Some Enchanted Evening (Lost Princesses) [Hardcover]

Christina Dodd (Author)

Book Description

Series: Lost Princesses | Publication Date: June 29, 2004

With her twenty-five glorious novels, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author Christina Dodd has won the hearts of readers with her sexy, classic romances. Join her now as she weaves a magical story filled with smart humor, high action, and true love.

Once upon a time, high in the Pyrenees Mountains, there were two happy and prosperous kingdoms. In one kingdom, a son was born and declared the crown prince. In the other kingdom, three daughters were raised in royal splendor.

This is the story of one lost princess, Princess Clarice, who flees with her younger sister to Scotland, where they survive by their wits and daring. But just when Clarice begins to believe she's safe at last, she attracts the attention of one of Scotland's most powerful and dangerous men.

Robert MacKenzie, the earl of Hepburn, is enchanted by Clarice's dazzling beauty -- and wary of her talent for disguise. For years justice had been his only desire. A war hero, he knows the cruelness of the world and he cares too much for the people of his village to let them be victimized and exploited. But the moment Robert sees Clarice riding into town -- her lush, smiling lips, her copper-colored curls, her warm amber eyes -- he is overcome with emotions that have been deeply buried for far too long. Feeling he must have her at any cost, he invites her to stay with him at his manor house and won't take no for an answer.

Now, he has the chance to uncover the nature of her mysterious business in town, and possibly the chance to satisfy his burning desire for her as well.

Soon Roberts knows all of Clarice's most guarded secrets, and he uses this knowledge to blackmail her into giving her unwilling aid to his own perilous plan. Caught between her need to protect her sister and the dangerous man who mixes dark emotions with passionate kisses, Clarice plunges into Robert's glamorous world. Her days are filled with colorful gowns, elaborate parties, and swirling waltzes. And her nights are marked by secret assignations and one all-consuming passion.

As Clarice's golden beauty draws Robert from the shadows and her bright wit teaches him to live again, the treachery around them deepens. He swears to keep her safe, never suspecting that he will face an even greater hazard: losing his heart to the mysterious princess who just might make him believe in happily-ever-after ...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Propelled by the winning assurance, sensuality and humor that have pushed Dodd's paperback romances (Once Upon a Pillow, etc.) onto bestseller lists, this hardcover debut launches a trilogy centered on the Lost Princesses, three young women who fled their revolution-swept small country in the late 1700s and who must dodge the assassins set on their trail. Middle sister Clarice hides in plain sight, traveling from town to town, proclaiming herself a princess fallen on hard times and selling face creams made from royal recipes to village women. Honey-haired and stunning, Clarice has little trouble making sales but more difficulty fending off men. When Robert MacKenzie, Earl of Hepburn, invites her to stay at his manor, Clarice senses a seductive danger in accepting his offer, but she does so anyway. Clarice soon realizes her instincts were correct. Even as Robert ensnares her with kisses, he lures her into playing a part in an elaborate scheme of vengeance. Torn between her passion for Robert and her duty to remain a princess, Clarice must decide if her loyalty belongs to her heart or to her country. Engaging and witty, Dodd's voice shines through on every page, infusing Clarice and Robert with a genuine warmth and appeal in both the ballroom and the bedroom.
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From Booklist

Dodd's hardcover debut will add new fans to the legions already enchanted by her dozens of paperbacks. When revolution threatens to overrun the tiny kingdom of Beaumontagne, high in the Pyrenees Mountains, three young princesses are sent to safety in England. The two youngest are sent off to a boarding school that unceremoniously kicks them out when the funds stop coming in. Princess Clarice, responsible for keeping her younger sister, Amy, safe, develops a cosmetics scam to earn their way in the world. Going to Scotland with a magistrate on her heels, she ends up in the household of Robert MacKenzie, Earl of Hepburn, purportedly to assist his sister in preparing for a large house party and ball in honor of a hero from the Peninsular War. Robert, knowing Clarice is a con artist but not believing she is a princess, needs her skills to help right a grievous wrong. Dodd has done a smashing job with this spicy, swashbuckling Regency-era romance, the welcome first in a planned trilogy. Diana Tixier Herald
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; 1St Edition edition (June 29, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060561246
• ISBN-13: 978-0060561246
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,856,889 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Chat with Christina via Facebook and Twitter, and even better, join her mailing list to have her news delivered right to your inbox! http://christinadodd.com/lists/?p=subscribe

Readers become writers, and Christina Dodd has always been a reader. She reads everything, but because she loves humor, she likes romance best.

A woman wants things like world peace, a clean house, and a deep and meaningful relationship based on mutual understanding and love. A man wants things like a Craftsman router with attachments, undisputed control of the TV remote, and a red Corvette which will miraculously make his bald spot disappear. So when Christina's first daughter was born, she told her husband she was going to quit work and write a book. It was a good time to start a new career, because how much trouble could one little infant be?

Ha! It took ten years, two children and three completed manuscripts before her first novel, CANDLE IN THE WINDOW, was published. In the twenty-two years since, her novels have been translated into 25 languages, won Romance Writers of America's prestigious Golden Heart and RITA Awards and been called the year's best by Library Journal. Christina Dodd herself has been a clue in the Los Angeles Times crossword puzzle (11/18/05, # 13 Down: Romance Novelist named Christina.) Publishers Weekly praises her style that 'showcases Dodd's easy, addictive charm and steamy storytelling.'

Christina's 2011 releases include TAKEN BY THE PRINCE, #9 in the Governess Brides series, and in the tradition of Nora Roberts, a new romantic suspense series starting with SECRETS OF BELLA TERRA and REVENGE AT BELLA TERRA.

Christina Dodd is married to a man with all his hair and no Corvette, but many Craftsman tools.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great, with only some disappointments, August 11, 2005

By 

D. Lane "Book lover" (austin, tx United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Some Enchanted Evening (Mass Market Paperback)

I liked it for the most part. Robert was a perfect hero and Clarice is just the match for him. 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. I loved that were too lost souls who found each other. They healed each others wounds. Robert is 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. I really loved Robert's sister Millicent. Millicent MacKenzie, the spinster sister of Robert MacKenzie, Earl of Hepburn. Seeing her blossom was a joy to watch. But the ending of the book was not well thought out at all. I agree the other view about how Robert seemed upset before Clarice left, but afterward he was okay because she'd told him to "be happy". It seemed like he'd gotten over her pretty quick. But when she came back, he had all this powerful emotion again.That just didn't set well with me. If it weren't for the wonderful epilogue. I would have been quite upset. I do hope there are more stories about Clarice's sisters and hopefully Millicent.

A sexy hero, a feisty heroine, a mystery, and a passionate romance...put them all together and you get "Some Enchanted Evening", a historical romance you don't want to miss. Dodd developed Clarice and Robert's personalities and motivations very convincingly, to the point where you feel as though you know them well enough to be friends by the time you finish the book. The two meet and the sparks fly from page one. Ms. Dodd writes some of the wittiest dialogue around -- I was laughing out loud at times. One of the things I liked best about this book is the way the author wove the emotional storyline with such a light touch -- I was engrossed with the relationship between the hero and heroine and truly felt as if I knew them both. Some Enchanted Evening was an emotional roller coaster, and I felt all the pain and joy they did. I was so engrossed, I read it in a day. 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. Some Enchanted Evening has a strong (but not obnoxious) heroine who is in no way ordinary, a back story which is compelling but doesn't get in the way of the love story, and of course a wonderful hero.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Breathtaking, May 8, 2005

By 

M. Lorenz (Texas/Indiana) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Some Enchanted Evening (Mass Market Paperback)

There's no denying it: I love this book. I am anxiously awaiting the next in the series. And this book affirmed my undying love for Christina Dodd.

First of all, I have a thing about names. Some romance authors use the most absurd names. Dodd (so far as I know) has done no such thing. Clarice is a splendid name, and there's just something manly about the name Robert.

With that said, SOME ENCHANTED EVENING was one of the greatest historical romances I have read, period. At first I was miffed by Clarice's entrance in the novel, and thought I would have written it a different way, but as I went along I realized that I was laboring under a misconception about the princess; I would just have written her entire character a different way. And I am pleased as punch with the way Dodd wrote her.

My favorite character in the novel is Millicent MacKenzie, the spinster sister of Robert MacKenzie, Earl of Hepburn. I dearly hope that there will be a spin-off novel about Millicent's belated love story. The way that Clarice nurtures Millicent's timid nature and turns her from a wallflower into a diamond of the first water merely by giving her confidence stole my heart.

I am also a big fan of truly obnoxious characters getting their comeuppance. Not only does it require an author to make a genuinely obnoxious character that the reader wants to throttle every step of the way, but then the author has to appropriately and efficiently take that character down a notch. Leaving the reader hurrah-ing loudly and getting odd looks from passersby.

I won't ruin the ending, but while it ties everything up nicely (what romance novel doesn't?), it also leaves the reader checking Amazon.com and ChristinaDodd.com obsessively to find out when Princess Amy's story is coming out.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A SWEETLY REGAL READING, September 6, 2004

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Some Enchanted Evening CD (Audio CD)

And you thought the princess and the pea had problems! . They were as nothing compared to challenges faced by the three young royals in Christina Dodd's period romance, the first in a planned trilogy.

Listeners learn quite quickly that being to the manor born is no guarantee of a cushy life as three sisters, princesses, are forced to leave their home country when revolution breaks out. However, they do not live in peace as they're chased by those who want to kill them. It's the 1700s, not a time for princesses to be alone. Nonetheless, Clarice attempts to take care of her sisters by starting a cosmetic business, selling face creams to women in the villages they pass through.

There's little hope for any other females who have designs on handsome hunk Robert MacKenzie when he sees the beautiful Clarice ride into town. He is smitten, and invites her to visit him at his manor house......need we say more? If you know Christina Dodd, you know that romance and intrigue ensue.

Elizabeth Sastre gives a sweetly regal performance as the story of Clarice and Robert unfolds. She has a breathy innocence in her voice that brings the young princess to life.

- Gail Cooke