A Royal Mess / Her Knight to Remember (Harlequin Duets: Red-Hot Royals)

Rating:
Summary: Breaking royal molds -- Very highly recommended
Review: Author Jill Shalvis takes advantage of a continuity series and a dash of magic to create a dazzling romantic romp in this Duets combination: A ROYAL MESS and HER KNIGHT TO REMEMBER. These nonconformist and resourceful princesses break all royal molds as they land themselves in marvelously unexpected escapes. While their heroes might be the perfect princes, it takes more to capture a princess' heart than just puckering up. In addition, readers will find it impossible to resist a princess on the plump side of average, or a tomboy decked in pink frills, especially when trouble follows everywhere. Furthermore, these heroes are everyday working Joes with the kind of hearts to prove themselves worthy of royalty. Indeed, Shalvis once again proves her gift for dramatic flair with this amusing duet: A ROYAL MESS and HER KNIGHT TO REMEMBER come very highly recommended.

A ROYAL MESS: Cowboy Timothy Banning would rather sleep than chat with the leather-clad juvenile delinquent next him on the flight home to Texas. When he learns the silver-studded, spiked beauty is twenty-four rather than twelve, however, Tim cannot continue to ignore her. Especially when her fear of flying leads to the impulsive gesture of holding her hand. That moment later leads to rescuing her in the rain when a thief disappears with her ID and baggage. But Tim refuses to believe Natalia Brunner really is a princess when he invites her home for a few days so she can get back on her feet.

HER KNIGHT TO REMEMBER: Princess Andrea Brunner despises the layers of pink ruffles that comprise her bride's maid dress as much as police officer Kyle Moore dislikes his pink cummerbund. Then a thug with a gun interrupts their fittings and Andrea saves Kyle from the bad guy. Unfortunately, Kyle does not feel very appreciative after she bites him twice and refuses to follow his orders. But he had best watch his step, or Kyle will find himself swept away by this princess who refuses to do hysterics or go into shock when faced with a gun.

Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended
Review: Funny and hot! The heroines are adventurous and the heroes are so sexy! I'd recommend this book to anyone who enjoys romantic comedy.

Rating:
Summary: Ugh. I did not like this book.
Review: I gave it two stars instead of one because the second story didn't grate on my nerves as much as the first one. But neither of them were very good.

First off, the "royal" thing seems phony and forced. Blech. Make us care, a little more, please. Because I didn't care about the royal angle in these stories. It didn't really push the plots along that much at all.

Secondly, the "Mary Poppins" character that pops in and out of these two sisters' lives is annoying. She's not in the stories enough for us to really understand her, she's just in there enough to irritate and interrupt. I didn't like her.

The first tale ("A Royal Mess") had a heroine that I didn't like very much. Oh, I found her tolerable eventually, but she seemed like a big pain for the most part. The story did have some strengths to it (I found the "pity pets" angle amusing) but for the most part, it just did not ring true to me. The ending was laughably weak, and absurd. I cringed as I read it.

And, dare I say it? While I am accustomed to these kind of romance novels having love scenes that might be called "spicy" or "hot and sexy", the first tale's love scenes ventured a little too closely (in my estimation) into just plain "dirty". As I read, I couldn't help thinking, "I'm reading a dirty book!" I guess it's a "Your mileage may vary" sort of thing (and I do admit to being a bit on the prudish side) but we all have our limits, and this book obviously pushed past mine.

The second tale was marginally better, with a heroine that was a little more comprehensible and not quite so annoying. The hero was OK, but I tired of hearing him described as a "badass cop" (oh puleeeeze) when his being a policeman really wasn't that huge of a part of the plot. Sure, it helped move along the beginning of the story, but he could have easily been a variety of other professions, and the story would have been just about the same.

The romance seemed forced, and "true love" came too quick. Too "fairy tale", even for a silly romantic comedy. And, did I mention, neither of these stories were all that funny? Because they weren't.