Menjadi anggota kerajaan tentunya berbeda dengan masyarakat biasaa. Selain kesenangan berupa akses apapun yang tak terhingga, ada juga ancaman serius akan kehidupan anggota kerajaan. Putri Gabriella, anggota kerajaan Cordina telah merasakannya. Ia diculik oleh segerombolan orang dan kini setelah bebas ia malah menderita amnesia.Agar tidak menimbulkan kepanikan di kalangan masyarakat serta tidak membuat senang para penculik kondisi Gabriella dirahasiakan dari umum. Untuk menjaga keselamatan sekaligus membantu mengidentifikasi para penculiknya, Gabriella harus berpura-pura bertunangan dengan Reeve MacGee, penyelamatnya.Siapa Reeve MacGee itu? Well... dia seorang pensiunan militer teman dekat keluarga Gabriella yang diminta ayah Gabriella untuk membantu menemukan Gabriella. Pertunangan pura-puranya dengan Gabriella dibuat agar kehadirannya di mana pun Gabriella berada tidak menimbulkan asumsi publik.Berjalannya waktu Gabriella jatuh cinta pada Reeve, namun sebaliknya Reeve menolak jatuh cinta pada Gabriella. Karena jika jatuh cinta dan menikahi Gabriella maka ia harus meninggalkan kehidupannya yang tenang dan nyaman di Amerika SerikatCerita-cerita tentang kerajaan serta intrik-intrik didalamnya selalu menarik perhatian saya. Meskipun hanya sebuah cerita fiksi. Termasuk pada serial Cordina's Royal Family ini. Mungkin karena jarak usia antara hero dan heroine yang terpaut cukup jauh sekitar sepuluh tahun membuat saya tidak begitu sreg pada cerita ini. Tapi cerita sampingan seperti kisah kedua adik Gabrielle yaitu Alexander dan Bennett cukup menghibur dan membuat penasaran untuk membaca seri selanjutnya.Buku ini telah diterjemahkan kedalam berbagai bahasa dengan berbagai tampilan cover. Termasuk dalam bahasa Indonesia dengan judul saduran "Kenangan Yang Hilang" pada tahun 2001 oleh Gramedia Pustaka Utama. Namun dari sekian banyak tampilan cover yang ada, saya paling suka terbitan Alnari ditahun 2012 kemarin dalam bahasa Serbia.
ZERO stars Roberts may be hugely popular, and more power to her, but this book is just terrible. The writing is hackneyed; the plot is contrived, makes little sense and doesn’t flow; the characters are one-dimensional; the dialogue is inane. The premise is that Princess Gabriella Bisset, Princess Royal of Cordina (a principality with a striking resemblance to Monaco), has been kidnapped but managed to escape with her life, but with no memory at all of who she is, who took her, how they did it, where she was kept, or how she escaped. She doesn’t recognize her father, the Crown Prince Armand, or her brothers, much less the servants or heads of state she regularly comes in contact with. Enter Reeve MacGee, an American whose father was a friend of Prince Armand, and who is a “retired” cop (or is that a CIA operative?). Armand asks him to come help protect Brie until her kidnappers can be captured. To explain his constant presence at her side, they concoct a fake engagement to throw the media off the real story. My favorite quote comes on page 172 of the large print edition I read. Princess Brie is speaking:”I want this to be over,”she said … All I could say to that was, ME, TOO!This is the first Nora Roberts book I’ve read. I think it’s the last, also.
What do You think about Affaire Royale (1993)?
Wow, reading some of the reviews, the ratings are pretty harsh. They must not be true Roberts fans. I on the other hand loved the book. I was a bit annoyed with all the smoking references. I can't stand Heros that smoke. Then I saw this was originally published in 1986. Things were a lot different then. I thought the story interesting about a girl who was kidnapped and had lost her memory. She wasn't just any girl, but a princess of a country called Cordina. Her memory slowly comes back to her but will the kidnappers kill her before she can identify them? I did find a few issues with the book. I have found that Nora Roberts writing has gotten significantly better in her more recent novels which may explain some of my issues with this book. Regardless, I still loved the story and can't wait to read the other 3 books in this series.
—Nicole
Brie is a European princess who was kidnapped, escaped and has lost her memory. Reeve is an American cop hired by brie's father to protect her and investigate who may have taken her. I found this book in the office at work and have been reading it when it's slow at night. It was alright. A cute love story nothing spectacular but decent to kill time and occupy my mind while waiting for my shift to end.I'll be reading the next book in the series as its part of this first one. I don't know if I'll read the last two though since they aren't so readily available.
—Angela
5 royally romantic starsHer Serene Highness Princess Gabriella Madeline Justine Bisset of Cordina or just Brie has lost her memory after being kidnapped and the only person she trusts now doesn't belong to her family, is rather a stranger, a private detective, a family friend Reeve MacGee. Reeve is about to start a new life at his farm, leaving a long career behind being a cop and later a detective. So he has no business getting involved in others's lives to sort it out or otherwise especially Brie's whom he had met 10 years before, on her sixteenth birthday and fallen in love with her then and there. So when Prince Armand, Brie's father,called Reeve for help, he couldn't say no. Not just because Reeve's father and Armand were good friends once, but also because of Brie.Two things i like the most about a novel are an intriguing start and a happily ever after ending. This had both. :DYou will fall in love with Cordina and its royal family. They are strong, loyal and love each other. Armand's determination, Bennet's charm, Alex's arrogance, Gabriella's struggles and Reeve's intelligence and patience. You will be enthralled with every one of them.The complete story was nothing less than a fairy tale. Starting with Alex' s story now. Command Performance.... :)
—Manisha
