The Royal by Susan Stoker | Audiobook Review • Ana's Attic Book Blog

The Royal (Game of Chance #2) by Susan Stoker

Narrated by CJ Bloom and Jeremy York

Standalone romance in a very connected series. Both the book & Audiobook are FREE in Kindle Unlimited as of this post.

Ana’s Attic is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

Though the romance in The Royal by Susan Stoker completely stands alone, I think it’s important to read the first book in the Game of Chance series, The Protector, to really know what these guys went through as POWs. Cal took the brunt of the punishment because he was part of a royal family, and has lived a secluded life ever since, hiding his very scarred body as much as he could. The Royal is part Cinderella and part Beauty and the Beast.

Cal is a loyal and devoted man, so when his family calls on him to meet with a young woman who claims to have a stalker, Cal heads down there even though he’s not in the protection business. When he gets to the house, the first thing he sees is a beautiful curvy/plump woman who he’s immediately attracted to, taking out the trash. She’s just his type—or at least she was when he still attracted women.

When he met with the vapid woman being stalked (and her awful mom), he couldn’t keep his eyes off of the woman serving them. June wasn’t actually their servant, this was her stepmother and stepsister, who tricked her into signing over her home when she was 18 after her father died. June is 32 and has lived as their servant ever since. They took her college money and gave her no spending money, plus she promised her dad she would take care of his home. She was trying to save change from shopping to eventually leave, but she had no friends, no social life, no support. She’s been run ragged by these two for 14 years.

Cal knew immediately that there was no stalker and that he was just being scammed so she could marry a prince. So he convinced June, the beautiful, curvy woman of his dreams to leave with him and get away from her horrible situation. He brings her back to Maine with him to get a new start in his small town, but this time, danger really does follow…maybe the stalker was real after all.

I’m going to be honest…just like The Protector, The Royal was cheesy and predictable. But that’s okay, sometimes a little cheesy predictability hits the spot. I listened to it every chance I got because something about Susan’s writing, even in 3rd person which I usually don’t like, just gets me sucked right in.

Likes:

Having a scarred hero who was uncomfortable with his body.
Having a plus-sized heroine.
The writing was addictive.
How they both have insecurities.
I love the group of guys and can’t wait for the next. I’m invested.

Dislikes:

3rd person.
A little cheesy and predictable.
Her waiting until she is 32 to leave just seems outrageous to me.

The Narration:

CJ Bloom and Jeremy York were both fantastic and added to my enjoyment of this book.

The Down & Dirty:

The Royal by Susan Stalker is the kind of cheesy ridiculousness that you gobble right up. This is a great example of a typical romantic suspense, but something about Susan Stoker’s writing makes it infinitely readable, despite being 3rd person. I’m invested in these ex-POWs and I love reading about these deeply scarred men finding their happiness after the torture they endured.