Sarah Mac’s Reviews > Compromised by the Prince's Touch > Status Update

Klara is so empowered that she won't even try to ward off a rapey suitor via HER FATHER or HER LOVER, because said slimy duke says he can have them harmed. Your father's a foreign ambassador. Your lover's an ex-pat prince. You, on the other hand, have no money, power, or social standing without a male protector. Sorry, but it's the truth. TELL SOMEONE FFS.

These MCs are okay as characters, but I like them better apart than together. Their twu wuvseems forced, like the author keeps hammering it into their thoughts because they're not showing it of their own accord. Nikolay has more natural chemistry with his buddy Stepan than Klara -- not a good look for a Harley hero. :P

'What was her worth to her father? Was she truly a daughter or merely a pawn? She had allowed herself to admit she played the game to earn her father's attentions, but never had she allowed herself to think that was the whole sum of her value to him. That was a bold question indeed.'

'No knife for her, but a riding crop could work wonders. [...] He'd begin w/ her as he meant to go on, tho. No sense in doing otherwise. Klara needed a stronger hand than he'd anticipated. But he was up to the challenge. He shifted on the seat & undid his trousers. He put a hand on himself & stroked hard. Oh yes, he was up to the challenge in all ways.' ....Lolz. Creepy Lord Amesbury, you're a charmer. ^___^

'They could ruminate all they liked on his reference to being so far from 'home.' They could also speculate on his awareness that he knew they plotted, safe on English shores. It was hardly a unique idea. Russia was always plotting, but that made it no less dangerous.'

Haven't read this author before, but I couldn't pass up such an unusual premise in the HQN stable of milk-and-water Regencies. At least the heroine is feisty & extroverted -- a nice change from the army of wallflowers.