Customer Reviews

Cordina's Crown Jewel (Silhouette Special Edition No. 1448)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"Cordina's Crown Jewel" is the story of Camilla MacGee, the daughter of the couple featured in Roberts' 1986 "Affaire Royale." She's a runaway princess, burned out from all the responsibility and notoriety that comes with her position. She ends up in Vermont, her car the victim of a deer and a thunderstorm. There she ends up working for cantankerous archeologist Delaney Caine. Delaney knows she's hiding something, but not that she's a princess...

This is an old familiar plot -- princess hides out as "normal person" -- handled in the old familiar Roberts way. Anyone who has read a lot of Roberts knows that she has a lot of stock characters, and sometimes it feels as if whole chunks can be taken out of one book and transposed into another.

Still, millions read Roberts for a reason. Her writing is smooth and easy, and her characters are appealing and just complex enough to interest. Camilla's story flows well, and Delaney is a marvellously charming curmudgeon (even if he's too young to be a curmudgeon!).

A good, smooth read that fans of Roberts will truly enjoy.

"Cordina's Crown Jewel" is a wonderful tale about two very different people thrown together by fate. Camilla de Cordina, the highly sought after princess of the small (fictitious) Mediterranean country of Cordina, has had all that she can handle of her duties and the constant media attention surrounding her. Perilously close to having a nervous breakdown, Cordina decides that she will run away and take a few weeks to find out who she really is. Not long into her journey, she crashes her rental car in the backwoods of Vermont, and is rescued in the midst of a violent summer storm by Dr. Delaney Caine.
Delaney takes Camilla back to his cabin, where he grudgingly allows her to spend the night. However, as time moves on, Camilla becomes more and more fascinated by and more and more attracted to this prickly archaeologist. Del offers Camilla a temporary job transcribing notes from his latest dig, and inadvertently helps Camilla find her passion in life. Camilla is absolutely enthralled by Del's work, and by Del. Del also finds this classy beauty highly intriguing, and begins to see that she fills a void in his life he didn't even know was there.
As their relationship progresses, Camilla knows that she must tell Del who she really is. But will Del be able to accept Camilla's demanding life as a princess? And will he be able to forgive her for her dishonesty?
You'll just have to read the book and find out for yourself.
I really enjoyed this book. Camilla and Del are both wonderfully rich and vivid characters, with realistic flaws and strengths. These two will compel you to read their story. The romance they share is passionate and exciting and treats the reader to some very sexy scenes.
Once again Nora Roberts has crafted a captivating story with characters who make you care and a plot that keeps you turning pages. I highly recommend this book, so buy it today!

Nora has always been hit or miss for me. I love some of her books, and in others the characters are too one dimensional to me, the plot isn't interesting, so I don't enjoy the books. This was a great exception! I loved both characters! The princess gets stranded on the side of the road during a storm in Vermont on her path to self discovery and who should rescue her but a knight in shining armor! Not! More like an unshaven, grumpy man in a white charger. He very reluctantly helped her. Del didn't want her in the way of his work and cabin, and wouldn't admit, though he convinces her to stay, when he discovers Camilla was really a great help to him since he was injured and only had one useful hand. His rudeness and sarcasm had me rolling all over the floor. Camilla was great, smart, eager to learn, always gracious and dismissing, sometimes even humoring, his sarcasm, at times even grateful it wasn't the groveling that she was used to. Their conversations were hilarious! When he opened his heart her I almost cried at how hard he tried to be romantic and how he worried when she was gone too long. He loved her without knowing her rank in society. They both had pride, though. That infuriated me! After the truth about her rank came out, his pride was hurt that she didn't trust him enough to be honest, and her pride wouldn't wait until he settled down to work things out. You'll see how things work things out in the end. You see, she wasn't the only one who held a noble title. Interesting! Read this book.

I can't believe this book only got 4 stars. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is only 241 pages. One you can read in a day or two. Del and Camilla were characters you fall in love with. I hated to see this book end. Buy it, you won't be sorry. This one is a keeper.

Once again, Nora Roberts has given us a chance to escape to a delightful world of romance where the men are gorgeous and the women Princesses! Cordina and Delaney, the protagonists, are perfect, strong when they need to be, opinionated, and striking sparks off each other from their first meeting! Their gradual descent into the murky confusion of mutual attraction is enormous fun, and it's especially delightful to watch rugged Delaney Caine's facade of macho imperturbability disintegrate around him with the help of home-cooked meals and pot-pourri! It is indeed a typical Roberts romance - but few do it as well and very few do it any better! It's a joy to lose oneself in this charming tale of passion vs. poise, elegant female vs. elemental male - this book has everything we read romances for! A definite keeper.

Another winner by Nora Roberts.
Camilla needs some time alone, time to not be a princess. So off she goes on a trip alone. She gets a job working with an archeologist and thus begins the adventure of a lifetime. Del is interesting, sexy and in need of a feminine hand. As the sparks fly, Camilla learns to accept who she is and becomes ready to step into her role as leader of her country. Del has to come to grips with the fact that he has fallen in love and then with the information he has fallen in love with a princess.

A true romance and a true joy to read. It is short enough to read in a long night or a day. I enjoyed every minute of it and was sorry to see it end.

Enjoy.

Courtesy of Love Romances
http://www.loveromances.com

Camilla de Cordina was tired of being a princess. She needed a break and took a few weeks off to experience life as an ordinary girl. After 10 days of her happy adventure, her car broke down in a storm and was rescued by a broken-armed archaeologist, Delaney Caine. Delaney stayed in Vermont trying to recover from injuries that happened during an archaeological dig in Florida. Vermont seemed to be the perfect place for Camilla to hide from the press. She was running out of money, so when Del asked her to work temporarily as his assistant and housekeeper in return for her lodgings in his cabin, she could not refuse. Camilla soon realized that Del was a brilliant archaeologist and fell in love with him. She wasn't sure if Del felt the same with her so she decided to seduce him. Would Del be able to resist this royal beauty?

CORDINA'S CROWN JEWEL is the extension of the Cordina' Royal Family series. As usual, Ms. Roberts has delivered another mesmerizing story of Royal romance. Camilla and Del are the princess and the knight in shining armour from two different worlds and backgrounds. Camilla is well liked by the public, well educated with social grace, where Del is bonehead with terrible manners and an outrageous temper. Camilla lives most of her life in luxuries and Del spends his life in sites recovering ancient bones. What brings them together are the passion and their interest in archaeology, and a little magic by the author.

This is a sequel to Roberts's "Affair Royale" featuring the daughter of the couple in that novel. This follows the development of romance between Princess Camilla de Cordina and Delaney Caine in a somewhat predictable pattern. The princess gets bored with her high profile life, runs away and hides under an assumed identity, is rescued by a fabulous hero, falls in love with him, and then is reluctant to reveal herself to him and gets caught before being honest. This results in their seperation, during which both act as though they are just fine without the other, and their eventual making up, which involves both of them admitting they couldn't survive without each other.
Even though the plot is predictable, it is very well written in Nora Roberts's typically smooth style and is a classic love story. Also, an added bonus is the fairy tale element of royalty in disguise, which always makes a story better. All in all, a very good book and a definite buy for any avid fan of Nora Roberts like myself.

This book was a very enjoyable trip; lightweight but enjoyable. Real life is so filled with drama that it is a pleasure to be able to relinquish one's grasp on reality and just float into a lovely fantasy world where right always wins, the women are beautiful, the men are handsome, the gardens never have weeds and the pets don't mess up your house. Nora Roberts is a master at creating these environments and Cordinia's Crown Jewel is a sterling example of her art. Some will probably feel it is too lightweight; that's why there's chocolate and vanilla: so thete will be something for everyone. For an ejoyable read that will lift you out of the real world for a while, will give you a chuckle or two and that will eventually leave you smiling and sighing, "yeah, right!", this is a book not to be missed.

I am a huge Nora Roberts fan but this book was not my favorite. I just couldn't get into the characters. I liked Del...but couldn't get a solid picture in my mind which doesn't happen very often when reading Nora's books....Cam was ok but typical....it was a fast read and I really liked the ending...the characters fought throughout the book...but it was a very romantic ending! It is worth the time but not her best work....