Paper Princess: A Novel: 1 (The Royals, 1)

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I'm running again. Story of my life. Mom and I were always running. From her boyfriends, her pervert bosses, social services, poverty. The hospice was the only place we stayed in for any substantial amount of time, and that was because she was dying. Sometimes I think the universe has decided I'm not allowed to be happy. Thompson turns around and looks toward Don Juan, who rises from his chair and waves at me with his large hand. “Yes, well, he’s why you’re here. Please come in.” ella's parents are dead and callum royal, who was her father's best friend, takes her in... and he has five sons 🤨 There’s nothing ordinary about Oakley. This bad-boy pop star’s got Grammy awards, millions of fangirls and a reputation as a restless, too-charming troublemaker. But with his home life disintegrating, his music well suddenly running dry and the tabloids having a field day over his outrageous exploits, Oakley needs to show the world he’s settling down—and who better to help him than Vaughn, a part-time waitress trying to help her family get by? The very definition of ordinary.

Forced into stripping to pay her mother’s medical bills Ella Harper has tried to fly under the radar until she can turn eighteen and not risk ending up in the foster care system. But one day her meager and humble strip club is graced with the visit by a too-handsome-for-his-own-good billionaire father of five, Callum Royal who claims to be her father’s friend and her guardian. Settled into the Royals’ castle high upon the hill she is faced with five handsome princes, Gideon, Reed, Easton, Sawyer and Sebastian none too happy to see her. The story goes on to follow them at school, home and the party scene, as Ella gets to know a little bit about each brother. Unlikely friendships are formed, lines drawn, truces forged and suitor aligning themselves with each prince having a stake. Here's the deal," he says. "My brother and father are off-limits to you. If you have an itch, you come to me. I'll take care of it. The mom-haired school secretary barely looks up from her People magazine. "Take a seat, Ella. Mr. Thompson will be right with you." When I say I loved this book, it is an understatement. This is a book you stay up until 3am to finish and end up feeling tired but happy the next day because it was so worth it. There was not one moment when I was bored or wanted to skim, I was completely absorbed in it until the very end. I loved being in Ella’s head and sharing her experiences with her. She’s a strong female character who doesn’t need or want saving, but in this book she realizes it doesn’t hurt to accept help from others. Ella also recognizes the value in hard work and doesn’t shirk away from jobs that others see as below themselves. She doesn’t apologize for who she is either. I found her to be a very admirable character, refreshing from all of the weak heroines we see flooding the genre.The sound of my voice jolts him out of his hypnosis. He strides forward and, before I can move, has my right hand clasped between his two.

Yes there're five brothers but Ella has an immediate connection with Reed Royal, who also happens to be the leader. Did I mention he was smoking hot? Well, he is. He's also stoic, broody, prone to bouts of just staring angrily at Ella and YASSSSS, did I love it! It’s one minute before nine and this watch is never wrong. It’s probably the most expensive item I own. My mom said that it was my dad’s. Besides his sperm, it’s the only thing he left behind. No, it's not about tardiness . . . this time." Her normally flinty gaze is soft around the edges, and my gut relays a warning to my sluggish morning brain. Ms. Weir is a hard-ass, which is why I like her. She treats her students like we're here to learn actual math instead of some life lesson on loving your neighbor and crap like that. So for her to be giving me sympathetic looks means something bad is cooking down at the principal's office.

To Mr. Thompson's credit, he doesn't chastise me for the profanity. "The paperwork indicates that Mr. Royal's claim is legitimate." He rattles the papers in his hands. Some kids dream of traveling the world, owning fast cars, big houses. Me? I want my own apartment, a fridge full of food, and a steady paying job, preferably one that's as exciting as watching paste dry. Enter Callum Royal. He is a rich man with five sons. FIVE SONS! I want all of them to get a story, but I digress, he has five sons and when they discover that their father has won guardianship over a girl who is stripping for a living, it's safe to say they are not a happy bunch. You're right, we haven't met before," Royal interjects. "But that doesn't change the reality here."

Also this is minimal but at one point he starts out of nowhere calling her 'baby' which is uncalled for because at this point, they still haven't done anything with each other and are not together, and that pet name already makes me cringe when used by a guy so I just felt like barfing at that point and was seriously tempted to go and get some Gravol for myself. And I'm still confused as to what caused him to start actually liking Ella? Because absolutely nothing drastic changes in their circumstances for him to suddenly start liking her? It's hella dumb.Ella Harper is exactly the kind of heroine I love to read about. She's led a hard life in her young 17 years. Her mom may have been flighty and jumping from one boyfriend to the next all her life while struggling to support the both of them, but she's all she's ever known. Now that her mother has passed away, Ella has nothing and no one and struggles to make ends meet just to make it through high school so she can go on to college. When a man shows up at her school claiming to be her legal guardian and her father's best friend, she's rightful skeptical. But Callum is determined to help once he sees the way Ella's been living and it's not long before she arrives on the Royal doorstep much to the disgruntlement of Callum's five sons. If any teenage girl is reading this review, I need you to understand that abusive relationships are not okay. If someone is being a jerk to you it is NOT okay. If someone calls you a slut, you get out of there now! If you've been drudged and nearly raped, you need to talk to someone. I can’t decide what I like more. The calm Royal household with the voiceless Reed or the one where he’s yelling at me to stay away and threatening me with his penis.”

Thompson turns around and looks toward Don Juan, who rises from his chair and waves at me with his large hand. "Yes, well, he's why you're here. Please come in." This book completely stressed me out. There were twists, turns, angst, drama, revenge, betrayal, love, friendship and more than one jaw dropping moment. That ending. I can’t even with that. WHAT WAS THAT??? I was dying. Let me tell you now, when the second book releases in a few short months, I will have no problem recalling what happened at the end. My jaw is still on the floor and my heart still hurts from reading that last chapter! Ella has been working at a strip bar while trying to finish high school, that is until Calum Royal walks into her life. He's the long time friend of the father she never knew and now that both her parents are dead he's her legal guardian. Ella being the feisty heroine that she is fights him tooth and nail but she is a minor so she grudgingly moves in with him and his five sons. I said that they failed because the book is 100% New adult and for me, it wasn't romantic. At times it even touches taboo territory, more specifically rape, pedophilia and dubious consent, features that you would expect come from the erotica genre. I normally don't have problem with teens reading adult material. I started reading hentai in my fresh year of highschool and I know I wasn't the only one. But I read this book expecting a cute, young adult romance featuring a badass heroine. Instead I found a heroine that goes from really strong to meek, weak and TSTL (too stupid to live) who doesn't speak her mind against rape as long as it is not against her. She even apologizes to that Savannah girl after she practically threw her to the lions. However, when Ella's mother grows ill with cancer, Ella is forced to assume adult responsibilities as a young teenager. When her mother dies, Ella is left all alone. She does what she has to do to survive and stay out of the foster care system.Ella Harper is a survivor. She's spent her whole life poor, her mother struggling to make ends meet - yet still believing that someday she'd climb out of the gutter. But after her mother's death, Ella is truly lost and alone.