Review: Heir Untamed (Royals Book 1) by Danielle Bourdon
Heir Untamed (Latvala Royals Book 1) by Danielle Bourdon
Chey Sinclair is a semi-professional photographer from Seattle who is recently a bit down on luck. With the ebbing of prime shooting season, she must find away to pull in enough money to get her through the slow season, and more importantly pay off her impending eviction. When she's offered a job to be an "unofficial-official" private photographer for the Royal family of Latvala, it's an opportunity for both her and her career that she cannot pass up. But as with every family, including Royals, comes dysfunction, skeletons, and politics ...all of which Chey hopes to avoid.
When I first decided to start on this Latvala Royals series, I was unsure if it was going to be a cheesy version of The Prince and Me, a classic Cinderella story, or a smut book filled with trysts. I still don't know how I would classify it...but I liked it so far!
Ms. Bourdon did a great job at taking a "Royal-meets-non-royal" story line and molding it into something a little different than what you usually read (or watch). Heir Untamed has a bit of mystery, sharp wit, comedy, action, and of course romance. You are kept guessing on every page, and even I was thrown off with certain events that were unfolding - which doesn't happen very often!
What really helped the whole mystery plot of the book were the numerous characters. You don't get a lot of background on each one, but the ones that are introduced are provided with enough information to make the story unfold and there are plenty of people to keep you guessing like a game of Clue - Royal Edition. It's a lot of fun!
Also, I love Chey's character! As I said before, going into Heir Untamed I wasn't sure what kind of situation to expect with the Heroine. And honestly, I figured the female character would just drop her self-worth and throw herself into this new lifestyle without a care or precaution in the world. Not only does Chey keep her head on her shoulders, but she sticks to her guns and has a sharp tongue. However, she is respectful to everyone and the peculiar situation at the same time.
This respectfulness shows in many ways and was the main reason I liked the book so much. Unfortunately, stories depicting Americans in these types of situations have them as overly sexually-aggressive, pushy, ignorant, and(or) completely naive of others' cultures and traditions.
Some of my favorite lines showing this are:
"When in Rome, do as Romans do." - a classic line that says it all.
"You're doing very well," Mattias said with a subtle switch of subject. "But then, I knew you would."
"It's not that hard to be cordial, you know. We heathen Americans do possess some diplomatic skill."
Heir Untamed book 1 does not have a lot of steaminess in it, but it is a fun read with amusing dialog and great character connection. Scenes are "fade to black" for the most part.
Though there were some parts of the book I did not like, they did not wreck the readability or likeability for me. First, is some writing "style" issues I had. There are random passages that are italicized throughout Heir Untamed (kindle version). At first I thought they were Chey's inner thoughts, but sometimes they would be beginning chapter paragraphs, dialog, Chey's thoughts, etc. As most people do, I tend to read and perceive italicized thoughts differently so it was a minor confusion at first. After a while I learned to ignore it. Also in the writing category, I found the word "masculine" to be an overused adjective. Male presences, various smells, multiple character descriptions, certain ideas - all were described as masculine. After a while the meaning behind the word was lost.
Next, I'm not completely sure of the timeline. While I didn't feel like the plot was rushed, by the end of the book my mind had set up a completely different time frame than what had actually taken place. What was actually an estimated few weeks (maybe a month) had felt like closer to three months. Once I realized this, I questioned the reality of the relationships based on this short time of the characters knowing each other.
Lastly, I wish Sander's character had some more insight. When Chey first meets him he gives some insight on his childhood days and he makes a hint as to how it has made him into who he is. But then this pretty important topic is dropped and not spoken of again!
Ratings:
Steam ***
Characters ***+
Writing Quality ****
Plot (Progression) ****
My rating:
Amazon: 4.4
Good Reads: 3.9
Update - having now read more of the series, I'd recommend reading my other reviews on this series before starting. Be advised, there are minor plot spoilers that pick up from the conclusions of prior installments.
- My questions from Heir Untamed (1) were not answered in King and Kingdom (2)
- The timeline: book 2 has a confusing timeline as well and the progression of days doesn't make sense (4 days are said to go by between a Halloween party and Thanksgiving?)
When I first decided to start on this Latvala Royals series, I was unsure if it was going to be a cheesy version of The Prince and Me, a classic Cinderella story, or a smut book filled with trysts. I still don't know how I would classify it...but I liked it so far!
Ms. Bourdon did a great job at taking a "Royal-meets-non-royal" story line and molding it into something a little different than what you usually read (or watch). Heir Untamed has a bit of mystery, sharp wit, comedy, action, and of course romance. You are kept guessing on every page, and even I was thrown off with certain events that were unfolding - which doesn't happen very often!
What really helped the whole mystery plot of the book were the numerous characters. You don't get a lot of background on each one, but the ones that are introduced are provided with enough information to make the story unfold and there are plenty of people to keep you guessing like a game of Clue - Royal Edition. It's a lot of fun!
Also, I love Chey's character! As I said before, going into Heir Untamed I wasn't sure what kind of situation to expect with the Heroine. And honestly, I figured the female character would just drop her self-worth and throw herself into this new lifestyle without a care or precaution in the world. Not only does Chey keep her head on her shoulders, but she sticks to her guns and has a sharp tongue. However, she is respectful to everyone and the peculiar situation at the same time.
This respectfulness shows in many ways and was the main reason I liked the book so much. Unfortunately, stories depicting Americans in these types of situations have them as overly sexually-aggressive, pushy, ignorant, and(or) completely naive of others' cultures and traditions.
Some of my favorite lines showing this are:
"When in Rome, do as Romans do." - a classic line that says it all.
"You're doing very well," Mattias said with a subtle switch of subject. "But then, I knew you would."
"It's not that hard to be cordial, you know. We heathen Americans do possess some diplomatic skill."
Heir Untamed book 1 does not have a lot of steaminess in it, but it is a fun read with amusing dialog and great character connection. Scenes are "fade to black" for the most part.
Though there were some parts of the book I did not like, they did not wreck the readability or likeability for me. First, is some writing "style" issues I had. There are random passages that are italicized throughout Heir Untamed (kindle version). At first I thought they were Chey's inner thoughts, but sometimes they would be beginning chapter paragraphs, dialog, Chey's thoughts, etc. As most people do, I tend to read and perceive italicized thoughts differently so it was a minor confusion at first. After a while I learned to ignore it. Also in the writing category, I found the word "masculine" to be an overused adjective. Male presences, various smells, multiple character descriptions, certain ideas - all were described as masculine. After a while the meaning behind the word was lost.
Next, I'm not completely sure of the timeline. While I didn't feel like the plot was rushed, by the end of the book my mind had set up a completely different time frame than what had actually taken place. What was actually an estimated few weeks (maybe a month) had felt like closer to three months. Once I realized this, I questioned the reality of the relationships based on this short time of the characters knowing each other.
Lastly, I wish Sander's character had some more insight. When Chey first meets him he gives some insight on his childhood days and he makes a hint as to how it has made him into who he is. But then this pretty important topic is dropped and not spoken of again!
Ratings:
Steam ***
Characters ***+
Writing Quality ****
Plot (Progression) ****
My rating:
Amazon: 4.4
Good Reads: 3.9
Update - having now read more of the series, I'd recommend reading my other reviews on this series before starting. Be advised, there are minor plot spoilers that pick up from the conclusions of prior installments.
- My questions from Heir Untamed (1) were not answered in King and Kingdom (2)
- The timeline: book 2 has a confusing timeline as well and the progression of days doesn't make sense (4 days are said to go by between a Halloween party and Thanksgiving?)
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