ARC Review: Heirly Ever After by Magan Vernon

“While there were some things that I liked, in a lot of ways this one just fell flat for me.”
~ Under the Covers

Heirly Ever After finds Madison on her way to her sister’s royal wedding, fresh off a break-up and debating how to drop the bombshell that she’s dropped out of college. On the train, she meets Jacob, a handsome Scot who ends up as her fake-date to the Webley manor affair. What Jacob didn’t tell her is that he’s actually Laird Lachlan Jacob MacWebley the Third, a long-lost cousin of the groom and he was on the train headed to the same destination, but not to deliver well wishes to the happy couple; he’s trying to discover if he has a claim to the inheritance of the Webley family.

I was really excited for this one, because I’m a sucker for a royal romance novel and fake-dating is one of my favorite tropes. Then throw in a handsome Scottish hero and some family drama; it sounds like a recipe for success. While there were some things that I liked, in a lot of ways this one just fell flat for me.

We can start with the positives: I thought the chemistry between Madison and Jacob was great and I enjoyed watching them interact with each other. I found the theme of family-duty and honor and the pressures to live up to those family expectations to be relatable and something that’s pretty expected in a royal romance.

The first area I struggled with this one was really just getting settled into the story. I found the relationship between Madison’s sister and Lord Webley to be disorienting; and while they’re not the main focus of the book, since their wedding was the set-up and was so tied up in Jacob’s story line, this mattered to me. Heirly Ever After isn’t listed as a stand-alone within a series, but a little research tells me there was a book that focused on the royal couple’s love story, which I think may have been helpful prior to reading this one. I also really struggled with the deceit between Jacob and Madison; I know not being fully transparent is common in romance novels, but I find that some scenarios are harder for me to buy into than others (and which ones I’m okay with may be somewhat arbitrary). I absolutely recognize this will not be the case for everyone and may not be something that bothers you at all! I also felt that the ending seemed a bit rushed, but you know we got to that HEA, so that’s always a win in my book!

While this book wasn’t a love-match for me, it was a solid royal romance read and I would definitely give something else from Magan a try again in the future!

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