Princess Diaries #11: Royal Wedding by Meg Cabot (New Adult, 9/10E, short 'n' sweet review)

Cute cover!

July 2015, MacMillan, 448 pages, Paperback, Review copy

 Summary from Pan MacMillan

From Meg Cabot, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Princess Diaries series, comes the very first new adult instalment, featuring the now grown-up Princess Mia! 

Royal Wedding follows Princess Mia and her Prince Charming as they plan their fairy tale wedding - but a few poisoned apples could turn this happily-ever-after into a royal nightmare.

For Princess Mia, the past five years since college graduation have been a whirlwind of activity, what with living in New York City, running her new teen community centre, being madly in love, and attending royal engagements. And speaking of engagements, Mia's gorgeous longtime boyfriend Michael managed to clear both their schedules just long enough for an exotic (and very private) Caribbean island interlude where he popped the question! Of course Mia didn't need to consult her diary to know that her answer was a royal oui.

But now Mia has a scandal of majestic proportions to contend with: Her grandmother's leaked "fake" wedding plans to the press that could cause even normally calm Michael to become a runaway groom. Worse, a scheming politico is trying to force Mia's father from the throne, all because of a royal secret that could leave Genovia without a monarch. Can Mia prove to everyone - especially herself - that she's not only ready to wed, but ready to rule as well?

Nayu's thoughts
Although this review for the 11^th book in this ace series, I have to mention books 1-10 which are for Young Adults since I spent a solid weekend reading most of them in 1 hit in preparation for this July release. I grew up with Princess Diaries, dreaming of being Mia who has a cat (which is the best animal on earth after birds). I thought I'd read all the books, but rereading them proved I hadn't even read half. I have now! For the record, I'm not fond of the new style covers, but #11's cover is fine by me! I've watched the films countless times, and having read the entire series I rewatched them and now fully understand more of the story.

While Royal Wedding can be read on it's own, I do recommend reading some of the previous books, or at least a summary of what's happened so you understand why what Mia does is considerable growth from the teen she used to be. Aye, the teen melodrama did get a tad frustrating at times, especially when all Mia can think about is boys (not just Michael either!), hence the slight drop in grade, but overall it was amusing. I was able to relate to her misadventures and tragedies some of the time. I liked watching her grow. I felt the period where she becomes severely depressed was an important part of the tale – one of the funny moments being when her bodyguard under her father's orders takes her in her 5+ day old pjs outside in broad daylight to see a psychologist who is also a cowboy. Much amusement, but Mia learns to deal with the issues which are real and huge to her.

It might explain which she overreacts on occasion in book 11, where she is an adult so has a lot more say about what she does. Unfortunately her overreacting/rash nature/stubbornness does cos big mishaps to occur when a more reserved approach would have resulted in a less explosive experience, but then Mia wouldn't be Mia, which all those who love her point out and understand. Make that nearly all, as she and Lilly actually fall out which if I'd read those books when I was younger I couldn't have understood, but now I know friends can drift apart - and drift back together after each has grown up a bit. 

I accidentally read a page near the end before reading the book, and was horrified at the implications what I thought I read had on both Mia and Mia's mother. Upon reading the book from the start my mind did a 180 degree turn and fully understood the events of that page when it happened. I thought the twists in Mia's life was incredible up until book 10, but probably in accordance with adults going through life events which a humungous, Mia the adult's family drama is what makes this such an epic series to read. 

Yes, it was a bit more mature than her teen years, but in some ways the frequency of the relationship issues was much less and a bit toned down from the hyped up teen years. Mia learns there is much more to life than boys, and although she kicks off international incidences she means well and finds a way to recover and prove that she is a suitable princess of Genovia. She is as spunky a princess as some of her ancestors (the non boring ones), and more than capable of reforming Genovia's political system. Yup, you won't be disappointed by the latest installment in Mia's life! I so hope there will be more ^o^ I would then reread the entire series in a weekend again! 

Find out more on Meg's website.