Runaway by Susan Copperfield / R.J. Blain

2.5/3 ish

With the heir of California abdicating to marry his lady love and move to New York to be King there Cassandra is living a nightmare. She is one of Prince Thomas' only remaining employees and she has too much work to even think. She has a memorial service and a coronation service to plan. Once these two things are done will her life settle down into her new normal or will her life get even more interesting? 

I wanted to like this book more. It pulled me in and I didn't want to stop reading but about halfway through the book, it just fizzled for me.

HUGE SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!!! IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE MAIN PLOT OF THE BOOK IS DON'T CONTINUE READING.

YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.

Once again we have Cassandra's parents being the bad guys. In almost everyone of Copperfield's books they start with the parents seeming to be good parents and then wham bad guy. Cassandra was kidnapped as an infant and was raised to be a spy and eventually help overthrow the royal family. It seems like in most of Copperfield's books she really hates parents. What surprised me about this is Cassandra is never made to confront her parents. Not to mention when the royal family confronts those responsible for all of the mayhem we are literally watching it on TV not actually experiencing it. Then the book ends and there is no closure at all. It just kind of a let down. I also realized once I was done with the story it was a lot of making plans and not actually following through with them and lots of shopping. Overall, it was okay and there was a good idea within the story it just was missing too much.

Book 9 Royal States

Amazon

Storm Called by Susan Copperfield

 

3 Star

Patrick Laycal was working as a dishwasher when the Royals decide to eat there.  Patrick’s boss ropes him into cooking the foods for them and then fires him.  He finds a job almost immediately cooking for some elites.  He keeps coming home to Princess Jessica in his house.  He feeds her and she keeps coming back.  When food poisoning sweeps through Dallas, Patrick tracks down what is causing it to keep Jessica safe.  Jessica is determined to piss off all the members of congress by not being a baby factory to give them the male heir they want.  She wants Patrick and she will have him.

This is marked as book one but it came out well after the series was established and is a prequel.  I very much wanted to love this story as I love Jessica and Pat in Null and Void.  However, as I’ve said with other books by Susan Copperfield there are so many scenes that can be cut out and have a more cohesive and better book.  I don’t know if the author doesn’t want to cut or people are just being yes men to her but she needs to edit her books.  You don’t need to have every minute detail left in the book to have a good book.  You have to have a book that makes sense throughout.  I liked seeing how Jessica and Pat got together but it seemed like the only reason they get together was because he cooks for her and it would horrify her parents.  There didn’t seem like any other connection.  If you cut out all the drivel it was nice to see what lead to their marriage.

Book 1 A Royal States

Cold Flame by Susan Copperfield

 

3.5 Star

Rachel of the New York Royal family has run away from her life.  She’s tired of how her family treats her and wanting freedom from the expectations.  She sneaks into the Royal States of California as a refugee.  If she can make it through the probationary period she can become a citizen.  After almost five years of being there and moving every couple of months she gets a job at the archives working for the royals.  She meets her lusty prince she’s been craving for years.  Ethan has been wanting Rachel for years and has bided his time until he could have her.  When her parents put out a live bounty on her he makes his move to get and keep her.

There were so many parts of this book that could have been cut out and made for a better story.  There were pages upon pages of conversation about her pet rats that didn’t need to be in the story.  There was a lot of telling what happened and not showing.  Prime example was Rachel’s parents come to California to get her and end up dying to stop a wildfire.  Rachel never gets any closer or sees her parents because they do this with no witnesses.  Susan Copperfield also does a lot of insta.  She then plays it off as empaths and leechs who have to be with each other.  Like everyone seems to be empaths and leechs in these books.  It gets old that the couple never really have any meaningful conversations before they get together.  There are a lot of conversations of I’m obsessed with you let’s get married.  That doesn’t equal a good marriage.  The story just kind of fizzled out for me. 

Book 7 A Royal States

Bonds by Susan Copperfield

 

3.5 Star

Jack Alders works for Search and Rescue using his waveweaving talent when an oil tanker crashes off the coast of France he overextends his magic.  To keep him from dying France flies in a doctor who brings him back from the brink.  With Melody’s magic she may have magically connected to Jack so he is required to go home with her.  The more time they spend together the more they want to be together.  It doesn’t help when forces keep trying to kill her.

I really enjoyed reading this book for the most part and it had ok flow.  There were some parts that should have been cut out to make a more cohesive story but it wasn’t bad.  I also felt the bad guys were kind of an afterthought in the end.  There was a lot of build up to people who wanted to harm Melody and her family but the people who are causing all the problems are never in the book.  They are only ever talked about.  There was also talk about Jack’s past and that was never followed through on.  There just ended up being a lot of loose threads that never really got resolved once Melody and Jack got together. 

Book 6 A Royal State

Huntress by Susan Copperfield

 

4 Star

Prince Kelvin is the heir to the Illinois throne and needs to find love to break the family curse.  The problem is he hasn’t found someone he likes.  His mother wants him to take back his ex but as she cheated, he wants nothing to do with her.  With his last animal shift, he had a run in with a hunter who intrigues him, and he is willing to entice her to come and train with him to see if she’s his match.  Evangeline is fine with that if she can beat on him to keep him in line.  When he lets the family know his intentions, they don’t take it well.  In the process they end up breaking her arm and that is one thing too many for Kelvin and he abdicates.  How will the family get him back and in his good graces?

I enjoyed this story.  There was some meandering through parts of the story that was frustrating, but it wasn’t as bad as it was in the last book.  Personally, for me if my parents did what they did to him we would be done as there isn’t a lot of ways you come back from it.  Kelvin’s Great Grandpa who did the breaking of the bone did make up for it, but his parents never really did anything to make up for the way they acted.  This bothered me so very much.  I enjoyed who the bad guys were and how they were caught.  It would have been nice to see what happened to them in this book but maybe it will be addressed in a later book. Overall, it was a pretty good book and was right in line with Null and Void.

Book 5 A Royal States

A Guiding Light by Susan Copperfield

 

3 Star

Adam had once been engaged to Veronica the heir of North Dakota.  He was stripped of his rank and familial connections and cast out.  18 years later he’s made himself into a new man.  He is surprised by the arrival of Veronica’s brother.  He has dire news and only Adam can save the rest of the family from the fall of the kingdom.

The beginning of the book was pretty good.  I liked the set up and it was moving along nicely and then it got bogged down with the details.  There was a lot of redundancy in the story that could have been cut out and would have made a better story.  The book needed to have a good editor to make a better book.

Book 4 A Royal States

Captive King by Susan Copperfield

3 Star

Summer Cassidy is ordered to sell a precious necklace to bring some much-needed funds into the university’s archeology dig.  She meets bachelor 103 at the Texas Charity Auction.  He takes a liking to her and bids 10 million for it.  She bids 5.25 for his coffee cups and a coffee date.  One short night together has them hooked but she’s expected back at the dig.  On her way there she is stopped at a sister dig site where she ends up transporting to another and another and another.  How will they break the curse?

I wanted to like this book so much more than I did.  It started off really good.  I wanted to see how Cassidy and Landon would work out.  It just felt like it went off on a tangent about rape about 3/4 of the way through the book.  It just kind of threw me because that wasn’t where the book was going from the beginning of the book.  It felt like there were two plot points the author wanted to do and couldn’t decide which way she wanted to go so threw them both in.   The first book Null and Void that I reviewed previously had hot topic that was addressed.  When it was addressed in that book it made sense where this book it just didn’t meld with the rest of the story.  The other issue I had was how the culture in Alaska was handled.  There seems to be a massive rape culture where women are free to do with as you wish.  Landon who is King doesn’t seem to take any responsibility for this happening right under his nose.  Like you need your lady love to point it out to you and champion the other women in the kingdom.  The other issue I had were things left unanswered about some shady behavior from Cassidy’s school.  Like you wouldn’t bring hell down on their heads since you now have way more power. 

Book 3 Royal States

Taken by Susan Copperfield

3 Stars

Pat and Jessica have been married for six years.  Being king has it’s hazards and one of them is the possibility of being kidnapped to force the Jessica to do whatever the kidnappers want to get her husband back.  When the worst happens and Pat is kidnapped will he be able to rescue himself?

This was a fluff piece.  There was no point to the story at all.  Just like the last couple books from this author the writing is there, and it is good writing but when it comes to wrapping things up there is no wrap up that makes the story make sense.  The king is kidnapped.  Why was he kidnapped?  Who paid to have him kidnapped?  What was the punishment for kidnapping the king?  None of these questions are answered so what was the point of the story.  The only reason it is a three star is because is because it was well written.  It is frustrating me that an author that I know can write an amazing story put out a book that seems like it is nothing but a bridge.  Let’s throw out some possibilities for where the series will be going but not actually make it a good story with a beginning, a middle, and an end.  It is getting to the point where I don’t want to read any more of her books between the price and incomplete stories.

Null and Void by Susan Copperfield

5 Stars

Mackenzie Little was born without magic which makes her the lowest of the low.  When she finally had enough bull at work she up and quits her mom convinces her to go to a charity auction.  She never expect her former boss to buy her for the night or for all forms of birth control to fail.  Staying in New York is not an option and she takes an offer to move to the province of Texas.  Ten years goes by before Mackenzie and Dylan will see each other again.

I loved this story.  It took a trope that I hate and made me like it.  The have a baby and not let the daddy know is one of the tropes that I usually skip as it frustrates me but Mackenzie did her best to find him.  I also really liked Mackenzie and Dylan together.  There were some pacing issues in the story but nothing major.  Overall a really good book and I look forward to reading the next book. 

Audiobooks:

Reba Buhr did a really good job narrating this story.  I listen at a faster speed and I didn’t have any issues with accents or verbiage at the fast speed.  She did an excellent job with both male and female voices.  I would definitely listen to other books narrated by her.

Book 2 A Royal States