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Royal Romances #4
Before the Reign
Jamie can't help that he is charming and reckless, that he lives for the moment.
He also can't help that he is James Victor Albert, His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. Jamie's devil-may-care attitude and his destiny as a future monarch often come into conflict, but his father's cancer is forcing Jamie to face the future that has been laid out for him since his birth, a future that his parents hope will include Astrid, the Crown Princess of Sweden, a perfectly proper, uptight royal who couldn't be more different from Jamie.
When Jamie is caught at a posh London party where drugs are discovered, he decides to leave the London limelight. The south of France seems just the place to hide out, contemplate his future, and most of all, avoid Astrid!As the only child of the king of Sweden, Astrid knows she'll have to marry, and marry soon. She also knows she will not, under any circumstance, marry Jamie! One need only glance at the gossip rags to know that Jamie is nothing more than a self indulgent playboy. Yet her mother persists in forcing the match on Astrid. She has to get away. How fortunate that she has an old friend from school in Provence.
Her friend, intent on helping Astrid find a man, transforms the serious, dutiful princess into a flirtatious, care-free Frenchwoman. Freed from the constraints of royalty, Astrid is drawn to a handsome, alluring stranger with secrets of his own. Meeting in shadows and under cover of darkness, disguised in appearance and demeanor, the pair enjoys a romance that could only blossom in the lush, fertile beauty of Provence. Until a tragedy forces Astrid to relinquish her persona and take up once more the mantle of monarchy.When a terrorist attack shakes her native Stockholm, Astrid will need help getting back to Sweden. Fortunately, that help has been beside her this entire time. The man she’s always hated is suddenly the person she relies on, a capable prince whose strength both comforts and seduces her.
Is the real Jamie the bad boy she'd always thought him to be or the irresistible stranger she's come to know in Provence?With danger and international plots swirling around them, will Astrid give Jamie the chance to prove he can be the kind of man she wants both at her side and in her bed?
Buy your copy of Before the Reign today and find out!93 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 23, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
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May 19, 2018💝FREE on Amazon today (5/19/2018)!💝
Blurb:
Can Jamie, the playboy prince, reform his scandalous ways and become the proper heir to the throne that his father expects him to be?
Fleeing the paparazzi, he escapes to quiet Provence. There, Jamie is content to leave the limelight behind and disguises himself as an average tourist. He determines to succumb to his parents' wishes and Mary Astrid, The Swedish ice princess. But a chance encounter with a beautiful - strangely familiar - woman with secrets of her own threatens to undermine his resolve. When an international terrorist incident unmasks them both for the Royals they are, more than their new found passion is in jeopardy.
Just when they finally see beneath each other's public personas, will duty and danger force them apart?
Blurb:
Can Jamie, the playboy prince, reform his scandalous ways and become the proper heir to the throne that his father expects him to be?
Fleeing the paparazzi, he escapes to quiet Provence. There, Jamie is content to leave the limelight behind and disguises himself as an average tourist. He determines to succumb to his parents' wishes and Mary Astrid, The Swedish ice princess. But a chance encounter with a beautiful - strangely familiar - woman with secrets of her own threatens to undermine his resolve. When an international terrorist incident unmasks them both for the Royals they are, more than their new found passion is in jeopardy.
Just when they finally see beneath each other's public personas, will duty and danger force them apart?
March 22, 2017
Why is the cover so awful? Why?
So a lot of suspension of disbelief here that despite knowing each other since they were children, neither Astrid nor Jamie recognized the other through their respective disguises. That was just laughable.
But other than that bit of romance-novel hand-wavery, this was the most enjoyable of the series since the first book. There was other stuff going on in the book too, which I appreciated. I like my books to have more than just the romance plot to give it some depth, and the political stuff was interesting. (I did skim over their philosophical conversation about government at the Roman ruins, though, because it was yawn-inducing.)
So a lot of suspension of disbelief here that despite knowing each other since they were children, neither Astrid nor Jamie recognized the other through their respective disguises. That was just laughable.
But other than that bit of romance-novel hand-wavery, this was the most enjoyable of the series since the first book. There was other stuff going on in the book too, which I appreciated. I like my books to have more than just the romance plot to give it some depth, and the political stuff was interesting. (I did skim over their philosophical conversation about government at the Roman ruins, though, because it was yawn-inducing.)
July 25, 2018
They've known each other their entire lives, but couldn't recognize each other "in disguise" - it was a haircut and a new shirt, not a Mission Impossible style mask.
February 4, 2017
This was boring. I don't remember the other books all that well since it's been a while since I read them, but I don't remember them being this bad. The second novella of this series is by far the best one and this is the worst. There was very little to no characterization, the insta-love and change from manwhore ways were not convincing, and the drama was too OTT. Plus the dialogue was stilted and the royal aspect to this story wasn't believable. I'd skip this one if you're a fan of good writing or a compelling story.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews