Prince Charming by Gaelen Foley

"There is star quality in this writer!" raves the Romantic Times about gifted author Gaelen Foley. Her love stories are filled with glorious settings, stunning characters, and unforgettable passion.

Destiny casts its hand one perfect moonlit night when Ascencion's most elusive highwayman, the Masked Rider, chooses the wrong coach to rob. For inside is Rafael, the prince of the kingdom, renowned for his hot-blooded pursuits of women and other decadent pleasures. The failed raid leaves the equally notorious Masked Rider wounded and facing a hangman's noose. Then Rafe realizes his captive criminal is Lady Daniela Chiaramonte, a defiant beauty who torments him, awakening his senses and his heart as no woman has before.

Dani can only wonder if she's been delivered to heaven or hell once she agrees to marry the most desirable man in the Mediterranean—until forces of treachery threaten to destroy their tenuous alliance and bring down the throne itself. . . .

Gaelen Foley was Author of the Month in April in the Historical Romance Chat Yahoo group, and for once, I was able to read the AotM in the right month. Luckily, I already had this book out from the library so it fitted in nicely with my reading timetable!

This is the third and final book in the Ascension trilogy following on from The Pirate Prince and Princess and features the brother of the heroine from the second book, Rafael. He is portrayed as the ultimate playboy prince. Whilst destined to one day become king of Ascension, he has little responsibility of his own, so spends his days with his friends, womanising and partying, and not much else. Not that that is all his own fault...his father Lazar finds it difficult to let go of the reigns of power to his playboy son. However, when Lazar becomes ill, then there is no choice but to hand over the throne to Rafe whilst he goes to get treatment. But there is a condition, Rafe must agree to marry one of several specially chosen women who would make suitable queens.

In the meantime, Rafe has met Lady Daniela Chiaramonte - albeit when she was disguised as the Masked Rider who has been doing her best to terrorise the nobility - stealing from the rich to give to the poor. But Dani lives in a very different world from Rafe, one where she has to work her family's holding to make ends meet, and so when Rafe invites her to a ball she feels very out of place. And whereas it was Rafe's intention to have his way with her and then forget about her, his feelings begin to grow, and once the Masked Rider is unmasked, he decides that he can solve two problems at once by marrying her.

One thing that was a bit unbelievable was that a royal wedding could be arranged in a matter of days, without the presence of any of the rest of the royal family, but that is a minor quibble. The newlyweds are not left to live an idyllic life though, because it seems that there are those within the government that are determined to get rid of Rafe - either by framing him for attempting to murder the King or if necessary by killing him, so the second half of the book concentrates on trying to identify who the bad link in the government is - could it be someone very close to the royal family themselves. This subplot was kind of a distraction from the love story between Rafe and Dani, but the resolution drew the characters that we had come to know and love from all three books back together nicely.

This story was really hard to put down - a really strong story, like the first book in the trilogy, but what was is with the cover? Such a boring cover! Then again, the cover for Princess was pretty average too if I recall correctly.

So now I have finished the Ascension trilogy, I will be moving on to the Knights Miscellany series...can't wait!


Rating: 4.5/5

Princess by Gaelen Foley

Dear Reader,

I'm so proud to introduce Gaelen Foley, a captivating new writer who will sweep you away with this unforgettable story of forbidden love and wondrous destiny.

Darius Santiago is the King's most trusted man, a master spy and assassin. He is handsome, charming, ruthless, and he has one weakness—the stunning Princess Serafina. She is all he has ever wanted and everything he cannot have. Serafina has worshipped Darius from afar her whole life, knowing that deep in the reaches of her soul, where she is not royalty but a flesh and blood woman, she belongs to this dangerous, untouchable man. Unable to suppress their desire any longer, they are swept into a daring dance of passion destined to consume them both until a deadly enemy threatens to destroy their new love.

PRINCESS is historical romance at its best—full of adventure, intrigue, and pageantry—from an amazingly talented new author whose storytelling career is just beginning. . . .

Enjoy!

Shauna Summers
Senior Editor
The Ballantine Publishing Group

This is the follow up book to The Pirate Prince which was the first Gaelen Foley book I read. In an endeavour to actually get up to date this is going to be a very short review!

Because I was in a bit of a slump when I started reading this, it took me ages to get into it. Darius was dark and brooding and handsome - just the way I like them, but I did find Serafina a bit difficult to get to like because she was a typical spoiled princess. I do love the scope of the two books I have read, despite the fact that a couple of the plot twists were pretty far fetched! The other thing that I felt was a bit far fetched was the ending which seemed to be a completely different Darius than the one we had gotten to know previously, although I do understand that it was designed to show how far he had come! There was quite a bit of action throughout this book, but it was well balanced with sections where Darius and Serafina were alone that were really nice too.

Lazar from Pirate Prince played a fair part in it, although in many ways he seemed quite strict and rigid compared to how he was portrayed in his book, but Allegra was reduced to cameo appearances - seems unlikely from the feisty girl we met in the first book.

The next book in the series features Serafina's brother Rafe. I am not quite sure what to make of Rafe yet - guess we shall see in the next book!

Rating 4/5

The Pirate Prince by Gaelen Foley

On a calm moonlit night, as the scent of jasmine and pine embraced the island of Ascension, the pirate prince Lazar di Fiori returns with lethal grace to avenge what was stolen from him: his kingdom, his birthright, his soul. . . .

Allegra Monteverdi, the daughter of Lazar's sworn enemy, proves an uncommonly powerful adversary. She throws herself on his mercy, her courage and beauty touching his cold, unforgiving heart. He agrees to spare the lives of her family--but only if Allegra sails away with him as his captive. For his quest for vengeance still burns fiercely, and he will settle for nothing less than Allegra's body and soul.

Alone at sea with this dark, intriguing man, moving between seduction and fear, Allegra gazes into eyes as deep and mysterious as the night and sees who this pirate really is. Lazar--the prince of her childhood dreams. Though he was rumored to be murdered years ago, she always believed someday he would return. But it will take more than her love for this pirate prince to bring peace to her beloved home. For Lazar must face the demons of his shattered past--if he is to forge the destiny that is theirs to claim. . . .

Not too long ago on someone's blog (and I am thinking it was either on Suisan's or Kristie's but I can't remember for sure!) the call went out for good pirate romances...and this book was mentioned.

If I had the energy I would do the rest of this post in pirate talk....but I'm too tired tonight, and besides our pirate, also known as Prince Lazar di Fiori didn't even have a pet parrot!

Lazar was just a young boy when he escaped from the massacre that killed the rest of his family, who happened to be the King and royal family of Ascension. Now he has returned to his homeland with vengeance on his mind. He is determined to get revenge on the man he blames for his family's destruction, and he has chosen his weapon well - his enemy's daughter Allegra. His plan doesn't quite work, and he ends up having to take her back to his ship as his captive, and as he makes his escape, his life is about to change dramatically.

It takes a while for Allegra to believe that Lazar is who he says he is, but once she does believe, she takes it upon herself to try and convince him that Ascension needs him, and that he will make a great King. She also begins to fall in love with the man that she knows wants to sleep with her, but who really is such a gentleman that he is willing to wait until she is ready to give herself to him! And as the feelings begin to grow between them, so does the despair, because if Lazar goes back to Ascension and claims his birthright, he can no longer be Allegra's due to a formal engagement that was negotiated many years before when he was still a young boy.

This book really has it all...not only is our hero a pirate, he is also a handsome prince. There are battles of wills between our hero and heroine, sea battles, land battles, daring escapades such as when Lazar has to go back to his nightmarish past to claim his ring so that he will be able prove his identity to the people of Ascension, hot sex and so much more!

If there is any criticism I would say that the ending was a bit rushed, but other than that I really enjoyed it! This was my first read by Gaelen Foley. I have already got the next book in this trilogy out, and I am very much looking forward to reading it. I also have to say that the author's website is really very good. Very easy to use, and lots of interesting titbits to be found there.

Well done darling, well done!! (Sorry, obscure Australian Idol reference there!!).

Rating 4.5/5