One Night with a Prince (3) (The Royal Brotherhood)

Ms. Jeffries saved the best for last in this final installment of the Royal Brotherhood series. It is definitely a page-turner, with a wonderful hero and heroine and a very compelling storyline. The story's hero is Gavin Byrne, bastard son of the Prince of Wales ("Prinny"). For his entire life, Gavin has hated his father, whom he has never met. The prince publicly denied his paternity and reneged on a promised annuity to Gavin's mother, forcing them to live in poverty until his mother's death when he was twelve. Gavin survived by sheer determination and ruthlessness and now, in his thirties, he is the wealthy, if somewhat aloof, owner of a very successful gentleman's club. He has had many mistresses and is considered an expert lover. However, they have always been married women and always kept at a safe emotional distance, because Gavin has no interest in a permanent relationship. In fact, if any of his mistresses say they love him, he ends the affair immediately. Into his solitary, cynical and somewhat shallow life walks a breath of fresh air in the form of the intrepid and adorable Christabel, the widowed Lady Haversham. Christabel has been sent to Gavin by Prinny to help her recover a secret item that her late husband sold to Lord Stokely in order to pay off a gambling debt. In return for recovering the item, Prinny will make Gavin a baron and finally grant him an audience. Gavin is to attend an exclusive card competition at Stokely's estate, and Christabel wants to attend also to try and locate the mysterious item. The only way Gavin can procure an invitation for Christabel is to pretend that she is his mistress. To be convincing in the role, she needs much different attire than her black widow's weeds, but unfortunately she was left very little money by her late husband. Naturally, Gavin charges to the rescue with a lavish new wardrobe, and soon the pretty but provincial Christabel is transformed into a sophisticated beauty. Christabel views Gavin as a bit of a scoundrel because of his reputation for gambling and womanizing. Nevertheless, she finds him fascinating and is not impervious to his charm, wit and generosity. Even more tempting, in light of her unfulfilled marriage, are Gavin's seductive caresses and his undisguised yearning for her. Is it only a matter of time before the pretense becomes a reality, and is a passing affair what Gavin really wants from the delightful, tenderhearted Christabel? I loved this couple and their amusing banter and flirting, all the while denying the strength of their feelings. Gavin is ridiculously territorial about his "supposed" paramour, and Christabel has overwhelming pangs of jealousy whenever she his around his former lady loves. Of course we know where this story is going, but it's so much fun getting there. The dynamic couple is immensely appealing, and I found myself so often smiling as I was reading. Gavin milks the mistress angle for all it's worth, taking excessive li

This is one of my all time favorite romance books. From page one the characters in this charming book reached out and grabbed me. Page after page I just got sucked in deeper until I closed the book with a happy sigh. This book had everything you need to create a good romance: a dashing hero, a beautiful feisty heroine, something that always seems to interfere with the hero and heroine, and, most of all...PASSION! You will feel like smoking after the sex scenes in this book. It was written with an amazing level of intensity and feeling that my heart was pumping furiously with the palatable passion in the story. The relationship between the leads is endearing. The secondary characters are enjoyable as well.T his book is sharp and fast-moving. Filled with Lovable and exciting characters. Lots of laugh out-loud, I-can't-believe-they-did-that scenes and oh so plenty of heart warming moments. This was a very entertaining book. This book was a pleasure to read and I couldn't put it down until it was finished. I really enjoyed the characters, as they were very likeable. The relationship between the leads is endearing. I found the characters to be multi-dimensional and the author weaves a mystery into the story without slowing it down or interrupting the romantic flow. The love scenes are ample & steamy, and the plot is a good one. A fast paced book with an intricate plot that I cannot help but enjoy. The interaction between the leads was great. Sabrina Jeffries has found a perfect match for the notorious Gavin with feisty Christabel. They are well matched in temperament, intelligence and in their loyalty to their families. It was an interesting. There is enough conflict to make the story line interesting and not so much that your left wondering why they ever got together. This book is sharp and fast-moving. I was sad to have it end, but satisfied at the ending!

sabrina jeffries is the kind of author who is without a doubt gifted when it comes to her depiction of love scenes. this is why i am always willing to read her books, even if they sometimes disappointment in terms of plot and/or character development. however, this book proves to be jeffries at her best. not only did she get it right with the love scenes, but the plot and characterization were very well done. christabel, the marchioness of haversham, is a widowed general's daughter whose husband was addicted to gambling. needless to say, he left her impoverished and sold the one thing of value she had from right under her nose. turns out this thing is a set of letters with the potential to both prevent the prince regent from becoming king and put all of england into political chaos. on a personal level, the exposure of the letters could destroy christabel's father, which is why she is determined to retrieve them. they were sold to lord stokely, a debauched nobleman who is blackmailing the prince to force him to give stokely his daughter in marriage. gavin byrne, self-made owner of a successful gentlemen's club, is the prince regent's son by a former actress. having to take care of himself since the age of 12, he is embittered because the prince reneged on a promise to financially support gavin's mother when he was younger while also denouncing her claim that gavin is indeed his child. when he is asked by his half-brothers to help christabel retrieve the letters at the bequest of the prince, he immediately sees an opportunity to use the letters as leverage for gaining his revenge against the prince. when gavin and christabel meet in the book, it's actually the second time they've encountered each other. the first time was when christabel shot at him when he came to see her husband about a debt that was owed to him. needless to say, gavin is a bit hesitant about being in christabel's presence. however, the attraction once they meet again is immediate, as christabel's candor and honesty ignite a desire within the jaded Gavin, who up until then, has had plenty of mistresses. the plan is for christabel to pretend to be gavin's mistress so that they can gain an invitation to a whist competition being held at lord stokely's estate. gavin, attracted to christabel's forthright personality as well as her volumptous body (no skinny chit here, just a 30 year old woman with curves in all of the right places), is determined to make the arrangement a real affair, but he has no intention of ever falling in love with her. what ensues are some extremely sensual encounters for the hero and heroine, in particular a "wicked whist" game that left me absolutely breathless. this is where jeffries really shines. christabel initially fights the attraction and tells him she would make a bad mistress because she would become too possessive and would ultimately care too much about him. gavin has never been rejected by a female so he doesn't let her rejection deter him. h

I rarely rate a book with five stars (and I've read hundreds)but this is one of them. ONWAP had the right combination of: sexual tension (hot!), jealousy, chemistry,sex, and conflict that I require in a 5 star book. Definitely one for the keeper shelf!

Gavin Byrne is many things, a rake, a womanizer, and an unacknowledged bastard of Prinny - but oh, you are so going to love him! No soft life for this royal son, as he made his own way out of the poverty of Drury Lane and was now a wealthy and powerful club owner with knowledge of some of the most intimate secrets of the ton. Now the very respectable Lady Christabel, needed a favor and knowing that Lord Draker {IN THE PRINCES BED}was a friend to the notorious gamester asked that a meeting be set up. This wasn't the first time she'd met Byrne, and but she hoped that their first auspicious meeting, when she shot a hole in both his hat and cabriolet, wouldn't stop him from helping her now. She needed Gavin to help her gain entrance into a scandalous house party so that she could search and destroy letters that the host had obtained from her dead husband that could destroy what was left of her family. When Gavin learns that somehow Prinny, the man he hates most in the world, is involved he knows that the letters must be quite damaging to Prinny's hopes of becoming king. Determined to entice the very alluring widow into his bed as an added bonus, Gavin agreed to get her invited to the house party so long as she didn't object to posing as his mistress - a masquerade that Gavin had every intention of turning into reality. Behind his machinations of seducing the desirable widow, he was also planning to steal the damaging letters and use them as revenge against the hated father who'd abandoned him and his mother, but even rakes turn away from revenge when that very revenge can hurt the people they love. ___ Jeffries continues to write books with heart throbbing sensual intensity that you never want to see end and this is such a prime example! Christabel is a wonderfully out-spoken, intelligent and feisty heroine who was the perfect match for the absolutely devilish and divine Gavin Byrne. I loved watching the metamorphous of Gavin, as he finally came to realize that the love he had for Christabel was stronger than his hatred for revenge against his father. Splendid protagonists, intelligent and dynamic dialogs - it just doesn't get any better than this as Jeffries wraps up her latest trilogy of the fabulous Royal Brotherhood series!! SIMPLY OUTSTANDING!!!