The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Guillory, Jasmine. Royal Holiday. Berkley, October 1, 2019. Kindle.

In Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory, middle-aged Vivian Forest never dreamed how many firsts she would experience when she was invited along on a Christmastime trip to London with her daughter, Maddie. Maddie, a stylist, had been called to fill in for the regular stylist for the Duchess. Maddie and Vivian would be staying at Sandringham Estate in Sycamore Cottage as guests of the the royal family. During her time in London, Vivian rode a horse, met the Queen of England, and learned that she liked surprises.

On Vivian’s first morning in London, she was introduced to Malcolm Hudson, the private secretary to the Queen. Vivian nicknamed him Hot Chocolate because he was so attractive. Malcolm was in the kitchen, talking with the cook and eating scones, when Vivian came for coffee. Even though it was not Malcolm’s style, he offered to give Vivian a tour of the estate. Because Vivian noticed the horses during their tour, Malcolm decided to arrange for them to meet so he could show her the stables as well. With no other way to get in touch with Vivian, Malcolm wrote her a formal letter inviting her to meet the horses.

After Vivian and Malcolm’s first trip to the stables, they went to eat in a pub off royal grounds. On the way back to Sandringham, Malcolm kissed Vivian, a sign their relationship was more serious than just a flirtation. Keeping with Malcolm's formal tone, Vivian later wrote Malcolm a formal invitation to a Christmas Eve party at Sycamore Cottage, where Vivian was staying. Malcolm accepted and suggested that Vivian stay in London a few days longer than she had planned. He wanted the two of them to spend some time alone. Vivian almost refused, she was expected to get a promotion to director of social work at the hospital where she worked and thought it would be irresponsible, but Maddie found out about Malcolm’s plans and insisted that her mother stay.

On the first day of their time together, Malcolm was in a foul mood. He had an argument with his nephew, Miles, about Miles’ decision to go to art school instead of attending Oxford. Malcolm was further frustrated when Vivian told him that she did not like surprises. He had pulled strings to plan a surprise he believed she would like and felt his intentions had been slighted. When Malcolm finally told Vivian both of the things that were bothering him, they managed to talk about them. Vivian agreed to let Malcolm surprise her. When she saw that Malcolm had gotten her time after hours in an exhibit of royal jewelry at the Albert and Victoria Museum, she was surprised by how well he listened to her. She had mentioned that she had hoped to see some tiaras while in London but did not realize that Malcolm had decided to make that possible.

Later, Vivian tried to help Malcolm by suggesting that he needed to apologize to Miles and try to find some common ground concerning Miles’ plans for his future. It was not until Vivian left to go back to America that Malcolm finally decided to act on her suggestion. Pleased that he had managed to start patching things up with his nephew, Malcolm sent Vivian a postcard telling her his progress. The two had agreed they would end their relationship when Vivian left, but Malcolm wanted Vivian to know how she had helped him. The two continued to send postcards back and forth until Vivian admitted to Malcolm that she was falling in love with him.

Malcolm chose not to respond to Vivian’s declaration of love. The postcard had been covered with magazines on his coffee table for a couple of weeks when Miles found it. He criticized his uncle for not at least talking to Vivian. It was because of Miles’ interference that Malcolm flew to California to tell Vivian in person that he loved her as well and wanted to give a relationship a try. The novel ends with Malcolm helping Vivian decorate her tree for Christmas, a sign their relationship is working.