Review: Royals & Rogues Anthology

Review: Royals & Rogues AnthologyRoyals & Rogues by Heather Long, Carole Mortimer, Shelli Stevens, Susan Stephens, J.C. Makk
Series: Knight Security #0.5
on March 1st 2016
Genres: Contemporary
Pages: 500
Goodreads
four-stars

This is an anthology of 5 novellas from five different authors:

HER MARINE PRINCE by Heather Long

Princess Francesca Grace wants to join the military like her father.  Her father does not want her to and arranges her to attend an exercise hosted by the Royal Marines.  He gets retired Marine Hugh Dillon to agree to make Frankie’s life miserable to convince her to abandon her desires.  I did not expect much of this story, but ended up enjoying it very much.  The highlight was the great amount of respect that Hugh show Frankie as she demonstrates how determined and competent she is.  Made me interested in reading more of the series. Rating: 4 stars.

ALEXANDRE by Carole Mortimer

Prince Alexandre of Androcco comes to England.  Staying at an English hotel, he is determined to get Anastazia Carmichael who he took one look at and wanted.  Stazzi doesn’t want anything to do with the annoying playboy especially because she is almost engaged to another man.  Yet she can’t deny the intense attraction between Alexandre and herself.  I enjoyed this story primarily because of Stazzi’s spunky personality and her interaction with Alexandre.  There is also a mystery regarding Alexandre that I quickly figured out but which I thought moved the story forward very well. These two are hot together.  Rating: 4 stars.

SEDUCING THE PRINCESS by Susan Stephens

Princess Angelika needs an heir. When she first met Gideon Black as a teenager, she hated him. And she had an immense crush on him.  Now she needs protection and an heir to secure her throne.  Gideon can provide both.  This premise had much promise, but I never felt any real connection between the hero and heroine.  The conflict felt forced and I was disappointed.  Rating: 1.5 stars.

CORRUPTED BY THE PRINCE by Shelli Stevens

Prince Kostas of Mykorini is hiding out in the Hamptons after another scandal.  When he sees a woman on the beach that interests him, he is intrigued as she argues with him and doesn’t fall for his practiced lines.  Evelynn Fairchild is the sister who avoids scandal and that is why she is surprised to find herself attracted to the notorious bad boy.  This is my favorite in the collection because I liked the relationship between Kostas and Eva best.  They are funny and sweet and such a mismatch.  I think the story tries to put in just one too many complications to their relationship for the length of the story, but the connection between the couple makes this worth reading.  Rating: 4 stars.

HIS ROYAL REDEMPTION by J.C. Make

Sir Anthony Richarden and Princess Estelle of Dirksbee are competitors in the King’s Favor, a competition where the winner gets five million dollars.  The two also happen to have been engaged to be married a year ago before Anthony left Estelle almost at the altar.  This was my least favorite of the anthology. I didn’t buy into the reasons that the two were apart and the lack of communication between them just annoyed me.  Rating: 1 star.

four-stars