REVIEW: The Raven Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt
A Review Category / A- Reviews / Book ReviewsElizabeth-Hoyt / England / Georgian15 Comments
Dear Mrs Hoyt,
Last year my blogging partner raved to me about this book. “You must read it,” she said. I said I would and sincerely intended to but time passed. I read other reviews of it where people raved about it and thought, “I really need to read that.” And time passed. And I heard from trusted reading friends that it is spectacular and mentally said to myself, “yes, someday…must get to that.” And time passed. Then Jane emailed us and said she’d gotten an advanced copy of “The Serpent Prince” and after reading it she was mailing it out to us to read and I groaned at the thought that I still hadn’t read the first darn book yet. So after finishing another book yesterday I finally (at last!) picked up “The Raven Prince” and started it last night. I got 3 chapters into it before I went to bed then when I got up this morning, I picked it up and couldn’t put it down. Thank God I’d already walked the dog because only the need for food took me away from it until I finished it this afternoon.
I’d heard about the historical inaccuracies. Usually those bother me. Not this time. With this book I was so caught up in the story and the characters that I didn’t care. Not one bit. I was ready to believe that financially distressed widow Anna Wren could become the personal secretary of scarred Edward de Raafe, Earl of Swartingham (okay, I have to admit that I winced at that title) in 1760s England. That their attraction would intensify until Anna used her favor gained from helping a sick “barque of frailty” to take the chance to spend a hawt night (and then another hawter night) masked at a London brothel with this man who stirred her emotionally as well as physically. That Edward would at one point take Anna with him to London to a meeting of the Agrarian Society and the other members wouldn’t turn a hair. That the final showdown could take place in front of some members of the Quality and that Anna and Edward might have to face them down in the future. I didn’t care one little bit. Because by that point I was wiping away tears as I turned the pages. I so believed in the romance and the world you’d created between these two that if you’d told me they got into a Range Rover and drove off into the sunset on the M25 I would have nodded and said “of course, that’s the perfect vehicle for Jock to fit into”.
He drew back only to deliver a series of little nips along her bottom lip. “Will you marry me?” he breathed so close to her that the air from his body whispered across her face.
More tears blurred Anna’s eyes. “I love you so much, Edward,” she said brokenly. “What if we never have a family?”
He cupped her face in his hands. “You are my family. If we never have children, I will be disappointed, but if I never have you, I will be devastated. I love you. I need you. Please trust me enough to be my wife.”
“Yes.” Edward was already nibbling a row of kisses down her neck, so it was hard for her to get the word out, but she said it again anyway, because saying it was important.
“Yes.”
See, I’m tearing up again just reading that last bit over. I don’t care if this book has glaring historical inaccuracies. I don’t care if Edward acts more like a RomanceMan than a RealMan when he says this (though he does act more like a RealMan during the book). I don’t care I tell you. I want this to be real. I want these two to have the happiness they deserve. Even if they have to suffer through having Davis as Edwards’ shifty valet. I sighed happily when I finished this book and am happy to give it an A- (yes, well I had to take some points off form’s sake).
~Jayne
lol! I just kind of slotted this into alternate history and I was good to go. I loved it, too, and couldn’t put it down. But, I sure wouldn’t have bought it based on the back cover. So I am glad it got some good press on the blogs.
And I adored their first meeting where he falls off the horse.
Alternate history, fairy tale, either one will work. I wonder if the horse ever got a name?
Oh, yes, the horse with no name!
Which is another thing I loved-‘the way she showed the hero’s trauma. I really did find it a very emotional read. What moved me to tears was that scene in the garden.
I loved this book, on another web site I voted for this book as my “Buried Treasure” book. I loved the fact that hero was not good looking and the heroine went after what she wanted.
I forgot to mention how much I enjoyed the fairy tale at the beginning of every chapter too!!!!!!!!!!!!
I bought this book solely because of the cover, without even reading the back blurb. Also the title – very catchy! Then it began to garner so many good reviews, and readers carrying on about it. The second one appears to be equally, if not more popular, so I bought it as well.
But, like Jayne, it’s been a case of ‘time passed’. :)
At this point, it’s become something of a carrot. As soon as I finish this project and send it off into the world, I can sit down and read this book, and the next. Oh, and Claiming The Courtesan, and Passion, both also in the stack of read asap.
Thanks for a lovely review – makes the carrot all that much more enticing.
Stef
So – what took you so long to read it? *g* ‘Tis a most wonderful book isn’t it? It was one of the best I read last year – that’s for sure! Now you’ve made me want to read it again – and look at that – it’s still sitting on my shelf right near me! Gotta run now
whee! another convert. The Serpent Prince was mind blowing.
btw – i loved the line
Stef, aren’t TBR piles great? Well, until they tip over and fall on your head. But I love knowing I’ve got well reviewed and highly thought of books waiting for me. I hope your project is finished soon and you can dig into your carrots.
Kristie, I kept meaning to read this but Jane would send out more arcs and review books and it kept getting shunted to the bottom of the heap or I wasn’t in the mood for a historical or I had to go to work (yes, I’m ruled by my corporate masters if I want a paycheck to live on) or a Netflix envelope was sitting by the DVD player and of course I have to walk my dog and adore my kitty daily. Pathetic excuses I know but now, as Jane says, I’m a convert!
Ok, I have really got to read this. It’s on my pda. I’ll get around to it. Will you be reviewing the next book? I haven’t bought it yet.
Yes, I plan to read and review the next book but who knows when. Hopefully soon. Jane’s already done a review of it and read the next book (Serpent Prince) which I’ve got sitting beside my computer terminal now.
Jane already has The Serpent Prince??? That is sooooo not fair :D