The Illegitimate King (Silhouette Desire) [Mass Market Paperback]

Olivia Gates (Author)

Book Description

Series: Silhouette Desire | Publication Date: July 14, 2009

Once, she'd scorned him. And illegitimate secret prince Ferruccio Selvaggio had sworn he would make her pay. Now, Princess Clarissa D'Agostino was in his power. It was time to teach her a lesson.... The future of the kingdom rested on her. Clarissa knew she had to do whatever it took to convince Ferruccio to accept the crown and save them all. Even if it meant marrying a man who believed the worst of her. Even if it meant giving him her heart.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Silhouette (July 14, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0373769547
• ISBN-13: 978-0373769544
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,393,604 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Conflicting emotional issues collide with passionate desires, July 1, 2009

By 

A. Richard (NC, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Illegitimate King (Silhouette Desire) (Mass Market Paperback)

For the conclusion of The Castaldini Crown trilogy, Olivia Gates lets her imagination soar to new heights as emotions conflict and passions blaze. The depth of the main characters makes this couple realistically believable, and their story brings out many profoundly poignant responses from the reader. THE ILLEGITIMATE KING will raise your heart rate with scorching passionate encounters while also touching you on numerous emotive levels.

The first meeting between Ferruccio Selvaggio and Princess Clarissa D'Agostino does not go well as she rejects his offer to leave with him. Although Ferruccio is illegitimate and his parentage is unidentified, he is actually from a notable family in Castaldini where Clarissa belongs to the royal family. Her repeated refusals just fueled his determination to one day have her go out with him, whether she wants to or not. After six long years, the showdown Ferruccio has been dreaming of participating in is finally taking place, as the princess of Castaldini is being sent to his home.

With her father ailing, a crown prince needs to be immediately obtained. Two candidates have been offered the imperative position, but both refused for personal reasons. When the king says Ferruccio is their next best choice and she must go to confer with him at his request, Clarissa believes he just wants to humiliate her for all the rebuffs. Her plans to be diplomatic vanish as soon as they meet to discuss his terms for becoming the crown prince, as she must keep reminding herself this master manipulator cannot be fully trusted. With numerous false impressions from their first meeting, if Ferruccio and Clarissa cannot see past the doubts clouding their relationship then there can be no future for them and possible no hope for the country of Castaldini.

Olivia Gates brings her unforgettable The Castaldini Crown trilogy to a close, where every aspect brilliantly comes together to craft a story of unrivaled intensity. From the very start, the sexual tension begins to build between Ferruccio and Clarissa, and this combustible heat continues to rise until a breathtakingly described love scene takes place. The fervent reactions conveyed by these two will make you sigh from their exceedingly apparent consuming desire for each other. They also put their longing into words, and several of these expressions are utterly entrancing. Unfortunately, Ferruccio and Clarissa must face way too many dilemmas before they can ever have a relationship with any real contentment, and Ms. Gates definitely takes this couple on a path filled with countless highs and lows. Their feelings of joy over a current set of circumstances could turn to total devastation in an instant without warning, and their anguish over these situations had my own heart aching right along with them. Both of them have haunted pasts, and revelations regarding their background let the reader get a clearer perception into their natures plus cause you to truly care about this spiritedly determined couple. The writing style of Ms. Gates is dramatically visual, as every scene comes alive by letting the reader experience the moment to the fullest in all ways. May any future series imagined by this gifted author be just as memorable. With unanticipated turns, heartfelt desires and a myriad of emotions, THE ILLEGITIMATE KING will not soon be forgotten.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A brilliantly crafted romance, July 23, 2009

By 

Marilyn Shoemaker (Seattle, Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Illegitimate King (Silhouette Desire) (Mass Market Paperback)

The Illegitimate King will probably be my all time favorite Oliva Gates love story because in this particular story, it's not only the passion and banter between them it's the obstacles both Clarissa and Ferruccio had to overcome. The Illegitimate King was brilliant and a fitting ending to The Castaldini Crown.

As the history of the crown is again revealed in the book, one is given the knowledge that there is an illegitimate member of the D'Agostino family who the King and Council believe should be the new King and that's Ferruccio Selvaggio. Just his physical description makes the reader drool but it's not just his looks, it's his past and the demons and hurdles he's had to overcome which make him the man he is today. However, one is made aware of his passion for business and now his passion to lead his country but there's a catch, he wants the King's daughter Clarissa.

Six years earlier the lovely and spirited Clarissa D'Agostino was attending a state function when she spies Ferruccio. They are drawn together immediately by their eye contact and he asks her out and she refuses. For the past six years he has extended invitations and she's refused each and everyone but now she been summoned to his villa to discuss he's becoming King. However, when he reveals he will only become King if he can have her, well let's just say, there are fireworks!

Their pasts are so similar, Clarissa for the most part never felt she was loved for herself, suffered abuse from her mother and now this man wants her but not for who she is, at least that's what she believes. It's the same for Ferruccio, he was adopted and fled his foster home and grew up in the streets! In the end, for both of them to find actually that they both want love and family was wonderful to read.

The Illegitimate King is brilliantly crafted, the love scenes sensual and amazing plus the fire and passion between them just leaps off the pages. The build up to their union, the coronation and wedding and the blow one receives when there is a secret revealed at the end is mind blowing! This book is a perfect ending to the perfect series, The Castaldini Crown.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A perfect completion to this emotional, passionate series!, July 14, 2009

By 

D. Merrimon Crawford (Colorado) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Illegitimate King (Silhouette Desire) (Mass Market Paperback)

With a king ailing, the kingdom of Castaldini searches for an heir to the crown. None of the three choices live up to all the rules of succession. Now the hunt for an heir has narrowed down to the third and last remaining choice, Prince Ferruccio Selvaggio, an outsider scorned for the circumstances of his birth and a man bent on revenge for the past misdeeds of the royal family. Above all, Ferruccio plans to teach the spoiled Princess Clarissa D'Agostino a lesson. Clarissa has a mission to secure the future of the kingdom by convincing the prince to return and accept the kingship. She will do whatever it takes, endure any sacrifice, to insure the future of the kingdom. As urgency and plotting bring Ferruccio and Clarissa together, underneath unexpected yet familiar passion inflames their hearts. Will Ferruccio's plan for revenge succeed or will Clarissa change his heart? Will Clarissa be able to confide in him and become the queen she was destined to be, not only of the kingdom but within herself?

In the third and final installment of The Castaldini Crown series, Olivia Gates brings a perfect conclusion to this series as she delves even deeper into the history and passions that inflame the Castaldini royal family. Olivia Gates creates multi-faceted characters whose depth increases the emotional impact of their romance. Ferrucio is an intense alpha male hero with just enough wounded soul to make him much more intriguing than the typical alpha male. Although an outcast with darker motivations, Ferrucio is a man whose rejection has driven him to make a success of his life, the very success upon which the future of the kingdom may rely. Princess Clarissa may appear to be a spoiled princess but there is more to her than meets the eye. Once top of her class at Harvard business school, can Clarissa close the deal with Ferruccio? If closing the deal means revealing the secrets and hurts of the past, will she be able to open her heart to love? In her creation of Clarissa, Olivia Gates makes a bold move that not only gives depth to her character but also to the dynamics of the royal family's emotional background history.

THE ILLEGITIMATE KING is a stunning conclusion to this series. Although this the third book does work as a stand alone, readers of the series will find certain threads developed that were introduced throughout the series and especially in the second book, THE PRODIGAL PRINCE'S SEDUCTION. Now in the third book. Olivia Gates brings a deeper look inside the hidden secrets as they have been passed down. Not only does passion inflame the characters, but together, they unlock the darker secrets within, enabling them to achieve a love that transforms both the hero and heroine into a wholeness for themselves as individuals and also for the kingdom's future. THE ILLEGITIMATE KING is not a book that coasts into a lackluster resolution. As the hero and heroine come closer and closer to the romantic happily-ever-after, Olivia Gates ramps up the level of wonderful surprises, inner glimpses and passionate scenes. From first moment to last, THE ILLEGITIMATE KING is an emotional, passionate romance that takes the reader to the very heart of her characters.

In this, her second Desire series, Olivia Gates brings a new look into royal passion. The previous Throne of Judar series is magnificent with its passionate poetic, powerful language and these intense heroes and the women who capture their hearts. In the Castaldini Crown series, Olivia Gates adds whole new dimensions. She welds together all the background elements to create rich, legendary characters. In the Castaldini Crown series, Olivia Gates creates a fine mix of fairy tale themes, a realistic look at the kingdom's economic fate in focused, precise details, and a rich inner psychological secretive family history passed on to the next generation in such a way that the stakes are even higher both for the kingdom and her character's hearts, packing each book with intense emotion, drama and romantic passion. With the Castaldini Crown series, Olivia Gates exhibits a certain maturing and growth in her writing style as her imagination creates an even more finely interwoven setting for the passions of her characters. Olivia Gates is a romance writer to watch and hopefully one who will someday give her readers even more in a sweeping multi-generational saga. :-)

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