Book Recap: Royally Jacked by Niki Burnham

Cover Inspection:
Too cartoon-ish.

SUMMARY (book description based on GoodReads):
Valerie's life is pretty good. While she's not the most popular girl in school, she does have decent grades, great friends, and a potential boyfriend. All a girl could want.
Then her mother announces that (1) she's gay, and (2) she's leaving Valerie's dad for her girlfriend. Not what Valerie envisioned for her future. And just when Valerie is getting over this bombshell, her father tells her he's gotten a new job as protocol chief for the royal family of some obscure European country.
Valerie's world has come unglued. She can either stay in Virginia with her mom and her über-organized, veggie-burger-eating girlfriend, or go with her dad, leaving everything she knows for some place she's never heard of. Valerie opts to go, and quickly discovers that it was a mistake -- until she meets the prince, and all bets are off!

BOOK REPORT CARD:

Cover	2.0
Plot	3.0
Writing	3.5
Characters	2.5
Ending	2.0
Overall Rating	2.5 Good! (85% to 88%) * highest rating possible is 4.0

LOCATION/SETTING:
Modern day period. A tiny, tiny country in Europe that sounds like "smorgasbord."

MAIN CHARACTERS:
The main character is Valerie. Her parents are getting a divorce. She gets good grades, but has never been the girl-with-the-boyfriend type.

WHAT THE BOOK IS ABOUT:
Valerie's parents are getting divorced. Her mother came out of the closet, and decided to live with her girlfriend instead. So Valerie is left with her father. Her father, on the other hand, is the Chief Protocol Officer of the White House, and was offered a job in a tiny principality in Europe (for political reasons), which he is very much inclined to accept. In that tiny principality, Valerie meets Georg (pronounced as gay-org, which bothers Valerie), the crown prince. Valerie doesn't like him instantly, but as they get to know each other better, they find out that they have a lot in common, and would like to be more than friends.

LOVE:
This book has some seriously funny lines. Valerie's narration is honest and natural. I also liked the fact that the prince in this story is not depicted as the most handsome guy on earth. Valerie wasn't attracted to him outright as Valerie had another love interest at the beginning of the story. I believe that the prince grew on Valerie as they got to know each other better. I also like Prince Georg. He is smart, responsible, and "normal." In fact, this "normalcy" one of the things that made Valerie fall for him. He smokes when he is stressed. He does his homework as he knows he will be punished by his father if he doesn't do well in school. Also, the prince is charmingly aggressive in this book. He knows what he wants, and he knows how to get it.


NO LOVE:
While there are some seriously funny lines, there are also some lines that are... not. Trying too hard, maybe? Also, the book is short. Nothing serious happened in the story. It was all about getting the guy, and the curtains closed after that. It felt as if there is no conflict. The "real" conflict would probably appear in the sequel.


FAVORITE CHARACTER:
My favorite character is Valerie. As I said earlier, her voice is honest and funny.

FAVORITE LINE:
While there are a lot of funny lines, nothing really stood out for me.

MUSINGS:
This is a very short read. It's light and fun! It should be read after reading books such as If I Stay. It would make you feel lighter after. I also think that some people might have a problem with the homosexuality issue in this book as not politically correct. (No, Valerie is not homophobic; she's just having a hard time adjusting with her mother's sexual orientation.) Also, if one would make a comparison with other YA relationships, the relationship between Valerie and the prince would fall under "puppy love." There are no major declarations of undying love.

DOODLES:
none... no trailer?

AUTHOR'S WEBSITE:
Niki Burnham

SIMILAR READS:
Major Crush by Jennifer Echols
All the other YA romantic comedies

CONTENT REVIEW:
profanity: mild to moderate
violence: none
sexual content: mild
mature themes: moderate (smoking, divorce)
age recommendation: 13+