Romance

Playing the Palace

Playing the Palace

  • Downloads：1545
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-06-22 08:51:32
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Paul Rudnick
  • ISBN：0593099419
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary

THEIR LOVE STORY CAPTIVATED THE WORLD…THE CROWN PRINCE AND THAT GUY FROM NEW YORK

When a lonely American event planner starts dating the gay Prince of Wales， a royal uproar ensues: is it true love or the ultimate meme？ Find out in this hilarious romantic comedy。

After having his heart trampled on by his cheating ex， Carter Ogden is afraid love just isn’t in the cards for him。 He still holds out hope in a tiny corner of his heart， but even in his wildest dreams he never thought he’d meet the Crown Prince of England， much less do a lot more with him。 Yes， growing up he’d fantasized about the handsome， openly gay Prince Edgar， but who hadn’t？ When they meet by chance at an event Carter’s boss is organizing， Carter’s sure he imagined all that sizzling chemistry。 Or was it mutual？

This unlikely but meant-to-be romance sets off media fireworks on both sides of the Atlantic。 With everyone having an opinion on their relationship and the intense pressure of being constantly in the spotlight， Carter finds ferocious obstacles to his Happily Ever After， including the tenacious disapproval of the Queen of England。 Carter and Prince Edgar fight for a happy ending to equal their glorious international beginning。 It’s a match made on Valentine’s Day and in tabloid heaven。

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Reviews

Rachel ，

I really like Rudnick's writing， and the book is characteristically witty and wacky， but I can't help but wish the central relationship hadn't been so boom！ instant true love forevah。 I mean， Carter's family didn't even seem particularly surprised that their son was dating a royal and yeah， I get part of that was the joke of his family not being easily impressed about stuff， but it still felt off。 None of these people felt real and so I found it impossible to really care about them。 Overall， it' I really like Rudnick's writing， and the book is characteristically witty and wacky， but I can't help but wish the central relationship hadn't been so boom！ instant true love forevah。 I mean， Carter's family didn't even seem particularly surprised that their son was dating a royal and yeah， I get part of that was the joke of his family not being easily impressed about stuff， but it still felt off。 None of these people felt real and so I found it impossible to really care about them。 Overall， it's a fun， breezy book but not especially moreish-I am not keen for another story about these characters， who I definitely felt lacked depth。 。。。more

Russell Ricard ，

Playing The Palace is a charmingly delightful， hysterical， and endearing novel。 Paul Rudnick at his best; a genius writer whose words have you laughing in one moment and， in the next， your tender heart trapped in your throat。 Michael Urie’s narration for the audio version—he so vividly embodies a vast array of characters—is brilliant and magical。 A must read。

Mercedes ，

SO ADORABLE！

Chuck ，

It's a romance， and somewhat absurd， but above all， it's a laugh-out loud comic novel。 Rudnick is hilarious。 I guess I could quibble。 But when there's a comic chorus of security personnel， or a Queen of England patrolling the halls of Buckingham Palace to monitor sexual activity， or the worst GBBO finale ever， or quips galore， and happy endings， and funny characters viewed with great affection， why bother with nitpicks？ I ate it up。 About the only thing I didn't like is the cover。 It's a romance， and somewhat absurd， but above all， it's a laugh-out loud comic novel。 Rudnick is hilarious。 I guess I could quibble。 But when there's a comic chorus of security personnel， or a Queen of England patrolling the halls of Buckingham Palace to monitor sexual activity， or the worst GBBO finale ever， or quips galore， and happy endings， and funny characters viewed with great affection， why bother with nitpicks？ I ate it up。 About the only thing I didn't like is the cover。 。。。more

Katie ，

Cute and funny but repetitive very quickly。

jess ，

Very over the top， sweet， and hysterical。 I actually cried laughing。 This is in no way based in reality but maybe the actual royals should aspire to be more like these ones， because I quite liked this version of the Queen。

Ellie ，

Totally adorable， enjoyable， quirky， and sweet。 🌶🌶

Colleen Myers ，

A fun， cute read - while I enjoyed the main characters， it’s the supporting cast who really made this book shine。 It is laugh-out-loud funny at points， and I was positively delighted by the Queen’s characterization。

Karen Fan ，

Is it a lot of fat stereotypes？ Maybe。 But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a lot of fun！ I could totally hear my friends in this and I loved it。

Skoob ，

mhmmm…。。 i really wanted to love this but i really really didnta queer romance book with royals - yes pls！ and i loved carter， his family was loud and supportive and his roommates were awesomeBUT for me it was too over the top and i guess it couldve been charming if it wasnt for the awful way everyone kept treating carterfirst edgar keeps ghosting him and yes he explains it but also… i felt like carter gave in too easily （fair tho bc hes been manipulated and gaslit and and and in his previous re mhmmm…。。 i really wanted to love this but i really really didnta queer romance book with royals - yes pls！ and i loved carter， his family was loud and supportive and his roommates were awesomeBUT for me it was too over the top and i guess it couldve been charming if it wasnt for the awful way everyone kept treating carterfirst edgar keeps ghosting him and yes he explains it but also… i felt like carter gave in too easily （fair tho bc hes been manipulated and gaslit and and and in his previous relationship） edgar didnt defend him after the shirtless paper crown pic got leaked and is so ugly to him when they get to london and ffs the queen yes shes the queen but other ppl are ppl toocarter says "im a prisoner" as a joke about his situation but i felt thishes so sweet and caring and they all judge him， dont give him a chance and blame him for the backlash by homophobic pressthis couple didnt sit right with me at allbut for carter， some side characters and the general idea ill give it 2 stars 。。。more

Chris Balbo ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I give it a 4。5

Alan ，

After meeting UK Crown Prince Edgar at a charity fund raiser， NJ event planner， Carter Ogden is touched when the Prince follows up with a date。 This is firmly in Fran Fine and The Nanny territory and while there are plenty of laughs， I was surprised to find I didn’t love this over-the-top farce。 The relationship pacing felt rushed， there was way more caricature than character， and parts of the plot and character decision-making just didn’t make any sense。 I guess there’s a difference between fun After meeting UK Crown Prince Edgar at a charity fund raiser， NJ event planner， Carter Ogden is touched when the Prince follows up with a date。 This is firmly in Fran Fine and The Nanny territory and while there are plenty of laughs， I was surprised to find I didn’t love this over-the-top farce。 The relationship pacing felt rushed， there was way more caricature than character， and parts of the plot and character decision-making just didn’t make any sense。 I guess there’s a difference between funny and silly， and this toppled over the line。 Because the laughs were the priority， it was hard to believe in the relationship so I wasn’t invested - way more com than rom。 The wonderful Michael Urie （of Ugly Betty fame） gave a great audio narrative performance， he was perfect。 。。。more

Kaylie ，

I thought it was such a good book！ But it definitely went really fast relationship wise but I definitely really like。

Rocher ，

DNF at 34%It felt like a chaotic version of Red White and Royal Blue。

Isabelle Altman ，

So here's my predicament: How do I feel about a book that had me in stitches right up until about the 200-page mark when the Big Letdown to precede the Big Reunion turned out to not only be eye-roll-inducing and tropey， but lacked so much set-up that it bypassed unreliable narrator and landed on bad writing？Predicament solution: I just skipped the next 30 pages and went straight to the royal wedding。 Problem solved！Because， for me， this book wasn't really about the romance。 I mean， the romance i So here's my predicament: How do I feel about a book that had me in stitches right up until about the 200-page mark when the Big Letdown to precede the Big Reunion turned out to not only be eye-roll-inducing and tropey， but lacked so much set-up that it bypassed unreliable narrator and landed on bad writing？Predicament solution: I just skipped the next 30 pages and went straight to the royal wedding。 Problem solved！Because， for me， this book wasn't really about the romance。 I mean， the romance is fun and I like Carter and Edgar， but what this book is REALLY about is exploring， in delightfully specific detail， what would happen if a Disney prince encountered various New York and New Jersey stereotypes in their natural habitat， and reveling in the nonsense。 It's a beat away from a Monty Python skit。It's also about redeeming the queen of England， who was more like what I hoped the queen from Red， White， and Royal Blue would be like。And while I'm here， I will give a shout-out to the tangled， somewhat manic writing style， which I found （mostly） fun even though it's not precisely how creative writing professors would recommend writing a book， and I'll praise the prayer Carter says at the beginning of the book when he's on his way to the UN and stops by St。 Patrick's to pray， because it's sweet and sincere。 。。。more

clemens ，

4/5:Even if this relationship felt a little bit too fast paced， I really enjoyed reading every moment of it… especially the stronger second half of this book。 It’s a good book if it brings a smile on my face。

Jessie H。 ，

I’m still deciding what I’m going to rate this but it’s somewhere between 3。5 and 4 stars for me。 It was cute and fun to read but the story had some pacing issues and was a bit all over the place。 But it had me laughing from the start and once I really got into the story I couldn’t stop reading until I had no pages left。 I’m still pulling my thoughts together so a more complete review will be coming。*ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley

Rachel ，

Okay I totally get the gut reaction if people thinking this is like Red White and Royal Blue BUT the characters in this book are 29 years old！ They aren't young and neither of them is closeted。 They have such fun unique voices and there's lots of snarky witty banter in this book。 A fun afternoon read！ Okay I totally get the gut reaction if people thinking this is like Red White and Royal Blue BUT the characters in this book are 29 years old！ They aren't young and neither of them is closeted。 They have such fun unique voices and there's lots of snarky witty banter in this book。 A fun afternoon read！ 。。。more

Nicole ，

Top shelf Harry fanfic。 A+

sam ，

literally i wish i could erase this book from my memory。 i was actually really excited for it and i really wanted to love it but i could barely get through it。 i honestly skimmed a great deal of the book。 the writing wasn’t objectively horrible but it was completely not my style。 this book to me was definitely very cringey a lot of the time， and it was also super insta-lovey。 i saw some reviews saying this， and i was like， ‘i have no problem if they are super into each other right from the begin literally i wish i could erase this book from my memory。 i was actually really excited for it and i really wanted to love it but i could barely get through it。 i honestly skimmed a great deal of the book。 the writing wasn’t objectively horrible but it was completely not my style。 this book to me was definitely very cringey a lot of the time， and it was also super insta-lovey。 i saw some reviews saying this， and i was like， ‘i have no problem if they are super into each other right from the beginning’， but it was so much worse than that。 they are literally just automatically in love for no reason。 carter loves edgar after like 2 weeks and most of that was him being ghosted， having only interacted in person with him twice。 i feel like this book was more about the witty writing than the actual characters， because edgar especially felt just so bland。 and he was a dick to carter a lot of the time。 he didn’t trust him， he wasn’t kind to him， he never told carter why he liked him， he never stood up for him for basically the entire length of the novel。 he also tells carter he loves him very early on， but it’s never shown， it honestly seemed like he disliked carter。 and *major spoilers for the end*， after literally not talking for weeks， and edgar being a massive douche who has no faith in carter， he apologizes on national television， you know after refusing to take carters calls for weeks， and then he asks carter to marry him？？？ like carter hasn’t even said i love you to edgar at this point。 and i felt no chemistry between the characters and found that they were horribly incompatible。 and also as like and end note， carter is like super obsessed with his ex boyfriend， in an extremely unhealthy way。 he was definitely addicted to the toxicity of his past relationship， and his inner monologue has him constantly comparing the two and reminiscing about his ex which was just like… wtf。 。。。more

Katie Pesznecker ，

I wanted to like this book more than I did。 The premise: boy meets boy， boys fall in love。 Except， boy #1 is an event planner in NYC who just got dumped and boy #2 is the crown prince of England。 The fact that they're gay isn't a plot driver really -- they're both out to their families and the world。 It's really more a fish-out-of-water， broken souls kind of story about whether our American boy， Carter， can get over himself and his insecurities， and whether Prince Edgar can overcome his own demo I wanted to like this book more than I did。 The premise: boy meets boy， boys fall in love。 Except， boy #1 is an event planner in NYC who just got dumped and boy #2 is the crown prince of England。 The fact that they're gay isn't a plot driver really -- they're both out to their families and the world。 It's really more a fish-out-of-water， broken souls kind of story about whether our American boy， Carter， can get over himself and his insecurities， and whether Prince Edgar can overcome his own demons and trust issues -- and whether the British public （and Queen for that matter） will accept an American as their next "prince's boyfriend，" much less eventual Prince Consort。 Great story in and of itself， but my problem was mostly with the writing and the pacing。 It felt like every quote was a quip or joke or aside， with no breathing room， and the pace in this rather short book was tremendously go-go-go -- one minute they're meeting cute， the next thing you know， Carter's abroad， etc。 I think people who enjoy royal romps will like this book but be prepared， it's heavy on the romping with its one-liners and puns， and less concerned with exploring what could have been a nuanced modern romance。 。。。more

Anthony Joseph ，

Carter Ogden， is a Jewish 29 year old event planner， who’s pretty much given up on the happily ever after。 He’s funny， snarky， cares about his family， and has great friends。 When he has the ultimate “meet cute” with Edgar， the gay Prince of Wales， his life is completely turned upside down。 The sheer amount of struggle to be in a relationship is monumental， and everything that could go wrong does， but does that mean you should let the love of your life go？Playing the Palace was such a fun read y’ Carter Ogden， is a Jewish 29 year old event planner， who’s pretty much given up on the happily ever after。 He’s funny， snarky， cares about his family， and has great friends。 When he has the ultimate “meet cute” with Edgar， the gay Prince of Wales， his life is completely turned upside down。 The sheer amount of struggle to be in a relationship is monumental， and everything that could go wrong does， but does that mean you should let the love of your life go？Playing the Palace was such a fun read y’all。 I loved everything about it！ I had some discussions with my reading group， and we all have to agree that this is nothing like RWARB。 Yes， the premise is similar in that it is a M/M romance about an American and a Royal， but their stories are completely different and I love that about them both。 This was a quick， fun， and easy story to get through。 I really enjoyed all of the characters， from his roommates Adam and Louise， the security team， both families， and definitely great-aunt Miriam and the Queen。 They were all a hoot and I feel like they helped make this book so much fun。 Carter’s sister Abby， was very over the top， and completely loyal to Carter， and for that she was one of my favs。 But， I’d have to say that Carter and Edgar were still the highlight of the entire book （obviously）！ I loved all of the outings they went on， even if things didn’t go according to plan most of the time。 I know that their relationship moved quickly， and at times seemed rushed， but I feel like that’s how it would have been in real life。 I mean， we are dealing with a Royal， and their lives are anything but normal。 Overall， I thoroughly enjoyed this M/M romcom！ When I saw this recommendation come up on bookstagram， I knew that I needed to pick up a copy of it！ 。。。more

Jenna D。 ，

Too rushed， too many metaphors， too many sentences or dialogue broken into three parts。 （See what I did there？） Playing the Palace spends too much time being silly （complete with body fluid humor） and not enough time giving the story or the characters a heart。Not nearly romantic enough。

emi ，

I remember absolutely nothing from my 10th grade Chemistry class， but I do know， for a fact， that this book has way less chemistry in it then my brain does。 I thought I was trash for the American fallz in love with a prince trope。 I've seen that fucking Netflix Christmas movie with the girl from Power Rangers SPD like 10 times。 I don't know what I'm trash for anymore。 The characters were annoying。 There feelings developed put of nothing。 It tried to be funny， but the jokes missed everytime。 I co I remember absolutely nothing from my 10th grade Chemistry class， but I do know， for a fact， that this book has way less chemistry in it then my brain does。 I thought I was trash for the American fallz in love with a prince trope。 I've seen that fucking Netflix Christmas movie with the girl from Power Rangers SPD like 10 times。 I don't know what I'm trash for anymore。 The characters were annoying。 There feelings developed put of nothing。 It tried to be funny， but the jokes missed everytime。 I couldn't tell the side characters apart。 I think I hate myself more for not DNFing this。 。。。more

Maria ，

This is a fun， quick romp that imagines what it might be like to fall in love with the first openly gay Crown Prince if you were an event planner from New Jersey。 Funny， sweet， and willing to discuss the complications and absurdities of a commoner trying to have a relationship with a royal。

Meghan ，

*2。5 stars*

Sofia Amato ，

3。5。 It was good and had a happy ending。 It was also funny。 My fav characters were Abby， Miriam， the queen， James， and Carter’s friends。 But it was very surface level and kinda cringey， and also was super reminiscent of rwarb even though it’s a different plot。

Kierstin Carnahan ，

Carter is an event planner who runs into Edgar， The Prince of Wales， while setting up for event。 The two men end up falling for each other and then must navigate the problems that come with dating a prince。 This book reminded me a lot of Red， White， and Royal Blue but not quite as good。 I did like the two men were 30 which made it seemingly more realistic than when the characters are uber young。 I also liked the ending。

Joey Schuman ，

I would sell both kidneys to see this book adapted into a movie I am NOT EXAGGERATING

Tyler ，

Oh man， I was super excited for this book and super let down upon reading it。 For an adult romcom， I never chuckled once and found it entirely lacking the -com portion。 The love interest is as developed and interesting as a piece of cardboard， and in all honesty this book is filled with nothing but obnoxious characters。 The dialogue is entirely forced and unnatural from a cast of characters who just want to hear themselves talk。 I never found Carter and Edgar to have any chemistry， their relatio Oh man， I was super excited for this book and super let down upon reading it。 For an adult romcom， I never chuckled once and found it entirely lacking the -com portion。 The love interest is as developed and interesting as a piece of cardboard， and in all honesty this book is filled with nothing but obnoxious characters。 The dialogue is entirely forced and unnatural from a cast of characters who just want to hear themselves talk。 I never found Carter and Edgar to have any chemistry， their relationship and draw to each other never made sense because there wasn’t much there。 And when it came to intimate scenes， they’re rushed over with a quick， “we had sex。 A lot。” And then it’s a new scene。 This felt more like someone’s first draft blabbering than a fully finished book。 。。。more

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=Playing the Palace

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=Playing the Palace&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,Playing the Palace&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0