Title: Paper Princess (The Royals Book 1)
Author: Erin Watt
Genre: Fiction/ Romance
Source: Kindle
Rating: 4/5

My favourite quote; “This will never by my home. I don’t belong in splendour. I belong in squalor. That’s what I know. It’s what I’m comfortable with, because squalor doesn’t lie to you. It’s not wrapped in a pretty package. It is what it is.
This house is an illusion. It’s polished and pretty, but the dream Callum is trying to sell is as flimsy as paper. Nothing stays shiny forever in this world.” 

I’ve read this trilogy a few times now and I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of them. I’m pleased to discover that Erin Watt has release book 4, 5 & 6 which I’ve already downloaded on my Kindle. I wasn’t sure whether to review them per trilogy or by book. I’ve decided to review them by book because I feel that I would give too much away. So here we go..

Paper Princess is book one of The Royals trilogy, it beings with our protagonist rebel Ella Harper being called into the principal’s office in school.
Ella is a teenage girl with a complicated upbringing, her dad has never been in the picture and her unfortunate mother, Margaret, did everything she could to make sure Ella has a normal life. Unfortunately that didn’t always go according to plan and they always ended up running from something to start a new life, whether it be from Margaret’s abusive boyfriends, pervert bosses, social services or poverty.

When her mother dies, Ella decides to take control of her own life and ends up working in the only place she knows how, as a stripper using her mum’s ID, as well as attending a public school to avoid going into the social care system. So when Callum Royal turns up at the school claiming that both her parents are deceased and that he is her legal guardian, she bolts. He tracks her down at one of her strip clubs and gives her an incentive to stay with him and his family. Ten thousand dollars a month, a college education, a place to stay, a car, new clothes and food. The catch; don’t fight it and don’t run away. Not knowing what to think, Ella accepts Callum’s proposal to this new life and they make their way across the country to Bayview.

She can’t believe her eyes when they pull up into an enormous mansion. Callum Royal wasn’t just rich, he was Richie rich rich. Already she knew she didn’t belong the second she walked through the door, even more so when Callum introduced her to his sons who hated her instantly. Reed, Easton, Gideon, Sawyer and Sebastian, all six feet tall, dark hair and vivid blue eyes, and who were all immediately threatened by the new intruder coming into their home.

‘”You’re poking a tiger.”
I shrug. “He poked me first.”
Callum shakes his head. “And I thought raising five boys was an adventure. I haven’t seen anything yet, have I?”‘

Ella knew she just had to survive a few years, get a college degree and then she would be free to leave. Little did she know how hard life would yet be, even with money in her pocket. The Royal brothers did their best to make sure she was unwelcome as possible, both at home and at school, however they soon realised that Ella doesn’t threaten easily and bites back harder than they would have expected.
No one messes with the Royals, they make their own rules through power, status and money, not to mention their goods looks. Reed, the leader of their little family as well as Aston Park Prep Academy, spends so much time trying to make Ella’s life hell that he soon becomes fascinated with her and her strength to handle the hostility against her.

“Get used to the gossip, darling. Get used to walking into a room and having everyone in it whisper that you don’t belong. Get used to it, but don’t let those whispers defeat you. Strike back when they strike you. Don’t be weak.” 

Goodreads Review:
THESE ROYALS WILL RUIN YOU…
Ella Harper is a survivor—a pragmatic optimist. She’s spent her whole life moving from town to town with her flighty mother, struggling to make ends meet and believing that someday she’ll climb out of the gutter. After her mother’s death, Ella is truly alone.
Until Callum Royal appears, plucking Ella out of poverty and tossing her into his posh mansion among his five sons who all hate her. Each Royal boy is more magnetic than the last, but none as captivating as Reed Royal, the boy who is determined to send her back to the slums she came from.
Reed doesn’t want her. He says she doesn’t belong with the Royals.
HE MIGHT BE RIGHT.
Wealth. Excess. Deception. It’s like nothing Ella has ever experienced, and if she’s going to survive her time in the Royal palace, she’ll need to learn to issue her own Royal decrees.