Rating: 
Summary: Great book
Review: I agree that the author did not remain true to the characters of the King & Queen. Why would two people who love each other so much let duty and each other take them away from their children? Overall, the book was great. I had first read Prince Charming and then purchased this one, which explains his lack of favor with the King - sleeping with a traitor who stole the maps of the secret tunnels he was compiling. Darius is a wonderful hero, and even though there were times I didn't like the princess's shallow/selfish motivation, I believe it makes her more real, don't we all have character flaws?
Rating:
Summary: Another dark hero saved by innocent love, but still good
Review: When the book opens, Princess Serafina is running from French kidnappers. She is saved by the head of royal security, Darius, whom she has known her entire life. The year is 1805, Serafina is 20 and Darius is 34. She is the oldest offspring of King Lazar and Queen Allegra of the island kingdom of Ascension. He is the illegitimate offspring of a Spanish count and a gypsy woman. She is to remain pure until her political marriage to Russian Prince Anatole in exchange for his military protection against Napoleon. Darius is termed a male slut (although not a "rake" in the typical romance tradition). She is outgoing and spoiled (although she feels that her parents do not truly love her), while he has been abused as a child, is shy underneath his bravado, and has feelings of self-loathing due to his abuse as a child. What they share is love for each other, physical beauty and different degrees of terrible parenting. The plot revolves around Darius' need to prove himself worthy of Serafina, even though he feels he can never marry her. After the initial kidnaping attempt, Darius takes Serafina away to a country villa to protect and hide her. There the two quickly become physically intimate, although Serafina remains a virgin. Upon returning to the palace, Darius leaves without warning to assassinate Napoleon. He knows that doing so will not only rid the world of a monster, but free Serafina from the need to marry Anatole. While doing a requested background check for Lazar, Darius discovered that Anatole had caused his first wife's death. Darius does not expect to marry Serafina when all is said and done, however, because he expects to die after killing Napoleon. Unfortunately, Darius' shot goes awry, his plans to commit suicide with arsenic are foiled and he is captured. Napoleon's sister, Pauline, spirits Darius out of his death row prison cell to have sex with him and he is able to escape. He makes it back to Ascension on the eve of Serafina's wedding and goes immediately to her room. Finally, the two make love and Serafina ensures that her parents will catch them in bed, thereby negating the political wedding and ensuring her wedding to the man she loves. A battle of wills between two strong-willed people ensues, complicated by the brewing military battle, the spurned and murderous ex-fiancé Anatole, Serafina's brother (the heir apparent, Prince Rafael) and his unwise liaison with a duplicitous older woman that leads to a near rout of Ascension. The plot is fast-paced and although politics plays a huge role in it, the author never lets the reader get lost in political details. The characters in Serafina and Darius' generation are well-drawn and believable. By the end of the book, you feel that you have "been there" with them and know these characters. My only caveat is that after reading about Lazar and Allegra in the Pirate Prince, I felt that they either had an unsupported personality change between then and now, that they really must be horrible people and that fact was hidden in the earlier work, or Foley has unnecessarily betrayed her characters in order to create the essential plot point. It was shocking tto see these characters as parents who were totally unconcerned not only with Serafina's emotional happiness, but her very life. Allegra especially would have willingly sacrificed her at any time to save Prince Rafael - Serafina was clearly disposable. (Rafael, although the favorite, is also not given good parenting either.) And then at the end, to have Lazar tell Darius he would have allowed them to marry at any time, if Darius had only asked - well, that made no sense in light of his earlier unconcern with her health or happiness and very rapid use of her as a political pawn. (I mean, he did not even wait for the background check to come back.) I felt the older characters would have been better served if they had been shown to be in a huge dilemma about how to save their island and Serafina too - they could have pretended to agree to the marriage and then scheme to prevent it, with or without Darius. This misstep by the author is the reason why the book gets 4 stars instead of 5.
Rating: 
Summary: Embarassing!
Review: Cliche-ridden, tired, trite phrasing. The heroine is the most beautiful, willful, lovely, spiteful, etc. etc. The hero is beautiful, dark, brooding, etc. etc. I could not finish this book because I cringed every time I turned the page! Really bad!
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't measure up to the Pirate Prince
Review: Part two of this trilogy seems to really miss a beat. The first book "Pirate Prince" was great!! I couldn't get enough and was throughly excited that I had found another author her knew how to mix romance w/true passion. Wow! A storyline not focused on Regency England. My excitement was brought to a halt midway thru the "Princess". I liked the dark "Thornbird" premise only to have the characters break "character" midway thru the storyline. First of all the parents. It seemed the author decided to divert the orginal cast to secondary roles by making them unlikeable. The King and Queen were shallow figures hardly seen within this new story-and seemed to somehow forget their own beginnings. If I had read the "Princess" first I wouldn't have been interested in picking up the "Pirate Prince". The father was foolish and the mother appeared to be a breed mare who was only concerned w/societial obligations and sheltering the idiot Prince Royal. I kept waiting for our Princess to talk w/her understanding parents (remember the couple from the orginal story)who shared a great love and would of obviously understand the Hero/Heroine plight. No so...it seems that either one of two things occured: they suffered memory loss or somehow became older and well...."stupid". My concern grew with the father/daughter relationship of the Serafina and Darius. Though I enjoy sensual storylines-.....was crass and quite ridiculious. My dissappoint truely came after the inital love scene where they come together with gentleness and love only to become cold and vicious. She used trickery something we would not have thought her capable of due to her previous trust and devotion. Finally there was his complete resistance to being married after have agnoized for years believing he would never be with her. Where is the common sense? In the end the story began to pick itself up and did infact develop some redeeming qualities. The resolution seemed to bring us back to the original characters I had been previously building up to care about; and Yes-the prince found something like.. a brain! In the end we see him growing and I hope that "Prince Charming" will recapture some the charm (pun intended) of the "Pirate Prince". Maybe the "Prince" will be able to encompass the strength found in his parents-from the first novel!-not this one-let's just try to forget about the parental laspse and get on with the continuing story. Yes, I am still interested.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating All Around
Review: Princess, the second in a trilogy about the Italian kingdom Ascension, was just fabulous. Princess Serafina is being used as a pawn in a game of political intrigue during the reign of Napoleon. She is set to marry a Russian so her kingdom can have the aid of his army in defeating the French foe, but her love truly lies with her half Spanish half Gypsy protector Darius Santiago. Santiago is bodyguard extraordinaire, and takes on the roles of spy, assassin and, protector, and secretly has a weakness for the lovely Serafina, though is determined to never act on his feelings. What will happen when Serafina's impish determination and Darius' steely resolve come head to head? Who will win? I loved both the characters, and their combination was wonderful. Serafina was typically spoiled royalty, whose only wish was to be with the love of her life. She was able to use her lighthearted personality to bring Darius out of his shell, while he was also drawn to her for her bravery, intelligence, and eventually her loyalty to him. Darius was a very alpha, brooding male and the reader roots for the woman trying to draw him out of his shell. The reader is also able to understand why he feels the way he does about his quest for perfection, and sympathizes for the little boy in him who can never be good enough. Seeing Serafina teach Darius how to love, trust, and be satisfied with himself is what makes this book such a satisfying read. The historical aspect of the novel also intrigues and tantalizes. It was obviously well researched, and it's nice not to read the typical British scene and characters. The political turmoil adds to the plot of the romance and does not detract from it, which normally troubles me with novels that include Napoleonic history, but it was not overdone and blended quite well. All in all, the perfect blend of history, interesting characters, perfect romance, and good editing make Princess a keeper. If you enjoy this one, I would also recommend the prequel about Lazar and Allegra, The Pirate Prince, and Rafe and his love Daniella's story Prince Charming. Happy Reading!
Rating: 
Summary: It could have been better.
Review: Ok, how do I start. I was absolutely crazed when I read "The Pirate Prince". It was the first book that had made me cry. So of course, when I read the first chapter of "Princess" I could not wait so many months until it came out. Finally the day came when on my mail box was the much awaited book. I grabbed it and started reading right away. It was dissappointing. First of all, Allegra and Lazar (The Pirate Prince) were not at all what I thought they would be as parents. They seemed more concerned with themselves than with their daughter. I would've never thought they would do such a thing. Both characters lost strength and made me loose my respect for them. As for Darius Santiago, she should have mentioned how he came to be the king's most trusted mercenary. It also dissappointed me the fact that Darius grew up to be so dull. Thinking how he was on the previous novel, I thought he would be much more exciting, dangerous with his mind and body, not with his body alone, probably funny and playful since he was rescued at such and early age by a loving couple. It looked like he was a cruel cold blooded royal assasin, a person with no other interest than to terminate his opponents and no spiritual strength. Serafina, well, she was a conceited, irresponsible, shallow minded and a proven air head. I did not like her at all at the begining. At least she got to grow and mature by the ending of the book. As for their love affair, they fought so much they only had sex instead of making love. The love scenes were like a battle of wills, and they always ended up mad at each other. These scenes are good, but they lacked the feeling and romance of "The Pirate Prince". Another thing I greatly disliked was the fact that Lazar was so mad at his daughter and Darius for sleeping together I found it absurd. The author forgot that king Lazar had abducted and bedded the beautiful Allegra without any thought of consequences. King Lazar forgot he had been young and in love once. It is good to read it if you want to keep up with the story line, but if you're reading Gaelen Foley for the first time don't start with this book.
Rating:
Summary: PRINCESS is a treasure
Review: My Gosh, I am still thanking my lucky stars that I walked to the library a few days ago and purchased this treasure... This was the first book by Gaelen Foley that I read and it will definitely not be my last. PRINCESS is the story of the forbidden love between Darius, the king's right hand man and most trusted assasin and the king's daughter Princess Serafina. Darius had a terrible childhood and and is still emotionally scared as an adult. So much so that even though he goes above and beyond his duty in his quest for perfection, he never feels that he's worthy of his "Princessa"'s love. Darius was the only one who understood Serafina; the beautiful, lonely woman who longed for love. They've been in love with each other forever. When Serafina offers herself to Darius at her debut ball, he turns her down. Serafina was hurt and she was determined that the next time she gave herself, Darius will not be able to refuse her. She will love him unconditionally and fight for their love, a love worth saving. Ms. Foley writes in a way that touches the core of the reader. The characters are imagineable and she'll make you lose yourself in the magical kingdom where the Princess and the Assassin are about to scandalize King Lazar's kingdom.
Rating:
Summary: Princess is a winner!
Review: This book was so beautifully written I was amazed that Gaelen Foley is new. She really knows how to write. This book read like a modern Romeo and Juliet at times. I like stories like this where the couple is forbidden to be together, that makes it all the better! I hope the author reads her reviews here, the 5 stars are so well deserved.
Rating:
Summary: MS. FOLEY IS PRINCESS OF ROMANCE
Review: Gaelen Foley emerges as one powerful writer with her strong grasp at crafting sizzling chemistry in her characters. Darius and Seraphina are both headstrong, intelligent and passionate in Princess, and as intrigue and treachery lies behind the facade of their passion, it makes their love even stronger. Darius suffers from an inferior complex and feels he is not suitable for the princess, but slowly he learns in the eyes of love, all differences can be abolished. Laced with scintillating humour, quirky dialogues and hot romance scenes, Gaelen Foley's talent for writing has undoubtedly established herself as the PRINCESS OF ROMANCE. Great work!
Rating:
Summary: Incredible!
Review: This is by far one of the best books I've read. Wonderful romance! I loved Seraphina and Darius and cannot wait for Prince Charming to be released!
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