Take a photo of a barcode or cover
bookgremlinreads 's review for:
Charming the Prince
by Teresa Medeiros
May have slight spoilers.
In Teresa Medeiros’s first Fairy Tales novel Charming the Prince we meet Lord Bannor the Bold and Lady Willow of Bedlington.
Bannor has just come home from the war with the French which has now ended. Known as the Terror of the French he has never backed down from a challenge or shown fear. Strong and determined—he does not back down from anything. Until, that is, he comes home to a castle full of children all under 14 years old, and all his.
Not knowing what to do, he sends his steward and friend out to find him a mother for his children, and to marry her in his stead so she would be Bannors wife and already married to him by the time she got there. The only thing he commanded was that she be well, not beautiful. Cursed with a fertility that goes far back into his family (his father having over 50 children legitimate and not) he needs a woman who does not tempt him sexually but can love and take care of his children.
When his steward comes home with the beautiful Willow of Bedlington he knows all hope is lost as she does exactly what he did to want—tempt him and the last thing he needs, or wants, is more children.
This is the start of a humorous tale of him tiring to get rid of her, and spare her pride at the same time, as Willow has had a hard life—of taking care of her terrible stepmothers many children. Being treated as nothing more than a childcare/maid for her family since the woman arrived when she was a child she was relived and jumped at the chance for a new life only to be devastated when she realizes she left one life of not feeling like she really belonged to step into another.
The plot: 3/5 The plot of this book was unique I will give it that and it was also very amusing in parts. But, I also have to admit that I would have liked it better had it been more focused on the two main character. With all of the children in the book I felt that we did not really get the focus on the main character that we would have otherwise. Not that I have anything against the children (even though they were terribly behaved, but that was a main fact of the book in a whole) just that with so many of them it definitely took up a majority of the plot, made it a much less serious romance novel as the kind of historical novel I have read before.
The only problem I really had with this novel was and I have never had this problem before so forgive me if I do not explain it well, the antagonist(s). I do not feel that we really had one in this book. I mean we have some I suppose who are antagonists to the main characters but a main antagonist or bad guy that the book focuses on? There is not one. This was surprised me, I kept waiting for one to pop up, or one of the minor antagonists to become our main bad guy of the book—but it never happened.
Overall I think the main thing that really stopped me from loving this novel was that I went into it expecting a historical romance novel like a usually read and did not really take in the ‘fairy tale re-telling’ part. While I did like Charming the Prince it defiantly was not my normal historical romance read, but overall it was enjoyable and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a slightly humors historical novel of a fairy tale re-telling.
I will be picking up the next novel though and going in with the knowledge of how the first novel was, I think I will be able to enjoy it much more.
Sexual/Heat: 2/5 The sexual attraction between Willow and Bannor is pretty obvious; neither character were shy of the others body, which I thought was odd on Lady Willow’s part as she was of course a virgin. There were not many sex scenes over all, the book definitely focused on the plot more than any sexual content and what was sexual came off as light at times.
The book cover: 4/5 I though it was very lovely—the castle on the cover kind of impressed upon me how Lord Banner’s castle looked (well just not gold lol) as Willow describes it as very grand. Then we have the image after the main cover (for the life of me I can not remember what it is called right now). Though it was a great image and the woman did remind of Willow I have to say that Bannor sounded nothing like the image—the man on the cover was much more effeminate—handsome, but just not how Banner was described to be.
In Teresa Medeiros’s first Fairy Tales novel Charming the Prince we meet Lord Bannor the Bold and Lady Willow of Bedlington.
Bannor has just come home from the war with the French which has now ended. Known as the Terror of the French he has never backed down from a challenge or shown fear. Strong and determined—he does not back down from anything. Until, that is, he comes home to a castle full of children all under 14 years old, and all his.
Not knowing what to do, he sends his steward and friend out to find him a mother for his children, and to marry her in his stead so she would be Bannors wife and already married to him by the time she got there. The only thing he commanded was that she be well, not beautiful. Cursed with a fertility that goes far back into his family (his father having over 50 children legitimate and not) he needs a woman who does not tempt him sexually but can love and take care of his children.
When his steward comes home with the beautiful Willow of Bedlington he knows all hope is lost as she does exactly what he did to want—tempt him and the last thing he needs, or wants, is more children.
This is the start of a humorous tale of him tiring to get rid of her, and spare her pride at the same time, as Willow has had a hard life—of taking care of her terrible stepmothers many children. Being treated as nothing more than a childcare/maid for her family since the woman arrived when she was a child she was relived and jumped at the chance for a new life only to be devastated when she realizes she left one life of not feeling like she really belonged to step into another.
The plot: 3/5 The plot of this book was unique I will give it that and it was also very amusing in parts. But, I also have to admit that I would have liked it better had it been more focused on the two main character. With all of the children in the book I felt that we did not really get the focus on the main character that we would have otherwise. Not that I have anything against the children (even though they were terribly behaved, but that was a main fact of the book in a whole) just that with so many of them it definitely took up a majority of the plot, made it a much less serious romance novel as the kind of historical novel I have read before.
The only problem I really had with this novel was and I have never had this problem before so forgive me if I do not explain it well, the antagonist(s). I do not feel that we really had one in this book. I mean we have some I suppose who are antagonists to the main characters but a main antagonist or bad guy that the book focuses on? There is not one. This was surprised me, I kept waiting for one to pop up, or one of the minor antagonists to become our main bad guy of the book—but it never happened.
Overall I think the main thing that really stopped me from loving this novel was that I went into it expecting a historical romance novel like a usually read and did not really take in the ‘fairy tale re-telling’ part. While I did like Charming the Prince it defiantly was not my normal historical romance read, but overall it was enjoyable and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a slightly humors historical novel of a fairy tale re-telling.
I will be picking up the next novel though and going in with the knowledge of how the first novel was, I think I will be able to enjoy it much more.
Sexual/Heat: 2/5 The sexual attraction between Willow and Bannor is pretty obvious; neither character were shy of the others body, which I thought was odd on Lady Willow’s part as she was of course a virgin. There were not many sex scenes over all, the book definitely focused on the plot more than any sexual content and what was sexual came off as light at times.
The book cover: 4/5 I though it was very lovely—the castle on the cover kind of impressed upon me how Lord Banner’s castle looked (well just not gold lol) as Willow describes it as very grand. Then we have the image after the main cover (for the life of me I can not remember what it is called right now). Though it was a great image and the woman did remind of Willow I have to say that Bannor sounded nothing like the image—the man on the cover was much more effeminate—handsome, but just not how Banner was described to be.