The Heir Apparent

Lexi Villiers has spent years building an ordinary life as a medical resident in Tasmania, having walked away from her place in the British royal family. That changes the day a helicopter lands on her farm: her father and older brother have been killed in a skiing accident, and she is suddenly next in line for the throne.

Returning to London as Princess Alexandrina, Lexi faces a skeptical public, an ambitious uncle who stands to inherit if she steps aside, and family secrets that resurface alongside the crown — including the unresolved death of her mother years earlier. She is given one year to choose between the crown and the life, and the man, she left behind.

Written by ABC journalist Rebecca Armitage, whose years reporting on the British royal family inform its detail, The Heir Apparent is a Reese's Book Club pick — an entertaining debut about duty, identity, and love, with suspense the reviews say holds until the final pages.