The Stolen Princess [Mass Market Paperback]

I'm an Anne Gracie fan and was looking forward to this book. The plot line put me off - I don't like stories about Princesses from obscure made-up principalities - I can't suspend my disbelief enough to put up with names like Zindaria and Crown Princes skipping through the English Regency countryside pursued by evil Counts. Still I enjoyed the rest of her books so thought I would give this one a chance. Stayed up late to finish it and wish I hadn't sacrified my sleep!

This is meant to be the first book in a 'Devil Riders' series about four soldiers coming back from war and presumably finding their one and onlys in the next four of her books. First of all whilst we are told that the hero, Gabriel, is traumatised by war and a nasty childhood and is having trouble settling down, there is really no evidence to support this. He's a very two dimensional character who is goodlooking (never very well described so its hard to picture him), charming and gallant from the first. The shadows supposedly in his past pop up from time to time but not very convincingly.

He falls for 'Princess' Callie (!) at almost first sight on the basis that she has lovely eyes and delicious lips and takes her under his wing. Callie herself is another two dimensional character whose only motivation is the protection of her son - Crown Prince Nikolai - who has a limp and was harshly treated by his now dead father. She was married off at 16 to Prince Rupert, found out he was unfaithful, it broke her heart and she decided never to trust a man again. When he gets shot by evil Count Anton she also decides never to marry again.

The evil Count is in line to the throne and keen to eliminate poor Nikolai who is the only one left in his path. Here is the entire basis for the story which involves various close encounters with the Count and his bullies and in the end Gabe persuades Callie (for his own devious motives - he loves her...) into a marriage of convenience which she consents to purely to protect her child. He manages to seduce her on their wedding night, she falls in love with him, there are a few more predictable and facile plot twists and it all ends happily ever after. There is not much emotional intensity and I wish I hadn't wasted my time.

The other three Devil Riders are very cursorily introduced somewhere along the line, you get no concept of their characters or their background as friends but of course they are all stunningly attractive and very gallant and charming. Its so obviously a device to spin this into a series of three further books. This concept is a bit reminiscent of Mary Balogh's books Indiscreet, Unforgiven and Irresistible which are similarly about four compatriots come back from the Peninsular wars who were nicknamed the 'Four Horsemen of the Apocaplypse' although these books are all exceptionally brilliant, each one of them, so there the similarity ends.

Sorry to pan an Anne Gracie book because I have been reading her books since I discovered one of her short stories in an anthology and I loved Tallie's Knight and Gallant Waif in particular. Oh well, lets hope the rest are better but I wonder if they are now being churned out a bit too quickly.

England, 1816 - With the war over Lord Gabriel Renfrew, the youngest son of an earl, was adrift with no real purpose. Not caring a whit if he lived or died, Gabriel raced his horse along a narrow moonlit path where he came upon a young woman and her son struggling up from the beach below. The woman, unbeknownst to him was the runaway princess, Caroline (Callie) of Zindaria, and her son, the seven year old Crown Prince Nicolas (Nicky).

Disguised as commoners, Callie was running for her and her son's life, from people who had attempted to kill her son. Left short of her destination in a remote area, Callie had no alternative but to trust the handsome rake who offered her his protection and opened his home.

When soldiers from Zindaria eventually caught up with them Gabriel offered her the only viable option that would keep she and Nicky safe, a marriage of convenience. Only Gabriel was hoping to make it a marriage in truth, but Callie, afraid of love, was not sure she could ever risk her heart to be broken ever again.

*** Ms. Gracie has a remarkable flair for fleshing out her characters, showing them to be three dimensional and giving them necessary motivations for their actions. With Callie, it was clearly understood that Nicky was her life especially after having been bitterly humiliated by her husband who as a young bride of fifteen she'd fallen head over heels in love with! After her husbands untimely death, and several `accidents' started to occur around her son, she knew she had to protect him at all costs.

When Callie was rescued by Gabriel, it was natural for her to be wary - first because he was a stranger and though charming and evidently a gentleman, her motherly instinct to protect made her raise shields around Nicky and herself. Later knowing the bitterness and heartbreak of rejection, Callie was afraid to let her heart be swayed, convincing herself she was only agreeing to marry Gabriel for the protection it could afford her son.

After the war, Gabriel had had no real direction. Drawn by Callie's beauty and strength, he found `purpose' to fight for what was right and that along with his newfound passion lifted his disposition Gabriel was a much more complex character Ms. Gracie fashioned. He was the victim of a dysfunctional family, used and mentally abused by a mother who used him as a weapon against his father with no regard for his feelings. Because of his mother's actions he was deprived of the opportunity to know his father (not really so much of a loss as it turned out), but also suffered a long standing estrangement at the hands of his two older brothers. On the plus side there were benefits for he got to know and became best friends with one of his fathers by-blows, his illegitimate step-brother Harry.

The passion and sensualness of the romance was very well-done and you could feel the love blossom and grow between Gabriel and Callie. Nicky was just plain adorable and watching as Gabriel helped him to overcome his disability and raise his self-esteem was quite heartwarming.

With the requisite harsh and vile villain, Ms. Gracie also introduced a plethora of very likeable secondary characters, including of course, the very adorable young Crown Prince Nicky, Callie's one time governess and best friend Tibby, and the bossy but lovable housekeeper Mrs. Barrow to name a few. She also introduces Gabriel's friends and other war heroes whom I will be looking forward to seeing in future books.

Bottom line -- This was an absolute jewel of a story guaranteed to lift you up and make you smile. Sensual and passionate it hit all the right notes. Add to that the fact that it is the beginning of a new series from the talented pen of Anne Gracie, and fans, old and new, are certain to be delighted and anxious for more.

Marilyn Rondeau, for www.ck2skwipsandkritiques.com

"Romancer" complains that the heroine doesn't want anything "for herself" -- and here I was, so charmed to find a heroine with an altruistic streak, someone who did put public service and the welfare of others before her own interests. How charming and un-modern, I thought. She seemed real enough to me :)

This is not my favorite Anne Gracie book; I'm not much on royalty and imaginary European principalities myself -- but I did find it a very entertaining read, and I would recommend it.

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