Customer Reviews

The Raven Prince

5 star:		(85)
4 star:		(29)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Wow! I am blown away by this debut novel. I simply could not put it down until I had read every steamy page.
Edward is a broody discontented earl that at heart is just lonely. He's not your typical hero. He is scarred, has a big nose, thin lips and is described as unattractive. He does have a gorgeous body, though. His scars run beneath the skin as well and he carries some real emotional baggage. He reacts by lashing out and throwing fits of temper thus scaring off his previous secretaries.

Anna has fallen on hard times and shows up for the position of secretary while Edward is away. Upon his return, Anna has firmly settled into her role and Edward is enchanted by her tantalizing mouth. She is plain, but he cannot stop thinking of her mouth. He has no one else to replace her so what's an earl to do when faced with temptation? He keeps her in his employ, much to his future...ahem...discomfort.

What follows is page after page of sexual tension that Ms. Hoyt cleverly builds to a climax that is so hot even I, who am pretty jaded, was left breathless. The love scenes are exquisitely and graphically written, however, not in a clinical way. For those who love hero-jealousy and emotional angst, there's a bit of that as well. As they fall in love I felt they were meant for each other.

The story moves quickly-too quickly as I didn't want it to end-and I never felt it bogged down at any point. I highly recommend this book. I wouldn't have changed a single thing.

I have to say that I read this in one day. I couldn't/wouldn't put it down. It is a historical romance with a ton of humor, sex, wit and two of the best main characters, ever.
Edward is an earl. He is the only living survivor of a family that was struck down by small pox. He has returned to his family home after many years, ready to marry and start a family.
He is known for his pox scarred face and bad temper.
Anna has been widowed for 6 years. She is living with her mother in law and a young woman they have taken in, in a small cottage. There finances are dwindling. Anna fast talks her way into a position as the newly returned Earls secretary. Unknowingly he is the same man that she "ran" into on the street.
They are so not the typical herione and hero of romances. She is tough and smart. He is ugly and ill tempered. But as the story goes on you will fall for him just as Anna does.
Each chapter begins with an excerpt from a story Anna finds that was written by Edwards now dead sister Elizabeth. I was as interested in that story as I was the main one.
There are crazy circumstances that bring them together, intamately, the first time. I can't say more without spoiling it.
All in all this was a delightful tale and I look forward to Ms. Hoyt's second tale, eagerly! Enjoy!

THE RAVEN PRINCE is my first introduction to Elizabeth Hoyt, and this book represents what frustrates me so greatly about today's historical "wallpaper" romances. If the author had not told the reader on page 1 that the story was set in the late 1700s, and if she had not provided the basic period trappings of long gowns, phaetons, swords, and "macaronis" dressed in foppish clothes, I would have thought I was reading a contemporary. The characters have a 21st-century feel to them in their behavior, their relationship with one another, and their general mindset. There's not a lot of historical authenticity, and certainly no rich historical backdrop to the story. My other major complaint was that the sex really overshadowed the story and the relationship. I liked the characters and I did think they had good chemistry, but I kind of felt that the only thing they really had going for them was that they were great in bed (and chairs!) together. The sex scenes were well-written and steamy without being particularly vulgar, but when I read a romance, I want to know more about the characters -- who they are as individuals, why they're drawn to one other, what obstacles they overcome to keep their love alive. In the case of Anna and Edward and their relationship, I was perfectly willing to believe that they loved one another, but their relationship just lacked depth and emotional impact, and this story ultimately left me feeling a little disappointed. There's a lot of potential here, but it just didn't deliver what I was wanting.

We are not all what we seem, is one of the themes that pervades this story, as well as the delightful introductions to each chapter of the real fairy tale The Raven Prince, that make this story a delight and a book difficult to put down. Edward De Raff, the fifth Earl of Swartingham is a large, pox-marked man, and is the lone survivor of the horrible smallpox disease that took his entire family in his youth. He returns to his home estate plagued with memories of them and a past marriage that ended in the death of his wife in childbirth; a wife who died unable to love him because of his scars. He plans to remarry the young, quiet, Lady Gerard, who continues to tell him (while always looking down at her hands) that the scars do not matter. But this man is also known for a temper and now has a more difficult situation because he is in need of a secretary; one that will stay with him long enough to complete his manuscript.

Anna Wren has lived in Little Battleford her entire life. A beautiful widow of good moral standing in the community, she has been living for the past six years with her mother-in-law and a young woman in need the two women took in. She has been hurting financially and emotionally, as when her husband passed, he not only left her to live with a financial burden, but with sad memories of a childless and unfaithful marriage. She is thinking through her situation and how she is to continue feeding her little family, when the Earl charges through town on his horse and nearly runs her over and unseats himself. As he rages out of the mud puddle he has fallen into, Anna sees this famous temper for herself, but also finds that she is intrigued by this large man. She soon learns the Earl's steward is looking for a secretary and asks for the position. Mr. Hopple is desperate and he hires Anna.

When Anna arrives at the estate to begin her job it is the Earl's turn to be intrigued. He finds her beautiful and intelligent and soon finds himself overwhelmed by lust for her. He travels to London to visit a famous brothel, Aphrodite's Grotto to work off his lust and temptation for Anna. Anna is drawn to the Earl as well and becomes angry that he would lust for her and then turn to another woman. She wants to disguise and mask herself and request the Earl as her guest at Aphrodite's Grotto. At one time Anna rescued a prostitute, Pearl, from the side of the road, after she was beaten and left for dead. Anna turns to Pearl for help, as Pearl knows the owner of Aphrodite's Grotto. Edward and Anna meet for two nights of passion so intense that they are both haunted with the sensual pleasure afterward. Soon Edward finds out it was Anna he met with and once his anger subsides, he makes the decision to end the arranged marriage to Lady Gerard and marry Anna. Anna feels she is not good enough for Edward, especially because she feels she is childless, and the chase, continued lust, passion and love build to a delightful ending.

The Raven Prince is truly a beautiful story with characters that are real and unforgettable. The love scenes are beautifully written. It is a story that makes you believe that true love conquers all. Elizabeth Hoyt is one of those authors that will not be able to write fast enough for her fans.

The widowed Anna Wren is in desperate need of money, so she takes an unusual step and applies for the secretary job in the household of Edward de Raaf, the Earl of Swartingham. She has three major problems with the job. First no one has ever heard of a female secretary, secondly her employer has a fierce temper, but the biggest problem of all is that she is falling in love with him. Unfortunately Edward has problems due to a past betrayal, a huge problem with the concept of love and relationships. Will they find a way to be together?

The Raven Prince is a fantastic and unusual book. The story captivated this reviewer from the beginning and she was really sad when she reached the end.

Ms. Hoyt created a terrific cast of characters for this novel. Each of the characters plays an important part in making this book so unique.

Anna Wren is a very strong and independent heroine, who doesn't care much about public opinion. She stands up for her own opinion, something that is especially important in the employment of the Earl. When she makes up her mind, there is nothing that will stop her; she will even go disguised into a brothel to be with the man she loves.

Edward de Raaf is a tortured/wounded hero par excellence. He doesn't believe that any women will ever really love him, because of his pox scars, but that was before he met Anna. She just has to make him believe that he is worthy to be with her.

Altogether she will turn his whole life upside down.

This reviewer especially liked that The Raven Prince is set in the Georgian times, because there are too few books set in this time period and it makes the book even more special.

The Raven Prince is a very good debut novel and you will definitely want to keep an eye open for more books by Ms. Hoyt. Her next book, The Leopard Prince will be released in April 2007.

Courtesy of Loveromancesandmore.com

the idea that this is elizabeth hoyt's debut novel is ludicrous. i say this because if this is indeed her firsr foray into writing romance novels, this author has a stellar career ahead of her. the raven prince is the best book i've read all year. it has everything, a strong and compassionate heroine, an emotionally vunerable hero, and a plot that had just the right amount of excitement, sensuality, and intrigue. no doubt this author has become an auto-buy for me.

ann wren is a widow down on her luck. she is living in genteel poverty with her mother-in-law and maid. unfortunately, the money from the investments made by her now dead husband is no longer enough for them to sustain themelves. ann decides to get a job. although she is educated and a lady, no one is looking for either a governess or a tutor. a chance encounter with the earl of swartingham's stewart leads to her gaining a position as the earl's secretary. why is the stewart desperate enough to hire a female for the position? well turns out the earl has a wicked temper and likes to shout and throw things, which ends up scaring away the previous two secretaries in short order.

edward de raaf, the earl of swartingham, has just returned to his childhood home after being away for years following the marriage to his first wife. upon her death, he comes home to build a new life and hopefully start a new family. unfortunately, the house is full of ghosts, as he lost his beloved family to the small pox two decade prior to his return. as the sole survivor, he also bears the scars from his own battle with small pox, which has left his fax pocted, so he's not considered to be the most attractive nobleman available. his demanding and violatile nature makes him even less appealing.

ann and edward have AMAZING chemistry. it is obvious from the beginning that ann is more than enough for edward, and she does not cower beneath his anger, which leads to numerous ocassions where they butt heads. the dialogue is witty and intelligent. what was so great about this story is the fact that neither ann nor edward are these stunningly beautiful human beings. the reader gets to see how they find the less obvious attributes about each other to love. edward is in thrall of ann's voluptous lips, and ann can't help but admire edward's masculinely beautiful eyes and body. as the story continues, the reader bears witness to other attributes being revealed almost like the opening of gifts. we see that edward, despite his bad temper, is both fair and compassionate when it comes to his staff and tenants. ann, who at first one thinks is prone to only moments of bravery, evolves into the most appealing heroine as her association with edward forces her to address her needs as a woman, and her status in society when it conflicts with her duty as a charitable human being. she builds her backbone with each succeeding event in this book and by the end, i was totally applauding her for the courage and intelligence she displayed time and time again.

edward also evolved during this tale. he goes from someone who was willing to remarry simply for the sake of gaining an heir, to a man who realizes the importance of having love in a marriage. he is insecure about his scars despite his arrogance, which makes him even more appealing. edward reminded me alot of derek craven and i have NEVER until now come across a hero who so reminded me of that beloved character, so you know this is high praise indeed.

the plotline itself was mostly original. while i've read stories before of secretaries working for noblemen, i have yet to read a story where the heroine was brave enough to act on her passion in the way this heroine was willing to do. safe to say, ann was determined to have her night of passion with edward, even if it meant resorting to gaining his favor in a brothel.

but don't let that turn you off, folks. i'm telling you, hoyt has a true gift when it comes to writing intimate scenes. she has a deft touch at building the sexual tension between ann and edward, way before they'd even had their first kiss. when they finally consumated their relationship (albeit without edward's knowledge...nice touch, ms. hoyt), the heat existing between them torches the pages. hoyt has that mixture of explicit detail and emotional intimacy and sense of adventure i totally dig in a romance novel. these scenes reminded me of two other authors gifted at writing intimate scenes...sabrina jeffries and adele ashworth.

even the secondary characters had depth. from edward's steward with his garrish sense of fashion, to ann's mother-in-law, who shows a remarkable level of insight, to the 'soiled dove' who assists ann in achieving her night of passion with edward, hoyt doesn't just brush in these characters, she illustrates them in detail. in other words, these characters do more than just move the story along. they add texture to the story, bringing it even MORE to life and they're all unforgettable, even the dog. hoyt makes the reader actually care what happens to them.

the villains and the plot involving her dead husband is enough to add a bit of conflict and angst to the tale, as does edward's engagement to another woman. ann and edward have a few obstacles to overcome before they get to their hea, and reading as they get there, watching as they fall in love, was simply beautiful. the last ten pages of this story moved me and had me cheering.

and the cherry on the top of this exquisite story? an excerpt of 'the raven prince' appears at the beginning of each chapter. i was taken back to the time when i first read that story as a child, and even those excerpts were an integral part of the story. NOTHING is wasted here.

so in the end, i closed the book and sighed. and immediately came here to write this review because i was just too giddy and still feeling the reverberations from this tale. normally i pick up another book to read about an hour after the last one is finished. in this case, i'm gonna ride the cloud of contentment and relive the great moments in this book until tomorrow.

yes, folk...it is THAT good. HIGHLY recommended.

Widow Anna Wren finds herself in some financial straits. With her mother-in-law to help support, she decides to find work. Luckily, Edward de Raaf, Earl of Swartingham, has just run off his last secretary with his grouchy temper, and Anna is hired by the earl to do whatever it is that secretaries do. Naturally, they find themselves attracted to each other and fall in love, yaddayaddayadda. When Anna finds out Edward has been using a brothel in London for his "manly needs," she decides that she should jump in on the deal and disguises herself at the brothel to have a fantabulous night in his arms. In the meantime, various and sundry subplots, including several blackmail schemes, abound.

If you're tired of those gorgeous heroes and heroines who would easily gloss the covers of Cosmo without airbrushing, then grab this book. Both the hero and heroine are described as rather plain. Our hero is even ::gasp:: pock-marked! You can see some future angsting from this, of course. Our heroine is, naturally, plucky and practical, as all good heroines are.

Hoyt has written a tightly woven story of two people who need each other. There's the usual mutual admiration society, the falling in like, then love. At the same time the characters themselves come to life. Hoyt gives them their own quirks and personalities that are just different enough from your run-of-the-mill, interchangeable historical romance characters that they do stand out.

Even to the point that you may sometimes get irritated at them. The heroine's eyes were eternally tearing up and leaky. Not that she was weepy by any means. Just that she tears up. A lot. And the hero constantly had coffee breath. It was mentioned repeatedly. Granted, as my husband pointed out, if you have even just one cup of coffee in the morning, your breath smells like coffee all day.

Hoyt plays out what could have been a trite and tired old plotline (the heroine disguising herself so she can sleep with the hero without him knowing) to the fullest, and realistically enough that you do buy it as something that could feasibly happen. The characters' reactions and reasoning make sense. Even with the leaky eyes and coffee breath.

The secondary characters were interesting without taking over the story. Edward's valet, for instance, was a crotchety old man with no respect for the earl. He made my laugh a few times.

This wasn't quite the angsty, dark book I was hoping for, but it was a greatly enjoyable read nonetheless. Pick it up and enjoy!

I truly enjoyed this book. It was one of the best I've read since early Johanna Lindsey. The storyline is a different and new historical romance tale. The characters are interesting, intelligent, and made me laugh. Hoyt did a great job of building the tension between the couple. In the end, I really wanted them to get together. Plus, the love scenes really sizzle.

I finished the last page and turned right back to the first to start the book again. (I got part way through the book the first time before I started speed reading. I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next.) I loved it more the second time when I actually read the whole thing.

After reading this book a second time I immediately started THE LEOPARD PRINCE. I'm halfway through my 3rd reading of that story and have logged on to pre-order THE SERPENT PRINCE. It's killing me to have to wait a couple more weeks for the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this author. I'm excited to read more from her in the future. HIGHLY recommend!

WOW, what a marvelous book!!! Hoyt's talented debut of "The Raven Prince" will have you panting after you're done reading and will make you yearn for her next one - which is hitting the shelves April 1st 2007 - "The Leopard Prince". You will not be able to put this book down - as it was so captivating and so beautifully written.

It has everything that a great romance should - incredibly great story, captivating characters, unsurpassed page turning sexual tension and steamy sexual scenes that will have you fanning yourself! All beautifully executed and penned by Ms. Hoyt, a new author, which I am sure, after you read "The Raven Prince", you'll have to make room for in your keeper shelf.

Hoyt masterfully interweaves the main storyline with a delightful fairy tale, depicted at the beginning of every other chapter. You will get just as engrossed with the magic, weaved in the tale of "The Raven Prince" as with the main storyline.

The main characters, developed in a fabulously fresh manner - are intriguing and fabulous. The heroine here is not the simpering, innocent miss or spirited heroine with gorgeous flowing locks of hair, fair skin and sumptuous curves nor is the hero the dashing, charming and heart-stoppingly handsome rake depicted in most historical novels. Anna, is a plain widow that has fallen on hard times and Edward a brooding earl, with a big nose, scars and with a foul temper to boot. The storyline is simple, yet the character development is magnificent. Edward offers Anna the position of his secretary - as his temper has driven all previous candidates away. As Anna stands up to him and meticulous executes her duties, he soon realizes that he craves the simple, plump widow - as he cant stop thinking of her mouth.... as well as other "unmentionable" areas.

What ensues is a delicious, page turning romance that will leave you extremely satisfied and very glad you selected this talented new author. I am sure, like me, you will be waiting with baited breath for her next book, "The Leopard Prince". Thank you Ms. Hoyt for a really great book!

This book was not at all what I expected. The concept of the story was a good one, but the execution left a lot to be desired. The demeanor and actions of the heroine were not believeable. It was a fair read, but not that enjoyable to me.