Rating: 
Summary: Careful, Cinderella. Prince Charming has unresolved issues
Review: If I could rate this highly original romance a four-and-a-half I'd be happier. I hadn't read Julia Ross, and having read an excerpt at Amazon, I expected a beautifully written, if standard, Cinderella story with sex. Surprises abound, from the moment the hedgehogs tumble out of the basket. My Dark Prince falls short of a five for me because something about the second half bothered me. Revelations and scene changes and new characters picked up the pace, but seemed to change the mood of the book. What had begun with hints of darkness relieved by moments of sweetness and humor, became uncomfortable. I appreciate that it's necessary to sustain the suspense after characters come together by putting some distance between them - obstacles of plot or character - but when it's unalleviated by moments of happiness until the end, I find myself wishing for Christina Dodd or Judith Ivory, who manage to give me something to smile about even when things seem hopeless. Still, I loved the characters and was rooting for them, sometimes with tears. And the hedgehogs were brilliant. With a few sentences about the prickly little critters and their dilema, the author communicated volumes about her hero and heroine.
Rating: 
Summary: Very refreshing storyline
Review: In 1814, Nicholas Alexander, the Grand Duke of Glarien, arrives in England to marry the Crown Princess Sophia of Alvia in front of all the European heads of state. This marriage cements the two central European principalities and has the support of the post Napoleon leaders because Alexander is part English. However, Nicholas' villainous cousin Carl has abducted Sophia and his nefarious plan is to reveal to the world that Her Royal Highness rejected Nicholas. This action will probably plunge both strategically placed nations into war.Instead of heading to London, Nicholas heads to Rascall St. Mary where he is the Earl of Evenlode. He has not been here in almost two decades, but the biggest surprise is to find Sophia here. He soon learns that the woman is Penelope Lindsay, whose mother was seduced by Prince Frederick of Alvia twenty-four years ago. As Nicholas concocts a counter-plot to that of his scheming cousin, he and Penelope fall in love. However, Nicholas is committed to doing what is right for his people and that means marrying Sophia. MY DARK PRINCE is an enjoyable historical romance that centers on the politics of Europe just after the first fall of Napoleon. The story line is fast-paced, but clearly belongs to the charcaters. The lead couple is a divine pair and the support cast makes a pivotal period on the world stage seem as if the audience is observing it first hand. Julia Ross does such a fine job, the audience will believe the two fictional principalities actually existed. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Readable
Review: Invented countries which feel invented ( an invented language named glarisch?), characters which are suitably omniscient and insuitably modern, plot turns without reasons. Characters whose actions don't quite match their supposed personalities. Readable, but I was expecting more. I liked her books as JRE better.
Rating:
Summary: On a knife-edge of parody...
Review: Julia Ross's My Dark Prince opens with a tall, dark, handsome and inscrutable hero dashing across the moors to a castle in ruins, where he abducts an innocent, ignorant girl. Hark! It's the Devil's Prince! And his princess has been abducted! I almost put the book down, thinking it must be some parody of romance novels of times gone by. But I soldiered on, and was rewarded--after the stilted beginning, we find that the heroine is a grimy-nailed collector of hedgehogs and is not so innocent after all, and that our seemingly amoral and bullying hero is covering up some pretty frightening cracks in his armor. The villian is also more than a mustache-twirling stereotype, although his flaws have been used in fiction so often that they are becoming a stereotype of their own. The hero is prince of a tiny Alpine country, buffeted about by its larger neighbors, France and the Austro-Hungarian Empire and fought over at the end of the Napoleanic wars. Its dilemma is quite believable, as it matches the history of many of the other small German principalities of that time. So, historically and in terms of characterization, the story is believable, but it constantly hovers on a knife-edge of fantastic plot turns, high emotion, and poetic language that almost plunges it into the realm of purple prose--or parody. It is saved--again and again!--by the sheer writing talent of the author. In the end, instead of putting it down, I mulled over it far into the early hours. Was it a well-meaning, honest effort that just got out of hand, or was it a subtle poke-in-the-ribs about the sometimes florid nature of historical romances? I'm still not sure.
Rating:
Summary: Dark and Delicious
Review: Just like my favorite chocolate, Ms Ross' new book is to be savored and enjoyed. If you like your heroes complex and brooding, then meet Nicholas and if your taste in heroines includes those ladies who can meet challenges and force the hero to treat them as adults, meet Penny. In addition there are marvelous secondary characters who propell the story rather than just add scenery and wonderful horses and a great dog....plus a fairytale castle and country. I was entralled and highly recommend Ross in her new identity. But please don't rush the prose! One of the great joys in reading is fine dialogue and descriptions and Ross is superb in this regard. Sit back, get a nice cuppa and enter the world of this tale. It is a journey worth taking.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed because of recommendations from Balogh & Putney
Review: Like other books by this author, it took over 100 pages for me to even become interested in these characters. Slow, slow descriptions about minute details did not add to the book for me and they just made the story drag on and on. The love story between the hero and heroine was confusing, one minute the hero was lying to her, the next minute he was supposedly telling the heroine the truth, I couldn't tell why they even cared about each other. I never even bothered with the last 60 pages because I don't even care if these two strange characters end up together. This story left me feeling extremely dissatisfied and disappointed because it could have been so much better than it was. I will avoid this author in the future and wonder why Mary Balogh (my favorite author of romance) and Mary Jo Putney (no slouch herself) thought so highly of this book.
Rating:
Summary: My Dark Prince by Julia Ross
Review: MY DARK PRINCE is a book you will want to read every word of to store away as the story unfolds bit by wonderful bit. This is one of the things I adore about Julia Ross's writing. She's a writer to be savored. She lets you in on her characters and plot and then slowly, carefully fleshes them out in glorious detail and what you though you knew about them in the beginning changes. Everything is done for a purpose. If you hurry over her beautiful prose you are going to miss out on something important. Her characters are very complex, deep, well developed, and extremely well thought out. She is a master storyteller who knows her history and does her research. There are some dark times readers but when the brilliant light of love surfaces you forget all about it. MY DARK PRINCE is a keeper!
Rating:
Summary: Passionate,Compelling Romantic Intrigue
Review: My Dark Prince is a truly haunting story of romance and terror, tyranny and pathos in an immense struggle for a throne.... Ms. Ross is a Scots woman with a gorgeous, lyrical voice and writing style. She has created a tale around issues that are timeless and she brings them to life in a truly fresh, compelling and passionate way. I will not forget this book any time soon for it is written with such compassion and empathic understanding of the human condition of suffering. Through her prose, she touches the heart with the beneficent promise of healing via the enternal quest toward loving and being loved. It is a stunning and magnificent journey.
Rating:
Summary: Passionate,Compelling Romantic Intrigue
Review: My Dark Prince is a truly haunting story of romance and terror, tyranny and pathos in an immense struggle for a throne.... Ms. Ross is a Scots woman with a gorgeous, lyrical voice and writing style. She has created a tale around issues that are timeless and she brings them to life in a truly fresh, compelling and passionate way. I will not forget this book any time soon for it is written with such compassion and empathic understanding of the human condition of suffering. Through her prose, she touches the heart with the beneficent promise of healing via the enternal quest toward loving and being loved. It is a stunning and magnificent journey.
Rating:
Summary: Too well written to be considered "just a romance novel"
Review: OK, I've read the reviews and they are definitely mixed. Here's the thing: Julia Ross's books should not be considered "romance" novels in the 20th or 21st century sense. They are much more in the tradition of 19th century romantic novels. Much more akin to the Bronte sisters and others of their ilk - stories like "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall", "Jane Eyre" (my favorite book of all time) or maybe Trollope's "The Way we Live Now" or Richardson's "Clarissa Harlow". If you are looking for an easy read, a typical or lighthearted romance ala Lindsey, Coulter, Laurens, etc., Ms Ross's books may not be for you. It can be difficult to adjust to the cadence and language the author uses (I usually struggle a bit with the first chapter or two), but once you do, it is definitely worth it! The Dark Prince, Grand Duke Nicholas is truly quite dark. There were times I hated him; then there were times I adored him. Was he Machiavellian manipulator or tortured, but sweet soul trying to do the right thing? This book was an emotional rollercoaster for me wondering when Nicholas was being sincere and when he was being calculating. Penny was the stalwart, straightforward English girl who dared to talk to this prince as no one ever had. She even dared to touch the "sacred person"! She is bound and determined to bring out the goodness and light in him - to salvage the small, kind, happy boy he had been before he was ripped from his home in the English countryside and taken to the Alpine kingdom of Glarien where he learned about royalty, cruelty, deviancy, manipulation and survival. His cousin Carl Zanich is the evil presence in the book. And he is evil. He revels in humiliation, domination and mind games and he wants the crown. Nicholas must do what ever it takes to ensure that that does not happen - Glarien would be lost in Carl's hands. That's where Penny comes in. Her resemblance to Nicholas's fiance the Princess Sophia has brought her into the royal sphere. She must impersonate the Princess (who has been kidnapped by Carl) at the wedding, speaking Sophia's vows in order to ensure Nicholas' crown and that Glarien is not swallowed up by the other European powers after Napoleon's defeat. Penny and Nicholas play their parts, but what happens when feelings get mixed up in the fantasy they are acting out? Will they be the same once the pretense is ended or irrevocably changed? I loved this book. A classic.
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