Some Enchanted Evening (Mass Market Paperback)

by Christina Dodd (Author) "The valley was his, the village was his, yet the woman rode into the town square of Freya Crags as if she owned it..." (more)
Key Phrases: color emulsion, enchanted evening, Princess Clarice, Lord Hepburn, Freya Crags (more...)

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.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Avon (April 26, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060560983
• ISBN-13: 978-0060560980
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #77,644 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #22 in

  Books > Romance > Authors, A-Z > ( D ) > Dodd, Christina

• This is item 1 in The Lost Princesses Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 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 (REAL NAME)

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.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars 2 1/2 stars: Not so bad, and yet, not so good either, October 16, 2004

By	Novelist & Reader (America) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Some Enchanted Evening (Lost Princesses) (Hardcover)

Christina Dodd has written a number of sexy, witty, emotional, memorable reads over the last decade or so; but unfortunately, Some Enchanted Evening is not one of them. I had high expectations regarding this novel; not only because of the author, but because the premise was so neat, and it sounded a bit like Sleeping Beauty--my favorite fairy tale.

Clarice and Robert were very underdeveloped, the pacing was very slow, the villain/Robert's goal was very, very weak, and the love scenes between the two were way too early and way too unbelievable. They'd only met two-three days ago, as I recall, Clarice wishes to go home, she's forever spouting about being a princess, yet she sleeps with a man she barely even knows.

Robert's character was irratic--I never knew who he was enough to feel any emotion for him, and his hazily described past. His immediate plan to use Clarice for his own personal vendetta became tiresome after a while, and then, the vendetta he wished upon his enemy was a big let-down;it wasn't even that dramatic, after all of the build-up about it.

Plus; this series has remarkable similarities to Connie Brockway's Rose Hunters Trilogy: in the fact that they both features three impoverished sisters, are set within the early years of the nineteenth century. This book in particular was similar to My Seduction: heroine wanting to gain back her heritage through patronage of someone, a battle-weary hero who was betrayed by a comrade, and it's set in Scotland.

If you're a die-hard Dodd fan, you'll probably read this book regardless of reviews, but if you've never read her, this isn't a book to start with. I personally recommend "In My Wildest Dreams" or "Rules of Attraction"

3 of 3 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 (REAL NAME)

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.