the whole series is a fun balance of sci-fi, action, and romance with a royal family; I think the third book was maybe the most exciting, but the lightest of the three on the romance side of the story. I've been reading some other sci-fi/romance books and this series really is unique in how well it balances all three of them; I'm contemplating DNF'ing another scifi/romance that I'm half-way through and paused because it's so dark and un-fun. This one has lots of great interludes talking about outfits and with fun dialogue.

Somehow setting it in a universe of Duke-equivalents in the future makes the monarchy seem all the more archaic and creating a society that oppresses many while enriching few. The protagonists are all among one of these families and all swear that their patriarch is the worst, and that some day they will do better if/when they inherit and occupy themselves with quiet Good Works. Somehow we skim past the reality of this system of government in the regency books but it seems all the more horrible set in this futureworld. If the main opposition to the monarchy -- The Syndicate -- wasn't made out to be bad bad bad bad, we'd probably be rooting for them to succeed in overthrowing the monarchy. The universe gives us no alternatives but to be monarchists. I don't know why systems of government are on my mind these days, just seems to be that way for some reason. Scratch the surface and this universe is horrible and we're following prince/princesses who will some day become part of the system of oppression despite their dreams of doing better.

If you can set that aside, I had so much fun reading these books.