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28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Entertaining Regency Period Romance!, June 29, 2005
This is the third book in Sabrina Jeffries's "Royal Brotherhood Series", historical romances set in England's Regency period featuring heroes who are illegitimate sons of the Prince of Wales. "One Night with a Prince" is the story of Gavin Byrne, Prinny's unacknowledged son by an Irish actress. It is an entertaining, well-written tale with an attractive hero and unusual heroine.
Gavin Byrne is one of the "self-made man" variety of romantic heroes, a man who has risen from a childhood spent in the gutters of London to become the wealthy owner of an exclusive gentleman's gambling club. Prinny's denial and rejection of his mother, a childhood spent in desperate poverty and an unhappy love affair in his youth have left Byrne bitter and cynical. Gorgeous and controlled, he has had many (many!) mistresses but (of course!) scorns the idea of falling in love and getting married.
The heroine of the story is Lady Christabel Haversham, a pretty and rather unconventional young widow who needs Gavin's help to recover a packet of scandalous letters concerning the Prince of Wales that her feckless husband stole from her and sold to the dastardly Lord Stokely in order settle a gambling debt. Christabel's plan involves posing as Gavin's mistress in order to secure an invitation to an exclusive gambling party at Lord Stokely's country home. Gavin agrees to help her, privately planning to use the letters himself to get revenge on Prinny for his abandonment of his mother, and hoping to get Christabel to agree to be his mistress in truth.
Gavin is an engaging hero--handsome, sexy, intelligent, but embittered by life. I am always a sucker for stories with "heartless" heroes who find their souls through the love of a good woman. Christabel is an interesting heroine, although a bit too much of a street-fighter for a gentlewoman from the Regency period to be believable and occasionally straying into the dreaded "feisty heroine" territory. I did like the fact that she had a really bad temper--it was a nice quirk in her character. She was disappointingly proper at the beginning of the story (numerous internal monologues vowing *never* to allow sexy Gavin Byrne to kiss, fondle or seduce her--vows (of course) instantly forgotten with the mere touch of Gavin's lips!) She is also oddly innocent for a woman who was married for ten years, regardless of how much of a loser her husband may have been.
The book seemed to drag somewhat at the beginning with a bit too much exposition masquerading as dialogue, but the plot starts to move along as things heat up between Gavin and Christabel. (In an entertaining scene, he teaches her how to play "Whist for the Wicked"--a variant of strip poker.) Fortunately, Christabel is a very quick study and becomes an expert whist player in a matter of only two weeks. The plan to recover the letters is not exactly brilliant, but the romance is sweet (once the bickering is over) and the sensual scenes well done (althought I am not sure which night is the "One Night" referred to in the book's title.)
In summary, this is a very readable and enjoyable historical romance with an engaging hero and heroine. It is my favorite in the "Royal Brotherhood Series".
Recommended.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
HOT, Sexy, Great story.... Two Thumbs up.., September 9, 2005
This is one of my all time favorite romance books. From page one the characters in this charming book reached out and grabbed me. Page after page I just got sucked in deeper until I closed the book with a happy sigh. This book had everything you need to create a good romance: a dashing hero, a beautiful feisty heroine, something that always seems to interfere with the hero and heroine, and, most of all...PASSION! You will feel like smoking after the sex scenes in this book. It was written with an amazing level of intensity and feeling that my heart was pumping furiously with the palatable passion in the story. The relationship between the leads is endearing. The secondary characters are enjoyable as well.T his book is sharp and fast-moving. Filled with Lovable and exciting characters. Lots of laugh out-loud, I-can't-believe-they-did-that scenes and oh so plenty of heart warming moments. This was a very entertaining book. This book was a pleasure to read and I couldn't put it down until it was finished. I really enjoyed the characters, as they were very likeable.
The relationship between the leads is endearing. I found the characters to be multi-dimensional and the author weaves a mystery into the story without slowing it down or interrupting the romantic flow. The love scenes are ample & steamy, and the plot is a good one. A fast paced book with an intricate plot that I cannot help but enjoy. The interaction between the leads was great. Sabrina Jeffries has found a perfect match for the notorious Gavin with feisty Christabel. They are well matched in temperament, intelligence and in their loyalty to their families. It was an interesting. There is enough conflict to make the story line interesting and not so much that your left wondering why they ever got together.
This book is sharp and fast-moving. I was sad to have it end, but satisfied at the ending!
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Best of the Brotherhood Series, August 22, 2005
sabrina jeffries is the kind of author who is without a doubt gifted when it comes to her depiction of love scenes. this is why i am always willing to read her books, even if they sometimes disappointment in terms of plot and/or character development. however, this book proves to be jeffries at her best. not only did she get it right with the love scenes, but the plot and characterization were very well done.
christabel, the marchioness of haversham, is a widowed general's daughter whose husband was addicted to gambling. needless to say, he left her impoverished and sold the one thing of value she had from right under her nose. turns out this thing is a set of letters with the potential to both prevent the prince regent from becoming king and put all of england into political chaos. on a personal level, the exposure of the letters could destroy christabel's father, which is why she is determined to retrieve them. they were sold to lord stokely, a debauched nobleman who is blackmailing the prince to force him to give stokely his daughter in marriage.
gavin byrne, self-made owner of a successful gentlemen's club, is the prince regent's son by a former actress. having to take care of himself since the age of 12, he is embittered because the prince reneged on a promise to financially support gavin's mother when he was younger while also denouncing her claim that gavin is indeed his child. when he is asked by his half-brothers to help christabel retrieve the letters at the bequest of the prince, he immediately sees an opportunity to use the letters as leverage for gaining his revenge against the prince.
when gavin and christabel meet in the book, it's actually the second time they've encountered each other. the first time was when christabel shot at him when he came to see her husband about a debt that was owed to him. needless to say, gavin is a bit hesitant about being in christabel's presence. however, the attraction once they meet again is immediate, as christabel's candor and honesty ignite a desire within the jaded Gavin, who up until then, has had plenty of mistresses. the plan is for christabel to pretend to be gavin's mistress so that they can gain an invitation to a whist competition being held at lord stokely's estate. gavin, attracted to christabel's forthright personality as well as her volumptous body (no skinny chit here, just a 30 year old woman with curves in all of the right places), is determined to make the arrangement a real affair, but he has no intention of ever falling in love with her.
what ensues are some extremely sensual encounters for the hero and heroine, in particular a "wicked whist" game that left me absolutely breathless. this is where jeffries really shines. christabel initially fights the attraction and tells him she would make a bad mistress because she would become too possessive and would ultimately care too much about him. gavin has never been rejected by a female so he doesn't let her rejection deter him. he thinks he can simply seduce her into getting what he wants.
watching gavin and christabel evolve during this story was beautiful. christabel, initially uncomfortable with both her sexual needs and her position as marchioness, becomes more confident in the bedroom and within the company of those in society. gavin, initially emotionally distant and jaded about society and women, becomes a vulnerable hero who can't help but wear his heart on his sleeve. although gavin DID use women in the sexual sense, at the root, gavin had a good heart. he just didn't realize it. he bears a guilt that makes him feel like he shouldn't have been born so that his mother wouldn't have suffered at the hands of the prince.
the plot was simple but not thin. i liked it because it gave the two leads plenty of time to spend together, which makes for great character development if done right, as it is here. plenty of sensual and sexual encounters, plenty of dialogue where the reader can feel the chemistry between the two leads, and plenty of inner struggle as gavin fights his feelings for christabel. the crucial point of the book is when gavin has to decide whether or not to use the information they're searching for to either hurt "prinny" and in doing so, hurting and losing christabel, or not hurt "prinny" and ending his lifelong dream to exact revenge against his father.
wonderfully engrossing and emotional story with compelling leads and some of the most sensual love scenes i've ever read makes this a HIGHLY recommended book.
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