Taming the Lost Prince: An Anthology

by Raye Morgan

An experienced fighter pilot, Max Arragen became a hero—and then a prince. He had no desire to celebrate his long-lost royal status, but he accepted it…...until it was suggested he should marry.

Kayla Mandrake was brought in to "tame" the new prince, but she didn't expect it to be Max, her late husband's best friend. The same man whose baby she had after a reckless—unforgettable—night of passion. How could she face him again…...and tell him the truth about their child?

Genres: Romance, Adult, Harlequin

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Aka Helen Conrad and Jena Hunt

Helen Conrad was born on April 11, 1945 in Pasadena, California, U.S.A. and grew up between Holland, Guam, and California, and spent a few years in Washington, D.C. as well. She obtained a B.A. in English Literature.

Helen was working toward a Master's in Library Science when she dropped out to have her first son. "One look into those baby blue eyes and I knew it was going to be a long time before I went back to school. But with young ones, you do have time to read, and the more I read, the more I learned about writing". She started writing because she felt guilty about spending so much time reading. "Through writing I figured I could still immerse myself in the stories I love, but I could actually claim I was working! The amazing thing was when I sold my first book and the excuse was justified. Dreams really do come true!"

After years of writing romantic suspense in the style of Mary Stewart and children's books in a lot of styles, she finally sold a romance to Jove's Second Chance at Love and there was celebration all around-at least in her ever-patient family of husband and four boys. She published four more romances for Jove under the name Jena Hunt, then began writing Silhouette Desires. A few sales to Bantam Loveswept and Harlequin Romance, Temptationand SuperRomance under the name Helen Conrad followed, as well as to Harpers, Dell Ecstasy, Mills & Boon, and even an historical with Zebra. Today, she is concentrating on Silhouette Romance, completely captivated by the breezy fun and touching poignancy of their compact, to-the-point form. She feels the perfect "quick read" should make the reader smile, sigh and put the book down feeling better about the state of love in the world.

Now, she lives in the Los Angeles area now with Nick, her geologist-computers cientist husband and the two of her four sons who still live at home."Having the boys around helps keep me up on the current trends," she says with a laugh. "But writing helps keep me in touch with the romance that weaves through the everyday lives we all live.

Reviews

[Carolyn Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two for the Price of One

Both stories ended happily, but only after solving many serious problems caused by their families. I enjoyed reading about the last
Prince.

[Victoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Max Arragen has lived the life of the consummate bachelor. He was an experienced fighter pilot who lived and loved like there was no tomorrow. After his best friend died and he took a night of solace with his wife his reckless actions led to her thinking he had died in a crash only to find out almost a year later that he had been discovered as the last of the lost princes of Ambria, where Kayla now serves as the Queen’s PA. Max is reluctant to take up the duties of a prince and still feels guilty about betraying his best friend in a night of passion. But with an allied kingdom accusing Max of theft and the secrets Kayla is keeping from him he may just have to step up to his duty.

First off I had to say the book’s summary was misleading. I assumed that this would be a story about Max being talked into marrying Kayla in order to try and tame him while he accepted the duties of fatherhood and nobility. It isn’t. Most of this seems to be Kayla and Max tiptoeing around the issue of Teddy’s paternity, Max grumbling about ‘prince-hood’ not being his thing and frankly bitching about it. With this as the last book in the series I have no reason to sympathize with the Queen and her anger at Max or any frame of reference about how this is so hard for him. He’s a grown man but he’s acting like a frat boy whose suddenly had responsibility dumped on him and in the length of the book it is very hard to get in to the heads of our protagonists and sympathize with them.

While I can get some of where Kayla is from we are shown that she’s had a rough few years and that she doesn’t want to commit to Max who hasn’t exactly shown himself to be reliable or the kind of guy a woman who wants stability and a healthy relationship despite Morgan’s attempts to try and show that Max’s demeanor is a result of his childhood and past and that he thinks he’s a bad person. My only advice is show not tell.

Maybe a lot of this is just because I’m coming into this series late and it would be a better read if I read the first five but other mini-series that I’ve read didn’t have that issue so I would say it’s a flaw in the writing more then anything else. The other books, well I haven’t read them but they all seem to have the themes of parenthood, royal blood, and finding a wife. Again, my issues with that and the patriarchal implications are well documented.

Some of the major flaws would be how awkwardly the prose flows and how suddenly and abrupt the climax is. I wish she had gone for a longer series that way she could have perhaps expanded it so she could have I don’t know, perhaps made the story more detailed and do a better job of showing not telling us character motivations and secrets. Hopefully her other works won’t have this flaw.

I would recommend, hesitantly anyway this book to anyone who has enjoyed the other books in the series despite their flaws. If you can get past the awkward pacing it can be a good novel. I give Taming the Lost Prince 2.5 hearts out of five.
<3<3

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book and conclusion to the series. I liked Kayla a lot. She has put together a good life for her and her son, working as the personal assistant to Queen Pella. When the last missing prince is found, she is stunned to find out that it her husband's friend Max. They had shared a night of passion after her husband's death and then gone their separate ways - with Kayla believing that Max had later died. Max was not happy in his role as a prince. He had never been one to follow rules, and this was making him very uncomfortable. He also has a tendency to run when things start to get uncomfortable. When he saw Kayla again, he was very happy. He had great memories of the time the three of them spent together, and wanted to remember those times with Kayla. The two of them acknowledged their attraction, but Kayla felt they should ignore it because of his new status. When Kayla is kidnapped to draw Max out, he realizes what he feels is love, and causes his entire outlook to change.

[Chris Meads · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the final book of the Lost Princes of Ambria.

Max Arragen is a fighter pilot and is the best friend of Kayla and her husband, Eddie. When Eddie is killed, Max and Kayla grieve his loss and end up with a very passionate night. A year later, when Max finds out, he is one of the missing princes, he comes to the castle only to find Kayla working for the Queen. What he doesn't know that Kayla's little boy, Teddy, is his. And Max doesn't want to be a prince either. Will Kayla talk him into becoming a prince and tell him about Teddy?

This is a quick cute read. Not really much in the book and easy to follow.

[Melody Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an okay book. It took a little work to stay focused on the stories. I consider these very light reads, sweet, but not a lot of depth. I found myself wanting to skim and skip ahead (doesn't mean that I did so.) I know when I feel that way I am not really tuned in well to the story line or it isn't strong enough to keep my focus. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't bad, it just wasn't great.

I would recommend this book if you are looking for a light, quick read.

[Harlequin Books]

Miniseries: The Lost Princes of Ambria
Category: Classic Romance

[LoveRomance · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the worst book I've read in a long time. I read the first in this series, and now this is the last. I wish I'd skipped it and saved my $3.74.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first story more than the second. Not a lot to say about this book other than it was a quick read and I may read more in the series.