THE HEIR APPARENT

A British princess who’s stepped away from her royal role finds herself suddenly next in line for the throne.

As Armitage’s debut opens, Lexi Villiers is a medical resident in Australia, estranged from her family since she slipped away several years earlier to pursue a career. She’s been living on the grounds of a beautiful Tasmanian vineyard owned by the family of a man she is about to become more than best friends with—when a helicopter touches down to tell her that her father, the heir to the throne, along with her twin brother and his best friend have been killed by an avalanche while skiing. She’s whisked back to Britain at the behest of her grandmother the queen, landing instantly in the hornet’s nest of tabloid coverage, family secrets and resentments, and implacable protocol that is royal life. Will she accept her role as the heir apparent or let the crown pass to her scheming, power-hungry uncle? The queen gives her a year to decide. While her decampment to Australia left her with a very low approval rating from the British public, her reinvolvement in public life wins favor, engineered with the help of a savvy assistant. Though she feels the call of duty, it’s lonely at the top—her bereaved sister-in-law, once a close friend, is angry about her defection; a handsome aristocrat who might make a suitable mate doesn’t hold a candle to the man she left behind. Fortunately, she has a very nice dog. To the author’s credit, the suspense of the decision lasts right up until the final pages, though one of the main issues creating all the drama—the circumstances of her mother’s drowning when Lexi and her brother were not yet 18 and on vacation with her in Italy, slowly revealed in sections set in the past—never quite makes sense.

The author’s deep knowledge of all things royal adds realism and texture to this entertaining debut.