i like hartley ( )

Not an awful book, it certainly held the amount of drama that it's readers would be looking for but it just didn't hit the spot for me. The series definitely reminds me of teen tv shows (à la The O.C., 90210, Gossip Girl etc) not just because they are all over-the-top ridiculous and dramatic but because much like tv shows, the first one is always the best and the longer the series is dragged out the worse it gets. I'll still continue to read them because I'm now invested but Paper Princess will definitely continue to be the only one I re-read.


(Also can everyone get off their high horses about people liking these books? Yes they are problematic and completely silly but seriously, that is just like any teen drama tv show.) ( )

I was really enjoying this one, especially the main character Hartley. But that ending is bullshit. I'm not a fan of this trend in YA/New Adult/Romance to have a cliff-hanger "ending" that isn't really an ending at all. ( )

OH MY GOD.

Cannot say anything without revealing spoilers, but ack, these two authors LOVE cliffhangers. And now I have to wait until January to read the next book! As usual the incredible writing team of Erin Watt has managed to write a sharp-tongued, witty and dram-filled edition of Royals entertainment, this time featuring middle child Easton Royal. And I have to hand it to them, I wasn't entirely sure I could competely get behind a book about East. I liked him okay in the first three books, but here, they really made him into a sympathetic character who is sort of the lost sheep in the middle of the family, surrounded by twin brothers who have always bonded with each other, and two older brothers who shoulder him out for being a goof. You just want to give the guy a hug, even when you want to shake him hard by the shoulders for doing something so wrong.

The second half of the book is where the drama really starts to rachet up. I LOVED the Felicity drama, and if you would have told me at the beginning someone could sell me on a sweet, sincere Easton, I never would have believed it, but by the end of that second half, Hartley and East were downright adorable. Just some really nice writing. And OMG how could they do this to us with that ending and then make us wait for the next book!? Such a great cliffhanger! 4.5/5 stars.

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. ( )

I really liked Easton a lot in the previous books so I was quite excited to pick up this one but I probably shouldn’t have. While I thought he was cute and sweet and protective towards Ella despite struggling with his addiction issues, this book shows him in a totally different light. He comes across as arrogant, entitled, even stalkery coz he won’t leave Hartley alone though she has told him no multiple times. I also thought all his feelings towards Ella sounded very creepy and I really couldn’t reconcile the East from the previous books with the one here. Hartley comes across as an interesting character but I still couldn’t connect with her a lot. The absolutely crazy twists and cliffhanger at the end made me mad because it’s become the authors’ trademark to make the readers continue with the series. But I don’t think I will. I was really disappointed with the change in Easton’s character and I am not sure if I am ready to get sucked into his story anymore. ( )