Rating: 
Summary: Loved the male hero
Review: Rarely do I reread a book, this one is an exception. I was drawn in to the lives of Royce and his captive. Royce is the ultimate protector and Nicholaa the brave little girl in all of us. A warm romance that left me with a lovely glow for days.
Highly recommended for the romantic in all of us.
Rating: 
Summary: A little effort, please!
Review: The last time I read a Garwood historical, The Lion's Lady, I stated in my review that it was her best romance I had read. Well, I now say that again. The Prize was even better than The Lion's Lady. This book however, is set in a medieval time frame. It is full of subtle humor and I laughed out loud many times. Although there are some serious aspects to the story, it reads as more of a light comedy. Both of the leads are strong and very likable characters.Baron Royce, the hero, is one of the Norman invaders at the time William the Conqueror takes the throne of England. Tension runs high between the Saxons and Normans as the new king plans weddings between Saxon nobility and Norman knights that have served him well. In the opening pages of the book, Royce and his soldiers are capturing the family holding of Lady Nicholaa. Royce has been ordered by the king to bring Lady Nicholaa to London where she will wed a Norman of his choosing. King William refers to Nicholaa as the prize (thus the name of the book) because he will give her in marriage to a highly deserving knight. Royce is a very popular leader of men and is known to be the best Norman trainer of soldiers. He leads a very organized, logical life and demands obedience from all who serve him. This is one hero who is alpha in the extreme yet very lovable at the same time. He has an evenly tempered personality and exhibits great maturity - until it comes to Nicholaa. Lady Nicholaa is not at all happy with the Norman invasion of her home. She is a young lady full of mischief and a very expressive personality. She uses her wit to escape Royce once her family holding is captured. When he finds that he has been tricked by Nicholaa, he eagerly anticipates beating her at her own game. Before long, Royce has found Nicholaa and manipulated her into accompanying him to London. The journey to London is a long one and Nicholaa attempts to escape again and again and Royce prevents her escape again and again. He spends portions of their journey readying Nicholaa for her presentation at court and to the king. By the time they reach London, their relationship is a mixture of aggravation and fondness. Due to some heroic action during court on the part of Nicholaa, the king allows her to choose her own husband from the many single men that surround her. Although Royce can be thoroughly exasperating, Nicholaa has determined he is a man of honor and kindness. Much to Royce's surprise, she chooses him as her future husband and the two marry that very night. Shortly thereafter, the two return to Nicholaa's former family's fortress and begin married life. This is a most enjoyable tale as these two match wits, annoying each other, yet growing in fondness for each other by the day. Royce is very much in command and never asks Nicholaa to do anything - he only tells her what to do. Their home is "his" home and she is "his" property and she is expected to obey without question and without delay. I laughed again and again as they react to each other and grow. It is thoroughly entertaining and not a page is boring. This is a book that concentrates on the romance between the leads and most of the book is dedicated to that romance. Although there are some interesting secondary characters and a couple of mysteries to solve, they take few pages overall. We get to read more and more about this juicy relationship developing between Royce and Nicholaa. There are some sensual scenes and they rate a solid 4.0 out of 5.0 (see More About Me for rating guidelines). I highly recommend The Prize for an engrossing and delightful read. It will definitely take its place on my keeper shelf along with a few other Garwood books. Although I am not overly fond of Garwood's contemporary romances, I have yet to read one of her historical romances that disappointed me. It's just that I can't decide which one I really like the best because they are all so good.
Rating: 
Summary: A hit from Julie Garwood!
Review: I've read this book many times before, and it's always stuck out in my mind as one of Julie Garwood's finest. The cover depicted is not actually the newest edition, as it has a white cover with a graceful castle on it. Not that it makes a difference on anything, but just FYI. The Prize is set in 1066, at the time of the Norman Invasion (One of my favorite time periods for romances). Lady Nicholaa is a Saxon already legendary for the lengths that she goes to keep her castle safe from the invaders. When it does finally fall to Royce, a Baron in the king's employ, Nicholaa is taken to court, and instead of being the King's Prize to give out to a Baron, she is actually allowed to choose her *own* husband. She chooses Royce for revenge, and things snowball from there. This is a very sweet, fairly predictable romance (aren't they all?) but the characters are what make it truly exceptional. Julie Garwood makes her heroines so naive and forthright that they're utterly hilarious to read about. Nicholaa is not a strong spitfire of a heroine, but there's no doubt in your mind that she knows how to get what she wants! I like that her heroines are very ordinary with a touch of the extraordinary. Julie Garwood combines a mix of warm humor, storytelling, and romance in 'The Prize'. It's not a groundbreaking, unique novel, but it's more like a warm, fuzzy blanket that you can pull up over yourself and relax with. 'The Prize' is everything a romance should be! Which suits me just fine, and I suspect that if you pick up this book, you definitely will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: A Quick and Fun Read
Review: This was my first Julie Garwood experience and I finished her book quite satisfied. I had read such great reviews about her books that I just had to try one out. And I certainly wasn't disappointed. The first thing I noticed about this book was the equal amount of dialogue vs. ongoing thoughts of the characters. It was refreshing to get caught up in a great conversation without endless pages of characters inner thoughts getting in the way. Some authors go on and on with thoughts and leave me wishing the characters would just speak for God's sake. But then some books have so much dialogue with no inner thoughts that the characters seem flat or shallow. I was impressed that this book was perfectly proportioned in this area. The romance between Royce and Nicholaa was sweet and tender. She was very touching to read about and watching Royce open his life and his heart to her was captivating. It seemed that even when they had just met, their true love was there just beneath the surface waiting to bloom. I loved the part of the story surrounding Justin. The gruff tenderness between he and Royce was a joy to see. I loved watching Justin grow as a person and a soldier. And I would very much love to see a sequel with his story. It would be great to incorporate that with a conclusion to Thurston's story also. I was left hanging there and wondering what would come of it. The reason this is a 4 star read for me and not a 5? I cried over Ulric and have simply not accepted Royce's decision concerning him. That really bothered me and I wish Nicholaa had shown more emotion. It only seemed to bother her for one night and then she was back to normal. Somehow that didn't seem realistic after how close she had been to him. I'm hoping a sequel will perhaps include a change there. All in all, its worth a read. I really did enjoy it and am anxious to read more works by Julie Garwood.
| 
