The Raven Prince
Princes Trilogy #1
Elizabeth Hoyt
Historical Romance
Published in 2006
H/h - Edward de Raaf, the Earl of Swartingham/Anna Wren
Setting: Little Battleford, England 1760.
Read in April, 2011.
[spoiler alert]
I have to write something about this book, really. One hell of a book, this one. The starting scene of the book had me there, really! This book is SO DAMN FUNNY in places, I was rolling literally ... on my bed.
Ooh Edward, he's a babe and I don't think I liked Dain from Lord of Scoundrels this much. He was annoying IMO. But Edward, well, he's great. Sometimes I forget that he's got some flaws ... I can only of think a tall, dark and muscular man, who talks dirty like hell with his sexy dark voice (*fans herself*) and works on the fields just as his tenants (the sheep rescue scene, hot and funny together). He's one hot guy. Sexiness just exudes from him. :D
And, Anna, lord I love her! I can't remember when was the last time I've read such an amazing, witty heroine like her. Maybe not since Loretta Chase's The Last Hellion. She already stole my heart. Her banters with Edward is such fun to read!
Not only I love their banters, but other particular scenes ie: the 1st scene, Edward talking to the horse ... ahemm or Anna's words with Edward's dog Jock (which didn't even have a name until Anna did the honor and yes, the naming process was another thing!) ... HILARIOUS! I love the way the two think and that they didn't give up on life even though both of them have had their share of tragedies.
I feel that tingling sensation all over me (like when I read a LK book) while reading this one. Like magic. I was missing this for sometimes now. I can't wait to see what happens now that Anna knows about Aphrodite's Grotto. Did I mention I love her? ... Ohh, right I did.
EH has kinda won me over already. :D
***********************
Edwarrrrrrrrrrrd! I want you! Yes!!!! :p God, he is such a babeeee! Oohh *fans herself, again*
Ok, I'm enjoying this book so much, I'm sad that it's coming to an end. Not a single moment of this book made me wanna throw up or throw the book out! It's fun and hotness in a package IMO.
Edward aka sexy, grumpy bear is too good to read. I don't know how to justify in words. So is Anna. Man, I loveeeee her! ... Oops, sorry. Guess repeating again! :p
Their 'encounters' in the Grotto was ... hellooo hot! And, then it's a journey to fun, madness, some anger, frustrations (on both sides :p), some really emotional/heart wrenching moments (ie: every scene with Edward revealing his past life, family, his marriage and peoples' awful attitude towards his 'flaw' and also, Anna's marriage, Lord I hate her dead husband!) then to some totally H.O.T love scenes and hot words/eyeing each-other. :p
Then there is this woman who's going to try to blackmail them, that hussy. I wanna kick her butt, seriously.
Also have to mention the other characters. I love all of them. Anna's mother-in-law is such a sweet woman, I sometimes forget that she's not her own mother. Even the servant girl Fanny, like her. Also, the two courtesan sisters Coral and Pearl. Anna saved Pearl from a roadside ditch, breaking the society's convention took her in and nursed her back to health (there's an ongoing thing with her and Edward's steward, so sweet :p). I like them too. Makes you wanna re-think the notion of a 'real whore' when you read that villain woman and these two girls.
Then there is Jock, the dog. He's a character himself, so have to make his own paragraph here. :p
Last but not the least, Edward's old valet Davis ... I mean seriously! He is an old scoundrel with a dead-on wit. You just have to read his scenes to see what a thing he is! (had me rolling through my bed, I was laughing so hard) :D
I specially love the starting of every chapter, where there is a paragraph from the book "The Raven Prince". The story is very intriguing. I've read in some of the reviews that it's from Cupid and Psyche's story. I read a translation of a book on mythologies quite a long time back and had no idea why her husband would come to her at night! lolz Trust me, the translation actually omitted quite a bit. But I was intrigued by the story anyway. Maybe I'll see if I can find it somewhere and read again. But, this story of the raven prince Niger and princess Aurea is also very good...
Now that Edward is being 'overbearing' (in Anna's word) and telling her he will marry her/he's going to marry her (yah, I love it every time he shouts or stresses the line ... it's funny and hot together!), I'm having a great time reading their banters. Anyone with a little bit of brain would see that they belong to each-other. :D
PS: Coral's comparison of Edward to dark chocolate was excellent, just perfect. Thank you Ms. Hoyt! :D
*********************
Aaaah, so good, 'til the end. The epilogue was so yum to read and yes, the last chapters. Poor Edward, when he thought Anna left him ... Oh, I cried reading about his insecurities. Things he could ignore before, couldn't now because his Anna left him. :'( I was thinking: Anna, what is this? How could you? Oh the poor babe! ... Well, I got why she did that but maybe not entirely. Then I was dancing happily when she realized it wasn't the best thing to do after confronting that hussy (yah, it was good!) and ran back to Edward sooner than I expected. I was so glad it wasn't a drag since I was a bit scared of the misunderstanding. I liked the book as it was. Then some fencing and fisticuffs in Afrodite's Grotto with the blackmailer and a marriage proposal (I've lost count of the number lolz) in the same bordello. Can it get any better? :p Overall, I haven't read a single dragging, boring, frustrating moment in this book and I can't say that about many of the books I've recently read.
5 stars, gladly! :D
Favorite Quotes:“A smile flickered across Coral’s face. “Have you ever noticed that once you have had a taste of certain sweets—raspberry trifle is my own despair—it is quite impossible not to think, not to want, not to crave until you have taken another bite?”
“Lord Swartingham is not a raspberry trifle.”
“No, more of a dark chocolate mousse, I should think,” Coral murmured.
“And,” Anna continued as if she hadn’t heard the interruption, “I don’t need another bite, uh,night of him.”
The best comparison ever and I luuuuv dark chocolate. Yum! :p
An example of the kind of banters Edward and Anna shared in the earlier part of their 'employer-employee' relationship, which I loved BTW.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“Mr. Durbin’s sheep have begun to lamb, and I wanted to see how the ewes are doing.” He cleared his throat. “I suppose I should have told you about today’s outing earlier.”
Anna kept her eyes straight ahead and made a noncommittal sound.
He coughed. “I might’ve, had you not left so precipitously yesterday afternoon.”
She arched a brow but did not reply.
There was a lengthy lull broken only by the dog’s eager yelp as he flushed a rabbit from the hedge along the lane.
Then the earl tried again. “I’ve heard some people say my temper is rather . . .” He paused, apparently searching for a word.
Anna helped him. “Savage?”
He squinted at her.
“Ferocious?”
He frowned and opened his mouth.
She was quicker. “Barbaric?”
He cut her off before she could add to her list. “Yes, well, let us simply say that it intimidates some people.” He hesitated. “I wouldn’t want to intimidate you, Mrs. Wren.”
“You don’t.”
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