Royal Anthology

by Susan Sands (contributor)

ROYAL: Bite-sized sweet royal romance reads

A glittering collection of 24 brand new romance novellas, all written with royal flair! This anthology includes stories by USA Today and New York Times bestselling authors, as well as the writer of the smash Netflix hit A Christmas Prince!

Forward by Katharine McGee, author of the New York Times bestselling American Royals series

Undercover Princess by Teri Wilson
Resisting the Royal Bodyguard by Donna Alward
His Cinderella Princess by Kali Anthony
A Royal Love Song by Christi Barth
The Dude Ranch Duke by Caro Carson
Heir B and B by Cassidy Carter
One Summer in London by Kristin Contino
A Right Royal Rivalry by Alice Dolman
Man of the (Royal) Match by Aven Ellis
What Makes You Beautiful by Lindsay Emory
By Order of the Crown by Marianne Evans
A Rose So Royal by Jennifer Faye
The Royal Takeover by Nicole Flockton
The Runaway Princess Bride by Shirley Jump
Wrapped Up Royally by Janice Lynn
No Strings Attached by Jacquelyn Middleton
Conflict at the Castle by Carol Moncado
Royally in Love by Robyn Neeley
A Royal Getaway by Annie Rains
Royal in a Small Town by Susan Sands
Royal Extra After by Karen Schaler
A Royal Holiday Wish by Lizzie Shane
A Deal with a Prince by Toni Shiloh
Love Takes Flight by Roe Valentine

Genres: Anthologies, Romance, Novella

1229 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 11, 2023

About the author

A self-described late bloomer, Susan Sands began writing on her fortieth birthday. Her first Southern women’s fiction title, Again, Alabama, was published a mere eight years later.

Susan enjoys cooking, painting--when the mood strikes, playing tennis, and staring into space while contemplating her next novel.

Growing up in small-town Louisiana, Susan's passion for reading sparked her interest in writing—eventually. She now creates stories about the quirky characters and fascinating relationships that are uniquely Southern.

Susan holds a degree in elementary education, and has lived in the Roswell/Alpharetta suburb of Atlanta with her husband. Susan has three grown children.

Reviews

[Jennifer Gallagher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some bites were better than others

1. Undercover Princess / Grace Kelly Movie Night by Teri Wilson - LOVED this story, the characters, the plot, the romance, it was amazing.
2. Resisting the Royal Bodyguard by Donna Alward - ugh, why did you have such a bad story after such a great one…
3. His Cinderella Princess by Kali Anthony - Super cute, great story, I loved the twist (and the ball costume was amazing)
4. A Royal Love Song by Christi Barth - This one was adorable!
5. The Dude Ranch Duke by Caro Carson - this was cute, and I liked the “forced proximity” aspect.
6. Heir B and B by Cassidy Carter - meh, I could have done without this one, lol
7. One Summer in London by Kristin Contino - I liked it more than I didn’t but I didn’t love it…
8. A Right Royal Rivalry by Alice Dolman - started out annoying but had a good ending.
9. Man of the (Royal) Match by Aven Ellis - LOVED this one. Such a sweet story!
10. What Makes You Beautiful by Lindsay Emory - adorable! And funny, like laugh out loud funny. This was top five.
11. By Order of the Crown by Marianne Evans - this was such an interesting premise, the story was sweet and it was almost like a parable (the author does wrote Christian fiction, so that makes sense), a great different perspective on a royal meet-cute!
12. A Rose So Royal by Jennifer Faye - I hate to say this, but this was an awful story. It seemed so pieced together and the ending was just weird. It read like it was so forced and it just came out wrong. This is one author I won’t seek out more works to read.
13. The Royal Takeover by Nicole Flockton - cute, good story, wasn’t my favorite but pretty good.
14. The Runaway Princess Bride / The Runaway Royal by Shirley Jump - ugh. This was a really cute story but it wrapped itself up far too fast. Like there was drama, a climax, and then - boom - the resolution. No waiting, no “will they, won’t they”… just a neat box with a pretty bow. Too clean for me.
15. Royal On The Ranch by Makenna Lee - the cat angle was adorable. I wish we’d gotten the wedding story too though.
16. Wrapped Up Royally by Janice Lynn - soooo cute. Perfect for this anthology.
17. No Strings Attached by Jacquelyn Middleton - couldn’t get through the first chapter. It was that bad.
18. Conflict at the Castle by Carol Moncado - I love how this was about an older couple and had a second-chance vibe, I want more of this story.
19. Royally in Love by Robyn Neeley - cute story
20. A Royal Getaway by Annie Rains - cute but had some inconsistencies.
21. Royal in a Small Town by Susan Sands - a different take on a royal story, but I liked it!
22. Royal Extra After by Karen Schaler - meh, cute but predictable.
23. A Royal Holiday Wish by Lizzie Shane - sooooo cheesy. Ugh. Like sickeningly sweet.
24. A Deal with a Prince by Toni Shiloh - different perspective, not bad.
25. Love Takes Flight by Roe Valentine - I wasn’t expecting the weather being such a big character.

[Dorel · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this set I liked 12 out of 25 books 📚. RESISTING THE ROYAL 👑 BODYGUARD: I liked this book's storyline. I liked Hayley's character. I liked Marco's character. I loved ❤️ Alice. I liked the ending. HIS CINDERELLA 👠 PRINCESS 👸: This is the 1st book I read by Kali Anthony. I liked this book's storyline. I liked Cilla’s character. I loved ❤️ Caspar. I liked the ending. HEIR B AND B: This is the 2nd book I read by Cassidy Carter. This book's storyline was okay. I liked Spencer's character. I liked Zarah's character. The ending was okay. ONE ROYAL 👑 SUMMER 🌞: This is the 1st book I read by Kristin Contino. I liked this book's storyline. I liked Lucy's character. Damien's character. Lucy & Damien got on my nerves in this story. Lucy & Damien acted very immature. The ending was okay. BY ORDER OF THE CROWN 👑: My rating for this story 📖 is 3.5 stars ⭐️. This is the 2nd book I read by Marianne Evans. I liked this book's storyline. I really liked Audrey's character. I really liked Prince 🤴 Issac's character. I really liked the ending. A ROSE 🌹 SO ROYAL 👑: This is the 2nd book I read by Jennifer Faye. I loved ❤️ this book's storyline. I loved ❤️ Jasmine. I loved ❤️ Alex. I loved ❤️ the ending. Awesome job Ms. Faye. THE ROYAL 👑 TAKEOVER: This is the 2nd book I read by Nicole Flockton. This book's storyline was okay. Celestina's character was okay. Angelo's character. Celestina & Angelo got on my nerves. The ending was okay. ROYAL 👑 ON THE RANCH: I loved ❤️ this book's storyline. I loved ❤️ Beth. I loved ❤️ Gabe. I loved ❤️ the ending. Awesome job Ms. Lee. WRAPPED UP ROYALLY: This is the 2nd book I read by Janice Lynn. This book's storyline was okay. Emma's character was okay. I liked Alex's character. I liked the ending. A ROYAL 👑 GETAWAY: This is the 2nd book I read by Annie Rains 🌧. I liked this book's storyline. I liked the food mentioned in the story. The food sounded delicious 😋. I liked Elise's character. I liked Anthony's character. I liked the ending. ROYAL 👑 EXTRA 🎬 AFTER: This is the 1st book I read by Karen Schaler. I loved ❤️ this book's storyline. I loved ❤️ Princess 👸 Izzy. I loved ❤️ Ned. I loved ❤️ the ending. Awesome job Ms. Schaler. A DEAL WITH A PRINCE 🤴: This is the 1st book I read by Toni Shiloh. I loved ❤️ this book's storyline. I loved ❤️ Kitan. I loved ❤️ Sino. I loved ❤️ the ending. Awesome job Ms. Shiloh. I'm happy 😊 this set introduced me to Kali Anthony, Christi Barth, Alice Dolman, Aven Ellis, Jacquelyn Middleton, Karen Schaler, & Toni Shiloh.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Royal In A Small Town:
This story is included in the book “Royal” Bite-Sized Sweet Royal Romance Reads which is written by several wonderful authors. You might find a new favorite author.

This is a very sweet read with small town royalty. I love small towns and the people in them. This story is no exception. There is nothing like Mardi Gras. Folks in Louisiana know how to party and celebrate. I enjoyed all of the events that took place in the story. The characters are wonderful as is the story line. I think you will enjoy it too. I bought this book, but did receive an early copy of this story. If you haven’t read a book by Susan Sands before, I highly recommend that you do. My opinion of this story is my own.

[Tara Higgins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this twist on second chance lovers trope. It was fun getting a peek at what occurs at Mardi Gras as I have never been. Since it’s a novella character development is quick and not in depth. But I didn’t need that as Susan’s descriptions of the main characters made it easy to connect with them. I highly recommend Royal in a Small Town for a quick read!

[Allyson Anthony · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet collection of royal novellas

I enjoyed reading these short yet sweet collection of royal novellas. I knew a couple of authors in this collection as I have read their previous books. What a delightful read.

[Margaret Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this anthology for Carol Moncado's and Toni Shiloh's novellas. Those are both 5 star. The others I spent 4 months reading a few every other week or so. Some were good, some were okay, and only a few were not my level of enjoyment. There wasn't a lot of variety in plot tropes - most were non royals falling for royals and then trying to figure out how to make it work.

[Cary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to wade through a lot to find five short stories that I enjoyed. Some offerings didn’t even feel like a story, just a vignette! These are the few I would recommend: Grace Kelly Movie Night
His Cinderella Princess
Man of the Royal Match
By Order of the Crown
A Royal Holiday Wish

[Bethany Aich · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointed and sadly, deleting

I tend to not write negative stars if I don’t care for something, since I know it’s all personal preference. I found myself highly disappointed with this, however, so much so that I wanted to express it.

Most of the stories in here were indeed sweet. I enjoyed several, and found some new authors to look up. What I didn’t enjoy was finding some language in one that I definitely would not term “sweet.” I though I was reading it wrong and when I realized I hadn’t, wished I had skipped even the opening pages of the story. I’ll be deleting this because I don’t want to be reading it again or have my children finding it on Kindle and reading it.

While I understand that most people aren’t as rigid as I am when it comes to what they see as okay, maybe this will help someone else. There were numerous words that don’t have any place in a “sweet” romance in my mind that really ruined the entire book experience for me. If you still want to buy the book and support an author you enjoy but are like me and don’t enjoy that in your literature, you may want to pass over No Strings Attached by Jacquelyn Middleton.

[Akshatha Iyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to the author (Aven Ellis) for the Arc.

I read Aven's novella : Man of Royal Match and it left me longing to read more of Celine and Drew. In such a short story, one of her shortest, she has beautifully managed to capture the reader's interest in both the main characters. We have princess Celine of Monaco (this novella introduces the Royals of Monaco) who is shy and embarrassed because her mother wants to set her up and then we meet Drew. The handsome footballer who captures her eye and interest. In a few pages, their chemistry is tangible and captivating. As is Aven's style, we get a glimpse of future characters as well as mentions of previous characters.
Really hope she develops this into a full novel because I already want more!!

Waiting to read the rest of the novellas too!

[Cherie l brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fine short read. “A Deal with a Prince”, by Toni Shiloh. Story of a illegitimate daughter of an African prince has attained the age of 30, and her dad feels it time she marries. Not wanting an arranged marriage, she schemes her way out of the marriage. This is a friends to lovers novel with many strong armed influences that makes Kitan a Princess that chooses her own path an exceptional story. Is there anyway Kitan will find true love? Is she destined to live a loveless marriage with an old gent that doesn’t mind her illegitimacy? What is a girl to do?

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first of these sweet romance reads that I enjoyed was Royal in a Small Town by Susan Sands.
It is a second chance novella when a small town girl who longs for the opportunities of the big city decides that home is the better option. She finds herself going back and representing her town during Mardi Gras. The story is a quick read and very sweet.
A wonderful bite sized treat to enjoy on spring or summer afternoon or evening.
Wonderfully descriptive and heart warming.

[Savannah C Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Jacquelyn Middleton's story No Strings Attached. If you are a fan of her books Until The Last Star Fades and The Certainty of Chance. This is about Piper, who is Riley"s positive best friend in Until The Last Star Fades. I am so happy that she gets her happily ever after. It has a really nice and sweet connection to the Certainty of Chance. I absolutely loved this short story. If you are a big fan of Jacquelyn Middleton 's books you need to read this short story.

[Texas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Royal: Bite-sized Sweet Royal Romance Reads

Royal in a Small Town, Susan Sands - I smiled, laughed and enjoyed myself reading this cute lil nugget of a story. A second chance at love and living in a small town where everyone knows everybody. Good story lines, with likeable characters, told in a fresh, laid back style.5*

[SOMDReigel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Royal in a Small Town by Susan Sands. Quick, fun read. Just what I was looking for to read on a rainy day. This is a short read/novella so you’re not going to get a lot of character development or a big storyline. The author was able to write a complete read that I enjoyed and felt like I knew enough about the characters. Second chance romance with a Mardi Gras theme. Enjoyable!

[Barbara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Royal in a Small Town by Susan Sands was a fun, quick read . I loved the Mardi Gras theme and the second chance romance was just so nice to read. Great characters.

Thank you to the author for an advanced copy of this novella. This is my honest review.

[Peni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Please see individual stories for review.

[Cindra Lawson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet reads

These were all sweet romances that make you feel as if you were in a fairy tale. Aven Ellis's was my favorite and I hope this is just a beginning of a new series.

[Maude Winters · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're looking for sweet romance, you will love this.

It has many royal romance authors and I love the short stories which intersect with the universes I know well!

[Rebecca White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet, sassy, and fun stories

I enjoyed the various short princess stories. It was great to see so many different ways they were told and to get a taste of various great authors.