Inheritance (An American Royals Prequel)

Inheritance by Katherine McGee is a prequel novella to her series American Royals which finally gives readers the full inside scoop of the infamous graduation party night. This night is the catalyst for so many things as it is referenced numerous times by various characters. If you are a fan of the series, it truly is a treat to read.

Beatrice is attending a party with her parents hosted by (or for, I wasn’t really clear) the French royals who have loaned out the Mona Lisa. I loved seeing this from her perspective. Beatrice is given a lot of grief in the first book about how she doesn’t want to be a royal and how she is choosing her guard over the life she was groomed for. Here however she is happy in her role, though it is obvious she is wishing to have had a normal adolescence, even a normal college experience. We also see the first hints of her friendship with Connor.

Nina is not at all what I was expecting. Remember when we first meet her in book one she is almost finished with her Freshman year of college. She has a bit of confidence and developed her own personality away from the Washington twins. Here, she is timid, a bit shy, and head over heels in her crush of Jefferson. I did like seeing this insight and their dynamic. I think it will play a big role in book three.

Samantha, the party girl, is here in full swing, except not really. We are given an inside look into how she is already questioning those choices, resenting her life as the spare, and even wishing for more responsibility. All of this is of course punctuated by her ditching her own graduation party to go out with a staff member and have an adventure of her own.

And then there is Daphne. I think I was most excited to read her perspective. I wanted to know what was going through her mind when she drugged her best friend. We get that here. While I have been a staunch Daphne-hater since we were introduced to her, this may have softened me just a tiny bit. I still dislike her, but she is also my favorite character to read because Lord knows that everything will eventually blow up in her face!

Overall, I really enjoyed this short novella! Fans of the series will delight in learning what really happened Graduation Night, plus we are introduced to Eloise who I believe will be the rival in the titled third installment. At least that’s my guess.

Brittany Pressley narrates this one, she has narrated the entire series to date. I just love her. Her subtle tones and inflection changes make it easy to figure out who’s POV we are in, and I’m never lost. Now just a few more days wait for book three!