The shocking secret of her ancestry thrust her into a vortex of danger and desire...
Beautiful Nicole Duchard was stunned when imperial envoy Dimitri Denisov whisked her from her humble Boston home to establish her as Princess Natasha Steanova. It didn't take long for Dimitri to discover in the eyes of this Yankee Princess a wild spirit to match his own, and in the loveliness of her body a fire that betrayed her passion. But as a long-lost, secret royal love child, Nicole's lineage threatened the throne of Catherine the Great and she became victim to rapacious palace intrigues.
Forced to suffer the degradations and ravages of an auction-block marriage... a bloody serf uprising... a cruel Siberian exile, she followed her still tender heart along a treacherous path to freedom and fulfillment—and into the arms of the one audacious gentleman who intoxicated her with love's irresistible promise...
Maggie Osborne is the author of I Do, I Do, I Do and Silver Lining, as well as more than forty contemporary and historical romance novels written as Maggie Osborne and Margaret St. George. She has won numerous awards from Romantic Times, Affaire de Coeur, BookraK, the Colorado Romance Writers, and Coeur du Bois, among others. Osborne won the RITA for long historical from the Romance Writers of America in 1998. Maggie lives in a resort town in the Colorado mountains with her husband, one mule, two horses, one cat, and one dog, all of whom are a lot of aggravation, but she loves them anyway.
I really loved this book, it reminds me of all the reasons I love bodice rippers. All of the adventures, the blurb on the back of the book says it all;
"The shocking secret of her Ancestry thrusts her into a vortex of danger and desire. Beautiful Nicole Duchard was stunned when imperial envoy Dimitri Denisov whisked her from her humble Boston home to establish her as Princess Natasha Stepanova. It didn't take long for Dimitri to discover in the eyes of this Yankee Princess a wild spirit to match his own, and in the loveliness of her body a fire that betrayed her passion. But long lost, secret royal love child, Nicole's lineage threatened the throne of Catherine the Great and she became the victim to rapacious palace intrigues. Forced to suffer the degradations and ravages of an auction-block marriage....a bloody serf uprising..a cruel Siberian exile,she followed her still tender heart along a treacherous path to freedom and fulfillment-and into the arms of the one audacious gentleman who intoxicated her with love's irresistible promise..."
I really like Nicole's character, she was kind, smart, strong and a fighter. Dimitri was also a very likable charcter, with the exception of one incident on board the ship ( he only did it for her own good, it's best just to face what you fear the most.lol) Once he falls in love with Nicole there is no shaking his love or loyalty.
The background characters were wonderful. Yuri, the man who bought her for marriage, was a wonderfull sweet man. Larisca, Yuri's sister-in-law was just as kind. Katya, Yuri's mother became another mother to Nicole, another author might have made this family evil and mean but Maggie Osborne made them a loving family. I loved Vadim, Dimitir's "diad'ka (the person responsible for the care of a young nobleman in the years that he's too old for a nursemaid but too young for a tutor) he was like a loving Uncle. I loved to hear his stories about Ivan Ivanovich. Palva, her maid with sticky fingers, she really came in handy.lol
I've really been enjoying reading Maggie Osborne's books. This is one of her older ones and not like THE WIFES OF BOWIE STONE or SILVERLING, in the back of this book there is a small list of others she had written before this one. I think I'll look those up and see if I can't find them.
Has the flavor of a Cinderella take-off. Nicole Duchard is the heroine and Catherine the Great is the wicked witch in this one.
Spanning continents, the beginning takes place in colonial Boston, roughly 3 years after the Boston Tea Party. Boston is currently under British control. Great Britain is determined to get the money for the Tea the Bostonians tossed into the sea. The Bostonians are secretly making plans for futher rebellion towards Britian, (prelude for the American Revolution.
In the mist of all this, Imperial Russian protégés appear at her door, and she is swept off to discover everything she knows about herself is suddenly all mixed up.
Pirates enter the picture during this sea voyage and her ship is overtaken. What occurs then is brutal violence.
Next stop, St. Petersburg, where plots and court intrigue surround this little gal from Boston.
Many adventures befall the little colonial. Most of them are very, very bad and became an emotional read for me.
The action is non-stop right up to page 456. Revolution, wars, rape, brutality, intrigue, it was difficult to put the book down.
Maggie Osborne inserted a couple of characters into the mix to lighten up the drama somewhat and add sparks of humor. Thank you Ms Osborne, it was the saving grace for such a heavy plot.
There were two incidences that became a bit frustrating for me. One revolved around a marriage. One chapter the woman was single. When I turned the page to the next chapter…she was married. That stopped me. I had to flip previous pages to see if any were missing. They weren’t, but it all worked out ok eventually but I still feel a bit frustrated by it. The other incidence involves a conversation which took place toward the end of the book. A British doctor repeated to Nicole a conversation he overheard between Nicole and her friend. That friend knew VERY little English, and what she did know she butchered so badly it was funny as hell. So, Nicole and her friend generally resorted to conversing in Russian and I doubt the conversation the British doctor overheard was spoken in Russian…
Well, the frustration for me was not enough to diminish how great this book is.
Bodice Ripper Colonial Imperial Russia Rape Violence Pirates Alpha Male Prelude to American Revolution Catherine the Great Court intrigue heroine finds her strengths
So good till the last 1/4 of the book - the characters were elimated from the excitement to make way for pages of same ole same ole Revolutionary war details
I loved the versatile Character Nicole/ Natuscha /Nadia had to play. It makes a person feel powerful, in a sense, you can be anything you are set to be. I loved the fact that the heroine had to be strong and motivated and knowledgeable, it is the type of character that makes you look into your own life and think are you doing enough.
Author really had the ability to make one feel that you can travel so many places, endure so many horrible things and end up to be a better self, than that person whom started to read the book.