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This followup was perfection! I expected some soapy fun a la Gossip Girl, and it certainly delivered that. But it also went in directions I didn't expect and I LOVED the ending for all of the characters. And I would read more in this world if she wants to write it. Just saying... I can't talk too much about this one without spoilers, but I will offer a few thoughts.

- Book 1 kind of glossed over the impact that slavery and the colonization of America & treatment of Native people would have on this alternate version of the U.S., but I'm happy to say this book course corrected in a significant way. A major side character is introduced who is a Black member of the nobility which opens the door for discussions of what happened after emancipation. Also, members of the royal family acknowledge the damage their ancestors did through colonization and the enslavement of people.

- Without saying too much, I loved that some of the themes of this book are finding your inner strength and being who you want to be- resisting misogyny, racism, and elitism. I loved the way that it handled storylines in that vein.

- Some of the endings might be polarizing, but I thought they were perfect. The author didn't do what I expected in the best possible way.

- In many ways this felt realistic to peoples actual experiences of relationships, i.e. (view spoiler)[ not staying with your first love, going through difficult breakups, finding a new person (hide spoiler)] and I was HERE for it!

This was an easy 5 stars and such a pleasant surprise. I expected to have a good time with this, but it gave me more than I expected. I received an audio review copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own.