A sweet confection of a book
“The Raven Prince” by Elizabeth Hoyt
In La Lola’s opinion, there’s nothing better than a well-written historical romance. It doesn’t need to have some fantastic plot involving the hero as Regency James Bond, or the heroine as the spunky young debutante who stumbles across his path. When you have a romance that’s purely that, a romance, ah my friends, there’s nothing better. Unless it’s a Golden Girls marathon with a vat of Double Choc Rocky Road, but that could just be me.
Elizabeth Hoyt has written a delightful little raspberry meringue of a book. (Forgive the food metaphors, it’s late, and La Lola hasn’t eaten yet). She doesn’t populate her book with larger than life characters who save the world from impending doom. Instead, you have Edward de Raaf, the Earl of Swartingham. If you were expecting a golden Adonis whose physical beauty is enough to emasculate anyone around him with a dingle dangle, you would be sorely disappointed. Yes, Edward is an earl, and yes, he is rich. But Edward is self-conscious because a bout of small pox has left him with a scarred, pock-marked face. And while Edward is wealthy, he is far happier out of society, and concentrating on his favourite pastime, farming. And here, farming is not a code word for ploughing the fields or milking the cows, if you know what I mean. Edward belongs to the agricultural society of London, and frequently gives talks on crop rotation and other fascinating on dits like that.
Edward nearly runs over Anna Wren, a widow on his estate, while he’s out riding one day. Hmm.. a hero who is not conventionally handsome, named Edward, who’s riding on his horse and nearly runs over the heroine? A definite nod to Jane Eyre in my book. After a spirited exchange (aren’t they all?) Edward rides off, not knowing their paths will cross again, when Anna is hired on as his secretary. Anna is intelligent, sensible and rather ordinary looking. She’s not the most beautiful woman in the world, and her bosom will not make grown men weep and puppies whimper, as well as block out the sun. But she’s cheerful and kind and the perfect foil to bring Edward out of his shell.
It’s lovely reading about how Edward and Anna’s relationship develops. Although Edward doesn’t behave inappropriately towards Anna, the sexual tension between the two is palpable. But Anna believes that she’s barren, and Edward doesn’t think that there’s a future between them, because he needs an heir. So he goes off to London and gets engaged, and in one of those cosmic twists that only happen in romance novels, Anna discovers that Edward frequents a brothel in London. She’s determined to sample pleasure for once in her life, and follows Edward there and sleeps with him while in disguise. Yes, I know, I know, it requires a considerable suspension of belief on one’s part, but sometimes you just gotta go with the flow. After all, Anna does, and look how well that turned out!
Edward returns to his estate and Anna, feeling guilty because he thinks that he’s cheated on her. And as a gift, he buys her rose bushes, because he knows how much she loves roses and would like to plant them, except they’re too expensive. Edward is no suave seducer, but it’s really sweet how he’s so unsure of the gift he brings to Anna, and there’s a sort of little boy longing for approval element to Edward, that’s just adorable, and really tugs at La Lola’s heart. Who needs jewels and the latest Valentino gown when you have Edward de Raaf buying you a bunch of thorny rose bushes?
Unfortunately, the second half of the book isn’t quite as strong as the first. Edward eventually finds out that he had slept with Anna in London, and as the gentleman that he is, insists that he has to marry her because she is now compromised. I was a bit disappointed that the sparkling wit and growing feelings between Anna and Edward gives way to suspicion and misunderstanding. Although they resolve this quickly enough, it still seemed out of character for both of them, and marred my enjoyment of the book towards the end.
But when all that’s said and done, given the number of wretched books out there now, “The Raven Prince” is still a great read. Next comes “The Leopard Prince”, which features Edward’s friend, Harry (more on that later!) which was a pretty good book too. And then of course, “The Serpent Prince” (Simon’s book) is the last book to come out, and La Lola can’t wait to read that. Edward, Harry and Simon all met through the agricultural society, and La Lola thinks it’s pretty cute that this is the basis of their friendship, as opposed to other books, where the heroes are all members of the same duelling club/ regiment/Star Wars fan club.
So if you’re in the mood for a nice, simple love story with the emphasis on love, settle back, have a raspberry tart and a nice glass of wine, and pop your feet up and enjoy “The Raven Prince.”
Lady L said,
June 1, 2008 @ 4:17 am
I’ve read and re-read the whole Prince trilogy and they are one of my favorite series, the hot scenes are HOOOOOT and the love stories although not always very credible are still sweet and enjoyable. I actually read the Serpent Prince first and got hooked up on this series. I like them very much.
La Lola said,
June 1, 2008 @ 1:37 pm
I think my favourites in this order are: Raven Prince, Serpent Prince and Leopard Prince. Which is strange, because I am convinced that what with my love for leopard print, I must have been a leopard in my past life.
Lady L said,
June 1, 2008 @ 11:32 pm
“I must have been a leopard in my past life.”
LOL XD
What I like the most about the leopard prince is the heroine’s attitude (btw all Hoyt’s heroines are pretty strong no TSTL girls there) she’s like: “well I’m a spinster so WTH I’m gonna have some kinky fun with my steward. Bring on the Mai Tai’s!” wich is a verrry good attitude by my standards.
My order of preference would have to be: Serpent Prince (the nasty humor of the hero just endears him to me) and then a tie between Leopard Prince and the Raven Prince.
The only thing that makes them a little bit not so good is the gore, to me they’re a little gory. But hey, variety is the key and it is a point in originallity right?