To celebrate the release of Princess Ever After – the fifth and final book in The Rosewood Chronicles by Connie Glynn I’m going back to the start and re-reading/reading the whole series which starts with Undercover Princess. I managed to get the first three books in the series signed by Connie at YALC and really enjoyed the ones I had already read so I’m looking forward to continuing with and completing the series.

Book 1 Synopsis – Undercover Princess

When fairy tale obsessed Lottie Pumpkin starts at the infamous Rosewood Hall, she is not expecting to share a room with the Crown Princess of Maradova, Ellie Wolf. Due to a series of lies and coincidences, 14-year-old Lottie finds herself pretending to be the princess so that Ellie can live a more normal teenage life.

Lottie is thrust into the real world of royalty – a world filled with secrets, intrigue and betrayal. She must do everything she can to help Ellie keep her secret, but with school, the looming Maradovian ball and the mysterious new boy Jamie, she’ll soon discover that reality doesn’t always have the happily ever after you’d expect…

A thrilling world of parties, politics and bad ass princesses, this is the first book in the series THE ROSEWOOD CHRONICLES.

About the Author

Connie Glynn has always loved writing and wrote her first story when she was six, with her mum at a typewriter acting as her scribe. She had a love for performing stories from a young age and attended Guildhall drama classes as a teenager. This passion for stories has never left her, and Connie recently finished a degree in film theory. It was at university that Connie started her hugely successful YouTube channel Noodlerella (named after her favourite food and favourite Disney princess). After five years of publicly documenting her life and hobbies to an audience of 900,000 subscribers on YouTube, Connie closed the book on the Noodlerella project in a bid for more privacy and to pursue her original passions in the performing arts. Connie now writes music and fiction full- time. Follow Connie on YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr @ConnieGlynn

What I Thought

I’m glad I re-read as I’d definitely got the plots of the first two books in the series mixed in my head – which only leads me to be more excited to continue the re-read as I vaguely remember something that happens in book two – this is pretty miraculous in itself. My memory is atrocious so I’m super impressed by how much I remembered of book one considering I read them in 2017/8!!

I like to think of this first book as The Princess Diaries meets Freaky Friday at Boarding School and it’s so much fun.

Our main character – Cornwall based – Lottie Pumpkin – yup that’s her name – is a Cinderella, Princess and fairytale obsessed teen who lives by a mantra passed down from her mum. Be Kind, Be Brave, Be Unstoppable – and what a mantra to live up to – this is definitely a driver for her actions.

I really need to read more about how author Connie Glynn came up with her ideas as I just assumed that Portmans (fake royals) and Partizans (royal assassins) were real things. I wonder if the name Portman came from Natalie Portman’s role in Star Wars?

The adventure starts with a miscommunication that shy Lottie seems unable to put right but it leads her perhaps to where she is destined to be? With a cast of teen characters who pretty much all come under suspicion we are definitely left guessing about who we can trust and what exactly they are after.

Because this is the first in the series, some questions raised are left slightly unanswered but we aren’t left on a huge cliffhanger. The new threat is cleverly introduced just as one is neutralised but who or what are they?

The school itself has tons of character and comparisons to Harry Potter might come from its houses, and the kindly man with half moon glasses – as well as hints in the authors note that a hint of magic is in its makeup.

Part of the story – including a ball – also takes place in Maradova so we get to meet Ellie’s family and see more of the world of the “privileged”. And what about the Princess herself? Let’s just say – she is spunky – a definite Princess Jasmine.

In this book the characters are 14/15 so the flirtations are fairly tame and we get hints that some of the characters are still grappling with their sexuality.

I also really like Jamie – he’s a young grumpy Hector Elizondo from The Princess Diaries and I want to know more about his character in particular.

I’m now really excited to get back to Rosewood Hall, Florence Ivy House and the mysteries they hold in book two Princess in Practice.

Check out the rest of the tour and I’ll be back soon with my thoughts on the rest of the books in the series.

Thank you to the publisher Penguin Platform and The Writes for the gifted copy of book 5 to complete my collection (good thing as my copy got damaged in the storms battering the U.K. and had to be sent back!).