maandag 28 juni 2010

Sabrina Jeffries - One night with a prince

This is the third and final book in the Royal Brotherhood series, and it sure did not disappoint me. As usual, very easy to read, and a captivating story in itself.

One night with a prince

Continuing her irresistible Royal Brotherhood Series, bestselling author Sabrina Jeffries introduces the third of three half-noble half brothers -- the brashest rogue in all of London.Proper Lady Christabel, the Marchioness of Haversham, is desperate to regain some letters that could destroy her -- so desperate that she pretends to be the mistress of notorious gaming-club owner Gavin Byrne to accompany him to a scandalous house party where she can reclaim them. But when she agreed to let Byrne coach her on how a true mistress behaves, she never suspected how very...persuasive his wicked lessons would be.Gavin is secretly determined to find the letters himself and use them for revenge against the noble sire who abandoned him to grow up in London's worst slums. He's also delighted at how very successful his "mistress lessons" are: it won't be long before the luscious young widow is in his bed. But when Christabel catches Gavin in his own seductive net, he faces a difficult choice: to wreak the vengeance he's planned all his life, or to protect the woman he may -- to his own astonishment -- need more than revenge.


When her late husband sold some letters from her father to Lord Stokely, Christabel was in deep trouble. Lord Stokely uses the letters to blackmail the prince, and she just has to retrieve them. Or else the prince will be ruined, her father will loose his function as a general and war hero and be hung for treason, and she herself? So she has no choice but to ask Gavin Byrne, one of Prinny’s illegitimate children, to secure her an introduction to the houseparty slash whist tournament that Lord Stokely holds regularly. Will he do that? When she shot him a year ago when he came to collect the money her husband owed him?

But the only way for Gavin to do that, is to present her as his mistress. So the prim and proper Christabel must learn to be a mistress, and she must learn to play cards as a pro. Gavin wants the letters for his own purposes: to force the Prince to acknowledge him as his son, and his mother as his lawfull mistress, not just a whore. And to pay her an annuity so her name is cleared. Everyone thinks his mother died in an awful fire when Byrne was twelve, leaving him alone in the streets in London. But he still defends her name, and his own.
But growing up in the world of illegal gambling tought him lots of things, and has made him one of the richest and most powerful man in England, having his own gaming club. Which made him rich, and prior to lots of secrets people want to keep. Staying ahead of gossip is an important tool in his trade.

Gavin has had lots of mistresses, not caring about them one whit. Tossing them aside for the next one the moment they bore him, or tell him they love him. Always playing it safe, by having married mistresses. So if a woman would become pregnant even though he does his best to prevent it, the child will have a father. But now Christabel, she is different. She is a widow, and still inexperienced in lovemaking. Her late husband was a selfish lover (and a fast one), so she knows nothing of pleasure.
Christabel is not mistress material, she vows to make his life hell if he keeps pursuing her, but she has to act the part. And when she becomes his mistress for real, Gavin doesn’t know what is happening to him. He is feeling jealous, possessive, and he even spends the night with her, something he has never done before. Christabel is shocked with everything he teaches her, and with her own wanton behaviour when he kisses her, but she will do everything to safe her father, and keep her prince safe.

A good book, I really enjoyed the story. A great conclusion to this series. Great characters as usual, and a surprising ending.

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