Title: Prince of Magic
Author: Anne Stuart
Publishing Date: 1998
Genre: Historical
Rating: C-
Sensuality: Warm
Elizabeth Penshurst has never fit in with her family. The only person who seems to understand her Fae nature is an old woman whom rumors claim is a witch. As hard as Lizzie tries to follow convention, it still manages to elude her. Finally she goes to far and is caught dancing in the woods in nothing but her shift and bare feet. Her father, in a last ditch effort, ships her off to Hernewood, Yorkshire where some of her distant relatives live. There, she is supposed to learn how to behave like a proper young lady. Instead, Lizzie finds herself embroiled in a secret Druid cult bent on making her their virgin sacrifice.
I struggled through most of Prince of Magic. What could have been a strong Gothic tale turned into a farce because of the laughably 'Eeevil' characters that make up the Druid cult. They didn't even come close to instilling any sort of fear in me and their motivation was entirely lacking. Also, I had issues with the hero, Gabriel. Many times the author told me how devilish Gabriel was, but she never showed me. Overall, the book was unable to evoke any kind of strong emotion from me.
About the only thing that saved this book from being a total disaster were the secondary characters Peter and Jane. The romance between Peter and Jane was good and I also liked Jane and Peter's interaction with Gabriel. There is a wall-banger moment when Peter rescues Jane that I am still shaking my head over. In conclusion, I am sorry to say that I do not recommend this book.
This book was part of Keishon's TBR Challenge 2009. This month the theme was tortured heroes or heroines. A list of particpants in this challenge can be found here.
6 comments:
Anne Stuart was obviously a popular choice for this month's TBR Challenge! Bookwormom reviewed 'Hidden Honor'.
I like some of Anne Stuart's books, but not all. Of her historicals, 'Prince of Swords' is by far my favourite.
Sarah - I have enjoyed some of Anne Stuart's books too, but I tend to like her romantic suspense better than her historicals. I think I will take a break from Stuart for a while, LOL. The last few I have read from her haven't been so hot :)
I have a couple of books by this author in my tbr. Not this one though, which I'm thinking is a good thing. lol Thanks for the review Jill.
btw - I gave you an award on my blog. :)
Hmmm...I haven't read much of Anne Stuart. Actually I think I've only read one book - 'Into the Fire'. It's old and was a romantic suspense. I picked it up b/c it had my favorite theme of unrequited love. I think I have one of her new RS books in my TBR somewhere...
Thanks for the great review.
;) VFG
Ugh, sorry you didn't enjoy it, Jill. Ah well, now, you can move onto other books :)
I bought a couple of Anne Stuart books last year or the year before, but seriously, not my cup of tea ^_^;
Tracy - Thank you for the award :) I have received a few others and have once again fallen behind on things. Must attempt to do better!
VampFanGirl - Into the Fire was good if you enjoy the "bad boy" hero. Anne Stuart's heroes tend to be the anti-hero. I like most of her romantic suspense books. Her categories and historicals aren't as appealing.
Nath - See, I read Nightfall by Anne Stuart and absolutely loved it. I then preceded to try and find everything she had ever written and I got burned out on her. That is why I have so many of her books left in my TBR, but I have almost finished all of them. I think I will take a break for a while from her!
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