Thursday, September 20, 2007

I finished reading... The Raven Prince

The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt

After reviewing her somewhat precarious financial situation, Anna Wren comes to the conclusion that she needs a job. When she discovers that Edward de Raaf, the Earl of Swartingham, requires a new secretary, it seems like the perfect solution to her employment problem. Having already lost two secretaries because of his temper, Edward reluctantly agrees to give Anna a chance. Much to Anna's surprise, she finds she likes working for the often stubborn but unexpectedly kind Edward, and Edward soon realizes that Anna is not only an excellent secretary but also an extraordinarily intriguing woman.
It's just long enough now that, given my awful memory, I don't remember a lot of the details on this one, but do have an overall impression. This was a good, solid but for me, average, read. With one significant exception, the story flowed nicely, and Anna and Edward worked well together.

The love scenes were a bit more vulgar (not in a bad way, just that I can't think of a better word) than in many historical romances. I don't know if this is due to the author or the setting, as this is a Georgian-set rather than Regency-set novel. They work fine, but I did notice the difference.

My main problem with this book was the whole "Anna in the brothel" aspect of it. How does a gentle and impoverished county widow end up, appropriately dressed, in London's classiest and most exclusive brothel, in the position to choose who she spends the night with? The coincidences required for this just stretched my suspension of disbelief too far. All the same, if the unliklihood of all this is ignored, the story is a decent one and I enjoyed reading it. I'm expect I'll also read the others in the series.

The Raven Prince
Prince Trilogy, Book 1
Elizabeth Hoyt
7/10

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