We love our royal scandals here in the United States.
We went gaga for Princess Diana before and after her death. Television shows that touch on their lives are super successful like the Crown. We even have Prince Harry’s recent memoir Spare.
Part of the fascination is that we don’t have that level of royalty and wealth here. Second, because there is so much interest in all things that the royal family does, it’s easy to get sucked into the drama. Third, just like we still love reading Greek mythology, we’re interested in gods and kings acting badly. It’s a perfect storm.
So if you love your royal scandals extra dysfunctional, check out Aimée Carter’s YA Royal Blood series, focusing on the British Royal family. In a 2024 interview with Honey Pop, Carter talked about how much she knew about the royal family before writing the series. She said:
"I was only vaguely curious about the royal family before I got the idea for Royal Blood back in 2011 or so, and from then on, I did start to pay attention—not to things like etiquette and gowns and crowns, but to how the media (and those on social media) talked about the royal family, and how easily rumors seemed to spread. That’s where I got a lot of inspiration for what Evan goes through… I wanted to explore the (anti)relationship between the press, the public, and the royal family, and how fast things could spin out of control – and how quickly devastating rumors could spread that could threaten the entire monarchy."
Let's take a look at the riveting YA thriller series Royal Blood.
Interestingly, Carter chose to set the series in an alternative timeline where Edward VIII never abdicated and never ran off with Mrs. Wallis Simpson. Instead, he had a family with children and the characters in the series are his descendants.
Last but not least…the series is a trilogy. In her Instagram feed earlier this year, Carter announced, “So close to the finish line for the Royal Blood series. I'm going to miss these characters.” (Incidentally, the soundtrack to her Instagram video is to Taylor Swift’s “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart. Apropos for someone who calls herself “an original Swiftie, est. 2006.”)
So check out these stormy YA mysteries featuring the King’s illegitimate daughter, “Evan” who is described in taglines as “the British Monarchy's greatest nightmare.”
Royal Blood
Teenager Evangeline “Evan” Bright has led a bit of a wild life. She’s on the verge of being expelled from her 9th-grade U.S. boarding school and might even serve time after she accidentally set a teacher’s office on fire. And oh, she’s the illegitimate child of the King of England, but she keeps that on a low profile.
After all, she has never met him and was raised by her grandmother. But with the recent developments, her father’s right hand man, Jenkins, flies her to London to meet the rest of her family.
But few people are happy that she’s there. Her stepmother, Queen Helen, can’t stand the sight of her and her half-sister, Maisie, who was born the same day Evan was, thinks she's common scum.
Then the news of Evan’s existence gets leaked to the press, and they drum up all the sordid details of her past and have a field day with her prior mistakes as the Royal Family’s Black sheep. All Evan wants to do is return home.
Things go further off the rails when she’s suspected of killing Jasper Cunningham, the son of Robert Cunningham, who’s like the Rupert Murdoch of British media in this world.
With few allies and even fewer resources, Evan has to figure out who killed Jasper to save herself, all while fighting against the more outlandish articles about her life in the press.
But there is hope…she finds comfort in Kit, her half-sister’s cousin and romantic interest, and help from Jenkins. But just as her secrets cracked open the dark wardrobe of royal secrets, discovering the murderer may also explode the world of British royalty.
Royal Scandal (Royal Blood Book 2)
Evan Bright is still trying to get used to being in the British tabloid’s crosshairs. They really love trying to blame her for every single thing that goes wrong in the world of the royals.
After all, she had a track record in the U.S. that is always brought up when anything happens. Worse yet, she’s still dealing with the fraught relationships within the royal family.
But someone appears to have it in for Evan, and they are sending her threats. Then one day, the threats escalate into an assassination attempt. She thinks the threats are coming from inside the house, but everyone seems to be taking it lightly.
Will anyone actually save her from a tragic death? Once again, Evan has to pull herself together to figure out who is menacing her and how to stop them. That might mean taking some drastic measures.
