I am the banished prince—the scoundrel. So deflowering the enemy’s princess should be right up my alley. And when sweet, naive Juliet asks for one night of passion, I can’t resist making her beg. Her silky touch captures me, compels me beyond thought. But her cries of ecstasy might just be my undoing…
The royal hook up by Riley pine is the first from the new series Dare from mills and boon (yes I know mills and boon 😌) which I've read, it a easy read to pass the time. It's naughty with a little bit of fantasy and is also a tiny bit of a thriller to. I don't read a lot of romance so I don't normally choose royal romance but this one was a great first 😉
This was oddly riveting at times - despite being one of the craziest pieces of wild, fantastic, fairy stories I’ve ever come across.
It’s schizophrenic and since the author is apparently a twosome - that’s not too surprising, but Hell!! it’s frustratingly confusing. So many mixed styles and voices - I couldn’t engage properly.
Whilst pretending to be a well written, adult tale, it sometimes reads like an incredibly amateur attempt to add a thriller edge to a M&B romance.
All credit to the wild imaginations of the author(s), but seriously, the story is absolutely ruined by ‘overkill’: we have amnesia, family angst, family obsessions, execution by funeral pyre, family love rivalries, a “dead” queen who is part of a weird spy ring; then we have a different, mad queen obsessed with a spring providing eternal youth and all of it accompanied by unbelievably bad characterisations and sex scenes which range from hot and erotic to mechanical extracts from a biology manual and the latter are about as erotic as a slap in the face with a wet fish. Full marks for imagination but this is just overloaded and silly. Hard work and difficult to follow. I am really curious to know who the 2 writers really are! 😊
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
First things first I'm normally disinclined to one star my Harlequin reads. Because Harlequin, amirite? Every now and then I come across one bad enough to decide it's a disinclination and not a hard and fast rule
My Royal Hook-Up by Riley Pine is the third story in the author duo’s Arrogant Heirs series, a set of royal romances set in a fictional European country with scandal, drama and a bit of fantasy intertwined with steamy romance for a sometimes over the top but definitely exciting read.
Prince Damien is an outcast from his family in Edenvale after stealing away with the woman betrothed to his brother in an arranged marriage, and a subsequent accident that cost her life. Now he plays by no rules and has a reputation for his devil may care attitude. When he encounters Princess Juliet of Nightgardin, he knows that trifling with the princess of their neighboring and rival country could mean death, but her entreaty to help her experience sexual satisfaction before an arranged marriage to an older man is one he can’t refuse.
Juliet knows that her days hidden away with Damien could be considered treason but she doesn’t care, as the ecstasy she experiences with him is worth any price. When they are found by the Nightgardin Royal Guard, Damien is beaten and left for dead on his family’s doorstep with a full on case of amnesia. Weeks later, when Juliet shows up in Edenvale pregnant, Damien doesn’t know what to think. He’d vowed to never love another after the accident that killed his true love. Are this woman’s claims true? And can they claim their happy ever after?
This is the third novel in Riley Pine's Arrogant Heirs series - following the 3rd Prince - the banished black sheep of the family Damien. Damien has been living in exile in the rival state of Nightgardin after seducing his eldest brother's fiance and killing her in a motor accident. Nightgardian princess Juliet, hearing of his reputation of sexual prowess seeks him out to give her a night of pleasure before she's forced into an arranged marriage. The one night turns into three and the pair fall in love but Juliet's family find them - Damien is beaten practically to death and Juliet is taken home. She finds out she's pregnant and escapes to find Damien only to discover he has amnesia and doesn't remember her at all...
Positives - I love the beginning of this one. It's very Romeo & Juliet and although the romance is lightening fast there's just something magical about these two together. I also love the whole fairy-tale setting and mixing it with high octane chases, villains and spies is just pure escapism.
Negatives. I loathe amnesia plots and although this isn't as stupid as some it is just so unnecessarily melodramatic. As is the actual plot of this in far too many places - talk about bad melodrama - we have the princess about to be burnt at the stake by her insane mother and the prince riding to the rescue on a horse with a bow and arrow! We have a secret reveal that the arrogant heirs' mother isn't really dead but has in fact been living in hiding as a spy. Don't get me started on how many times Damien and Juliet get beaten unconscious by villains - and then of course there's this mysterious secret about a fountain of youth - For a contemporary romance this is very out there - suspend your disbelief and then some. Saying that, for all the OTT drama, it is fast paced and exciting... I'm just not sure in this case that's a good thing.
As heroes go I wasn't particularly drawn to Damien - known as the backdoor baron he really does have a bad rep with women, he's also brooding and full of self doubt. It's pointed out how many times he's let people down, particularly Juliet. Now ok everyone deserves a spot at redemption and he does give us one spectacular rescue - just not sure if that was enough. The other thing of course is the romance - it took just three days to fall madly in love pre-amnesia - so why so long afterwards? I don't know, just with all the crazy plot elements and hot sex scenes i feel the emotional/romance side of things suffers a little - Maybe I'm being overly harsh and still way too in love with Damien's brother Benedict from the previous book My Royal Sin, but I just wasn't feeling this one so much.
Still for those of you who like fairy-tale romances you need to check out this series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Yes, just all the yes. Damien and Juliet continued a series that was not only my favorite of 2018, but one of my favorites of all time. I loved their story and finally getting answers to the mystery (some of which I’d guessed, but that didn’t make them any less good). I am so sorry to see the Princes done, but I’m glad to have read them! Spectacular is all I can say!
Un fait très rare pour moi de mettre une note aussi basse, mais honnêtement, je ne vois pas ce qui aurait pu la faire augmenter. Si j’avais aimé Amant Royal, ici j’ai trouvé que tout n’était que cliché, maladresse, sans rebondissement réel. J’ai parfois eu l’impression que ce n’était pas la même personne qui avait écrit le récit, c’est assez troublant ! Une belle princesse vierge qui doit se marier et qui veut prendre du bon temps avant de se retrouver avec un homme qu’elle n’aime pas, un prince qui a jeté son dévolu sur cette fameuse princesse à qui il veut absolument prendre sa virginité, une famille qui découvre le pot aux roses et qui va frapper tellement fort que le prince va en perdre la mémoire, mais attention que cette chère Juliet reviendra plusieurs mois après avec un joli ventre bien rond… Finalement, la seule chose qui donne vraiment de l’action retenant l’attention, c’est le sexe, parce que attention que notre jeune vierge de départ, n’est franchement pas une prude jouvencelle ! Enfin bref, après avoir apprécié Amant Royal, je dois dire que je suis pour le moins déçue par Liaison interdite que je pensais au départ dans la même trempe et la même lignée.