Seducing the Princess

Mary Hart Perry

ISBN-13: 978-1626810518

Historical Romance

March 2013

330 Pages

About the Book:

Mary Hart Perry’s acclaimed series of romantic Victorian thrillers continues with Seducing the Princess, inspired by the life of Queen Victoria’s youngest daughter Beatrice. Painfully shy and lonely, convinced she is unattractive and unloved, the dutiful Princess Beatrice finally accepts that she will never marry and vows to devote herself to the queen in Victoria’s waning years. In fact, her mother has secretly discouraged suitors for Beatrice’s hand. Just when Beatrice has all but given up on love and happiness, she meets Henry Battenberg, a dashing nobleman from the Continent who matches wits with the aging Victoria and risks his life and liberty to woo Bea.

But Henry isn’t the only man interested in being welcomed into Beatrice’s bed. The timid princess has become the target of a cruel plot hatched by her nephew, the madman destined to become the last Emperor of Germany. Wilhelm II sends a ruthless agent, a charming Scot, to seduce the naive princess and spy on the queen. How can the sheltered princess hope to fend off a man capable of murder, and perhaps worse, to get what he wants? But Beatrice is not without her own allies–her older sister Louise and Louise’s American soldier-of-fortune and lover, Stephen Byrne. Will Beatrice discover which of the two men pursuing her she can trust, before it’s too late? Drama, romance and peril chase the royal family from Buckingham Palace to a storm besieged castle on the Isle of Wight.

My Review:

I have been a HUGE fan of Kathryn Johnson, aka Mary Hart Perry since I reviewed The Wild Princess last June, so I started this book with high expectations. Seducing the Princess definitely did not disappoint.  Johnson again expertly weaves historical fact with her own romantic imagination to tell the story of Princess Beatrice and her search for love.

The sexual tension in this story will bring you to your knees and the ups and downs, political intrigue and high intensity dramatic action will have you staying up too late to read it all the way to the end.

Princess Beatrice is such a sweet, shy, caring character you can’t help but fall in love with her.  If you have read The Wild Princess, don’t worry, there are appearances by Princess Louise and her “friend” Stephen Byrne.  In addition, you will fall in love with Prince Henry and learn to loath young Prince Wilhelm (later to become Kaiser Wilhelm II) and his sleazy friend Gregory.

I give Seducing the Princess five red roses (they’re Beatrice’s favorite!!)

I received a complimentary copy of this book for the purpose of review through Innovative Online Book Tours.  All opinions are 100% my own.

About the Author:

Kathryn Johnson lives in the Washington, DC area with her husband and two feline writing partners, Tempest and Miranda. The author of over 40 novels, she’s written under her own name and a variety of pen names, including Mary Hart Perry, Kathryn Jensen, KM Kimball and Nicole Davidson. She also teaches fiction-writing workshops for the renowned Writer’s Center in Bethesda, Maryland. And, in 2008, she founded Write by You (www.WriteByYou.com), to coach other writers interested in reaching publication. She has been nominated for the prestigious Agatha Christy Award, and won the Heart of Excellence and Bookseller’s Best Awards (sponsored by the Romance Writers of America) in 2011.

Her works in progress include a series of Victorian thrillers inspired by the lives of Queen Victoria’s five daughters. The first novel,The Wild Princess, focuses on Princess Louise, who desperately wanted an education as a professional artist, at a time when women were not admitted into art schools. Her personal life becomes complicated when she uncovers a secret about her husband and must help protect her mother from an assassination attempt. The second book of the series,Seducing the Princess, launches April 2, 2013, and features Victoria’s youngest daughter Beatrice. Painfully shy and lonely, the dutiful Princess has promised never to marry and to devote herself to the queen in Victoria’s waning years. Just when she has all but given up on love and happiness, she meets Henry Battenberg, a dashing nobleman from the Continent who risks his life and liberty to woo Bea and save both his beloved and the queen from a cruel plot. A third novel, to be published later in 2013, will star Crown Princess Vicky.

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The Wild Princess: a Novel of Queen Victoria’s Daughters

Mary Hart Perry

ISBN-13: 978-0062123466

Genre: Historical Fiction

Release Date: July 31, 2012

432 pages

About the Book:

Queen Victoria and Prince Albert had nine children; four were girls.   In this first book of the sensual historical romance series, Princess Louise, known as the “wild child” of the royal family, marries amidst scandal and threats against the Crown from Irish radicals.  But when Louise discovers love, it isn’t with the man the queen arranged for her daughter to wed.

My Review:

Victorian times are normally considered particularly prudish, a setback in the more relaxed morals of the Age of Enlightenment.  But in The Wild Princess, Mary Hart Perry shows us the romantic, passionate side of the Victorian Era, in Princess Louise, Victoria’s fourth child. Louise is headstrong and independent, both traits that were not popular in female royalty at the time.  Victoria tries to tame her “wild” daughter by marrying her to the Marques of Lorne, the first time since 1515 that a royal had married a British subject.  Historically there has been much speculation about Louise’s marriage to Lorne and why the couple never had children.  This book explores those reasons and also how Louise might have handled a potentially “loveless” marriage.

The description in this book is so vivid and expansive I felt like I could actually see the beautiful clothes and exquisite furnishings of the time period.  Perry’s historical facts are all spot-on and she uses some of the innuendo and suppositions from historians of the present and writers of the time to flesh out the main characters and make them more identifiable.

But The Wild Princess is historical fiction, and with that license, the author is able to embellish on the story with her own characters, who although not present in actual history, serve to further the story by making the real characters more approachable.

I am in love with this book.  I think I will save my second read for a nice long soak in a bubble bath with a box of chocolates by my side and my third read for a day when I’m not feeling well and I need something comfortable yet exciting to keep me company.  Mary Hart Perry is already writing the second book in the series, Seducing the Princess, about Princess Beatrice, Queen Victoria’s youngest child.  I can’t wait.

My rating: 5 cameo pins!!!

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I received an Advance Release Copy of this book for the purpose of this review.  However, all opinions are 100% my own.

This review brought to you by Innovative Online Book Tours.