartache. In the meantime, she looks forward to her weekly trek to the local bookstore every Saturday morning in hopes of drowning her sorrows in a chic lit. And then she sees him. Max Hayworth is every girls dream - he's charming, smart and British! Oh my, his accent alone had her in a puddle. Max is only in town for the next weeks - perfect! She found her 'rebound-er'... or did she? After learning the truth about Max the book turns into an even more delightful page-turner! How will the royals react to Bronte? Will she fit in? Can she handle being with a duke? And more importantly will she be able to not only love him, but let him give her the love and attention that she deserves too...It was interesting and nice to see Bronte let her guard down and be vulnerable. Every tough girl has a romantic side where she wishes to be a princess. And in between all the sarcasm and tough-girl antics, Bronte is very sweet, loving and even though she knows she doesn't need a man, she wants one - could that possibly be Max? Can she be what he needs her to be plus meet all of her own expectations? I adore this book and will definitely be re-reading it again!I highly recommend adding A Royal Pain to your shelf :)
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Reviewed by: RobinBook provided by: NetGalleyReview originally posted at Romancing the BookAs little girls, we dream of being swept off our feet by a handsome prince, movie star, sports star or even sometimes the boy next door. In A Royal Pain, Bronte decided she wanted royalty. As a young girl she read the British magazines, studied everything about the royals that she could, and even watched everything on T.V. that was related. Growing up in Jersey, she felt her dad was a little off but loved her mom as she was the glue that tried to keep peace.I found this story was well written showing the depths of relationships that we as women have to deal with. Although at times, we seem to put more of ourselves into the relationship then the guy does. Bronte has had her share of failed attempts at love. True love for her comes in the form of Max, in an unlikely place. Having just come from a bad break-up she isn’t looking for a permanent romance. I found that I simply loved the ease of her relationship with Max. Bronte just wants plain mind-blowing sex which Max seems all too happy to give to her. Somehow, the tables are turned and Max decides that Bronte is the person he intends to marry.Secrets tend to flourish in the relationship because Max leaves out a pertinent fact that he is royalty. As he heads back to England because of his father’s illness, he wants Bronte to go with him but she has a career and chooses to keep it simple.This story has a depth to it which kept it real. We have Bronte who tends to be free with certain words. She throws them around with a flourish keeping you laughing or possibly offended. Max finds it rather endearing as it makes Bronte who she is. It is natural and a part of her but I think that the Queen Mum would have a problem if those actual words would come out of Kate’s mouth.As for Max, he wasn’t your usual royal figure either as he was a little askew with his t-shirts, piercings and tattoos. Prince William or Prince Harry (although more of a free spirit then William) are both void of any of the above mentioned.I enjoyed the cleverness of Ms. Mulry’s witty-laugh out loud story of falling in love. I think it is something that keeps the stuffiness of royalty at bay and shows that there is a slim possibility that they are human after all and just maybe if you are lucky enough to find your one true love, he just might be a royal or a royal pain. I simply loved the fast-paced story and can’t wait to read more laughable humor/romance from Ms. Mulry.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A young beautiful American woman and a handsome British Duke...what more could you ask for in a story?? Royal Pain is about a young woman, Bronte, who has had bad luck finding the right man until Max Heyworth..the attraction is instant. Bronte has always had an attraction for the 'royals', she knows everything about them, well most of them. When she meets Max she has no clue that he has some "royal" blood in his veins. Their relationship takes a turn and they go their own ways for a year and meet up again when Bronte is on a trip to London. The attraction is still there of course but when she finds out that Max is a Duke she has reservations about a lifelong relationship. Max's mother does not help as she is a very snooty woman who feels that Bronte is quite common. Can Max and Bronte overcome the obstacles that they face?? A story full of passion,sassy humor and colorful characters. I loved it and highly recommend.I received a review ebook from Sourcebooks and was not monetarily compensated for my review.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Chick lit meets romance....and they have a beautiful baby! I read a lot of romances but don't read chick lit at all. I have never seen an episode of Sex in the City. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this romance between career-driven Bronte Talbot and British graduate student Max Heyworth. He neglects to mention that he is next inline to be the Duke of Northrop. They were supposed to meet at a party thrown my mutual friends but his flight was late and she was swept up by Mr. Texas. She and Mr. Texas begin a whirlwind affair that ends up with her moving to Chicago to be with him and then deciding that he is only in it for fun and doesn't really want her. She is heartbroken and decides to find a Transitional Man - someone for a quick affair but nothing emotional and certainly nothing lasting. Only she stumbles over Max in a used bookstore and he isn't ready to fall in with her plans.Both Max and Bronte have parent issues. Bronte's father was an incredibly bitter elitist; Max's mother was a neglectful parent who didn't bond with any of her three youngest children. Bronte chose to rebel by going into advertising instead of something more academic and she also developed a fierce need to control her own life and not give in to any pressure from a man. Max was raised by his loving father which gives him a more open heart. Of course, being in line to be a duke also gives him a certain level of arrogance and desire to control those around him. These two strong people meet head on and have to find ways to compromise that will satisfy both of them. The romance was very realistic and still very romantic. Bronte doesn't find it easy to fall in love and change her life. Fans of both chick lit and traditional contemporary romances will both enjoy this story.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Bronte Talbot is a modern American woman brought up by a mother she adores and a father she hated for reasons never fully articulated. At least not that I completely grasped - not for the level of hatred she had for the man. She is career driven and she curses. A lot. I didn't understand the need for that particular personality quirk because it came and went and added absolutely nothing to the plot or truly to the character. She has problems with men because she feels that by compromising within a relationship she is thereby granting control to her partner and she will be in control of her own life, damn the consequences.After some really bad experiences with men she meets the man of her dreams, Max, but he is keeping a small secret - he happens to be just lightly royal. In fact, he will be the next Duke of Northrop. Oh, Bronte is quite fascinated by the royals and Max is loathe to tell her of his lineage for fear of losing her when she realizes she would have to a.) move to England and b.) the amount of responsibility involved and c.) his mother is a bitch.There were some entertaining moments in the novel but there was much whining on Bronte's part. Whining about her father, whining about "giving up her freedom", whining about the aforementioned control. Whine, whine, whine. Bronte was not a 19 year old girl - she really should have had it figured that two people can work together and they do not "control" each other unless one of them needs serious help. Can you tell the angst annoyed me a bit? I think I am just too happily married and getting to old to enjoy these "finding myself and the man of my dreams" books. The book is well written and I suspect for the right reader it would be very enjoyable. I was just not that reader.