Royally Jacked
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.\...
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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!Publishers WeeklyAs one of the launch titles in the Simon Pulse teen romantic comedy series, Burnham's Cinderella-like novel throws in a few fun twists. When Valerie's mom leaves her dad for another woman, her father, the chief of protocol at the White House, accepts a new job working for the royal family of the fictional country of Schwerinborg. Valerie, who doesn't want to live with her mom's girlfriend and fears the reaction to her mother's new identity, decides to go along, leaving behind her friends and longtime crush. When she arrives at the palace, she quickly bonds with Georg, not realizing at first that the "mesmerizing" teen is actually a prince. But although he kisses her when they're alone, he ignores Valerie at school. Some of the pop culture references may feel forced ("all this giggling is probably making me sound like one of those bimbettes who goes on The Bachelor"), but Valerie's funny, lively voice reads as mostly authentic, and readers will appreciate the romantic details (including dancing in the palace's reception hall). The lesbian parent subplot and the e-mails Valerie exchanges with her friends back home keep the story feeling fresh (though readers may wish her protocol-minded dad had been played for more laughs). There are enough loose ends here to spark a sequel, and readers will likely want to know what happens next. Also releasing this month in the series, How Not to Spend Your Senior Year by Cameron Dokey (-86703-4). Ages 14-up. (Jan.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
\ Publishers WeeklyAs one of the launch titles in the Simon Pulse teen romantic comedy series, Burnham's Cinderella-like novel throws in a few fun twists. When Valerie's mom leaves her dad for another woman, her father, the chief of protocol at the White House, accepts a new job working for the royal family of the fictional country of Schwerinborg. Valerie, who doesn't want to live with her mom's girlfriend and fears the reaction to her mother's new identity, decides to go along, leaving behind her friends and longtime crush. When she arrives at the palace, she quickly bonds with Georg, not realizing at first that the "mesmerizing" teen is actually a prince. But although he kisses her when they're alone, he ignores Valerie at school. Some of the pop culture references may feel forced ("all this giggling is probably making me sound like one of those bimbettes who goes on The Bachelor"), but Valerie's funny, lively voice reads as mostly authentic, and readers will appreciate the romantic details (including dancing in the palace's reception hall). The lesbian parent subplot and the e-mails Valerie exchanges with her friends back home keep the story feeling fresh (though readers may wish her protocol-minded dad had been played for more laughs). There are enough loose ends here to spark a sequel, and readers will likely want to know what happens next. Also releasing this month in the series, How Not to Spend Your Senior Year by Cameron Dokey (-86703-4). Ages 14-up. (Jan.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.\ \ \ \ \ Library JournalGr 6-9-Fifteen-year-old Valerie's life gets turned upside down when her mother announces that she has fallen in love with another woman and is going to live with her. Then, as Valerie is trying to process this bombshell, her father's boss, the very conservative President of the U.S., decides to ship her father off to tiny Schwerinborg to serve as protocol chief to the royal family (in order to avoid a scandal at the White House). Valerie is left with two choices: live with Mom and her vegan girlfriend in a new school district or go with Dad to an obscure country where she doesn't speak the language or know a soul. Rather than having to explain her mom's new lifestyle to her friends, Valerie opts to go with her father, but when they arrive in foggy, gray Schwerinborg and see their spartan palace housing, the teen is sure she has made a huge mistake. Until, of course, she meets the royal family's son, Prince Georg, and romance is ignited. Burnham, an adult romance writer, targets a younger audience with this fluffy, predictable, yet entertaining romance, which will most certainly be compared to Meg Cabot's popular "Princess Diaries" series (HarperCollins).-Betty S. Evans, Southwest Missouri State University, Springfield Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.\ \
