My Royal Showmance
A Park Avenue Promise Novel
by
Lexi Blake
From New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake, discover The Park Avenue Promise Series…
Three young women make a pact in high school—
to always be friends and to one day make it big in Manhattan.
My Royal Showmance
Anika Fox knows exactly where she wants to be, and it’s not on the set of a reality TV dating show. She’s working her way up at the production company she works for and she’s close to achieving some of her dreams. The big boss just wants one thing from her. She’s got a potential problem with the director of The King Takes a Bride and she wants Anika to pose as a production assistant and report back.
As the king of a tiny European country, Luca St. Marten knows the world views him as one of the pampered royalty of the world. It couldn’t be further from the truth. His country is hurting and he’s right there on the front lines with his citizens. When he’s asked to do a dating show, his counselors point out that it could bring tourism back to Ralavia. It goes against his every desire, but he agrees.
When one of the contestants drops out at the last minute, Anika finds herself replacing the potential princess. She’s sure she’ll be asked to leave the first night, but Luca keeps picking her again and again. Suddenly she finds herself in the middle of a made-for-TV fantasy, and she’s unsure what’s real and what’s simply reality TV.
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An Exclusive Interview with Lexi Blake
How did you decide on the dating show rom-com concept for this book?
I knew I wanted Anika to be involved in the film industry when I started Park Avenue Promise. I really wanted to delve into what it means to be a woman in the business world and how these three characters find some balance between work life and their relationships. The idea of her working on a reality dating show was just too fun to pass up. I think what gets lost sometimes is that these shows are entertainment, and they are real relationships formed. Both can be true.
We love the confessionals in this book! Can you give us a peek of what a confessional would look like of you writing this book?
How do I like writing My Royal Showmance? (looks to the camera and smiles, praying I don’t look like a troll who lives under a particularly unclean bridge) It’s a lot of fun. The characters are cooperating for the most part – Ivy, I’m looking at you – and I think it’s going to be okay. Maybe. Maybe not. It could also blow up in my face. Really, every book is a potential bomb in my world.
Anika shares that she binged Stranger Things in one weekend. Two part question: What Stranger Things characters are Harper, Ivy, Heath, Darnell, Anika, and Luca? What TV shows are you binging right now?
Heath is obviously Will – he’s on the sensitive side. Darnell is totally Eddie Munson. I’m going to say Luca is Steve Harrington. He’s practical, and while he should be the most privileged of the group, he’s gone through some things and it’s tempered what might have been his arrogance. For the ladies – Ivy would feel closest to Robin. She knows she should be running the ice cream shop/world but she’s stuck. Harper is closest to Joyce, actually. She’s kind of the mom of the group. She keeps them together, and she would definitely be the one who figured out how to communicate via Christmas lights. And that leaves our erstwhile heroine, Anika, who is obviously Max. She’s a girls girl who shows up for her sisters and will put her future on the line for her friends.
I recently binged Fallout and, of course, Bridgerton. Both were amazing. If you’re looking for something great on network TV, Will Trent was spectacular this season and utterly heartbreaking.
Which classic dating show contestant trope would Ivy, Harper, and Anika be? The villain, the wild card, the party girl, the rich girl, the gossip, the just in it for fame girl, etc?
Anika would be the girls girl. Almost the RA of the dorm, if you know what I mean. She’s the one all the other women go to for advice. Harper would the one everyone asks why the hell is she here? She wouldn’t fit in. They might like her, but they would be suspicious because she would not be towing the romantic line. Ivy would go into the season as the straight-up bad girl. She would have fun with it right up until she actually fell in love, and then she would get super cranky.
Who was your favorite contestant from last season of The Bachelor?
I’m going to be honest, I haven’t watched the last couple of seasons. I loved old-school Bachelorette Trista and Ryan and Bachelor Sean and Catherine. My latest obsession is Love is Blind. I love Tiffany and Brett and Zach and Bliss from season 4 and thought Amy and Johnny this year were so good together.
Anika says “Book boyfriends are all I need.”. Who is one of your favorite book boyfriends outside of Lexi Blake books?
I want my own Rhysand. I wouldn’t hate being the Wendy between Hook and Croc from Devourer of Men. I also adore Talen from Rebecca Zanetti’s Dark Protectors.
Are Luca and Anika team Harry & Meghan or Will & Kate?
That feels like a loaded question. I think they would team up with American royalty and go with Tay and Trav.
What are Anika and Luca’s favorite Taylor Swift songs? What Taylor Swift Era is this book?
I think The Alchemy is a great song for them. Today Was a Fairy Tale would definitely be played at the wedding. For a third I’ll go with Invisible String, since all roads seem to lead to these two being together. Now for all those sweet songs, I would actually say Anika’s in her Reputation era. She’s not taking crap off anyone and she’s there to kick a** and take some names.
Biography:
New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake lives in North Texas with her husband and three kids. Since starting her publishing journey in 2010, she’s sold over three million copies of her books. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on plays and journalism. It wasn’t until she started writing romance that she found success. She likes to find humor in the strangest places and believes in happy endings.
