Royal Seduction

This was the first romance novel I read, it got me interested in the genre. I loved the characters, they were more developed than other characters in subsequent books I read.

Royal Seduction is one of my all time five favorite books. It's odd that such an old romance (my research indicates this book was first published in 1983 under the name of Patricia Maxwell) should catch my interest so intensely. But some of Jennifer Blake's older romances are excellent - better than I see her publish today.Prince Rolfe of Ruthenia (he has too many names to list) is one determined prince. He is in the States searching for his dead brother's latest mistress. Rolfe believes she knows who murdered his brother since she was present at the time of the former prince's assassination. Rolfe brings with him five of his Royal Guard and their presence is most commanding. Rolfe, himself, is hailed as the Golden Wolf; partly due to the royal insignia he wears bearing a wolf and his golden hair. Rolfe is certainly a prince from fairy tales. He is handsome, extremely self confident, very intelligent, amazingly physically fit and he carries his royalty graciously without thought. He is also highly aggressive, resolute, and is tremendously domineering. He will get that which he seeks and can be ruthless in the process.Angeline Fortin lives with her aunt and cousin near New Orleans and does not relish high society. Angeline is a beautiful, loyal, smart, sensible and assertive young woman. She must rely on her aunt's charity for a place to live. She bears a striking resemblance to her cousin Claire. Claire is the missing mistress of the former Prince of RutheniaThis book captures you immediately. By page five you are hooked into the storyline and by page nine sparks between Rolfe and Angeline are flying off the pages as they first meet at a soiree one evening. He has immediately, upon arriving, seen Angeline and believes her to be Claire. When Angeline insists she is not, Rolfe assumes she is lying. Later that evening, Rolfe and his guards locate and capture Angeline. She is taken to the prince's temporary quarters, a lodge in the country. Rolfe sequesters her in his bedroom and begins to interrogate her. He refuses to believe that Angeline is not Claire. Claire's reputation implies that she would be a willing bed partner. Assuming that Angeline is Claire, Rolfe ruthlessly seduces her and discovers he has, in fact, made a great error. Angeline is a virgin. Some readers may take this seduction as rape. I did. But don't let that affect your opinion of this book prematurely. This aggressive nature, seen within the first 60 pages, is not the tone of the entire book. Rolfe definitely regrets what he has done to Angeline but that doesn't mean he becomes less forceful. He is sure she knows her cousin's hiding place. He continues to hold her captive.Although this book begins in an aggressive mode, the story that follows is very involved and so heart rending that you soon forget the beginning pages as anything other than powerful and somewhat savory. Rolfe is uncompromising, type A to the extreme, and is unforgettable in soul

Angeline had always been a mirror image of Claire. Her hair was slightly darker, her eyes greener, her face kinder. She had never had cause to regret their similar appearances until the ruthless Prince Rolfe mistook her for Claire. Angeline refused to believe Rolfe's wicked accusations against her cousin. While Claire's head may have been turned enough by Rolfe's elder brother to become his mistress, there is no way that Claire would have helped murder him! Rolfe refuses to believe that Angeline is not really Claire and kidnaps her to get the information he needs to find his brother's murderer. There is nothing Angeline can do to persuade him that she is not Claire - until Rolfe seduces her and finds her to be a virgin. Still, even though Rolfe has not found the woman he sought, he knows that Angeline helped hide her cousin and vows to use whatever means he must to pry the information from her. Angeline refuses to give in to his demands and unsuccessfully tries to remain immune to his charms. She has her chance to escape when someone tries to kill the Prince, but she finds herself saving his life and tenderly caring for his wounds. It seems that one of Prince Rolfe's own bodyguards is trying to kill him. But who? And why should Angeline care...?I enjoyed this book quite a bit. I thought that Angeline was a great heroine who displayed a lot of common sense and plain guts in standing up to the men around her and trying to do what was right. All of the characters, even the secondary characters, were well fleshed out and had distinct personalities. Jennifer Blake has a nice, smooth writing style with wonderful descriptions that really made the steamy Southern setting come to life. The plot was also a bit different from most romances and the reader was kept guessing as to who the real villain of the piece was. I think that the price is a little steep, however, and would look for a cheaper used copy of the book.

I bought this book way back in 1986. I was 18 yrs. old and had just gotten over a case of the flu that was so bad I thought I was literally going to die. When I was finally well enough to leave the house, I bought this book at the supermarket to celebrate my coming back to life, so to speak. It was my very first hardcore (read: steamy and sexy) romance. Unlike so many others, it had an interesting plot and characters. RS was the perfect blend of good storytelling and steamy love scenes; it's an excellent introduction to the word of romance novels.

Over the summer I worked for a publishing company that specialized in romance novels, forcing me to read them in order to write jacket copies and the like. Well, most of them seemed boring and following a certain formula and so I made up my mind that they weren't very good novels at all; but after reading this book I changed my mind. It has actual suspense and a good storyline. The story is romantic and actually interesting. I couldn't put it down! I definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys books, not just the romance novel enthusiast, because it's the book that made me change my negative opinion of romances.