The Heir and the Spare

by Emily Albright

Soon after starting university in Oxford, Evie finds herself falling in love with her very own prince charming--who turns out to be an actual prince--in this contemporary novel that is Anna and the French Kiss with a royal family twist.

When a letter from her late mom sends Evie to Oxford on the adventure of a lifetime, she's ready for an amazing first year of college. And it starts off with a bang--soon after setting foot on English soil, Evie falls for a boy, Edmund, who turns out to be a real prince. Second in line to the throne of England, in fact.

From the demands of his royal family, to the stuck-up aristocrat determined to be the one to win his heart, loving Edmund can be a challenge, one that Evie's more than up for. And as more letters from Evie's mom arrive, Evie and Edmund team up to sort out her mom's secret...even if the truth might change everything.

• ISBN10: 1440590109
• ISBN13: 9781440590108
• Publish Date: 1 January 2016 (first published 4 December 2015)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Adams Media Corporation
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 287
• Language: English

Reviews

[Sam@WLABB]

Evie enrolled at Oxford as part of a quest her mother planned for her prior to her death. She wanted her daughter to uncover her roots, but Evie was lucky enough to make some amazing friends and fall in love along the way.

I won't lie, I bought this book years ago fully expecting allusions to William and Kate's romance, and not to worry, it was there. However, I felt that Albright took the story up a notch by including the storyline involving Evie's mother. Her mother had passed away many years prior, but before her death, she penned letters to her daughter, which Evie received yearly on her birthday. My feels were already tingling from that, but then upon her high school graduation, Evie received another letter. This one encouraging her to apply to Oxford to, as they say, walk in her mother's shoes.

I loved the idea of Evie connecting with her mother in this way. She got to see the sights and sit in the very classrooms that her mother once had. Though a bit predictable, since whoever wrote the blurb revealed what I felt was a major plot point, I still enjoyed waiting for each of those letters and seeing where they would take her.

This was also a royal romance! Evie was able to capture the eye and heart of Prince Edmund, and I thought they made a great pair. They had their ups and downs, mostly complications due to outside forces, but there was definitely something I liked between those two. Albright did a beautiful job capturing that infatuation and those emotions associated with falling in love, and I definitely ate it all up.

Although he was the "spare", Edmund's family still had expectations for him, and their meddling in his romantic affairs caused the type of drama one expects. Not to worry, the drama was balanced out well by the camaraderie Evie and Edmund enjoyed with their fantastic group of friends. I could not help but envy Evie's good fortune to be taken in by this group, and I enjoyed spending time with them.

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[readingwithwrin]

This was an easy Prince Will and Princess Kate type of reimagine kind of book. I just love reading everything with royalty for some reason it’s kind of my guilty pleasure I guess I would say. This is a romance book that has a little bit of mystery because the main character is going on a scavenger hunt of sorts that her mom left her.
I can't wait to read the companion novel.

[girlinthepages]

One of the most coveted items I received in my Christmas Haul, I was so incredibly excited to get my hands on The Heir and the Spare as I am a total sucker for anything featuring the modern-day-royalty story line. Two of my favorite reads from 2015 were The Royal We and Royal Wedding, so I was sure this was going to be another book that I could indulge in. In fact, it's the first book from my Christmas Haul that I dove into. However, I wound up being extremely disappointed by the quality of the writing, predictable plot elements, and lack of originality in The Heir and the Spare.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you're probably familiar with William and Kate's highly publicized courtship throughout the mid-2000s that ultimately led to their wedding in April of 2011. Their modern day triumph over age old traditions (William being able to keep his status as heir to the throne while marrying a commoner) has no doubt spurred many fan fictions, novel ideas, and screenplays. I have no problem with books borrowing this premise, as it's fun and has a bit of a wish fulfillment element (who hasn't at least occasionally daydreamed that they would be the sassy American girl to win the heart of a foreign prince?) The Heir and the Spare plays off of that trope but uses the younger brother (a nod to Prince Harry, I'm assuming) and what would happen if he fell in love with an American.

So while I have no problem with the premise (it's all in good fun!) the execution really left a lot to be desired. First off, the tagline for the book really ruins a major plot element: "She's secretly royal, he's secretly loyal". A) We now know that Evie is conveniently going to turn out to be related to royalty and B) What does "He's secretly loyal" really even mean? That he secretly likes her? It's a romance, shouldn't that be obvious? Awkward catchphrase aside, the characters and chemistry in this book were very unconvincing. Evie, Edmund, and all of their friends are supposed to attend Oxford, one of the most prestigious and famous universities in the world, and be in their early 20s. Yet most of the time, the characters acted like high schoolers (at best) with several major conflicts stemming from the classic 'lack of communication' plot device, one dimensional antagonists (Jax), petty name calling (Evie refers to one character as MissBitchyBoobsInYourFace) and a rather offensive use of attemped sexual assault as a plot device. There was also the cliché use of a titled, beautiful British love interest for Edmund who was a horrible person with no conscience who his family wanted him to be with, and was thus Evie's arch nemesis. I am so tired of reading about girl on girl hate in YA novels, especially when it's with an older cast of characters, who should quite frankly be more mature. I'm not saying that mean girls don't exist (they always have and always will) but no one is a cardboard cut out villain in real life, and it would've been nice to see the mean girl character in this novel have a bit more complexity.

There was one unique plot element to the novel, which is Evie's mom's letters. Evie's mother died when she was young, and left a series of letters for Evie to open on her birthdays and when she enrolled at Oxford to allow her to know her mother, and her mother's "mysterious" British familial history. This was one of the aspects that kept me reading (though what the letters revealed was pretty obvious) and I wish it had been the focus of the novel rather than than the romance between Edmund and Evie.

Perhaps I could have overlooked the predictable plot elements and subpar characters had the writing been impressive, but alas, that was not the case. There were many small things about the writing that irked me, from the somewhat cheesy chapter titles (I didn't even know titling chapters was still a thing) to the constant use of italicized thought in Evie's narrative, despite it already being in first person (I was hard pressed to find a single page that didn't have Evie's thoughts in italics at some point, usually for a redundant reason as it had already been expressed through said first person narration).

Overall: The Heir and the Spare squeaked by with 2.5 stars because of my love for all things royal, despite containing immature characters and predictable plot elements. It had shades of intrigue and originality, but ultimately felt like a pale imitation of The Royal We combined with The Princess Diaries. Most importantly, perhaps, is my suspension of disbelief was never complete as I found the likelihood of Evie and Edmund's relationship completely unconvincing. A promising premise, but a real let down in execution. This review was originally posted on Girl in the Pages

[jeannamichel]

Evie follows her mother’s letters in a P.S. I Love You fashion, which lead her to Oxford to uncover secrets she never could have imagined. At Oxford, she is immediately enveloped in a circle of friends that include Edmund, the prince. Despite his royal status, he takes a fancy toward Evie and together they unravel the secrets Evie’s mother kept from her.

This was an adorable book which is sure to capture any romantic’s heart. The romance kindled between Evie and Edmund began with a sweet, but sassy friendship. The side characters are notable as well including the rude duchess and slimy girlfriend. However, as much as Evie’s group of friends were extremely relatable, it was only because most of the girls were walking-clichés and underdeveloped. The cliché of a mediocre girl who turns the heads of all the boys is also at play here which is both annoying but expected.

Evie, the protagonist, is a confident but quiet girl who could probably win in any wit battle if it didn’t require modern slang. Emily Albright wrote a smashing debut that will dazzle many readers. However, especially in the beginning when Evie was building relationships with her new-found friends, the narrative lacked colloquial speech which a recent twenty-year-old would use. Instead, Evie took to name-calling and less-mature narrative. A lot of times, her narrative sounded off or unbalanced. Edmund, as expected, was perfect in every way. The guy is any girl’s dream guy, who also happens to be a prince.

The plot was incredibly fast-paced and would make for a fabulous vacation read. However, Albright could have added so much more. She could have expanded on a number of things. It would have made the book more memorable and less predictable.

Despite the story being too short, it was still a cute debut that would tickle any reader’s toes. The Heir and the Spare is a fast read, a bit predictable but a whole lot of fun.