Suzanne Donahue reviewed To Pleasure a Prince on OfftheShelf.com. How Romance Novels Saved My Life by Suzanne DonahueWhen I was newly divorced and an abruptly single mother of 5 year old twins I needed something to fill the hours between my daughters’ bedtime and my own. I probably could have eaten bowls of ice cream but I didn’t seem to have an appetite and, ironically, I did not have the attention span to watch TV. What I wanted was a book. I needed a big juicy read to take me out of my life for a while. A Gone with the Wind or An Unsuitable Boy kind of book that would suck me out of New York to a different place and time. What I found on the shelf in the hallway outside my office was To Pleasure a Prince by Sabrina Jeffries. I had never read a romance novel but the first page hooked me and I took it home.That night I was introduced to the wonderful world of clever feisty women whose intelligence and prickly independence are attractive and desirable traits that draw equally intelligent, handsome, sexy men to them. The characters were wonderfully complex and Jeffries wrote a tense compelling story that completely swept me into the world of Regency England and the rambunctious courtship of Viscount Draker, bastard son of the Prince of Wales and Lady Regina Tremaine, who has decided she can never marry. In addition to a clever plot all the characters seemed to live in impossible large estates with another house in town, even the impoverished ones, that were full of trusted servants, constant port and brandy, comfy warm beds and fantastic horses. No one gets sick, unless it’s a plot device, has to do homework, or deal with a morning commute or a truculent boss. It was exactly what I was looking for.Reading romances is like watching a great romantic comedy on Turner Classic Movies or a period drama on PBS– yes, there is a formula as old as the hills but the formula is elevated to art in the hands of a good writer and cast. Each great romance writer has her own individual style, her favorite locale (Regency England, the Highlands of Scotland) and her own way of building characters and story. It doesn’t hurt that every hero is absolutely gorgeous with not an ounce of extra flesh on his powerfully muscled body as well as a warm heart beating below his gruff exterior but what I like the most is that all of the heroines are clever, strong and fearless. And no matter their travails, they always come out on top. That was what I needed when I picked up Ms. Jeffries book and didn’t even know it. I needed a heroine who, faced with daunting odds, had lost faith in herself but through courage, tenacity and a great dollop of humor rallied to turn her situation around and find happiness.I kept reading after that first book, it was so much fun to discover a new author or series. I have loved every book I have read by Julie London, Mary Balogh, Karen Hawkins and Stephanie Laurens but my favorite author is still Sabrina Jeffries, she has a way with a story (and love scene) that really gets to me. And I have to thank her for being on that shelf the day I was looking for a good book and being exactly the good book I needed to read.
To Pleasure a Prince is a fairly entertaining read, but it's just not for me. Well-written and nicely paced, it showed great promise at the beginning, and would have easily garnered a 3 or 4 star rating had it not been for the slight inconsistency in characters, lack of character development and the unlikeable hero. I'm a fan of the Beauty and the Beast theme, but this one just really failed in its execution.I liked Regina at the start because I love headstrong and stubborn heroines. But as the story progressed, I felt that the things that she did for the hero were inconsistent with how she was established in the book early on. She was supposed to be strong, but there have been instances when she just quietly stood there and absorbed all the shit that the hero threw at her. God. It was so awful.I was like:It was so frustrating. Ugh.And ugh Marcus. I was prepared to love him, because I have a soft spot for scarred, insecure heroes. But the way Marcus handled the situation was just wrong. He was very hypocritical. He said that he hated society because he was stereotyped by it, but then goes on to stereotype Regina, saying mean things like "Oh, I don't want to associate with your kind". I mean, okay, I could have understood him if it was just at the beginning, but even near the end of the book he still harboured such prejudices against Regina. Sigh. I really felt bad for her. If I was Regina I would have kicked him in the balls (for all the mean things he said) and found a better man. I think what really made me hate him was when he kicked Regina out of their house, forcing her to live with her friends. WTF.Marcus was not able to redeem himself in the book. The secondary characters were also weak and not very substantial. I don't recommend this for those who like equality in relationships/like strong heroines/hate bullying husbands.
What do You think about To Pleasure A Prince (2005)?
Buku ke 2 dari seri royal brotherhood setelah kemarin smpat baca seri ke tiganya. i love it, that's it jadi g ragu buat ngasih 4 bintang. Baik hero maupun heroinnya pnya rahasia masing-masing. Marcus North Viscount Draker yang juga dijuluki Viscount Naga udah sekian taun menyepi di estatnya di pedesaan. Statusnya sebagai anak haram Pangeran Wales yang diketahui seantero Inggris membuat dia lebih memilih mengasingkan diri ditambah dengan luka parut menghias wajahnya (yg dia tutupi dengan menumbuhkan jenggot selama hampir 9 tahun tp ttep membuat sosoknya malah jadi jantan LOL) menjadikan dia semakin getir dalam menjalani hidup. Dia lebih suka menenggelamkan hidupnya diantara buku-bukunya ketimbang bersosialisasi dengan masyarakat london karena kebenciannya pada kehidupan kalangan atas. Di sisi lain, Lady Regina Tremaine adalah sebaliknya. Putri seorang duke, cantik, sosialita, jadi kejaran cowo2 bangsawan, udah nolak 11 lamaran. imej itu menyembunyikan dengan baik rahasia terbesarnya yaitu tidak bisa membaca (disleksia).Karena sama-sama keras kepala pastilah sering berantem, adu argumen tapi seperti kisah cinta lainnya happy ending. Orang bilang pernikahan bukan mencari pasangan yang sempurna tapi menerima pasangan kita dengan sempurna. Sama seperti marcus yg rela buat ngajarin regina baca atau regina yang berusaha menerima kegetiran marcus karena masa kecilnya dan omongan orang tentang statusnya sebagai anak haram. Dan dari mereka belajar untuk saling menerima kelebihan dan kekurangan pasangan ^^
—Yessyamarilis
Udah agak lama aku baca jadi nggak perlu lah ya aku tulis sinopsisku ._.Aku suka Lady Regina. Aku suka Marcus. Aku suka Byrne. Aku suka Alec. Aku suka Louisa, meski anak itu kelewat naif. Intinya aku suka buku ini, tapi cuma sampe suka dan nggak pake banget kayak buku ketiganya tapi gapapalah ya. Yang kurang aku suka itu kekeraskepalaan dan kekasaran Marcus, kebiasaannya untuk menarik diri dan kecepatan menghakimi. Itu aku kurang suka. Dan berhubung Lady Regina sendiri keras kepala rasanya jadi tabrakan gitu. Ngerti gak? Jadi keras kepala ketemu keras kepala.... rasanya kurang imbang gitu. Bahkan kalau tokohnya keras kepala ketemu orang yang bisa maklum itu tetep seru kookk. Nggak harus ada clash gitu, jadinya malah suka bete. Dan Regina juga kok kepala batu banget sih soal kakaknya. Okelah dia disleksia dan malu mengakui, itu dimaklumi. Tapi udah jelas kakaknya merendahkan dia sedemikian rupa kok teteeepp aja mau ngebelain dia. Asli aku gak ngerti, tapi patut diacungi jempol lah. Yang satu mengacung ke atas yang satunya lagi ke bawah. -_-Ya pokoknya begitulah. Seri ini lumayan kok. :3
—Dilla Nanditya
Well written, great characters, original plot. I enjoyed so much the love story between the heroine and the surly, stubborn and passionate hero, both characters well developed. Kept me interested until the end.HERO is a Loner, a Viscount who disdains aristocrats, secret son of the prince, moody, obstinate and bad-tempered. He strikes a deal with a Lady to jointly chaperone his sister, a lady who's forcing him to get out of his isolation and is making him fall in love.SCENES/CONTENT: few/hotGENRE/TONE: historical/dramaLENGHT: 364 pages
—Carisa
