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'Vampire Royals' Book Series Review

A cross between 'Twilight' and 'The Selection,' Leigh Walker brings us a tale that is easy to read and fun!

By Rich BurtonPublished 5 years ago 7 min read
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Brought to us by Leigh Walker, this series is a mix between 'The Selection' and 'Twilight' mixed in with its own flavor. It's about a royal family of vampires who are run out of their country by a disease and take over a human country. About five years after this happens the Royal Family decides to create a pageant where two girls from each settlement are brought to the castle and try to win the prince's heart.

There are five books in this series and three of them follow the same story, while the last two follow another contestant and her story after the pageant.

'The Pageant'

"Who's the fairest of them all?

Young women from every settlement in the land are being handpicked to enter The Pageant, a beauty contest reminiscent of Miss Universe from the old days. Gwyneth West's social-climbing mother wants her to compete, by Gwyn isn't so sure...

The Pageant is government-sponsored. If you're lucky enough to be chosen, participation is mandatory. Aggressive competition is allowed, even encouraged.

And then there's the prize...

The winner of The Pageant gets a marriage proposal from Dallas Black, otherwise known as The Dark Prince. Dallas is the son of King Black, who won the last world war and now governs the new settlements. The Royal Family is mysterious. Rumor has it they don't sleep. Rumor has it they eschew the sun.

Rumor has it they're immortal.

When Gwyn is thrust into The Pageant, she fights to survive the competitive nature of the other contestants.

But even if wins...can she survive a vampire fiancé?"

This book started off very abruptly giving us little background on the characters. The author gives us what we need to know, but there really isn't emotion in the characters and no real description of where we are. The book is fast-paced in that it is mostly dialogue and brief thoughts so you can read it in like a couple hours, but I felt Walker could have done so much more with the novel and brought in more politics between the vampires and humans and the other supernatural counterparts we don't hear of very often in this book.

'The Gala'

"The Pageant is almost over, and Gwyneth West knows she can win—except the prince is a vampire, and some of the other contestants are turning out to be quite beastly.

What do you do when the person you love…might want to eat you alive?

Struggling to hold onto her position in the palace, Gwyn knows her vampire prince could slip through her fingers in an instant. And when human rebels threaten to storm the vampire royals once more, Gwyn finds herself caught between two worlds: her people, and the vampire she loves."

So much like the first book and the books to follow this one was also fast-paced and confusing narrative. It was a fun easy read, but no real depth to it. It was moving quickly, the thought process of the main characters were easily swayed (like within two pages) and then changes their minds within the next two pages. It was like I said, fun and fast-paced, but the characters minds were all over the place and hard to place yourself in the characters shoes because that's what I always do when I read a book!

'The Finale'

"A ROYAL WEDDING IS COMING…BUT WHICH CONTESTANT WILL BE THE BRIDE?

Gwyneth West’s a finalist in The Pageant, the dating competition that’s gripping the settlements. Down to the final week, the dashing Prince Dallas Black will choose one young woman as his fiancé.

One small issue: Gwyneth’s a human and the prince is a vampire. What’s worse? Gwyneth’s family are sworn rebels, out to take back the settlements and overthrow the crown. What’s worse than that? Gwyn’s own rebel brother is a prisoner in the castle dungeons, but the king and queen don’t know his true identity.

Gwyneth and Dallas want to show the settlements that vampires and humans can live together in peace. But as their differences threaten to tear them apart, Gwyneth discovers her love puts the prince at risk.

How do you choose between love and duty?"

So overall this section of the series was alright. I definitely liked the second half better, but here is what I thought was wrong with the books:

Inconsistent language. It is set in a futuristic America that is barren and rundown. The author, however, makes it seem like the characters are in England due to the language she uses: wanker, bloody hell, sod off, arse, etc. Not to say that using this language is bad but Walker tells us we are in America but uses England English vernacular. So having the inconsistency in language was a little bothersome. If she specifically said they were in England I would have had no probably with the language.

The main character, Gywneth reminds me of Elena from The Vampire Diaries. Everything is about her, everything is her fault, thinks everyone is going to die because of her and she doesn't want anything bad to happen because it's probably her doing. Gywn doesn't understand fate and the fact that things happen because the universe just wills it that way. Things were bound to fall apart, it just happened to be when you were in the spotlight.

No description. I love me some good dialogue, but I need to see where my characters, know how they feel, their surrounding, how the characters view one another in descriptive language, etc. There was some of that, but only enough to scratch the surface.

'The North'

"Blake Kensington enjoyed her time at the palace. But after the royal wedding, it’s time for her to begin her new role as Goodwill Ambassador to the North. Curious about the foreign country and even more curious about her traveling companion, Prince Austin Black, Blake sets out on her adventure with the handsome and mysterious prince.

But once they cross the border, and the North reveals itself to be more treacherous than Blake ever anticipated.

Austin vowed to never leave his Northern home. But when the werewolves begin threatening the castle, putting Blake at risk, the prince must defend his claim like never before. Austin never planned to risk his kingdom for a human…

How do you choose between your past, and what could be your future?"

So the last two books were my favorite of the series. The characters seem more real and have a better plotline than the first three even though it follows the same plot. It is just further enhanced.

That being said, these books really struggled with character building and creating a world that we could see. The books were only about 200 pages so not much could be done in that department, but I think if the author took more time and was actually descriptive then these books would have done really well.

'The Siege'

"Blake Kensington has embraced her role as Goodwill Ambassador to the North. Her relationship with Prince Austin Black, ruler of the North, has never been stronger. In love and at peace, the world should be at the happy couple’s feet.

But the human rebels are desperate to win back the settlements. They’re planning an attack—one to decimate the vampires and dethrone them, forever. And the werewolves are still out there, somewhere, plotting their revenge against the prince…

With enemies at every turn, Austin vows to protect his country and the human woman he loves. But when a rebel prisoner attacks close to home, Austin is forced to choose between love and honor."

So I have to say that I am a sucker for happy endings and the characters who fall in love should get married in the end. This story did not disappoint me in that department. I loved that both parts of the story ended with the girls marrying the vampires. I love even more that Blake was turned into a vampire, because now she can literally live with Austin forever!

Overall, I give these books a generous 3/5. If you love cheesy romance, these books are for you! If not, definitely don't read these!

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About the Creator

Rich Burton

I’m a work from home mom with 2 crazy kids. I write for fun with the hopes of finishing my unfinished book!

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