The Royal We

May 18, 2015
Cocks and Morgan, the bloggers behind Go Fug Yourself, charm readers with this modern-day Cinderella tale. When American Rebecca "Bex" Porter decides to travel to Oxford, U.K., as an exchange student in the fall of 2007, the last thing she imagines is that she might fall in love with the country's future king. Prince Nicholasâalso known as Nick Walesâis used to the hassles of the monarchy, but in Bex he sees his future and a chance for a normal, real relationship. Bex's American-ness bothers some of the upper crust Brits, and the press relentlessly focuses on her. A series of breakups ensues, and familial missteps further complicate matters, but readers will root for Bex to get her happy ending. Parallels to the love story of Prince William and Kate Middleton are obvious, but the authors create their own unique and endearing characters with Bex and Nickâalong with an entertaining cast of characters including lovable rogue Prince Freddie, Nick's younger brother; Bex's twin, Lacey; and a bunch of colorful school chums. Royal watchers and chick-lit fans alike will delight in this sparkling tale. Pure fun.

February 15, 2015
Fashion bloggers Cocks and Morgan (Spoiled, 2011, etc.) debunk the princess fantasy in a fictional tell-all inspired by the courtship of Kate Middleton and Prince William.On the night before her wedding, Rebecca Porter admits that she wasn't an obvious match for Prince Nicholas of Wales when they first met in the dorms at Oxford. Bex's account of going from suburban America to Westminster Abbey on the arm of a prince stretches as far back as the train on Princess Diana's wedding gown, but royal watchers will appreciate the craftsmanship that went into fitting the fictional Lyons dynasty into the timeline of the existing monarchy. Some of the details are invented while others are tweaked. Nick's rakish brother, Freddie, stands in for Vegas-loving Prince Harry, while Bex's twin, Lacey, hogs the camera like Pippa Middleton. (And yes, they have a fling while Freddie juggles unfortunately named socialites like Tuppence and Turret.) On a tour of Kensington Palace, Nick and Freddie tease Bex about wanting to steal their Aunt Agatha's collection of Faberge eggs while complaining that Henry VIII sullied the rest of the antiques "with his great greasy bum." Wild parties, sibling rivalry and fashion blunders inevitably land them all in the tabloids with punderful headlines-"Trouble in Porterdise?"-giving Nick doubts about putting Bex in the spotlight. Bex feels the weight of the crown when Nick heads off to military duty, leaving her with a team of stylists who stick fake hair on her head and banish her sister in an effort to improve her image. The question is not whether she loves Nick but whether his love is worth a lifetime of public scrutiny. Pages of biting humor and breathtaking glamour rewrite a fairy tale into something more satisfying than a stack of tabloids.

March 15, 2015

"And he is only one of a million, no, a billion stories you could tell about the living beings on just this side of the mountain," says Doyle (Mink River) in his lovely new book. He's talking about a marten--and not even Martin Marten of the title, a nicely burnished golden brown creature who helps his sister at birth, gets lessons in survival from his sure-footed mother, observes the fate of his wayward brothers, and eventually goes out on his own, even as he and a boy named Dave circle each other in friendly fashion. Like Martin, Dave lives on Oregon's Mount Hood, which he calls by its Native American name, Wy'east, and though he's not quite ready to separate from his family, as Martin does by instinct, he is growing up: heading to high school, where he will be a track star, and getting a job to help his family. There are crises large and small--a child lost in the woods, Martin's surprise fight with that one-in-a-billion-stories-marten--but this telling of at least some of Wy'east's tales flows along absorbingly, avoiding sentiment while imparting a quiet acceptance of the rhythms of the natural and human worlds. VERDICT Highly recommended; even city slickers can love. [See Prepub Alert, 10/13/14.]--Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal

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