"A terrific tale"

In 1815 Widow Marchioness Lady Christabel needs to destroy letters that if released would probably lead to her father's execution and a major scandal involving the Prince Regent, and definitely devastate her life. To gain access to the letters means behaving scandalously by pretending to be the mistress of the owner of the Blue Swan Men's Club Gavin Byrne, who must hate her as she almost shot him last year when he visited to collect her husband's debt to him.

Although he wants no part of this scheme, Gavin admires the spirited Christabel. Still he would have said no except that his fellow members of the Royal Brotherhood of B#stards, his half-brothers Draker (see TO PLEASURE A PRINCE) and Iversley (see IN THE PRINCE'S BED) convince him otherwise. He detests his biological father the Regent, who rejected him and his mother, but agrees to assist her because he plans to use the letters to expose the Prince. As Christabel and Gavin forge a working partnership though with differing goals, the danger and their attraction mount.

The third Royal Brotherhood Regency romance, like its two predecessors, is a terrific tale that the audience will cherish due to the strong lead couple and fine supporting cast. The story line centers on the teaming of Christabel and Gavin, but with each having a different agenda on how to use the letters once obtained. Neither expects failure as it seems simple enough, but love and an adversary make the purloining quite dangerous to the pair but fascinating to the audience. Sabrina Jeffries' royal flush series contain three fabulous historical novels.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted May 28, 2005

Summary

In Jeffries's engaging third entry in her Royal Brotherhood series about three fictional illegitimate sons of England's Prince Regent, impoverished widow Christabel, the Marchioness of Haversham, must recover a set of letters that could send her father to the gallows and bring scandal on the prince. To do so, the spirited but naïve young woman needs the aid of an unregenerate rake, men's club owner Gavin Byrne. Though he stands to gain a title if he helps Christabel secure an invitation to a gambling house party where the letters may be found, Gavin is primarily motivated by his grudge against the princely father who rejected him and blackened his mother's name. Thrown into conflict from the start by their divergent goals and world views, the two find themselves irresistibly drawn to each other, which makes for some steamy love scenes. Fortunately, Jeffries (To Pleasure a Prince; In the Prince's Bed) not only beguiles readers with scenes of passion and vivid characters but steadily builds the story's tension to an exciting conclusion. The details of gambling, mistresses and scandalous conduct further enrich the tapestry against which this emotionally satisfying story plays out. Jeffries's readers will be royally pleased.