Inheritance

The American royal family's adventures begin in this prequel.

Princess Beatrice of the Washington dynasty is in college and also being groomed as America's heir apparent, attending fancy soirées with her father King George. Her twin siblings Prince Jefferson and Princess Samantha are hosting their high school graduation party at the palace while their parents and boring older sister are away.

Princess Beatrice has a budding friendship with her Revere Guard and sneaks into the front seat of the car after leaving an event in the back seat where the heir belongs. It is clear she is starting to see him as more than a bodyguard, and a friendship is already blooming.

Princess Samantha longs for something normal, so she sneaks out of the palace in a garbage truck to attend a concert with a palace staffer. Her best friend Nina notices she's gone but is distracted when she finds out her secret crush on Prince Jefferson is reciprocated.

Daphne Dayton is Prince Jefferson's girlfriend, but she's hiding a secret -- she hooked up with his best friend Ethan. Daphne's best friend knows her secret so to have blackmail to use in return, she slips the girl a sleeping pill at the party hoping she'll do something embarrassing.

All of these events set up the drama that unfolds in the first book in the series, American Royals. While this is a prequel, readers may want to read American Royals first. The minor spoilers in this prequel may take away the suspense and shockers in the novel. One of my favorite parts of American Royals is the worldbuilding -- what America would look like with a royal dynasty instead of presidents? Those fun and interesting details are not provided here.

Recommended for fans of the American Royals series.

Katharine McGee is the bestselling author of the Thousandth Floor and American Royals series. She studied at Princeton and Stanford. McGee lives in Houston, Texas.

Series: American Royals, #0.5

Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (ebook); Listening Library (audio)

Narrator: Brittany Pressley

Running Time: 2 hours, 48 minutes

Release Date: March 15, 2022 (audio); May 3, 2022 (ebook)

I received a digital audio recording of this title from the publisher through the Volumes App as a librarian review copy.