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Crown's Spies #4
Castles
Orphaned and besieged Princess Alesandra knew that only hasty marriage to an Englishman could protect her from the turmoil in her own land. To the amusement of her makeshift guardian, Colin, younger brother of the Marquess of Caineswood, the bold raven-haired beauty instantly captivated London society. But when Alesandra was nearly abducted by her unscrupulous countrymen, the fighting instincts that won Colin a knighthood for valor were rekindled.
Deceiving himself that he wanted only to protect her, Colin swept her into a union meant to be a marriage in name alone ... yet Alesandra's tender first kiss and hesitant caress ignited a wildfire in his soul. As the lovely princess dashed headlong into unforeseen dangers, Colin would follow, knowing he must claim her as his own forever. Now he would risk life itself before he would lose this sweet, tempestuous angel ...
Deceiving himself that he wanted only to protect her, Colin swept her into a union meant to be a marriage in name alone ... yet Alesandra's tender first kiss and hesitant caress ignited a wildfire in his soul. As the lovely princess dashed headlong into unforeseen dangers, Colin would follow, knowing he must claim her as his own forever. Now he would risk life itself before he would lose this sweet, tempestuous angel ...
354 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
1149 people are currently reading
4710 people want to read
About the author
Julie Garwood
151 books12.5k followersWith more than 35 million books in print and 26 NEW YORK TIMES bestsellers, Julie Garwood has earned a position among America's favorite fiction writers.
Born and raised in Kansas City, MO, Ms. Garwood attributes much of her success to growing up in a large family of Irish heritage. "The Irish are great storytellers who relish getting all of the details and nuances of every situation. Add in the fact that I was the sixth of seven children. Early in life, I learned that self expression had to be forceful, imaginative, and quick," says Ms. Garwood.
She began her writing career when the youngest of her three children entered school. After the publications of two young-adult books, she turned her talents to historical fiction. Her first novel, GENTLE WARRIOR, was published by Pocket Books in 1985. Since then, she has branched into other genres including contemporary romantic suspense. Today, her name appears regularly on the bestseller lists of every major publication in the country, and her books are translated into dozens of languages around the world. Her bestselling novel FOR THE ROSES was adapted for the HALLMARK HALL OF FAME television movie ROSE HILL.
Ms. Garwood lives in Leawood, KS and is currently working on her next novel.
Born and raised in Kansas City, MO, Ms. Garwood attributes much of her success to growing up in a large family of Irish heritage. "The Irish are great storytellers who relish getting all of the details and nuances of every situation. Add in the fact that I was the sixth of seven children. Early in life, I learned that self expression had to be forceful, imaginative, and quick," says Ms. Garwood.
She began her writing career when the youngest of her three children entered school. After the publications of two young-adult books, she turned her talents to historical fiction. Her first novel, GENTLE WARRIOR, was published by Pocket Books in 1985. Since then, she has branched into other genres including contemporary romantic suspense. Today, her name appears regularly on the bestseller lists of every major publication in the country, and her books are translated into dozens of languages around the world. Her bestselling novel FOR THE ROSES was adapted for the HALLMARK HALL OF FAME television movie ROSE HILL.
Ms. Garwood lives in Leawood, KS and is currently working on her next novel.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 624 reviews
November 16, 2021
Re-read: 11/14/21
I love this book just as much now as I did when I first read it in the late 90's.
It's dated.
It's got issues.
But I don't care.
One of my all-time favorites that I have read a billion times and will read a billion more.
I love this book just as much now as I did when I first read it in the late 90's.
It's dated.
It's got issues.
But I don't care.
One of my all-time favorites that I have read a billion times and will read a billion more.
December 4, 2021
4 Stars
Overall Opinion: This was better than expected! I enjoyed myself with the h’s schemes and the H’s reaction to her. I liked that she “tamed the dragon” in the end and how she did it. I loved experiencing the progression of feelings for both of them, as I don’t think we get that all that much in some books. My complaint, yet again because I’m probably too picky 🙈, is in the ending not being quite enough for me. Otherwise, I liked this one and it might be a good re-read another day!
Brief Summary of the Storyline: This is Alesandra and Colin’s story. Alesandra is sent away from the convent she’s lived in since her parents died and sent to her guardian. Colin is the son of her guardian and has to take on the role when his parents and older brother and wife all become ill. Alesandra doesn’t lie and explains that she also is in need of a husband and that Colin is on the top of her list provided by his father. It isn’t until Colin realizes that Alesandra is in danger that he agrees to marry her even though the timing is bad for him and his business. There are some head butting moments, a mystery with some missing women, and some sexy and sweet times…and they get a HEA ending.
Point Of View (POV): This alternated between focusing on Alesandra and Colin in 3rd person narrative and some parts focusing on a side character.
Overall Pace of Story: Good. I never skimmed and I thought it flowed well.
Instalove: No, they take a while to develop stronger feelings.
H (Hero) rating: 4.5 stars. Colin. I really liked him! He was alpha and kind of stubborn, but also able to laugh and appreciate the h for all she was.
h (heroine) rating: 4.5 stars. Alesandra. I really liked her too! She was smart, sweet, loyal and scheming in a good way.
Sadness level: Low, no tissues needed
Push/Pull: Yes
Heat level: Good. They have some good tension, chemistry, and scenes -- but not so much it takes away from the story.
Descriptive sex: Yes
OW (Other Woman)/OM (Other Man) drama: No, just some mild jealousy from the H
Sex scene with OW or OM: No
Cheating: No
Separation: No
Possible Triggers: Yes
Closure: This ends in a cute place but I would’ve preferred (of course) a farther glimpse into their future. I would still call it a HEA ending
Safety: This one should be Safe for most safety gang readers
Overall Opinion: This was better than expected! I enjoyed myself with the h’s schemes and the H’s reaction to her. I liked that she “tamed the dragon” in the end and how she did it. I loved experiencing the progression of feelings for both of them, as I don’t think we get that all that much in some books. My complaint, yet again because I’m probably too picky 🙈, is in the ending not being quite enough for me. Otherwise, I liked this one and it might be a good re-read another day!
Brief Summary of the Storyline: This is Alesandra and Colin’s story. Alesandra is sent away from the convent she’s lived in since her parents died and sent to her guardian. Colin is the son of her guardian and has to take on the role when his parents and older brother and wife all become ill. Alesandra doesn’t lie and explains that she also is in need of a husband and that Colin is on the top of her list provided by his father. It isn’t until Colin realizes that Alesandra is in danger that he agrees to marry her even though the timing is bad for him and his business. There are some head butting moments, a mystery with some missing women, and some sexy and sweet times…and they get a HEA ending.
Point Of View (POV): This alternated between focusing on Alesandra and Colin in 3rd person narrative and some parts focusing on a side character.
Overall Pace of Story: Good. I never skimmed and I thought it flowed well.
Instalove: No, they take a while to develop stronger feelings.
H (Hero) rating: 4.5 stars. Colin. I really liked him! He was alpha and kind of stubborn, but also able to laugh and appreciate the h for all she was.
h (heroine) rating: 4.5 stars. Alesandra. I really liked her too! She was smart, sweet, loyal and scheming in a good way.
Sadness level: Low, no tissues needed
Push/Pull: Yes
Heat level: Good. They have some good tension, chemistry, and scenes -- but not so much it takes away from the story.
Descriptive sex: Yes
OW (Other Woman)/OM (Other Man) drama: No, just some mild jealousy from the H
Sex scene with OW or OM: No
Cheating: No
Separation: No
Possible Triggers: Yes
Closure: This ends in a cute place but I would’ve preferred (of course) a farther glimpse into their future. I would still call it a HEA ending
Safety: This one should be Safe for most safety gang readers
May 10, 2010
This is the last book in the Crown's Spies series and, IMHO, it's the best in the series. I don't know if I'm being sentimental here because this was the last Garwood I had on my TBR and now I've got to go out and buy some more, but it doesn't matter. I loved it, hence the 5-star rating. :)
Note: I'll come back and write a full review later. I don't want to do it now because it would be like saying goodbye to Garwood and I'm not ready to do that yet. I'm holding on to this book until I add more Garwoods to my TBR. Crazy, thy name is Dina. LOL!
Note: I'll come back and write a full review later. I don't want to do it now because it would be like saying goodbye to Garwood and I'm not ready to do that yet. I'm holding on to this book until I add more Garwoods to my TBR. Crazy, thy name is Dina. LOL!
January 30, 2018
This is a reread.
I read this book at an impressionable age of 15. This was when I read most of my old Garwood favorites. This book is one of the two oldies that I still find enjoyable to read in my dotage. lol It isn’t a real 5 stars read but I am giving it a 5 star rating for old time’s sake.
The story is about a princess Alessandra, who had been living in a convent first with her ailing mother and later just by herself with the sisters. Her father abdicated the throne to marry Alessandra's English mother, who was a commoner. One day news arrived at the convent that there was a evil general who wanted to marry her. She was popular among her father's people and the evil general was hoping the marriage will solidify his throne.
Enter Colin, the son of a duke. Said duke was an old friend of Alessandra's father, and also Alessandra's guardian. Once the duke heard about the evil general, he had proposed to let Alessandra marry his second son, Colin, who was still unmarried. Colin of course, would have none of it. They spent some time together. Colin realized that he actually liked the princess but still did not want to get married. So he struggled and fought with himself, finally was "forced" to marry Alessandra because he could not stomach the thought of her marrying anyone else, and because he finally understood why his father felt responsible for Alessandra.
His father's debt to Alessandra's father gave Colin the excuse he needed to convince himself that he was marrying Alessandra to "save" her. He did not want to face his own growing affections toward the princess. The princess was a sweetheart, generally very likable and, unlike so many Garwood heriones, not TSTL at all.
The second half of the story evolved around a serial killer and getting rid of the evil general. I liked Colin and Alessandra as characters. The plots were ok. A readable book with characters I like. It is probably more of a 3/4 stars read but because I loved it so much when I was young, I decided to give it 5 stars. :D
I read this book at an impressionable age of 15. This was when I read most of my old Garwood favorites. This book is one of the two oldies that I still find enjoyable to read in my dotage. lol It isn’t a real 5 stars read but I am giving it a 5 star rating for old time’s sake.
The story is about a princess Alessandra, who had been living in a convent first with her ailing mother and later just by herself with the sisters. Her father abdicated the throne to marry Alessandra's English mother, who was a commoner. One day news arrived at the convent that there was a evil general who wanted to marry her. She was popular among her father's people and the evil general was hoping the marriage will solidify his throne.
Enter Colin, the son of a duke. Said duke was an old friend of Alessandra's father, and also Alessandra's guardian. Once the duke heard about the evil general, he had proposed to let Alessandra marry his second son, Colin, who was still unmarried. Colin of course, would have none of it. They spent some time together. Colin realized that he actually liked the princess but still did not want to get married. So he struggled and fought with himself, finally was "forced" to marry Alessandra because he could not stomach the thought of her marrying anyone else, and because he finally understood why his father felt responsible for Alessandra.
His father's debt to Alessandra's father gave Colin the excuse he needed to convince himself that he was marrying Alessandra to "save" her. He did not want to face his own growing affections toward the princess. The princess was a sweetheart, generally very likable and, unlike so many Garwood heriones, not TSTL at all.
The second half of the story evolved around a serial killer and getting rid of the evil general. I liked Colin and Alessandra as characters. The plots were ok. A readable book with characters I like. It is probably more of a 3/4 stars read but because I loved it so much when I was young, I decided to give it 5 stars. :D
March 7, 2022
4 STARS
I enjoyed this last book in the series. It had an intriguing storyline, but I didn't think the heroine was as strong a character as her predecessors. She appeared to be brilliant in some things, yet dense in the others. I guess her upbringing in a convent was likely responsible. She was definitely a likable character though, and I loved her and Colin together. Poor guy... he definitely deserved his princess in the end.
The serial killer storyline brought a little extra intrigue to the story. It wasn't hard to solve the mystery, but I still liked the way she played it out in the end. I always seem to love Garwood's stories, and this series was no exception.
Marriage, she decided, was a complicated business.
I enjoyed this last book in the series. It had an intriguing storyline, but I didn't think the heroine was as strong a character as her predecessors. She appeared to be brilliant in some things, yet dense in the others. I guess her upbringing in a convent was likely responsible. She was definitely a likable character though, and I loved her and Colin together. Poor guy... he definitely deserved his princess in the end.
The serial killer storyline brought a little extra intrigue to the story. It wasn't hard to solve the mystery, but I still liked the way she played it out in the end. I always seem to love Garwood's stories, and this series was no exception.
January 16, 2010
I absolutely LOVE this book!! It was so AMAZING!!!! There are so many wonderful things about this book that I hardly know where to begin telling about it!
Princess Alesandra was orphaned at 12 years old and was left to be raised by nuns at a convent. The happiest day in Mother Superiors' life was when she received notice that the Princess would be leaving the convent. Alesandra was a bit of a hellion and was constantly getting into trouble and the nuns couldn't be happier to be rid of her. Alesandra was going to live with her guardian, The Duke of Williamshire, his wife and four daughters.
The Duke was going to protect Princess Alesandra from Ivan, the general, who was planning to marry the Princess in order to gain power and take over the kingdom. The Duke has a plan to marry Alesandra off to one of his sons, Colin, in order to keep the general from marrying her.
When Alesandra arrives at the Duke and Duchesses home, the family comes down with a stomach illness and so they send her to stay with their other son, Caine, and his wife and daughter. Unfortunately they too come down with the illness, so she is forced to stay with Colin.
Colin immediately becomes suspicious of Alesandra's reasons for being at his home. He doesn't believe that his family is ill, he thinks she has been sent there by his matchmaking father to sweep him up into marriage. Colin tells her he won't marry her but agrees to help find someone suitable for her to marry. But before he can help her he too falls ill.
While nursing Colin back to health, Alesandra starts to care for Colin. And he too starts to really like having her around. He decides no one is good enough to marry her, but he doesn't really want to marry her either. It doesn't fit in with his 5 year plan.
One of the funniest parts in the book is when Colin and Alesandra are at the Duke and Duchesses house to decide what is to be done with her. They are also joined by Caine and his wife Jade. They are going over a list of names of gentlemen who might suit to marry Alesandra. Only Colin finds something wrong with every single gentleman. Caine can clearly see what is going on; Colin cares for Alesandra. It is finally decided that Colin will marry Alesandra after Colin announces to everyone that he and Alesandra have slept together! You see, she did SLEEP with him while she was nursing him back to health, only The Duke doesn't realize that, he thinks they "slept" together!
While all this is going on, we also have the general trying to kidnap the Princess, a serial killer on the loose targeting women (including three of the females close to Colin), and a hilarious star-struck butler scheming with the ever-mischievous Princess!
Oh, and did I mention our Princess is a "note taker"? Mother Superior taught her that habit, she believed "it kept you organized and an organized and structured life was a happy life". The funniest part of the story dealing with the notes is when Alesandra brings a note card to take notes on her wedding night, for she didn't know anything about what happened between a man and a woman in the marriage bed and she did not want to forget a thing Colin was going to teach her. So, she wanted to take notes!
One of my most favorite books of all time! This was my second time reading it and I fell more in love with it this time through. I recommend this to anyone who loves to read books that are funny, fast-moving, romantic, sexy, and with a little mystery involved to! I promise you will not be disappointed in this one!!
Characters:
Colin- Eduardo Verástegui
Alesandra- Vivien Leigh
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Princess Alesandra was orphaned at 12 years old and was left to be raised by nuns at a convent. The happiest day in Mother Superiors' life was when she received notice that the Princess would be leaving the convent. Alesandra was a bit of a hellion and was constantly getting into trouble and the nuns couldn't be happier to be rid of her. Alesandra was going to live with her guardian, The Duke of Williamshire, his wife and four daughters.
The Duke was going to protect Princess Alesandra from Ivan, the general, who was planning to marry the Princess in order to gain power and take over the kingdom. The Duke has a plan to marry Alesandra off to one of his sons, Colin, in order to keep the general from marrying her.
When Alesandra arrives at the Duke and Duchesses home, the family comes down with a stomach illness and so they send her to stay with their other son, Caine, and his wife and daughter. Unfortunately they too come down with the illness, so she is forced to stay with Colin.
Colin immediately becomes suspicious of Alesandra's reasons for being at his home. He doesn't believe that his family is ill, he thinks she has been sent there by his matchmaking father to sweep him up into marriage. Colin tells her he won't marry her but agrees to help find someone suitable for her to marry. But before he can help her he too falls ill.
While nursing Colin back to health, Alesandra starts to care for Colin. And he too starts to really like having her around. He decides no one is good enough to marry her, but he doesn't really want to marry her either. It doesn't fit in with his 5 year plan.
One of the funniest parts in the book is when Colin and Alesandra are at the Duke and Duchesses house to decide what is to be done with her. They are also joined by Caine and his wife Jade. They are going over a list of names of gentlemen who might suit to marry Alesandra. Only Colin finds something wrong with every single gentleman. Caine can clearly see what is going on; Colin cares for Alesandra. It is finally decided that Colin will marry Alesandra after Colin announces to everyone that he and Alesandra have slept together! You see, she did SLEEP with him while she was nursing him back to health, only The Duke doesn't realize that, he thinks they "slept" together!
While all this is going on, we also have the general trying to kidnap the Princess, a serial killer on the loose targeting women (including three of the females close to Colin), and a hilarious star-struck butler scheming with the ever-mischievous Princess!
Oh, and did I mention our Princess is a "note taker"? Mother Superior taught her that habit, she believed "it kept you organized and an organized and structured life was a happy life". The funniest part of the story dealing with the notes is when Alesandra brings a note card to take notes on her wedding night, for she didn't know anything about what happened between a man and a woman in the marriage bed and she did not want to forget a thing Colin was going to teach her. So, she wanted to take notes!
One of my most favorite books of all time! This was my second time reading it and I fell more in love with it this time through. I recommend this to anyone who loves to read books that are funny, fast-moving, romantic, sexy, and with a little mystery involved to! I promise you will not be disappointed in this one!!
Characters:
Colin- Eduardo Verástegui
Alesandra- Vivien Leigh
[image error]
September 23, 2012
this book was,in a word, horrible.
there were so many holes in this story and i honestly think garwood put next to no thought into writing this.
The whole thing was random. We got a lady killer,a missing friend,a princess. It didn’t go together and on top of all that no one was likeable.
the many,and i mean many,historical mistakes prevented me from even giving this book a chance.
The speech was terrible and so off the mark I couldn’t even wrap my mind around it.
the language in here was so modern it wasn't even funny. &trust me, it wasn't funny.at all.
isn’t the editor supposed to catch all these mistakes?Her editor probably didn’t even want to take on the daunting task of correcting all of them. It would have been better to just start a whole new book then try and correct all the mistakes in here. How can you publish a historical book and be so totally wrong??
Usually in a book there's only a few things that irritate you or get on your nerves but it was the WHOLE book that got on my nerves. Literally like almost every sentence just drove me up the wall.
everything,and i mean everything,either had me rolling my eyes,scoffing, or sighing loudly.
ive read julie garwood books before, and while i wouldn't run out and buy them, i definitely don't remember them being this terrible.
Let me wrap up the whole book for you-colin tried not to laugh.alesandra burst into tears.a smidgen of stuff about a lady killer.some random stuff.dumb conversatioins.stupid characters.the end.
the characters were horrible with a capital H, and that includes main and side characters.no one had any real substance.&they were all annoying.
Garwood really tried to sell the point home about her being beautiful and amazing.Ive seen authors convey that the main characters are really pretty without going into all this extravagant speech. Someone should have passed Garwood the memo.
i think garwood was aiming for charming but she fell very short of the mark. Incredibly short. Like she missed it by a country mile. Not only did i not find anything even remotely charming about the main character, but i actually started to hate her. despised might be a better word.
i don't think I’ve ever hated a character quite like i did 'ol alesandra.she's one of,if not the worse,characters ive ever read about.
this is quite possibly the worst plot for a book I’ve ever encountered.in fact, it should win an award, for The Crappiest Book Ever.
horribly thought out plot. Everything was repetitive, to the point where you just wanted to throw something, break something, bang your head on a wall, anything to relieve your frustration. If you heard somethin once, you’ll hear it at least ten other times in the book.
I predict many tears in their future. Colin will say or do something or not do something and she’ll burst into tears.
Garwood spends so much time on alesandra’s stupid feelings. My advice to her is to concentrate on writing an actual story from now on. I realized that we didn’t get to hear a lot from the main character. Its like there weren’t many paragraphs without words,like to describe stuff, or hear more about alesandras life. We knew next to nothing about her. There would be short sentences like.this.they.were. fragments. really. And then we’d get a dumb conversation between characters. And then alesandra would be all hurt and then colin would try not to smile. That’s literally all this book was.
It was like torture reading this thing. I swear if you want to get me to do something just threaten to read this thing out loud to me. sometimes I really think im a glutton for punishment when I keep reading a crappy book.
When I first cracked open this book I was interested in seeing where she was gunna go with the whole lady killer thing. She actually didn’t go anywhere with it until over halfway through the book. And ive never in my life came across a book where people are disappearing and the people just sit back and do nothing. You obviously weren’t too close to victoria or you would have done something about it soon enough instead of holding it in just because colin ‘wouldn’t listen to you.’ That brings me back to alesandra needing a backbone.
&when she found out her friend DIED,she didn't cry.shes like "no,id wait for later to cry" but when colin did or didn't do something she wanted to burst into tears.does anyone find anything wrong with that?
there were so many holes in this story and i honestly think garwood put next to no thought into writing this.
The whole thing was random. We got a lady killer,a missing friend,a princess. It didn’t go together and on top of all that no one was likeable.
the many,and i mean many,historical mistakes prevented me from even giving this book a chance.
The speech was terrible and so off the mark I couldn’t even wrap my mind around it.
the language in here was so modern it wasn't even funny. &trust me, it wasn't funny.at all.
isn’t the editor supposed to catch all these mistakes?Her editor probably didn’t even want to take on the daunting task of correcting all of them. It would have been better to just start a whole new book then try and correct all the mistakes in here. How can you publish a historical book and be so totally wrong??
Usually in a book there's only a few things that irritate you or get on your nerves but it was the WHOLE book that got on my nerves. Literally like almost every sentence just drove me up the wall.
everything,and i mean everything,either had me rolling my eyes,scoffing, or sighing loudly.
ive read julie garwood books before, and while i wouldn't run out and buy them, i definitely don't remember them being this terrible.
Let me wrap up the whole book for you-colin tried not to laugh.alesandra burst into tears.a smidgen of stuff about a lady killer.some random stuff.dumb conversatioins.stupid characters.the end.
the characters were horrible with a capital H, and that includes main and side characters.no one had any real substance.&they were all annoying.
Garwood really tried to sell the point home about her being beautiful and amazing.Ive seen authors convey that the main characters are really pretty without going into all this extravagant speech. Someone should have passed Garwood the memo.
i think garwood was aiming for charming but she fell very short of the mark. Incredibly short. Like she missed it by a country mile. Not only did i not find anything even remotely charming about the main character, but i actually started to hate her. despised might be a better word.
i don't think I’ve ever hated a character quite like i did 'ol alesandra.she's one of,if not the worse,characters ive ever read about.
this is quite possibly the worst plot for a book I’ve ever encountered.in fact, it should win an award, for The Crappiest Book Ever.
horribly thought out plot. Everything was repetitive, to the point where you just wanted to throw something, break something, bang your head on a wall, anything to relieve your frustration. If you heard somethin once, you’ll hear it at least ten other times in the book.
I predict many tears in their future. Colin will say or do something or not do something and she’ll burst into tears.
Garwood spends so much time on alesandra’s stupid feelings. My advice to her is to concentrate on writing an actual story from now on. I realized that we didn’t get to hear a lot from the main character. Its like there weren’t many paragraphs without words,like to describe stuff, or hear more about alesandras life. We knew next to nothing about her. There would be short sentences like.this.they.were. fragments. really. And then we’d get a dumb conversation between characters. And then alesandra would be all hurt and then colin would try not to smile. That’s literally all this book was.
It was like torture reading this thing. I swear if you want to get me to do something just threaten to read this thing out loud to me. sometimes I really think im a glutton for punishment when I keep reading a crappy book.
When I first cracked open this book I was interested in seeing where she was gunna go with the whole lady killer thing. She actually didn’t go anywhere with it until over halfway through the book. And ive never in my life came across a book where people are disappearing and the people just sit back and do nothing. You obviously weren’t too close to victoria or you would have done something about it soon enough instead of holding it in just because colin ‘wouldn’t listen to you.’ That brings me back to alesandra needing a backbone.
&when she found out her friend DIED,she didn't cry.shes like "no,id wait for later to cry" but when colin did or didn't do something she wanted to burst into tears.does anyone find anything wrong with that?
December 2, 2022
The hero, good god, If hes more uptight he'd be a literal asshole.
Sorry for saying that, folks. I’m just frustrated over this man who is so independent he didn’t want any financial help even though he’s poor, and didn’t want to meet a doctor even though he’s in constant pain. Like— what is his deal, seriously?
Set in the regency era, This story is about Princess Alessandra who was targeted by a general for a forced marriage, so she runs off to London in search of a husband. On the very top of her list was her guardian’s son, Colin. Unfortunately, the man had no plans for a wife at the moment. He wanted to get rich first and have a stable life.
Characters
I think Alessandra is a very sweet girl, she has this obsession with making lists and I thought it was cute. I had no problems with her. Colin, however, is turning out to be such a pain to read about. This man is so stubborn I want to slap him with a tuna.
He was all “I don’t wanna listen to reason, my word is final, end of discussion.” Thank god our heroine had a sound mind and was smart enough NOT to obey this clown. Loosen up a bit, fella.
Other than that, he’s fine I guess. Their love declarations are sweet.
I usually love the cameos from the previous protagonists. This one however felt a little unsatisfactory. It seems Garwood like Jade and Caine so much, and that’s a shame because they’re my least favorite protagonist in this series. I cannot stand Jade in the last two books. I wanted more Nathan and Sara but they never show up together in this one.
Story
There are some parts (particularly in the middle) that were a bit slow, but I didn’t mind it. It picked up again real quick so don’t worry. I was more put off by the conflict, and here’s why:
The first part of the book, the antagonist was this “general” who we never got to meet. He was just this guy from far away who supposedly paid people to kidnap our heroine. Once the heroine was married, the conflict died immediately and it never picked up again. It was forgotten.
The second part of the book was about a killer who goes around town killing ladies. Now, if you don’t know, in this series I only dislike book two. One of the reasons was that the conflict is too political and it wasn’t really as important to the couple’s happily ever after. The second conflict of this book is like that as well. I wasn't worried over our couple Happily ever after because the killer only started being a problem during the climax of the book. So before that, I didn’t really care that much over the guy. And anyway, it was too easy to guess and once its revealed, it ended too quickly for us to become worried. Compare this to Garwood’s other HR mysteries, like “The Bride”, for example. From the very start someone was after the heroine, that way we were worried. This book, however only made me worried about the first conflict, which ended only halfway in.
Conclusion
Anyway, It was a good book. Conflict and plot didn’t stand out. Neither does the Hero. But the sweet romantic moments are what made this book (and other Garwood books in general) so easy to enjoy. Garwoods heroines are very interesting to me (with the exception of Jade from book 2 of this series), they’re very fun to read overall. Alessandra was a pretty good heroine, but I do prefer Sara (the heroine from the previous book). This is the last Garwood historicals I haven’t read and therefore, I ended my goal. I do plan on re-reading Garwood’s other books before the year is out. Also, I’m 33 books behind on my schedule, that’s fun.
Sorry for saying that, folks. I’m just frustrated over this man who is so independent he didn’t want any financial help even though he’s poor, and didn’t want to meet a doctor even though he’s in constant pain. Like— what is his deal, seriously?
Set in the regency era, This story is about Princess Alessandra who was targeted by a general for a forced marriage, so she runs off to London in search of a husband. On the very top of her list was her guardian’s son, Colin. Unfortunately, the man had no plans for a wife at the moment. He wanted to get rich first and have a stable life.
Characters
I think Alessandra is a very sweet girl, she has this obsession with making lists and I thought it was cute. I had no problems with her. Colin, however, is turning out to be such a pain to read about. This man is so stubborn I want to slap him with a tuna.
He was all “I don’t wanna listen to reason, my word is final, end of discussion.” Thank god our heroine had a sound mind and was smart enough NOT to obey this clown. Loosen up a bit, fella.
Other than that, he’s fine I guess. Their love declarations are sweet.
I usually love the cameos from the previous protagonists. This one however felt a little unsatisfactory. It seems Garwood like Jade and Caine so much, and that’s a shame because they’re my least favorite protagonist in this series. I cannot stand Jade in the last two books. I wanted more Nathan and Sara but they never show up together in this one.
Story
There are some parts (particularly in the middle) that were a bit slow, but I didn’t mind it. It picked up again real quick so don’t worry. I was more put off by the conflict, and here’s why:
The first part of the book, the antagonist was this “general” who we never got to meet. He was just this guy from far away who supposedly paid people to kidnap our heroine. Once the heroine was married, the conflict died immediately and it never picked up again. It was forgotten.
The second part of the book was about a killer who goes around town killing ladies. Now, if you don’t know, in this series I only dislike book two. One of the reasons was that the conflict is too political and it wasn’t really as important to the couple’s happily ever after. The second conflict of this book is like that as well. I wasn't worried over our couple Happily ever after because the killer only started being a problem during the climax of the book. So before that, I didn’t really care that much over the guy. And anyway, it was too easy to guess and once its revealed, it ended too quickly for us to become worried. Compare this to Garwood’s other HR mysteries, like “The Bride”, for example. From the very start someone was after the heroine, that way we were worried. This book, however only made me worried about the first conflict, which ended only halfway in.
Conclusion
Anyway, It was a good book. Conflict and plot didn’t stand out. Neither does the Hero. But the sweet romantic moments are what made this book (and other Garwood books in general) so easy to enjoy. Garwoods heroines are very interesting to me (with the exception of Jade from book 2 of this series), they’re very fun to read overall. Alessandra was a pretty good heroine, but I do prefer Sara (the heroine from the previous book). This is the last Garwood historicals I haven’t read and therefore, I ended my goal. I do plan on re-reading Garwood’s other books before the year is out. Also, I’m 33 books behind on my schedule, that’s fun.
August 1, 2022
Trigger warning: I just realized in the end, we're dealing with a serial killer in this one. It gets graphic at times, but it didn't put me off. Just wanted to point out to potential readers.
This was a great way to end the series. I would have loved one more book in the series, but there was really no one else left to follow. I loved the characters of Alesandra and Colin and thought they worked great together. The ending of the book was well done (I loved how the "trick" worked) and you can just imagine all of the couples having a happily ever after.
"Castles" follows Princess Alesandra, who is back in England doing her best to not get kidnapped by her own countrymen. Alesandra was living in a convent, but due to the threat to her, goes to find her guardian who is the Duke of Williamshire, who is Colin's father. Colin's whole family can't help though due to them all getting a stomach illness which ends up with him in charge of keeping Alesandra safe. But for her to be safe, she has to marry, and the whole "bachelor" list scene will go down in the books for how funny it was to me. In the end, Colin has to marry her (due to a really funny scene) and the remaining part of the story follows the two of them getting to know each other, while Colin starts to unravel Alesandra's family past.
I thought this was an interesting way to take on a romance. Alesandra and Colin both are apprehensive about being married to each other and no there's no insta-love her. They take some time to even get there with each other though we get love scenes. Colin's people at his home fall for Alesandra quite fast and call her "our princess" and it made me smile. And I loved the callbacks to Colin's injury and his nightmares as well.
The writing was great, and we get really funny scenes in this one too. The traveling "illness" at the beginning of the book was funny, especially with Colin thinking everyone is lying about it to set him up to be married and everyone else is trying very hard to not die. LOL. The bachelor list scene that I mentioned was funny too. I also cracked up when Colin realized how much Alesandra gets up to without him knowing.
We do get Caine, Jade, Colin's parents, Nathan, Sara, and Sir Richards too.
The ending in this one was sweet, and there is a wrap up to the whole serial killer plot-line too.
I also read this for Cannonball Read 14 Book Bingo. This fits the following bingo circle:
Shadow: Could involve spies, mysteries, or shadow governments; could involve a person who casts a long shadow or creatures who live in the shadows; could be about psychology.
This book involves spies (Colin) and another spy who is a serial killer. Also this whole series is called "Crown's Spies" so it definitely fits that part of the bingo too :-)
This was a great way to end the series. I would have loved one more book in the series, but there was really no one else left to follow. I loved the characters of Alesandra and Colin and thought they worked great together. The ending of the book was well done (I loved how the "trick" worked) and you can just imagine all of the couples having a happily ever after.
"Castles" follows Princess Alesandra, who is back in England doing her best to not get kidnapped by her own countrymen. Alesandra was living in a convent, but due to the threat to her, goes to find her guardian who is the Duke of Williamshire, who is Colin's father. Colin's whole family can't help though due to them all getting a stomach illness which ends up with him in charge of keeping Alesandra safe. But for her to be safe, she has to marry, and the whole "bachelor" list scene will go down in the books for how funny it was to me. In the end, Colin has to marry her (due to a really funny scene) and the remaining part of the story follows the two of them getting to know each other, while Colin starts to unravel Alesandra's family past.
I thought this was an interesting way to take on a romance. Alesandra and Colin both are apprehensive about being married to each other and no there's no insta-love her. They take some time to even get there with each other though we get love scenes. Colin's people at his home fall for Alesandra quite fast and call her "our princess" and it made me smile. And I loved the callbacks to Colin's injury and his nightmares as well.
The writing was great, and we get really funny scenes in this one too. The traveling "illness" at the beginning of the book was funny, especially with Colin thinking everyone is lying about it to set him up to be married and everyone else is trying very hard to not die. LOL. The bachelor list scene that I mentioned was funny too. I also cracked up when Colin realized how much Alesandra gets up to without him knowing.
We do get Caine, Jade, Colin's parents, Nathan, Sara, and Sir Richards too.
The ending in this one was sweet, and there is a wrap up to the whole serial killer plot-line too.
I also read this for Cannonball Read 14 Book Bingo. This fits the following bingo circle:
Shadow: Could involve spies, mysteries, or shadow governments; could involve a person who casts a long shadow or creatures who live in the shadows; could be about psychology.
This book involves spies (Colin) and another spy who is a serial killer. Also this whole series is called "Crown's Spies" so it definitely fits that part of the bingo too :-)
November 14, 2015
★★★★✩ The narrator, Heather Wilds, was fine, especially with the male voices (unusual, right?). They did get a little "thicker" as the story progress, too. Or was that my imagination? However, she really drove me a little batty with the heroine, as I felt she was making Princess Alesandra's accent change from scene to scene. Sure, Alesandra is a princess from a made up country in Europe... but pick an accent and stick with it, don't give me French, Dutch, and then Russian, etc. I also wasn't crazy about her pronouncing Colin's name as part of the digestive tract. Still, the story holds up and made me smile a lot and laugh out loud more than once.
November 6, 2023
Reread.
Rating 4.5
This was good and enjoyable. But not up to par to her other books.
Sweet heroine and Alpha hero.
Rating 4.5
This was good and enjoyable. But not up to par to her other books.
Sweet heroine and Alpha hero.
May 11, 2022
3.75.
I wish the whole mystery aspect wasn’t as predictable as it was but other than that, this was quite enjoyable.
I wish the whole mystery aspect wasn’t as predictable as it was but other than that, this was quite enjoyable.
May 2, 2016
I enjoyed it. I almost always enjoy a Garwood historical. They are good, light, feel-good fun. I didn't love it though. The plot seemed all over the place. We have a serial killer and a evil general who are both after the princess. The serial killer storyline was wrapped up, but the evil general storyline was kinda dropped. Overall, the resolution was very quick.
Most of the fun of her books is seeing the gruff hero who doesn't need anyone realize how much the heroine means to him and how strong/valuable she is as a partner. This happens, but very quickly at the end. For most of the book, Colin is patronizing and treats the heroine like a child. Then *boom* it seems like within 2 pages he's realized she is a financial genius and was right about the serial killer all along, then the book is over. And the general who wanted the h to help seal his power, the one who prompted them to marry in the first place - he just kind of becomes a non-issue.
ETA: the narration. I'm with Lisa Kay. The heroine's accent was a bit inconsistent and the pronunciation of Colin's name (colon) was off putting. She's not a narrator I won't listen too again, but not my favorite either.
Most of the fun of her books is seeing the gruff hero who doesn't need anyone realize how much the heroine means to him and how strong/valuable she is as a partner. This happens, but very quickly at the end. For most of the book, Colin is patronizing and treats the heroine like a child. Then *boom* it seems like within 2 pages he's realized she is a financial genius and was right about the serial killer all along, then the book is over. And the general who wanted the h to help seal his power, the one who prompted them to marry in the first place - he just kind of becomes a non-issue.
ETA: the narration. I'm with Lisa Kay. The heroine's accent was a bit inconsistent and the pronunciation of Colin's name (colon) was off putting. She's not a narrator I won't listen too again, but not my favorite either.
April 15, 2023
Nice H & naive h as usual!
April 11, 2013
April 2013: Screw you, Colin, and the horse you road in on! I gave up. After writing the review below I never did pick the book back up again. Neurotic or not about finishing books I just couldn't do it. I am counting this book as 'read' as I did read the whole thing when I was younger (and what shitty taste in books I must have had back then!).
Earlier in 2013: I originally read this book back in college and I don't remember thinking it was good or bad. I recently got it for super cheap from a used book store and thank gawd for that. What a bunch of crap. Somehow in my younger days I completely missed how creepy this book is in it's "read between the lines" way. I'm about halfway through and I want to kick Colin in the balls for being such an ass. He's arrogant, which is suppose to be cute and make one feel confident that he knows what he's doing, but instead he comes off as a complete bully to Alesandra. Yes this is suppose to be historical fiction at a time when 'the husband knows best' but the author tries to make the female leads strong, intelligent, etc despite those circumstances. Unfortunately Alesandra is a complete Door.Mat. And I've wanted to throw the book every time Colin treats her like a child (too numerous to count). I just read a part where shocking news is being divulged from a third party and Alesandra says something like, "But how did he...." and Colin, the ass, condescendingly says, "Let him have his say, Alesandra; don't interrupt him." YES DADDY DICK HEAD! It's gross and creepy that these two hook up as Colin treats her more like a child than a partner; which makes him a mental pedophile (kinda? sorta? you know what I mean) since he obviously thinks of her as an overgrown seven year old.
Alright, enough bitching. I just had to vent this. I just finished a PBS special on feminism that was really inspiring and positive and then I read this book on 'How to Bully One's Wife.' I feel better now. And yeah, I'm going to finish it - because I'm neurotic like that.
Earlier in 2013: I originally read this book back in college and I don't remember thinking it was good or bad. I recently got it for super cheap from a used book store and thank gawd for that. What a bunch of crap. Somehow in my younger days I completely missed how creepy this book is in it's "read between the lines" way. I'm about halfway through and I want to kick Colin in the balls for being such an ass. He's arrogant, which is suppose to be cute and make one feel confident that he knows what he's doing, but instead he comes off as a complete bully to Alesandra. Yes this is suppose to be historical fiction at a time when 'the husband knows best' but the author tries to make the female leads strong, intelligent, etc despite those circumstances. Unfortunately Alesandra is a complete Door.Mat. And I've wanted to throw the book every time Colin treats her like a child (too numerous to count). I just read a part where shocking news is being divulged from a third party and Alesandra says something like, "But how did he...." and Colin, the ass, condescendingly says, "Let him have his say, Alesandra; don't interrupt him." YES DADDY DICK HEAD! It's gross and creepy that these two hook up as Colin treats her more like a child than a partner; which makes him a mental pedophile (kinda? sorta? you know what I mean) since he obviously thinks of her as an overgrown seven year old.
Alright, enough bitching. I just had to vent this. I just finished a PBS special on feminism that was really inspiring and positive and then I read this book on 'How to Bully One's Wife.' I feel better now. And yeah, I'm going to finish it - because I'm neurotic like that.
November 12, 2021
No, but the banter in this book just hit differently.
So I'm not going to lie, the story wasn't perfect- there were just so many contradictions and different plot holes in the book- and let's not forget about all the random information that was given for absolutely no reason at all- but I mean I'm still going to give it a 5 stars 😶✌️, for sentimental reasons more than anything.
This was probably my favourite book in the series, simply because the dynamic between the characters was just *chef's kiss*- although I will say, similarly to some other JG books, the characters were quite dodgy and condescending at times. I, however, didn't think too hard about it all, and especially loved all the nicknames (no, but when he called her brat tho 🤌), and thought that the story overall progressed really nicely.
I was obsessed with all the cameos from all the previous characters in the series- and am kind of really sentimental that the series is now over. Although slightly questionable, I've just learned to love these characters.
But yeah, the book was just really fun to read. The story was far from perfect, but I just didn't take anything too seriously, and had a really nice time reading. I feel like if you weren't a fan of some of JG's other books, you'll definitely not enjoy this one, as it was a lot more exaggerated with its theme and banter- however I, as expected just had a lot of fun with it all, and am glad to have read the books.
So I'm not going to lie, the story wasn't perfect- there were just so many contradictions and different plot holes in the book- and let's not forget about all the random information that was given for absolutely no reason at all- but I mean I'm still going to give it a 5 stars 😶✌️, for sentimental reasons more than anything.
This was probably my favourite book in the series, simply because the dynamic between the characters was just *chef's kiss*- although I will say, similarly to some other JG books, the characters were quite dodgy and condescending at times. I, however, didn't think too hard about it all, and especially loved all the nicknames (no, but when he called her brat tho 🤌), and thought that the story overall progressed really nicely.
I was obsessed with all the cameos from all the previous characters in the series- and am kind of really sentimental that the series is now over. Although slightly questionable, I've just learned to love these characters.
But yeah, the book was just really fun to read. The story was far from perfect, but I just didn't take anything too seriously, and had a really nice time reading. I feel like if you weren't a fan of some of JG's other books, you'll definitely not enjoy this one, as it was a lot more exaggerated with its theme and banter- however I, as expected just had a lot of fun with it all, and am glad to have read the books.
September 3, 2017
Oh thank God this series has redeemed itself. Though I admit,the plot was really a chaos... There are so many plotting points to be considered. Too many things going on. There are more than one antagonist...But the cleverness and wittiness of the characters made up the plot's flaw. :) I am so in love with Colin and Alessandra... Though Colin can be a misogynist pig, his sweetness and possessiveness over Allesandra made him still lovable.. :)
June 13, 2023
Reread on May 4, 2022: I have a lot of nostalgia for this ship, but I’d forgotten how much I disliked/didn’t care about the suspense storyline. Also: most of this book is “Alesandra being right about everything despite the foolishness/ignorance of everyone surrounding her” (especially Colin).
April 19, 2024
Review from 2013
Let's call it 4-and-a bit stars :)
I finished listening to this audiobook with a huge smile on my face. Yes – there were some aspects of the book as a whole that I found problematical, but an excellent performance by Heather Wilds – a narrator I will certainly be looking out for in future – helped me see (or hear) past those issues, and just sit back and enjoy the story for what it was; a well-written and well-performed piece of romantic fluff.
Castles is the fourth book in Ms. Garwood’s Crown’s Spies series. I haven’t read or listened to the other three, but I’d say it’s not necessary to do so in order to enjoy this one.
The heroine of the story is Alesandra, princess of some unspecified, European principality, who was orphaned at the age of twelve and brought up in a convent. When the story opens, the Mother Superior thinks that her prayers have finally been answered, as Alesandra’s guardian, the Duke of Williamshire, has written to say that he wishes his ward to travel to England take up residence with him and his family. When the princess arrives at his London home, it’s to discover that not only are the duke and his wife laid low by illness, but so is his eldest son, to whose care Alesandra was to have been entrusted. The only other option, therefore, is for the princess to move into the home of the duke’s second son, Sir Colin Hallbrook.
Colin immediately suspects his father of matchmaking and he’s completely on the money. Alesandra informs him straight away that she has to get married in the next three weeks and his name is at the top of the eligible bachelors lists prepared for her by his father.
Colin will have none of it but Alesandra is by no means disappointed by his refusal. She is certainly struck by his good looks, but she can already see that he is proud, arrogant, and will be difficult to manage so she promptly crosses him off the list and asks him to help her to choose a husband from the remaining candidates. Colin senses that the princess isn’t telling him everything and she won’t enlighten him further.
Following an attempt to kidnap Alessandra by those who wish to take her home and force her to marry General Ivan (the man who has laid claim to her father’s throne), Colin calls a family conference to decide what must be done to keep her safe. They discuss her list of potential suitors and, in a rather funny scene, Colin finds fault with every single one and eventually gives in. He will have to marry her.
The rest of the story is principally concerned with Colin and Alesandra accustoming themselves (or not) to marriage. Sensibly, Alesandra never expected to make a love match in so short a space of time but hoped that, in time, she and her husband could come to love each other. She holds on to that hope, but Colin makes it very difficult for her.
Even though Colin is a typical alpha male-hero who thinks he doesn’t have to explain his actions to anyone, believing that his word is law, he’s nonetheless intuitive about his new wife, and quickly learns that her outward aspect of serenity and calm is frequently a mask for her worries and insecurities. I particularly enjoyed his relationships with his brother, Caine, and business partner, Nathan – both are aware of Colin’s feelings towards his wife long before he admits them to himself.
There’s a lot of humor in Castles and Alesandra is a very engaging character, being both intelligent and spirited without being TSTL. She’s an inveterate list-maker who believes in being organized. Many of the moments in the story that made me smile derived from her propensities in that direction.
Alesandra and Colin are (almost) always honest with each other and I really enjoyed this aspect of their relationship. Occasionally Alesandra tries to avoid telling Colin things, but he can tell when she is keeping something from him and, to her credit, she knows what things she can and can’t afford to put off telling him. There are several instances where a lesser author may have been tempted to have Alesandra keep things from her husband in order to ramp up the tension (or lengthen the story for the sake of it), but thankfully, that doesn’t happen and the book is better for it. The story doesn’t get tied up in knots and, more importantly, it shows how much Colin and Alesandra trust each other.
On the negative side, there are some anachronisms and plot-holes, which lowered the content grade. Also, one particular sub-plot seemed to be just a contrivance to inject an element of peril into a story that I thought was engaging enough without it.
Then there is the fact that an unmarried lady of high birth would never have been allowed to move in with a young, unmarried man without becoming a social pariah, illness notwithstanding. The fact that the duke and duchess actually encouraged her to do so was completely implausible. The misapplied appellations grated somewhat, too, as Colin was referred to as “Sir Hallbrook” rather than “Sir Colin”, the family physician as “Sir Winters”, and Colin’s former employer as “Sir Richards”. “Sir” always preceeds a Christian name, not a surname.
This is historical romance à la 1990s, so I was expecting to hear some anachronistic language, but I have to draw the line at a nineteenth century gentleman addressing his wife as “baby”, even in the throes of passion. ;-)
In Heather Wilds, I’ve found a new name to add to my “narrators to trust” list. She has a dozen titles to her name at Audible (UK) in a variety of genres, and here, I found her narration to be immediately engaging and very enjoyable overall. Her reading was well paced and she gave Alesandra a slight Germanic accent, which worked very well for her character and made her sound rather endearing. I don’t think it’s explicitly stated exactly where Alesandra comes from, so Ms. Wilds’ choice was a perfectly valid one, and she maintained the accent convincingly and consistently. Giving the heroine a distinctive accent means, of course, that she’s very easy to single out in scenes which feature a number of characters of the same sex but, in fact, all the other female characters were very clearly differentiated so that it seemed to me that there would have been no danger of confusion had Ms. Wilds not taken that option.
She employs an Irish lilt in her characterization of Flannaghan, Colin’s butler, and once again she maintains it most successfully. Colin’s father, brother, and business partner were all appropriately voiced, as were the other male characters, and she does a very good job with Colin himself. He’s a prickly character and is frequently abrasive in his manner of speech. The deeper, clipped tones Ms. Wilds chooses to adopt for his character skilfully convey his brusqueness. She effectively softens his harsher edges in those moments he is flirting with Alesandra, teasing her, or comforting her.
Sometimes there are books you know you shouldn’t really like as much as you do – they’re kind of a guilty pleasure – and that’s how Castles turned out for me. I like a reasonable degree of historical accuracy in my historical romances, and I admit that wasn’t this book’s strong point. But it more than made up for that lack with the superb characterizations, the development of Colin and Alesandra’s relationship, and the witty dialogue.
Let's call it 4-and-a bit stars :)
I finished listening to this audiobook with a huge smile on my face. Yes – there were some aspects of the book as a whole that I found problematical, but an excellent performance by Heather Wilds – a narrator I will certainly be looking out for in future – helped me see (or hear) past those issues, and just sit back and enjoy the story for what it was; a well-written and well-performed piece of romantic fluff.
Castles is the fourth book in Ms. Garwood’s Crown’s Spies series. I haven’t read or listened to the other three, but I’d say it’s not necessary to do so in order to enjoy this one.
The heroine of the story is Alesandra, princess of some unspecified, European principality, who was orphaned at the age of twelve and brought up in a convent. When the story opens, the Mother Superior thinks that her prayers have finally been answered, as Alesandra’s guardian, the Duke of Williamshire, has written to say that he wishes his ward to travel to England take up residence with him and his family. When the princess arrives at his London home, it’s to discover that not only are the duke and his wife laid low by illness, but so is his eldest son, to whose care Alesandra was to have been entrusted. The only other option, therefore, is for the princess to move into the home of the duke’s second son, Sir Colin Hallbrook.
Colin immediately suspects his father of matchmaking and he’s completely on the money. Alesandra informs him straight away that she has to get married in the next three weeks and his name is at the top of the eligible bachelors lists prepared for her by his father.
Colin will have none of it but Alesandra is by no means disappointed by his refusal. She is certainly struck by his good looks, but she can already see that he is proud, arrogant, and will be difficult to manage so she promptly crosses him off the list and asks him to help her to choose a husband from the remaining candidates. Colin senses that the princess isn’t telling him everything and she won’t enlighten him further.
Following an attempt to kidnap Alessandra by those who wish to take her home and force her to marry General Ivan (the man who has laid claim to her father’s throne), Colin calls a family conference to decide what must be done to keep her safe. They discuss her list of potential suitors and, in a rather funny scene, Colin finds fault with every single one and eventually gives in. He will have to marry her.
The rest of the story is principally concerned with Colin and Alesandra accustoming themselves (or not) to marriage. Sensibly, Alesandra never expected to make a love match in so short a space of time but hoped that, in time, she and her husband could come to love each other. She holds on to that hope, but Colin makes it very difficult for her.
Even though Colin is a typical alpha male-hero who thinks he doesn’t have to explain his actions to anyone, believing that his word is law, he’s nonetheless intuitive about his new wife, and quickly learns that her outward aspect of serenity and calm is frequently a mask for her worries and insecurities. I particularly enjoyed his relationships with his brother, Caine, and business partner, Nathan – both are aware of Colin’s feelings towards his wife long before he admits them to himself.
There’s a lot of humor in Castles and Alesandra is a very engaging character, being both intelligent and spirited without being TSTL. She’s an inveterate list-maker who believes in being organized. Many of the moments in the story that made me smile derived from her propensities in that direction.
Alesandra and Colin are (almost) always honest with each other and I really enjoyed this aspect of their relationship. Occasionally Alesandra tries to avoid telling Colin things, but he can tell when she is keeping something from him and, to her credit, she knows what things she can and can’t afford to put off telling him. There are several instances where a lesser author may have been tempted to have Alesandra keep things from her husband in order to ramp up the tension (or lengthen the story for the sake of it), but thankfully, that doesn’t happen and the book is better for it. The story doesn’t get tied up in knots and, more importantly, it shows how much Colin and Alesandra trust each other.
On the negative side, there are some anachronisms and plot-holes, which lowered the content grade. Also, one particular sub-plot seemed to be just a contrivance to inject an element of peril into a story that I thought was engaging enough without it.
Then there is the fact that an unmarried lady of high birth would never have been allowed to move in with a young, unmarried man without becoming a social pariah, illness notwithstanding. The fact that the duke and duchess actually encouraged her to do so was completely implausible. The misapplied appellations grated somewhat, too, as Colin was referred to as “Sir Hallbrook” rather than “Sir Colin”, the family physician as “Sir Winters”, and Colin’s former employer as “Sir Richards”. “Sir” always preceeds a Christian name, not a surname.
This is historical romance à la 1990s, so I was expecting to hear some anachronistic language, but I have to draw the line at a nineteenth century gentleman addressing his wife as “baby”, even in the throes of passion. ;-)
In Heather Wilds, I’ve found a new name to add to my “narrators to trust” list. She has a dozen titles to her name at Audible (UK) in a variety of genres, and here, I found her narration to be immediately engaging and very enjoyable overall. Her reading was well paced and she gave Alesandra a slight Germanic accent, which worked very well for her character and made her sound rather endearing. I don’t think it’s explicitly stated exactly where Alesandra comes from, so Ms. Wilds’ choice was a perfectly valid one, and she maintained the accent convincingly and consistently. Giving the heroine a distinctive accent means, of course, that she’s very easy to single out in scenes which feature a number of characters of the same sex but, in fact, all the other female characters were very clearly differentiated so that it seemed to me that there would have been no danger of confusion had Ms. Wilds not taken that option.
She employs an Irish lilt in her characterization of Flannaghan, Colin’s butler, and once again she maintains it most successfully. Colin’s father, brother, and business partner were all appropriately voiced, as were the other male characters, and she does a very good job with Colin himself. He’s a prickly character and is frequently abrasive in his manner of speech. The deeper, clipped tones Ms. Wilds chooses to adopt for his character skilfully convey his brusqueness. She effectively softens his harsher edges in those moments he is flirting with Alesandra, teasing her, or comforting her.
Sometimes there are books you know you shouldn’t really like as much as you do – they’re kind of a guilty pleasure – and that’s how Castles turned out for me. I like a reasonable degree of historical accuracy in my historical romances, and I admit that wasn’t this book’s strong point. But it more than made up for that lack with the superb characterizations, the development of Colin and Alesandra’s relationship, and the witty dialogue.
April 3, 2025
I loved how the heroine wasn’t annoying but had a way of dodging direct answers, it’s an art. She’s smart, entertaining, and full of charm, easily the best part of the book. The hero might seem smooth and easygoing at first, but underneath it all, he’s a cad, a chauvinist, and far too controlling. For someone portrayed as ahead of his time, his views still align perfectly with the patriarchy. The heroine shines whenever she’s not excusing his behavior, and despite that, I still had some fun reading it.
October 8, 2017
I think compared to her other books in this series the romance is slow to start but I liked that. The heroine is one I love, intelligent and smart!
December 8, 2016
Princess Alesandra and Colin the stubborn so and so.
Colin is the kind of person who would cut off his nose to spite his face, and he's got that snarky type of arrogance I usually hate in Heroes. And I did hate it, yet I did end up liking him. Only a writer as talented as Ms Garwood could pull that off!
But this isn't one of my favourites by this author. For far too long Colin is a stubborn asshat to Alesandra. Alesandra is supposed to be a bit of a hellion, but that never comes across. She is beautiful, highly intelligent and VERY innocent. I liked her character a lot. She was very self possessed and even a bit humourless. Like an opposite to Colin's character who is the quintessential charmer and likes to tease. After the death of her parents, she was raised in a convent until word reaches the mother superior that the petty dictator who has taken over her country wants to force her to marry him. So she runs to London and her father's dearest friend, to find a more palatable husband. Will Colin be that man... not if he can help it.
The story has more than one bad guy. There are sections from the POV of the mysterious serial killer who plagues the second half of the book. That's a pet peeve of mine. I really dislike listening to the thoughts of demented creeps, and the thoughts get quite disgusting towards the end. The mystery of his identity was pretty obvious, but that didn't hurt the story. The action was brief and straight forward.
I really liked the way the author turned around Colin's character towards the end of the story. It was tender and romantic and made up for the parts of the book I wasn't crazy about.
I listened to this on audio and the reader, Heather Wildes, does a fantastic job!
Colin is the kind of person who would cut off his nose to spite his face, and he's got that snarky type of arrogance I usually hate in Heroes. And I did hate it, yet I did end up liking him. Only a writer as talented as Ms Garwood could pull that off!
But this isn't one of my favourites by this author. For far too long Colin is a stubborn asshat to Alesandra. Alesandra is supposed to be a bit of a hellion, but that never comes across. She is beautiful, highly intelligent and VERY innocent. I liked her character a lot. She was very self possessed and even a bit humourless. Like an opposite to Colin's character who is the quintessential charmer and likes to tease. After the death of her parents, she was raised in a convent until word reaches the mother superior that the petty dictator who has taken over her country wants to force her to marry him. So she runs to London and her father's dearest friend, to find a more palatable husband. Will Colin be that man... not if he can help it.
The story has more than one bad guy. There are sections from the POV of the mysterious serial killer who plagues the second half of the book. That's a pet peeve of mine. I really dislike listening to the thoughts of demented creeps, and the thoughts get quite disgusting towards the end. The mystery of his identity was pretty obvious, but that didn't hurt the story. The action was brief and straight forward.
I really liked the way the author turned around Colin's character towards the end of the story. It was tender and romantic and made up for the parts of the book I wasn't crazy about.
I listened to this on audio and the reader, Heather Wildes, does a fantastic job!
July 5, 2016
DNF 41%. This was such a frustrating read. I sneered, screamed, and rolled my eyes so much while reading this. I hated Colin. I despised how he spoke to Alesandra as if she was a child. He spoke to her very rudely. He demanded things of her, as if his word was law. He made her do things she didn't want to do and what made me more upset was that Alexandra allowed it. She wants to come off as a strong and independent woman. However, she stops when he says stops, and backs down when he says back down. I wanted her to take a stand so badly, I was willing her to tell him to "f*** off!". She is a weak woman. I couldn't read any further. I had 3 hours and 30 minutes left to read in the book, and couldn't waste those hours of my life. I hate books with leads such as these two. I loved the first book of the series struggled with the other two. This one I outright hate and had to say no more.
June 30, 2019
Serial Killers and Sweetness
Odd combination here but I loved it. There is a man killing women and the heroine has a feeling about it but nobody believes it. I had read this before but I really enjoyed it. The heroine was sweet and strong and I loved how smart she was too. Colin was a great hero too. I loved when He rejected all her suitors with the seven deadly sins! Lol. And then he said he was bowlegged and I just thought it was so cute. You really could figure out who the killer was early on but it was still a great book. I started Heartbreaker by her set in current times but I just can't get into it. I may move on to Mercy. I just wish she would still wrote these amazingly sweet romances. I just love her writing style!
Odd combination here but I loved it. There is a man killing women and the heroine has a feeling about it but nobody believes it. I had read this before but I really enjoyed it. The heroine was sweet and strong and I loved how smart she was too. Colin was a great hero too. I loved when He rejected all her suitors with the seven deadly sins! Lol. And then he said he was bowlegged and I just thought it was so cute. You really could figure out who the killer was early on but it was still a great book. I started Heartbreaker by her set in current times but I just can't get into it. I may move on to Mercy. I just wish she would still wrote these amazingly sweet romances. I just love her writing style!
May 30, 2016
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. COLIN yaaa.
Eşşoğlueşek. <3
Kusursuzdu.
Çünkü o Garwood. Cmon.
Bu serinin kadınları da erkekleri de favorim.
Ahhhh ama bu eşşoğlueşek Colin var ya. Yaaaaaaaaaaa ölürüm!
Kesinlikle mükemmel. Bellisimo. Oh-lala. Awwwwwesome!
Eşşoğlueşek. <3
Kusursuzdu.
Çünkü o Garwood. Cmon.
Bu serinin kadınları da erkekleri de favorim.
Ahhhh ama bu eşşoğlueşek Colin var ya. Yaaaaaaaaaaa ölürüm!
Kesinlikle mükemmel. Bellisimo. Oh-lala. Awwwwwesome!
July 19, 2017
Another wonderful story from Julie Garwood
July 8, 2025
Δείτε επίσης και στο Chill and read
Μπορεί ένας άντρας που δεν πιστεύει στον έρωτα να παραδοθεί σ’ αυτόν όταν γνωρίσει τη γυναίκα που ανατρέπει τα πάντα;
Μια πριγκίπισσα που δε φοβάται να υπερασπιστεί τον εαυτό της. Ένας άντρας που δεν αφήνει κανέναν να πλησιάσει. Ένα κάστρο που κρύβει μυστικά.
Η Julie Garwood, μια από τις πιο αγαπημένες συγγραφείς ιστορικού ρομαντικού μυθιστορήματος, επιστρέφει με το τέταρτο βιβλίο της σειράς «Κατάσκοποι του θρόνου», που υπόσχεται και πάλι να μας ταξιδέψει σε έναν κόσμο γεμάτο περιπέτεια, πάθος και ρομαντισμό. Το «Στη σκιά του κάστρου» μας συστήνει την πριγκίπισσα Αλεσσάντρα, μια ηρωίδα διαφορετική από τις άλλες, και τον Κόλιν, τον γοητευτικό και ορθολογιστή άντρα που θα δει τον κόσμο του να αλλάζει μέσα από τα μάτια της.
Η Αλεσσάντρα είναι ό,τι πιο μακρινό από την τυπική «δεσποσύνη εν αναμονή» – έξυπνη, ανεξάρτητη και αποφασισμένη να πάρει τον έλεγχο της ζωής της. Όταν αναγκάζεται να εγκαταλείψει τη χώρα της για να γλιτώσει από πολιτικά παιχνίδια και απειλές, θα βρει απροσδόκητη προστασία στον Κόλιν, έναν άντρα που δεν εμπιστεύεται κανέναν και που θεωρεί τον έρωτα… απώλεια χρόνου.
Η σχέση τους ξεκινά με καχυποψία και διαρκείς αψιμαχίες, όμως η δυναμική ανάμεσά τους είναι εκρηκτική. Οι διάλογοι είναι απολαυστικοί, γεμάτοι σπιρτάδα και χιούμορ, ενώ ο τρόπος με τον οποίο αναπτύσσεται το συναίσθημα ανάμεσα στους δυο τους είναι αυτό που κάνει τη Garwood να ξεχωρίζει. Χτίζει σταδιακά μια σχέση βασισμένη στην εμπιστοσύνη, την εκτίμηση και τελικά την αγάπη, χωρίς περιττά μελοδραματικά ξεσπάσματα.
Παράλληλα, το πολιτικό υπόβαθρο της ιστορίας, οι βασιλικές ίντριγκες και το στοιχείο του κινδύνου δίνουν στο βιβλίο έναν ρυθμό που κρατά αμείωτο το ενδιαφέρον. Το «κάστρο» του τίτλου λειτουργεί και μεταφορικά, ή μάλλον πιο πολύ μεταφορικά, ως ένας χώρος προστασίας, αλλά και απομόνωσης, ένας τοίχος που σιγά-σιγά γκρεμίζεται όσο οι δυο πρωταγωνιστές επιτρέπουν ο ένας στον άλλον να δουν την αλήθεια πίσω από τις άμυνές τους.
Για τους λάτρεις της σειράς, το βιβλίο προσφέρει και την ευκαιρία να ξανασυναντήσουμε παλιούς γνώριμους, κάτι που το κάνει ακόμη πιο απολαυστικό. Για τους νέους αναγνώστες της Garwood, είναι μια εξαιρετική ευκαιρία να ανακαλύψουν τη μαγεία της γραφής της και να χαθούν σ’ έναν κόσμο που συνδυάζει ιδανικά το ρομαντικό παραμύθι με την αγωνία.
Αν σου αρέσουν οι δυνατές ηρωίδες, οι πεισματάρηδες ήρωες, οι ιστορίες που πλέκουν τον έρωτα με την περιπέτεια, τότε αυτό το βιβλίο θα σε καθηλώσει!
Μπορεί ένας άντρας που δεν πιστεύει στον έρωτα να παραδοθεί σ’ αυτόν όταν γνωρίσει τη γυναίκα που ανατρέπει τα πάντα;
Μια πριγκίπισσα που δε φοβάται να υπερασπιστεί τον εαυτό της. Ένας άντρας που δεν αφήνει κανέναν να πλησιάσει. Ένα κάστρο που κρύβει μυστικά.
Η Julie Garwood, μια από τις πιο αγαπημένες συγγραφείς ιστορικού ρομαντικού μυθιστορήματος, επιστρέφει με το τέταρτο βιβλίο της σειράς «Κατάσκοποι του θρόνου», που υπόσχεται και πάλι να μας ταξιδέψει σε έναν κόσμο γεμάτο περιπέτεια, πάθος και ρομαντισμό. Το «Στη σκιά του κάστρου» μας συστήνει την πριγκίπισσα Αλεσσάντρα, μια ηρωίδα διαφορετική από τις άλλες, και τον Κόλιν, τον γοητευτικό και ορθολογιστή άντρα που θα δει τον κόσμο του να αλλάζει μέσα από τα μάτια της.
Η Αλεσσάντρα είναι ό,τι πιο μακρινό από την τυπική «δεσποσύνη εν αναμονή» – έξυπνη, ανεξάρτητη και αποφασισμένη να πάρει τον έλεγχο της ζωής της. Όταν αναγκάζεται να εγκαταλείψει τη χώρα της για να γλιτώσει από πολιτικά παιχνίδια και απειλές, θα βρει απροσδόκητη προστασία στον Κόλιν, έναν άντρα που δεν εμπιστεύεται κανέναν και που θεωρεί τον έρωτα… απώλεια χρόνου.
Η σχέση τους ξεκινά με καχυποψία και διαρκείς αψιμαχίες, όμως η δυναμική ανάμεσά τους είναι εκρηκτική. Οι διάλογοι είναι απολαυστικοί, γεμάτοι σπιρτάδα και χιούμορ, ενώ ο τρόπος με τον οποίο αναπτύσσεται το συναίσθημα ανάμεσα στους δυο τους είναι αυτό που κάνει τη Garwood να ξεχωρίζει. Χτίζει σταδιακά μια σχέση βασισμένη στην εμπιστοσύνη, την εκτίμηση και τελικά την αγάπη, χωρίς περιττά μελοδραματικά ξεσπάσματα.
Παράλληλα, το πολιτικό υπόβαθρο της ιστορίας, οι βασιλικές ίντριγκες και το στοιχείο του κινδύνου δίνουν στο βιβλίο έναν ρυθμό που κρατά αμείωτο το ενδιαφέρον. Το «κάστρο» του τίτλου λειτουργεί και μεταφορικά, ή μάλλον πιο πολύ μεταφορικά, ως ένας χώρος προστασίας, αλλά και απομόνωσης, ένας τοίχος που σιγά-σιγά γκρεμίζεται όσο οι δυο πρωταγωνιστές επιτρέπουν ο ένας στον άλλον να δουν την αλήθεια πίσω από τις άμυνές τους.
Για τους λάτρεις της σειράς, το βιβλίο προσφέρει και την ευκαιρία να ξανασυναντήσουμε παλιούς γνώριμους, κάτι που το κάνει ακόμη πιο απολαυστικό. Για τους νέους αναγνώστες της Garwood, είναι μια εξαιρετική ευκαιρία να ανακαλύψουν τη μαγεία της γραφής της και να χαθούν σ’ έναν κόσμο που συνδυάζει ιδανικά το ρομαντικό παραμύθι με την αγωνία.
Αν σου αρέσουν οι δυνατές ηρωίδες, οι πεισματάρηδες ήρωες, οι ιστορίες που πλέκουν τον έρωτα με την περιπέτεια, τότε αυτό το βιβλίο θα σε καθηλώσει!
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