Review: Regally Binding by Rebecca Chase*

*I received a copy of this book in eBook format via NetGalley in return for this review. All reviews published on Yours, Chloe are completely honest and my own, and are in now way influenced by the gifting opportunity.

Title: Regally Binding
Author: Rebecca Chase
Genre: Romance

Trigger warnings:  Bomb Threats, Death Threats, Cancer, Death Of A Parent, Drugging, References To Bullying, References To Being Kicked Out By Parents As A Teenager

Rating: 

Spice Level: ðŸŒ¶️🌶️🌶️🌶️ (Explicit Open Door)

Liss is an average twenty-something woman with a regular job working in a bar...until the day she learns during a televised broadcast that her grandma had an affair with the king decades ago and she might be his granddaughter.

The dying king's announcement throws Liss into a world of paparazzi, royal parties, and death threats. But it also gives her hope that she could finally be part of a family, something she's wanted her whole life and especially after her mum died when Liss was nineteen. Now she has to decide if she's ready to give up her privacy, safety, and independence to be a princess.

To protect Liss in all this danger and stress is her swoonworthy new bodyguard, Bear. He’s cheeky, grumpy, and has secret tattoos beneath his suits. He’s also stubborn and bossy and clashes with Liss constantly. But Bear has a soft side too. He sits with Liss when she sleeps to make sure she doesn’t have nightmares and buys her stunning ballgowns to make her happy.

It's not long before all the bickering and tension morphs into sizzling hot chemistry. Both Liss and Bear know that giving into their attraction is a terrible idea...but it's getting harder and harder to fight their feelings for each other.

Will Bear keep Liss alive long enough for her to decide her future? And what if the one person keeping her safe is the same person she can’t live without?

Regally Binding is the latest romance novel from author Rebecca Chase, and the first in her new Closest Protection series. Fans of forbidden love, enemies to lovers, forced proximity and a good bodyguard romance, this is the book for you! Add in a found family, a fantastic ‘fuck it’ moment, a protective swoon-worthy ‘touch her and you die’ MMC and lots of banter and you have Regally Binding, a new spicy British romance, perfect for fans of The Princess Diaries and The Bodyguard.

The narrative is very well paced and I easily read the majority of the book in a single sitting. The plot of this book is very well crafted and more complex than your average romance, with Liss not only having to navigate suddenly becoming part of the royal family and her evolving relationship with her bodyguard but also becoming victim to death threats. There’s a mystery element with them trying to work out the identity of the person harassing Liss and also navigating concerns about the health of the king. Rebecca Chase found the perfect balance between these aspects to the plot and the romance, making for a really compelling story. I also loved how very British the story was!

Liss was an excellent protagonist who I really wanted to be friends with! I loved how normal she was, which made the plot of her suddenly being thrust into the royal family and the limelight even more compelling. This book explores grief through Liss having lost her mother – who was a single parent – to cancer. There is also fantastic anxiety and panic attacks representation through Liss and this was one of my favourite things about the book. As a someone who has had both for 15+ years, this representation felt really authentic so it was really powerful.

Bear was a swoon-worthy MMC to say the least. I very quickly fell head over heels in love with him but can you blame me? I particularly loved that he was such a complex character rather than just being the sexy love interest with surface-level characterisation you can often see in romance books, particularly spicy ones. Bear has a really great dynamic with Strike and the exploration of Bear’s backstory and how he found a family with Strike and his parents was really emotive.

Liss and Bear were a brilliant match and the banter between the two of them had me giggling throughout. Their romance builds at a good pace, with lots of sexual tension before the much-anticipated ‘fuck it’ moment. Their chemistry was electric and the spicy scenes were some of the best I’d read in a long while. Dirty talk fans, you’ll eat this up!

You will love Regally Binding if you fancy a read which is the perfect combo of sweet and spicy, especially for those who loved The Princess Diaries as a teenager but now fancy something with (A LOT) more spice!

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