Raucous parties, privileged attitudes, underage drinking, and diplomatic immunity...it’s all part of student life on Embassy Row.
Piper Baird has always dreamed of becoming a journalist. So when she scores a scholarship to exclusive Chiswick Academy in Washington, DC, she knows it’s her big opportunity. Chiswick offers the country’s most competitive prize for teen journalists—the Bennington scholarship—and winning will ensure her acceptance to one of the best schools in the country.
Piper isn’t at Chiswick for two days before she witnesses the intense competition in the journalism program—and the extreme privilege of the young and wealthy elite who attend her school. And Piper knows access to these untouchable students just might give her the edge she’ll need to blow the lid off life at the school in a scathing and unforgettable exposé worthy of the Bennington.
The key to the whole story lies with Rafael Amador, the son of the Spanish ambassador—and the boy at the center of the most explosive secrets and scandals on Embassy Row. Rafael is big trouble—and when he drops into her bedroom window one night, asking for help, it’s Piper’s chance to get the full scoop. But as they spend time together, Piper discovers that despite his dark streak, Rafael is smart, kind, funny, and gorgeous—and she might have real feelings for him. How can she break the story of a lifetime if it could destroy the boy she just might love?
To say I was so extremely impressed a couple of days ago by one of Ashton's other books, the great collab My Lady Jane I was expecting Diplomatic Immunity to be just a little bit more special than it was. Sure, it was an enjoyable read, if a little frustrating at times, but it lacked the magic that I expected from an author of My Lady Jane.
That being said, I have been telling everyone about My Lady Jane for the last few days - and it's unlikely that no book will ever live up to my love of that book. So really, using it as a comparison is just setting me up for disappointment now.
So yeah, Diplomatic Immunity was not in any way a bad book. I enjoyed it, Brodi Ashton is clearly a talented author because she created an engaging story and fun characters. I really liked Piper (Pipper!) she was tough and funny, but I felt extremely frustrated with her at times. She should have just told Rafael about her story, but Raf was just as annoying a character at times - firstly, he ignored her quite a lot and I didn't feel like that was something either party should be comfortable with - I wanted more of a story about dealing with the class differences not this messy romance that I couldn't fully bak.
The ending was a bit of a sell out - there was no climax or fall out, despite Piper's betrayal of Rafael, it just all fell into place for her and worked, and this upset me a bit - for the sake of tenty more pages, I feel like there could have been some confrontation and climax.
Overall, I think that Diplomatic Immunity was a fun read, but I don't feel like it showed me what Brodi Ashton can do - I didn't feel any magic or sparks, I just sort of enjoyed it and moved past it.
Book released September 6th 2016 by Balzer+Bray
Book received from the publisher/author in exchange for an honest review
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