"Excellent start to Royal Brotherhood series."

Katherine Merivale needs to marry in order to receive her vast fortune from her grandfather. After watching her late rakehell father repeatedly break her mother's heart, Katherine vows to make a marriage based on friendship. She does not have a proper pedigree, but her money erases that obstacle. Needing to eliminate fortune hunters, Katherine is lucky to have inherited her father's book on seduction, The Rake's Rhetoric. It increases Katherine's knowledge on the tactics used for luring young ladies to ruin. Unfortunately, after a passionate kiss with the sexy Lord Iversley, Katherine's thoughts are in a muddle and the newfound wisdom goes out the door.

Alec, the Earl of Iversley, one of the Prince of Wales unrecognized bastards, is broke due to the previous earl's wild spending. The only way to restore his estate and protect his tenants is to marry an heiress. Alec realizes no father will allow him near his daughter because of his ill-deserved libertine reputation. Enlisting his half- brothers' help, Alec arrives in London with a special heiress in mind - a flaming red head with a tendency to speak her mind but always within society's dictates.

Determined to hide his precarious financial state, Alec woos the skittish Katherine, who questions his motives using her "book" as a guide to his behavior. Alec soon realizes he needs more than kisses in his arsenal to convince this reluctant miss.

IN THE PRINCE'S BED is an excellent beginning in the new Royal Brotherhood series. The tale is superb as Ms. Jeffries fills it with compelling characters who vibrate with sexual tension. Adding to the novel's rich texture is the rocky relationship between the brothers. Ms. Jeffries gives delicious hints regarding the brothers' tales in upcoming books.

Reviewed by Suan Wilson
Posted July 10, 2004

Summary

Miss Katherine Merivale is desperate to make a respectable match—if only her childhood sweetheart would propose! Until he does, she can't touch the fortune she's inherited. So the last thing she needs is notorious rogue Alec Black putting her proposed marriage at risk with his distracting, smoldering gaze and moonlit kisses. Alec, the Earl of Iversley—and one of three bastard sons of the Prince of Wales—is secretly searching for an heiress bride to pay his debts. Fiery Katherine seems the answer to his prayers, and her passionate response to his stolen kisses and practiced seduction soon assures him that she is his. But Alec knows Katherine is looking for a love-match, and he wonders ...what will happen when she discovers his deception?