Emma Chase, New York Times bestselling author of the Tangled Series & Legal Briefs Series, returns with the first of three sizzling standalone books about a family of racy, irresistible Royals.
Nicholas Arthur Frederick Edward Pembrook, Crowned Prince of Wessco, aka “His Royal Hotness”, is wickedly charming, devastatingly handsome, and unabashedly arrogant—hard not to be when people are constantly bowing down to you.
Then, one snowy night in Manhattan, the prince meets a dark haired beauty who doesn’t bow down. Instead, she throws a pie in his face.
Nicholas wants to find out if she tastes as good as her pie, and this heir apparent is used to getting what he wants.
***
Dating a prince isn’t what waitress Olivia Hammond ever imagined it would be.
There’s a disapproving queen, a wildly inappropriate spare heir, relentless paparazzi, and brutal public scrutiny. While they’ve traded in horse drawn carriages for Rolls Royces and haven’t chopped anyone’s head off lately—the royals are far from accepting of this commoner.
But to Olivia—Nicholas is worth it.
***
Nicholas grew up with the whole world watching, and now Marriage Watch is in full force. In the end, Nicholas has to decide who he is, but more importantly, who he wants to be: a King... or the man who gets to love Olivia forever.
4.5 Stars
Review by Lisa Kane
I'm not sure that I've ever read anything from Emma Chase that I didn't passionately love. His Royal Highness Prince Nicholas Pembrook of the monarchy of Wessco loves his life just the way it is. He has his royal duties, as he is next in line after the Queen but he has lots of time to enjoy women and wine. (it's fair to say he might be a little more selective of his drink than he is his woman. All must sign a non disclosure before getting physical) Only the Queen, his grandmother, the woman who raised him after his parents' deaths, has decided she's tired of all the games he and his younger brother Henry have bee playing. In fact, it's been months since Henry completed his mandatory military service and no one's heard from him.
"He was discharged months ago," She cuts me off. "And he's been around the world with eighty whores ever since."
"Have you tried calling his mobile?"
"Of course I have." She clucks. "He answers, makes that ridiculous static noise, and tells me he can't hear me. Then he says he loves me and hangs up."
But the Queen is now all about business and Nicholas needs to do his duty to the Crown. She tells him that he must choose a bride within the next five months. This is not debatable. According to the law of the land, his bride must be either of Royal birth or a subject of Wessco. Nicholas has never shirked his duties, but damn this one hurts.
"But we must all do our duty. You know this. Now it's your turn, Prince Nicholas."
There's a reason duty is a homophone for shit.
And she's not telling me as my grandmother-she's telling me, as my Queen. A lifetime of responsibility, legacy, birthright, and honor make it impossible for me to refuse.
He finds himself going to New York City with his newly married best friend Simon. Caught in a blizzard, Nicholas is free for once to move around the city without scores of media and fans following him. They spy a little pie shop, Amelia's to grab a cup of tea.
Olivia Hammond has no time for a social life. Her life consists of baking pies (recipes handed down to her from her late mother) and running Amelia's. Her little sister, Ellie is only seventeen and she's worrying about sending her to college. She's brilliant and deserves to be anything she wants to be in life. It's too late for Olivia-she's the only one that can handle the family business. Her dad has some issues so Olivia better keep baking those pies. They are drowning in debt and she knows foreclosure is right around the corner.
So when Nicholas and Simon walk in to Amelia's during a blizzard, she's more than a little godsmacked. The sight of Nicholas in a tux if more than enough to knock a woman off her pegs, especially one who hasn't seen the interesting part of the male anatomy in longer than she can remember.
My pelvis swoons like a romance novel heroine who just saw her Brad Pitt circa Legends of the Fall-like hero riding toward her on horseback.
But Nicholas has been on a bender for days now and his mouth is about to get him into some trouble.
"But you're young and beautiful, I'm handsome and rich. The more applicable question is why aren't we fucking already?"
Suave much?
The more he runs his mouth the more Olivia is intrigued by him, but in the end, she's not about to take up with some stranger, especially one who is obviously drunk. Away with you Nicholas.
The next day he's reminded by Simon of his jackass behavior towards Olivia. She moves him, and there may be more than the tent in his pants that moves him. So he sets his sights on her and with military precision he will make her his. But let's face it, where is this going? When she finds out who he is she realizes they are like chalk and cheese. Libido be damned, he is a prince, she is a baker.
"Yes, stay and watch you announce to the world that you're marrying someone else! Stay and watch while to go to parties and luncheons and pose for pictures with someone else."
When honor rules over love, when duty trumps desire, can there ever be a good ending? I loved this story! I loved Nicholas' mistakes and blunders as he has to work off his own merits instead of his position to woo Olivia. I even gave him a pass when he royally screws up and has to face the music.
This is the beginning of a fun, new series from Ms. Chase. Count me in as a loyal subject awaiting more from Milady!
To hold her and kiss her until she can't stand.
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She’s even lovelier than I remembered, than I dreamed. Delicate midnight tendrils frame a face that belongs in a museum—with stunning dark sapphire eyes that should be commemorated in vibrant oils and soft watercolors. If Helen launched a thousand ships, this girl could raise a thousand hard-ons.
She’s prettily made, the top of her head coming only to my chin, but fantastically curvy. Great full tits that strain the buttons of a wrinkled white blouse, shapely hips in a black skirt tapering to a tiny waist I could wrap my hands around and toned legs encased in sheer black tights finish off the whole package very nicely.
An unfamiliar anxiousness fizzes like soda in my gut.
“The door was open,” I explain.
“It’s broken.”
Logan flicks at the lock. Security is his life, so a broken lock would annoy him like a puzzle with the final piece missing.
“What do you want?”
She has no idea who I am. It’s in the defensive way she holds herself and the accusatory note in her voice. Some women try to pretend they don’t recognize me, but I can always tell. Her ignorance is rather…thrilling. There are no expectations, no hidden agendas, no reasons to pretend—what she sees is what she gets. And all she sees is me.
My throat is suddenly a barren wasteland. I swallow, but it’s difficult.
“Well, he’s desperate for some pie.” I hook my thumb at Simon. “And I…wanted to apologize for the other evening. I don’t normally act that way. I was on a bit of bender…”
“In my experience, people don’t do things when they’re drunk that they wouldn’t do normally.”
“No, you’re right. I would’ve thought all those things, but I never would’ve said them out loud.” I move closer, slowly. “And if I’d been sober…my opening bid would’ve been much higher.”
“She crosses her arms. “Are you trying to be cute?”
“No. I don’t have to try…it just sort of happens.”
Emma Chase is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the hot and hilarious Tangled series and The Legal Briefs series. Emma lives in New Jersey with her husband, two children and two naughty (but really cute) dogs. She has a long-standing love/hate relationship with caffeine.
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