The Barefoot Princess

Lost Princesses #2

by Christina Dodd

Once upon a time...in a kingdom high in the Pyrenees, three young princesses were forced to flee the chaos in their land -- vanishing without a trace and lost to their people...until the day a courageous prince can bring each princess home.

Life in exile has taught the passionate Princess Amy to hate injustice, and on the enchanting English isle of Summerwind, she finds injustice personified in the powerful and wickedly handsome Jermyn Edmondson, marquess of Northcliff. Since he has stolen the islanders' livelihood, Amy decides to steal him. She kidnaps the arrogant nobleman, chains him with his own manacles, and holds him for ransom.

It's a simple plan, destined to succeed. Surely Jermyn's uncle will pay his ransom. Alas, his uncle would be delighted if someone killed his nephew and left him to inherit the title and fortune. And holding the furious, guileful, sensual Jermyn chained in her basement provides a challenge to Amy's restraint...and her virtue.

How could such a little revenge and blackmail go so passionately wrong?

Genres: Romance, Historical Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction, Regency, Fiction, Royalty

363 pages, Paperback

First published January 31, 2006

About the author

Upcoming:
— 6/30/26 TEACH THE TORCHES TO BURN: Daughter of Montague Historical Fiction #3 https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

New and Now!
—MUCH ADO ABOUT MISTLETOE: Daughter of Montague Christmas novella https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
— THUS WITH A KISS I DIE Daughter of Montague Historical Fiction #2
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
— A DAUGHTER OF FAIR VERONA Historical Fiction Trade Paperback Once upon a time a young couple met and fell in love. You probably know that story, and how it ended (hint: badly). Only here’s the thing: That’s not how it ended at all…
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
— WELCOME TO GOTHIC: A Gothic novella in ebook (at last!) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
— WHAT DREAMS MAY COME Daughter of Montague novella 1.5 "I’m the daughter of Romeo and Juliet. Yes, that Romeo and Juliet. No, they didn’t die in the tomb…" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
— GIRL ANONYMOUS “Crackling sexual chemistry and a few love scenes guaranteed to scorch readers’ fingers as they turn the pages." — ⭐️ Booklist
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

Readers become writers, and Christina has always been a reader. Ultimately she discovered she liked to read romance best because the relationship between a man and a woman is always humorous. A woman wants world peace, a clean house, and a deep and meaningful relationship based on mutual understanding and love. A man wants a Craftsman router, undisputed control of the TV remote, and a red Corvette which will make his bald spot disappear.
When Christina’s first daughter was born, she told her husband she was going to write a book. It was a good time to start a new career, because how much trouble could one little infant be?
Ha! It took ten years, two children and three completed manuscripts before she was published. Now her suspense, paranormal, historical, and mystery novels have been translated into 30 languages and sold more than 15 million copies in print. Praised for her “brilliantly etched characters, polished writing, and unexpected flashes of sharp humor that are pure Dodd” (Booklist), her award-winning books have landed on numerous Best of the Year lists and, much to her mother's delight, Dodd was once a clue in the Los Angeles Times crossword puzzle. She lives with her family in the Pacific Northwest, where her 700 lavender plants share the yard with her husband’s various “Big Projects,” including a treehouse, zipline, and their very own Stonehenge.
Enter Christina’s worlds and join her mailing list for humor, book news and entertainment (yes, she’s the proud author with the infamous three-armed cover) at christinadodd.com. For more information on A DAUGHTER OF FAIR VERONA, visit daughterofmontague.com. Her legions of fans know that when they pick up a Christina Dodd book, they'll find the story, "Wildly entertaining, wickedly witty!"
Christina is married to a man with all his hair and no Corvette, but many Craftsman tools.

(Source: http://www.christinadodd.com )

Reviews

[*CJ* · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Barefoot Princess" is the story of Amy and Jeremy.

In this second tale of Lost Princesses, Princess Amy, youngest of the brood, takes it upon herself to avenge the people of the English isle of Summerwind by kidnapping the marquess of Northcliff, Jermyn Edmondson. The man is carefree, selfish and ignorant to the perils of his people- the poor highlanders, hence passionate and righteous Amy decides to teach him a lesson by keeping him in captivity while asking for ransom to help the people of Summerwind.

What she does not count on is being extremely attracted to the cad, and reciprocating the attraction herself. But as they give into their passionate desires, a nefarious plot of the past is unveiled, old insecurities are revealed and Amy and Jeremy find themselves wed in a "doomed" marriage..which might last forever.

Honestly, I had doubts about liking this book. The heroine was rebellious, the hero was infuriating. But as we reached midway through the story, I was intrigued and rooting for this couple. The lovemaking scenes were passionate, the banter invigorating. My favorite part definitely has to be the hero lacing beads and indulging all the people around him.

Low angst romance, definitely worth your time.

Safe
4/5

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Forget setting women back a decade. The Barefoot Princess sets women back into the stone age.
I hated it.
I would have/could have/should have quit reading a few chapter in but I started it late at night and quickly fell into a sleep deprived cycle of wishing to put it down, realizing if I put it down I would not pick it back up again, stubbornly determining to finish despite my annoyance, and feeling a sleep deprived desire to set it down and go to bed. But then I would not pick it up in the morning...
I kept thinking it could not get worse. But it did.
The hard part is the book contained enough potential to make me think an actually decent story lay under the surface. The heroine starts off strong and admittedly remains rather spit-fire throughout. And her name is Amy! How could I resist...
In general I enjoyed the characters. (Except the Marquess of Northcliff. Him I want to murder.)
Also, the overarching story about three, abandoned princesses piqued my curiosity. It wove a fairy tale that held my imagination long enough to make me curious and want more. Only my deep hatred for the rest of this book prevents me from putting the other two on hold.
But I did hate the rest of this book. I hate the romance. I hate the stupid, stupid plot contrivances that keep the couple apart and reunite them at the end. I hate the generic, semi-Regency world. Most of all I hate, hate, hate the hero main male of this story.

Spoilers to follow.



Let's talk about the stupid Marquess. He gets kidnapped and spends the next 6+ whatever days lusting after his jailer. Then he tries to rape her but gives her "pleasure" (*gagging*) and when she threatens to call someone, says she wasn't struggling hard enough so no one would believe her. He lies and manipulates her for more sexual favors and then FORCES HER INTO MARRIAGE. And more than marriage but parenthood, if the conclusion is to be believed. Now you say, 'she secretly loved him!' I say "NO. HE LITERALLY TIES HER TO A CHAIR TO KEEP HER FROM RUNNING AWAY AFTER SHE MARRIES HIM." Their entire relationship is a power struggle and he uses brute, vulgar force to get everything he wants.
"The Barefoot Princess" is aptly named. After being dragged into marriage by a virtual caveman, we leave Amy figuratively barefoot and literally pregnant, chained to a man who not only manipulated her, but tried to rape her and let's go back to the part where he forces her to stay.
I'm disgusted beyond words and really wish my sleep-deprived self had just gone to sleep.

[Missy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book confirms that I’ve not missed much by not reading HR books by this author. I won’t be continuing the series. I’m not curious enough to know when or how these princesses return to their country.

Brief summary to remind myself later of the plot:

-Heroine kidnaps hero and has him manacled in the cellar of a cottage to be ransomed.
-He’s accused of stealing an old woman’s idea for beading or something and profiting off of it.
-Hero’s uncle refuses to pay the ransom since he wants the kidnappers to kill his nephew, as they threatened, so he can inherit the money.
-Heroine is a princess in hiding. There are a few flashbacks to when she’s a young princess and when she and her second oldest sister Clarice are on the run.
-Hero has mommy issues. Readers can predict what happened to her before the revelation towards the end.
-Somehow the H/h fell in love during his captivity, which was only a few days. Like, how??? But they don’t confess their love yet.
-They marry, agreeing that after a year, they will either stay together or separate.
-It’s too convenient how the uncle fell into their trap for him.
-The prince (book 3 hero) makes an appearance.
-Surprise pregnancy at the 95% mark.
-Heroine and her sister are reunited.
-I’m not sure why this book is titled The Barefoot Princess. I must have missed the part(s) where she’s barefoot.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

*spoilers*
I don’t like when authors start out having the main character be a child. It ruins them in my eyes. For example:
She hated grandmamma. Hated her, hated her, hated her.
Calling her grandma a dragon and repeating hate 3 times was just stupid. I get it; kids are prone to melodramatics and tantrums. But it’s just stupid, stupid, stupid.

Jeremy Edmonson was immediately interesting.

I liked Amy. She was a strong character with a sense of humor. She was mad at him and stuck to it, and she got some good insults in.
I held out the hope that Northcliff was a virgin, as I always do. I especially thought that because he didn’t seem to be that king of man. When he spoke of women he talked about dancing with them, drinking lemonade and little frivolous, mundane things that I didn’t think a rake would dwell on. So when I found out he had kept mistresses I was disgusted and surprised. It didn’t go with his character because he didn’t seem that manly.
I didn’t like how he was so attracted to her. Instant attraction is not ideal in a story. It’s just annoying. Authors think men have to be instantly attracted to her, and if it not it’s a betrayal. It’s ok to have him wait a while to like her, he doesn’t have to lust after her the instant he looks at her.

I just loved the way the very minute he tried to guess her identity, he almost did. He thought of her homeland, realized the queen was being controlled by someone and then comes perilously close to identifying her as one of the missing children. I guess it couldn’t have helped the plot out or anything to drag the mystery of her identity past, what, the first quarter of the book? He knew she was of aristocratic blood.

Amy turned out to be just like every single other women in every single romance book. They find themselves fascinated by the men, when they should be man. In the very beginning she finds herself captivated by the smell and weight of his jacket, his jacket for gods sake! Then after having a lovely discussion about his mistresses he says he’s imagining her as his mistress. She gets affected, of course, “because he’s a man and she’s a woman.” &apparently that’s all you need in a romance book. Random man + random woman = instant attraction and awareness.

I just love a guy who says “I don’t take mistresses under the age of twenty. There’s a marvelous enthusiasm but no finesse. No skill.”
How utterly charming. I don’t even want to know how many women under the age of twenty he had to try out before he came to that conclusion.

I hate how the men always know the woman is a virgin. You’d think there was a big flashing neon sign over their heads proclaiming “I’m a virgin!” the way the men so easily hone in on it.
And instead of playing it off, she blushes and looks away. Dead giveaway.

It was Clarice everyone adored. Not Amy.
But to hear Lord Northcliff inform her he would have moved any obstacle to have her as his mistress . . .
He was jesting. Or a single day without indulging in debauchery had left him ready to be pleased by any female at hand.
But if that was true, what kind of lustful beast would two days create?
And why did she feel a warmth within her, a melting, a stretching of all that was instinctive and female?
OMG! For once, just once, can there be a woman who doesn’t feel turned on by the fact that he had mistresses?! If someone said they wanted to add me to their string of floozies I’d cuss them out or smack them at the least, not feel all warm and fuzzy. Wth?

She wasn’t soft and sweet and pretty, the way he liked his women to be. She was clever. She was sharp-tongued. She was too angular, with elbows that poked at her sleeves and thin collarbones instead of plump shoulders. Her face was handsome rather than pretty, and he would have said she never smiled, except that she did.
Ok . . . so why does he like her again? You have him lusting after her and wanting to make her his mistress, and you say that. And what lovely taste he has, he picks musicians and things like that, so they can sing him to sleep or play music. Wow.

This odd, shameful mood wasn’t something she liked to admit, nor was it something she understood, but it lived in her and she lived in it. In him.
What the heck? Who feels that way about someone’s anger? He’s only been there a few days and she’s having thoughts like that. That’s ridiculous. Just say she enjoys sparring with him, anything else is just plain weird.

It was so annoying how he kept stating that she wasn’t pretty and that he had had prettier and nicer women but he didn’t stop lusting after her. She’s imprisoning you, for god’s sake! Wth is wrong with you?! Jermyn stared after her, furious that she had goaded him into a loss of temper.

Because he had nothing to do except read. Because he was bored. Because . . . because his hands itched to touch her.
Omg, make me gag. I’m so sick of the mushy, run-of-the-mill, overused lines. Come up with some new material, for the love of god.

When I found out his mother had left him, and that he believed she didn’t love him, and it forever ruined his opinion of women, I had a very strong premonition. One that comes from reading hundreds of romance books. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that his mother didn’t leave him willingly, and that before the book was over he would learn of the whole deception, likely that his uncle had a hand in.

She’s bashing his character as always, and he notices her chest heaving because she’s angry. And the author decides to fall back on yet another aspect that hundreds of romance authors have recycled before her. She has Jermyn become affected more so than he has with any other woman. Yes, that’s right. He gets harder, and more erect, than he ever has with any other woman. And I just have to ask why? Why is he getting that way? He sees breasts heaving, or “erotically jiggling” as it was phrased in the book, on a bony body with a face that isn’t pretty and you suddenly find yourself more aroused than ever before. Makes sense.
He lunges for her, grabs her and they fall onto the cot. He kisses her, and this is on the sixth day, after he’s been furious at his capture and boredom, and apparently his pent-up passion for this creature.

He placed his feet on the floor. Slowly he stood, rising to his full height closely against her, allowing her to feel his heat. His ire.
Her eyes widened.
He lunged.
She leaped away.
Too late. He caught her around the waist. Triumph roared through him.
The chain snapped to its full length. The manacle grabbed at his ankle. He fell. Twisted. Landed stop her on the cot. Beneath him, her breath whooshed out.
They were sideways—she had one foot on the floor, one on the bed..
I sat and puzzled over that for several minutes. How could they end up on the cot, much less sideways? He’s standing in front of the cot, she lunges away, he grabs her and twists. I could halfway understand if they’d landed on the cot with their legs hanging off, but not sideways. I just can’t wrap my head around that.
He keeps kissing her, and she tries to fight him off.
Amy should have been afraid that this caged beast, this being who at the same time bled and smiled, would rape her. Hurt her. She wasn’t afraid.
She comprehended Northcliff’s rage.
Oh ok. She thinks she’s about to be raped, but feels no fear. As long as you understand the feelings of the rapist, it’s ok. I got it!

She pressed her hands hard against his windpipe, and then a second later her hands slide around his neck and she kisses him.
She kisses him, the man she believes is so bad and has done the entire village wrong, and who she hated so much she kidnapped and ransomed him, and yet she’s kissing him. She even sucks the end of his tongue, something I don’t think someone who’s never kissed anyone before this would do.
And he, the epitome of charm, says “you don’t know anything about kissing” and “you’re a virgin. I’ve been kidnapped by a nineteen-year-old who doesn’t even know how to kiss.”
Wow, that’s so sweet! I hope my future husband says those words to me. It’s so romantic! And when you get kidnapped you really want your jailer to know how to kiss. That’s the first thing on your mind. It’s the height of stupidity and hypocrisy to have people who insult and hate each other one second to kiss the next.

She lets him touch her, and doesn’t even fight it. She goes along with everything, even after those cruel lines about her inexperience.
And one mad thought stuck in her mind--he was the only one who could give her fulfillment.
Omg, r u serious?! She’s known him for 6 days, and she’s coming out with a line like that. There’s nothing like a romance author on an agenda. And that says a lot about her that she’d let a man, a stranger, she’s only known for six days touch her like that.
Afterwards he smiles triumphantly like a complete jerk, showing her he was just proud of his victory. She flees, but I know she won’t hold onto those feelings for long.

“I’ve never wanted a woman like I want you, but I promise—in all your life, I’m the only lover you��ll ever have. The only man you’ll ever want.”
How can you promise that? Good god in heaven, I am so sick of hearing that.

His little sex kit was just dandy. I tried not to think about how many times he’d used it, or how many women had touched it, (which I guess didn’t matter, because the box was completely forgotten. They didn’t even use either one, which displayed a huge amount of irresponsibility if you ask me) but the French glove to protect against pregnancy, and the bottle of oil was just a tad distasteful for my liking. “He preferred a combination of bayberry and spice.”

A shooter comes into the basement, and when she sees Jermyn at the top of the stairs she realizes he’s been set free of the manacle. What she can’t possibly realize is that he had already been free. She says “The manacle was off. And he wasn’t gone. He was still here which meant that sometime, somehow, he’d freed himself and ever since, he’d been playing her for a fool.
How can your thoughts progress like that? No, he’s free and still there so that means he’s been free for some time? That doesn’t even go together. It doesn’t make sense at all.
That isn’t a natural conclusion to come to. No, she should have had Amy comment on how he was free, because the manacle could’ve come off in the scuffle. That’s more likely than simply him “somehow freeing himself” like she said. Then he could have owned up to it, saying he had been free for days. The author just wanted to rush the whole betrayal and so didn’t try to make it believable.

It’s so annoying how she felt humiliated and tricked, yet did nothing. She still talked to him; she wouldn’t leave; she just let herself be under his control. It was pathetic.

“Seize life by the horns.” Yes, I’m sure that phrase was coined in the early 1800s.

It was so aggravating, yet predictable, how she went along with everything—the captivity, the marriage, the voyage to the honeymoon cottage, and the honeymoon.

No words were spoken of love, not one single time. There weren’t even feelings close to love. It was possession, plain and simple.

How neatly he turned the tables on her!
Turned the tables expression? In the 1800s?

Idk how many times he called her Lady Disdain. Every time he referred to Amy, he called her Lady Disdain. While normally I like nicknames, repetition can kill a book.

She finds a gun in the cottage, and he realizes someone stuffed the barrel, so if she tries to shoot him, the gun will explode and end up killing her instead. And then he realizes he loves her. Just like that. And I think it’s been like ten days since he met her, which is way too soon to be using the L word. But anyways, he realizes he loves her from that brief brush with death, and this is after he’s had sex with her, after he realizes he wanted her for the rest of his life and marries her. Gee, I think love was supposed to come way before this.

They have sex for the 2nd time in the cottage, and suddenly she’s playing the shy virgin she should’ve been the 1st time. The first time there wasn’t an ounce of reservation in her. She took off her clothes the first thing, didn’t even wait to see what would happen. Then she controls mostly everything. But now the author has her be shy. Ok…

The letter he penned to his uncle was so annoying.
You must help me in my hour of need. My abductors are cruel men who whisper at night of their desire to murder me, and when I hear them my blood runs cold! They speak of torture, of cutting off my head—of putting me in a weighted bag and sinking me in the sea, there to die a most horrible death! If you don’t pay them soon, you’ll lose your only and beloved nephew, the one remaining Edmondson other than yourself! Only through the cleverest of ruses and the kindness of their downtrodden maid was I able to sneak this plea out to you! I beg of you, come to my aid with a swift infusion of cash! I know it must be difficult to raise the gold required, but please, uncle, for my continued good health, it must be done!
That almost wore me out to read that. Every single sentence minus the 1st had an exclamation point at the end! How annoying! That’s too much emotion to use in so short a space!

Amy talks about her sad-sack past, because everybody’s gotta have one, and it takes Jermyn to point out that it doesn’t make sense that her gma sent a letter that her &her sisters were marked for assassination instead of sending protection.

The author decides to fall back on yet another overused plot aspect. In the last quarter of the book she has Jermyn find out she left her sister in Scotland, so of course he thinks she’s flighty like his mom. Even when she tells him she loves him he doesn’t believe her. Just what the book needed.

The whole “outdoor drama” scene to expose Jermyn’s uncle’s true nature was absolutely ridiculous. It was over the top to the point of badly executed school play status, and would not have happened anywhere in history, much less in the 1800s. I could understand staging a scene where his uncle admits his wrongdoing, with hidden constables or something, but having Jermyn walk back and forth on the balcony railing like an acrobat pretending to be drunk was completely outrageous. Uncle Harrison was a pathetic villain that inspired no fear whatsoever. If you want a very mild, nonthreatening villain, give him the sagging appearance of a hound dog and have him cackle like the 1 in here. You’re guaranteed no reaction from the audience.

Since Amy staged the whole thing with guests hiding in the bushes and kept telling them to be quiet, saying it was going to be a surprise, I expected the audience to clap afterwards, thinking it had been a show. Because that’s exactly what it looked like. It was just insane.

I love how authors cram as much crap as humanly possible into the last 50 pages or so, and yes, that’s sarcasm.

The plan seems to have gone awry, because they see a body with auburn hair and a black cloak, and they assume it’s Jermyn, so everybody’s freaking out and they don’t hear the guy with the telescope say it’s the body of a woman, who’s been down there for a long time. I immediately know it’s his mother, and that Harrison pushed her there those many years ago. How quaint how the story comes full circle like that.

The ending I barely care to talk about. Amy faints, he thinks she’s dead. She’s happy that he isn’t dead, she forgives him without a moment’s hesitation. &, surprise! She’s pregnant.

On. Pg. 353 he makes the comment “explain that to our son” referring to their unborn child. &on pg. 356 says “for her christening.” Wait, what? I thought u just said it was a boy. Call it an it until u know the gender. Don’t keep bouncing around.

I know back in those days it was acceptable to have a big gap in ages, but he turned 30, and she was still only 19 it seemed like a huge gap. That’s when it hit me that I’m 19, and picturing myself with a 30 yr old was more than unsettling.

She started off so strong, and then she ended up like every other female character in every other romance book. They end up being towed around like a little rag doll.
It’s almost comical how she said she wanted to kill him, that she would never forgive him for deceiving her, and then married him and chose to stay with him anyway.

The characters changed so much towards the end they didn’t even resemble themselves at all. They might as well have been diff ppl. The Barefoot Princess was a cute name, I just wish it went with the book. It’s not like Amy was walking around barefoot all the time or anything. I was actually more interested in Rainger and Sorcha’s budding romance, and I’m interested in reading that book, even though he tried to get with her other sister Clarice.

Once they had sex, the book just veered off course and the plot definitely fizzled out. Since the whole plot revolved around the kidnap, due to the fact that she believed he had stolen Miss Victorine's idea for a beading machine or w/e, I thought it would be addressed. But it was completely forgotten as if the author didn't even remember why she'd had Amy kidnap him in the first place. Why did she think he stole the beading idea? Who actually copied the beading machine? Did anyone actually do it? Why did Northcliff abandon the entire village? None of those questions were addressed. At the end he makes a speech about Amy making him see the error of his ways or some such nonsense, and he helps out with the village, but there is absolutely no mention of why he neglected it or why they believed he had stolen the bead thing. Wth?

[Julie Yates · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, I admit this is not truly a 4 star romance - the backstory is boring, the hero starts as a total ass, the ending has a few holes ... but oh how I LOVE the heroine, Amy! LOVE her! I simply adore the smart, saucy, prickly Princess Disdain!

Jermyn (stupid name too) the Marquises of Northcliff is a selfish, insolent ass. His mother disappears at 7, which neither he nor his father ever got over. So he's handed over all the duties of lordship to his uncle while he enjoys the fruits of others' labors, unknowingly letting his tenants starve. Yep, total ass. Who is about to learn some painful lessons in humility at the hands of a disdainful, intelligent female!

Thus Amy, (who initially cares zero for our hero, his wealth or his feelings) decides to kidnap Jermyn to hold him for ransom to give resulting $$ to the community, after which she will disappear. It's actually a decent plan that goes totally awry leaving Jermyn chained in her basement: Learning his failings. Rethinking his choices. Lusting after his captor.

I love that Amy's honestly willing to shoot him. I love that she demands to be in charge. I love that he loves her for her intelligence. I love that the 3rd act breakup doesn't happen because she believes in their relationship.

SO: a great quick, no angst read for a rainy day. Not great literature, but I enjoyed their verbal sparring and loved Amy's personality. Epilogue is cute and captures their future perfectly.

[One chapter more · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll tell you a story.
I belonged to the young adult and children's section of the library for years. I'd take about 10 books each week, and was always the person on their records that read the most. After couple of years I kind of run out of the material to read. I was about 14 when I requested the access to the adult section and was granted it within a week. I found this book lying in a corner. It didn't have an interesting cover and I got so many books that week that I did not intend to read this one, but my mum did. Once she was finished she came to me and said... This book is not for you, don't read it! And we have to discuss what kind of books you can actually borrow from the adult section.

So... Forbidden fruit. I had to read it! Since then I fell in love with filthy historical romance. Let's just say that I had to hide my love for these stories for couple more years 😂😂😂

[Jillian Eaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

After liking (but not loving) the first novel in this trilogy, I was a little hesitant in reading the second. Two chapters in and I couldn't wait to finish it. I loved Amy as the heroine. She was spunky, fresh, high spirited, and hilarious. The love story was quick paced and believable with lots of chemistry. I also really enjoyed the secondary characters, which made The Barefoot Princess really come together for me. An easy 4/5 stars.

[Flo Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this story of a head strong girl finding her happily ever after in the most unlikely circumstances.

[Amarilli 73 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dopo aver letto il primo volume, ho deciso di dare una seconda possibilità alla serie delle "principesse perdute", ma devo dire che il secondo capitolo ha, di fatto, accresciuto le mie perplessità.

La principale critica che muovo è l'assurdità, al limite del surreale, della trama complessiva.
Immaginate tre principesse in fuga (sin da bambine) da un (inventato) regno minuscolo dei Pirenei, insieme a un principe di un altrettanto regno immaginario, anche lui esiliato.
Mentre la nonna lotta a casa per riprendere il potere, le sorelle vagano per la Scozia (ma perché?) senza sapere bene cosa fare di se stesse (forse farsi sposare da nobili ricchi?).

La seconda sorella Amy, ad esempio, ha trovato ospitalità presso una anziana un po' svagata e non può restare insensibile di fronte alle presunte ingiustizie del nobile del luogo, che non tratta bene i propri fittavoli.
Ora, a parte che fa un po' ridere che questa tizia che vive a carico degli altri pensi bene di fare la Robin Hood anziché (magari) iniziare a lavorare e aiutare economicamente di suo (mi ricorda un po' certe progressiste di oggi che sono sempre a invocare diritti per tutti e poi manco si sognano di lavorare e pagare le tasse di solidarietà per la collettività), ma è l'ideona di Amy che mi ha lasciato basita.
Ebbene, convince il villaggio a "rapire" il marchese del luogo, per chiedere un riscatto, con tanto di prigionia in catene e lezioni di biasimo morale riversate sul malcapitato.

Una trama oggettivamente forzata e una protagonista insipida e fastidiosa.
Inutile dire che ho sempre tifato per il povero marchese sequestrato.

[Sally Lindsay-briggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were several scenarios of x-rated love making which I didn’t appreciate. The story line was interesting, beginning with the kidnapping of Marquess Jermyn by princess Amy. He learns much about his poor community and she although feisty, learns to forgive.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amy doesn't want to be a princess. She wants to explore the world, be unrefined, and have adventures. Fortunately for her, she's a princess in exile with assassins after her. She finds a temporary haven on the isle of Summerwind. The residents have been neglected by their lord, so they decide to kidnap him to teach him a lesson. Obviously, he and Amy end up falling in love.
Amy is delightful: witty, defiant, spirited, and clever. Lord Northcliffe is rather highhanded, demanding, and alpha, but I've got a little more patience for that kind of thing in historical novels than contemporary ones. The plot is suspenseful and amusing; really kept me turning pages! The only complaint I have is the use of more modern euphemisms for parts of the male anatomy, specifically one that is a synonym for rooster. This really detracted from my enjoyment of the steamy parts. Other than that,the book was fantastic.

[Evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Held my interest to the end - lighthearted with some mystery

[Kit★ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars! Not a lot of thought went into selecting this one as my next read, it was more or less random. I'd found it at Goodwill months ago and bought it because Dodd's always been a favorite romance author of mine. Reading this one actually kinda made me want to go back and re-read some of my old favorites by her (most notably is A Well Favored Gentleman, man I used to love that one). This one was good too. I'll admit the premise was a little silly to me at first, what with the whole 'exiled princess kidnaps an English lord and holds him hostage' thing, but it turned out to be kind of amusing. Especially with Victorine Sprott as a secondary player. She's a sweet, cute little old lady, but she's got some snap. I kinda pictured her as a Betty White type. She did a little matchmaking and always saw the good in people. The only thing I was left wondering was did Jermyn ever recompense her for the theft of her beading machine or what? That was such a big issue for her in the beginning, and then wasn't mentioned again. The villain of this tale is the wicked, greedy uncle of the hero, Jermyn, who at first is a typical spoiled lord, gaming, wenching, spending his days doing whatever he pleases, leaving his uncle in charge of everything, the money, the tenants, and care of multiple estates... everything. Which of course he wasn't caring for as he should've been. This is where Miss Sprott and our heroine Amy are affected. And a side note... Amy? Such a simple name for a princess and was that even a name back then? I always kinda thought Amy was a more modern name like Tiffany or Britney. I could be wrong though. They live on the isle of Summerwind, which kept making me think of that Sinatra song by the same name that I love, lol. The villagers on the isle have been neglected by their liege lord for many years, and they can't take it anymore, and hence the plan to kidnap Jermyn. I wasn't real fond of his name either, like, was it pronounced like 'german' or was it more like 'jare-men', like chairman? Cuz Jeremy is with the 'jare' sound... ugh confusing, and not very sexy sounding either way. So I just referred to him as Northcliff, his title. So anyway, Amy, posing as a maid, drugs some wine while he's out secluded alone in his gardens, and with help from a village man who used to be friends with Northcliff, they haul him off to the island, where she chains him with an old manacle in Miss Sprott's cellar. They then send a ransom note to his uncle, but Uncle, (having been trying to arrange accidents to kill North pretty much all his life) refuses to pay. Some kidnappers killing him fits the uncle's plans perfectly. But of course the ladies aren't really going to kill him. They just give him an earful about how he's been a terrible, neglectful lord, and how the village is suffering, and poor old Miss Sprott is living in a sad little rundown cottage with a leaky roof and broken china. Especially sad since when North was a boy he and Miss Sprott used to hang out all the time. But North quit being such a good boy after his mama ran away, giving him some issues with women to work through. Amy, on the other hand, is a princess whose country was torn by rebellion when she was but a child, and as a result, she and her two sisters were sent away, the eldest one hidden, and Amy and Clarice in a boarding school for a little while, and then in a life on the run after a false messenger told them assassins were after them. Clarice has her own book (#1), as does the elder sister, Sorcha (#3). I don't have them yet, but I'm looking for them for sure. But anyway, Amy's always been the wild child, bold, outspoken, clever, etc. I liked her, she was easy to relate to, though she seemed too modern at times. She and North are at odds from the get go, and he's in ardent lust for her from the moment he wakes up from the drugged wine, thinking dirty thoughts all the time. It didn't take him long at all to be lust/love struck, and the only big misunderstanding lasted but briefly there towards the end. I liked that, how there wasn't loads of stupid misunderstandings, that gets annoying after awhile. It takes her a little longer to like him, but once he starts working his manly charms, she's soon thinking dirty thoughts as often as he is. There was a goodly amount of heat to this book, and that was nice for my mood today ;) So once they work out their differences and fend off an assassination attempt on Northcliff's life from a thug sent by Uncle, things turn out with a whirlwind wedding, after which the couple sneaks over to North's estate to spend a couple of days honeymooning, all the while leaving everyone to believe he's still kidnapped save for a couple select servants, and of course the villagers back on the isle. Once the ruse is up, their next plan is to throw North's 30th birthday smash and catch his uncle trying to off him. The plan goes amazingly well, as the whole party sees the 'murder'. However, North's not dead of course, and as he 'fell' over the cliffs when his uncle pushed him, he found his mother's remains left revealed from a cave that had partially washed away during a recent storm. After climbing back up to the house, he confronts Uncle, and Uncle confesses that North's mama had been getting wise to Unc's siphoning of money from his brother's fortune while acting as their bookkeeper, and so he killed her to keep his secret, and let everyone believe she had run away and abandoned her husband and son. When Amy comes into the room they're in, Uncle tries to shoot her, but the gun he has was plugged, and it explodes, killing him. After everything's settled, Amy and Northcliff get officially married in a church, and are soon to be planning for the arrival of their first child. As a wedding gift, North has had Clarice and her husband and child come to visit, and the book ends on a sequel-inducing note, with Sorcha's royal betrothed setting off to find her and bring her back to her kingdom. Really made me want to get the other two books badly! I want to get to know all about the girls' kingdom of Boumontagne, and the events that led to their exile, and Sorcha's prince, what's his story? I want to find them soo so I can find out. Also, I feel I'll learn more about Amy by reading Clarice's book, find out what happened to her before she washed up on the isle and started living with Miss Sprott. Good book, amusing and highly entertaining. 3.5 Stars!

[Meghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me over a decade to get to this book. Not because I didn’t want to, I honestly done have any excuses. But I’m so glad I read it, Amy was a bada** and I loved the people of the village.
The first book in this series was my first historical romance and at this moment still my favorite in the series. I’m very much looking forward to the next and I promise not to wait another decade to read it.
Jermyn is a spoiled Lord who isn’t taking care of his lands or the people on them. He’s leaving all of that to his uncle. Amy wants to be a Robin Hood of sorts so she comes up with a plan to kidnap Jermyn and ransom him. Thing do not go as planned 😬

[Rose May · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: This review, and all my reviews, comes from my blog - Romantic Rose's Bookshelf (http://romantic-rosesblog.blogspot.com)


Book 2 in the Lost Princesses Series

This book started out great… and got progressively worse, which was terribly disappointing. In the beginning, when our princess-in-hiding, Amy Rosabel, kidnaps our hero, Lord Northcliff (Jermyn Edmondson), with the intention of making him take notice of the poor way his tenants are living, the scenes are sarcastic, humorous, and witty. Dodd subjects Jermyn to Amy’s tough love treatment, and it’s hysterically funny to watch him rage and rage to no avail. He’s kind of (okay, definitely) a jerk in the beginning, which makes it doubly fun.

From there, the book goes downhill. Amy becomes too docile for my liking, and I missed her fire. Jermyn undergoes a radical change of character that isn’t well explained. The plot becomes silly, with too many small elements (that are even occasionally contradictory) thrown in to try and keep our interest in a story that’s less exciting by the page. The plot was downright boring by the end, and I struggled to continue reading as it was pretty predictable. After one explosive scene where Jermyn ties Amy up, and she fights to get free (which I loved), even the romantic plot goes downhill – especially with Jermyn’s TSTL tantrum.

Jermyn has trust issues because his mother ‘left’ when he was a kid and has a TSTL temper tantrum when he discovers Amy left her sister because ‘no female can ever have loyalty when they leave their happily married sister to go off in search of their own destiny. Please. That would be too normal. Die, ye evil wench, and be vanquished from my life forever as my soul is ripped out of my chest by the terrible nature of your betrayal – which by the way was not even to me personally, but I shall take it that way so that I may forgive thee nevermore for thy non-sins.’

Seriously.

I hate those stupid temper tantrums. They don’t make sense – and who wants to be married to an unreasonable jerk who has stupid snits like that? ***** REALLY REALLY BIG SPOILER ALERT***** Who, by the way, is okay with you leaving him and has all his trust issues resolved when he discovers that his mother didn’t leave him when he was little to be with her lover, but was actually murdered by his ass of an uncle. Yes. That would make me trust people again, too. WTF? ***** END OF REALLY REALLY BIG SPOILER ALERT***** So, really our hero – despite some good scenes where I like him – is an unreasonable, reformed-for-no-apparent-reason good guy.

One more thing – Jermyn’s attitude toward women started out as really superior and breathtakingly annoying, and it was hard for me to see definitive change in his thought process. It was clear it did change I was just left wondering as to why. In fact it was hard to see the reasons for Jermyn’s behavioral change at all, which was annoying. You could tell it occurred, but you weren’t quite sure when or what specifically triggered that change as Dodd never writes about any epiphanies that Jermyn has. There’s one time when he starts to have a revelation – but it’s really a rather insignificant moment. On the whole, he was not a good hero and Amy was only a great, unique heroine until she fell in love with Jermyn. That was perhaps the most disappointing part of the whole story for me – the loss of her fiery spirit.

Some other problems - in the ton, being a Princess would be a huge deal, but when Amy is introduced as a princess it's like they meet princesses every other day. Also, why is she so blasé about everyone knowing she's a princess when she's kept it a secret all these years? You'd think with assassins purportedly after her, she'd be a bit more worried. Finally, there appears to be a gay earl towards the end of the book. Now, please don't think I'm discriminating against gays. I live in NY. We have legal gay marriages as of yesterday. Half of my best guy friends are gay. I support everyone being sexy in their own way, so don't take this as a homophobic I-hate-gays statement because I LOVE ALL PEOPLE EQUALLY REGARDLESS OF SEXUALITY. Okay? But truth be told, people in historical times did not love or respect gay people and there were very few open gays. And people certainly never joked about it. I mean, come on, it's barely acceptable in our times. It certainly wouldn't have been acceptable then. It was little nuisances like those mentioned above that really wrecked the ending for me and annoyed me. I'm not a stickler for historical facts, but when an author blatantly ignores the historical culture it pisses me off. I bought a historical, not a contemporary - and the characters should act accordingly.

Finally, in the Kindle edition (which may not be true of other print editions) there were some grammar mistakes. There were also a few contradictory statements – for example, Miss Victorine (the adorable old lady who is an accomplice to Jermyn’s kidnapping) is described as bony when Jermyn holds her – and a few pages later, her face is described as plump. Hmmm…. But those mistakes were minor, and did not impede/influence my enjoyment (or lack thereof, towards the end) of the novel which went from breezy and fun to stilted and boring relatively quickly.

“Sexy”ness rating: Hot

Overall Rating: C

Bottom Line: Starts out great but is pretty average and unexciting by the end. A unique principle for the beginning, what with the kidnapping of the heroine done by Amy. Hero is damn annoying in the beginning, just as a warning…

[Bruna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Još bolja od prethodne iz serijala!

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet and light historical romance.

[Veronica (Honey Roselea Reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

cute! Amy's definitely more headstrong and I think the romance between her and Jermyn was cute. But, the chemistry wasn't super strong. That being said, I still really enjoyed their romance.

[Amber Daulton · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the second book in the Lost Princesses trilogy, Princess Amy of Beaumontagne is in trouble, but she’s too stubborn to realize it. After she left her sister Clarise two years earlier, she’s lived a life of danger and finally finds a home on the small English island of Summerwind. Now friends with the villagers, Amy is appalled to learn that a dastardly marquess owns the island. The people are starving and in danger of losing their decrepit homes because they cannot pay the rent. So she decides to put a stop to it and kidnaps the marquess to hold him for ransom.
Jermyn Edmondon, the marquess of Northcliff, wakes up chained to a cot in a cellar. He doesn’t know why he’s there or why his kidnapper, Amy, hates him with a passion. He’s arrogant, rude, a male chauvinist, and he believes himself so superior to everyone around him, especially the women. As he and Amy butt heads, he begins to realize his lazy, carefree lifestyle has threatened to ruin the lives of the people he once respected. Not only that, the crooked manager of his estate may be the real threat to his life, not the mysterious, sensual Amy.
Amy is a wonderful heroine, but her temper often gets the better of her. Of the three princesses, she was always the wild one who broke the rules in the name of justice. She’s strong, passionate, and willing to do anything for those she cares about.
Jermyn is a very unlikable character at first. His disdain, coldness, and haughtiness irritated me—as the author surely intended for her readers—but his attitude hides deep pain. Once his back story is revealed, I sympathized with him. I definitely loved the way he matured in captivity and the way Amy grew to trust her own feelings in the sexy marquess’s arms.
Other than stray POV shifts that I’ve come to expect, there were a few typos like repeated back-to-back words and missing words. I noticed a few inconsistencies between books 1 and 2. For example: in book 1, Prince Rainger was imprisoned for eight years. In book 2, it’s seven years. Despite little things like that, I enjoyed the book and look forward to reading Rainger and Sorcha’s story, the conclusion to the trilogy.
4 Stars

[Katherine 黄爱芬 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Setelah lama tidak bertemu dengan tokoh hero yang geblek dan ajaib.... sekaranglah saatnya!!!! Jermyn, Marquess of Northcliff terbukti sudah super ke-PEDE-an.

Berawal Amy, si princess Beaumontaigne, si bungsu yang liar, yang melarikan diri dari kakaknya di Skotlandia. Kemudian Amy berkomplot dengan Miss Victorine untuk menculik Jermyn dan meminta tebusan 10.000 pounds kepada pamannya. Sial bagi Jermyn, pamannya yang memang sudah mengharapkan Jermyn untuk mati muda, tidak menghiraukan ancaman tersebut.
Di lain pihak, Jermyn jengkel bukan main selama ditawan dan dibelenggu oleh Amy. Dan dia tidak menampik bahwa dia tertarik kepada Amy dan bertekad untuk menjadikan Amy sebagai simpanannya. Tetapi kemudian dia berubah pikiran dan memanipulasi Amy sehingga bisa menikahi Amy dengan sah dan tidak sah. Adegan disini digambarkan dengan sangat kocak oleh author, dimana Amy sampai digendong paksa oleh Jermyn melewati lengkung pernikahan.

Kemudian, mau tidak mau Amy berkomplot dengan Jermyn untuk menjebak pamannya yang licik dan serakah... dimana akhir dari plot ini digambarkan Jermyn akhirnya mengetahui kebenaran dari ketiadaan ibunya. Dan baik Amy maupun Jermyn akhirnya mengetahui bahwa mereka mencintai satu sama lain.

Yang menarik dari buku ini juga..banyak sekali kata-kata hewan yang diumbar oleh pikiran Amy seperti babi dan kutu kepada Jermyn...Hmmm...jadi membayangkan boneka babi gw. Sepertinya tepat untuk diberi nama Jermyn.

[Wordsworth · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. A fun romp if you deliberately blind yourself to the many problems, especially the misogynistic jerk who plays the hero. You can make a woman-hating, selfish cad your protagonist, but you can't make him a sympathetic and appealing lover by having your strong-willed heroine fall for him despite his proclivity for taking what he wants without thought for others, including through sexual assault and marriage by abduction. And you can't redeem him by proving that the women he doubts are blameless!! NO! His opinion on half the world's population should NOT hinge on one person's behavior, and if it does that reflects on him as a serious character flaw of close-minded bigotry.
Secondarily, Amy's a bit irrationally unhinged as well-- she's as trigger-happy as any insulted revolver-toting desperado. Many little things she does don't sit right, which I chalk up to inconsistency in the writing, in that she has too many opposing tendencies that I won't unpack in this brief review.
Inconsistencies show up in other places as well, mostly with minor effects, but most notably that Jermyn has a crippling leg injury that we are explicitly told will be made irreparable with further injury, and he further injures it (twice!)... but then we never hear of it again, even when he's performing feats of acrobatics that require full, agile use of his limbs.

[Su Halfwerk · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book had an interesting plot that started strong, with a definite humorous angle to it. A strong minded heroine, a stubborn and a bit of a jerk hero, a possible disappearance to be explained.
However,
I couldn't understand from where the shift in the hero's nature came. he was a jerk at one moment, and suddenly he was fixing all his errors because Amy showed him that his approach to running his business was wrong. How? Through the few judgmental statements she threw at him? I couldn't buy it.
Jermyn had an issue that didn't explain his childish tantrum, a device that was supposed to keep the reader interested but, at least for me, removed all faith in this man. I'm not going to spoil it for you, when you read the book, you'll know which unbelievable tantrum he threw toward end of the book I'm talking about.
There were few descriptions that didn't fit as well. Miss Victorin was described as bony, but then she had plump face!!! This is however is minor in my opinion. What really did it for me was the way Jermyn acted.
The wrap up at the end was lovely, though. It was heart warming and I can't think of a better way to end a book with a hint at the next one.
Since this is my first Dodd book, I will definitely give her another try.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored this book. I've always found the kidnapping then falling in love story rather trite and bizarre. Yet with the hero being kidnapped by the heroine, I found myself enjoying every moment. Maybe I'm just enjoying the man fulfilling a role that women traditionally take in this genre for once.

Amy got on my nerves a bit. She seemed petulant and childish for someone of her age, especially given the historical period the story took place. Jermyn was a jerk and equally childish at the very beginning. But I think he evolved the most in terms of characters and I really enjoyed him as the book progressed.

I am very tired of the misunderstanding trope (edit: whatever the heck its called). If I am in a relationship with you (and I am because I've slept with you and we're stuck together for long periods of time), then don't go running off with something I've said because you have _____ issues. Whatever those issues are, if you can't take two seconds to get your head out of your butt-hurt and actually listen, then I probably would not be in a relationship with you to begin with. But this is fiction, so I am a little more forgiving when it comes to fantasy escapism.

Overall, I enjoyed the book very much. Book number one will be my favorite for a while.

[Trudy Miner · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of three princesses banished from their small country of Beaumontange, Amy has at last landed on the island of Summerwind. But all is not well in Summerwind; the crops are not doing well, the marquess is skimming all the profits and not keeping up with repairs. So Amy, who is a bold and brash young woman, hatches a plan to kidnap the marquess and hold him for ransom. Handsome as sin and arrogant to boot, Jermyn doesn't take well to being chained in a basement by Amy and Miss Victorine but they were all surprised when his uncle refused to pay the ransom! As Amy dithers with Jermyn's uncle, who just wishes they'd kill his nephew and be done with it, she has a bigger problem with the growing attraction between Jermyn and herself. What will happen when he finds out that she's really a princess and not someone to just dally with? Oh, and then there's Uncle Harrison. Did I mention the assassins who are after Princess Amy and her sisters? What a delicious tale!

[Winter Aragon · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is rare to read about a princess who is rebellious, hard-headed, and simply doesn't follow traditions.

But here is Princess Amy, who was forced to leave their chaotic kingdom in the high Pyrenees. Life in exile has taught Amy that you can only bring justice to people when you act upon it. So, she kidnapped and imprisoned Jermyn, the Marquess of Northcliff. The plan worked, however, his uncle didn't want to give the ransom; instead, he wanted them to kill Jermyn.

This is the second story from The Lost Princesses of Christina Dodd. I actually like Amy's strong personality and how she handled her prisoner. Jermyn, on the other hand, seemed fascinated instead of scared. These two had to cope with the loss of their loved ones and learn to let go.

[_inbetween_]

Meh. What an outset, and what a letdown. Thanks to modern publishing customs, even Dodd did indeed become bad, or lazy. I had feared as much - I'd not usually buy anything about "princesses" but Dodd had been different and good before. Now she does not even write (out) the letters that infuriate the villainous uncle, so narrow has her writing become. She tries to stick to the woman-loves-loving-when-not-overpowered but - but. Hero starts crochetting lace at one point, but that is also only told. It actually ends with the teaser of the next novel, and that other hero was intriguing, but that is the worst of tactics, the worst of the likes of Julia Quinn *sad at heart* another one down.

[Paraphrodite · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

This is the youngest of the three lost princesses, Amy, whom we met in Some Enchanted Evening where she decided to leave her older sister in Scotland and make her own way.

We meet Amy a couple of years later living with a little old lady in a rundown cottage and the whole village in desperate straits. Amy concocted a scheme to kidnap the landowner, Jermyn, the Marquess of Northcliff, for ransom to help the villagers. But things don't go according to plan as Jermyn's uncle refuses to pay the ransom.....

An enjoyable HR by an author at the top of her game. I'm looking forward to Prince Rainger's hunt of the last sister.

[Letitia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't really enjoy this book past the first few chapters. Dodd's ability with words can only disguise her one-dimensional characters and contrived plot for so long...

[delica. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very lovely series. But this one is my absolute favorite.

[Sandra Swartz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one much better than the first one. On to the last one now. Hoping the princesses find their way home.