Damien, the Imperial Prince of Nvengaria (a tiny nation in eastern Europe), has spent most of his life in exile. When his father dies, he must shed his playboy image and find a bride... or die.

Penelope has already jilted two of her fiances because she refuses to settle for a mere marriage of convenience. From the first moment she meets Prince Damien she feels irresistibly drawn to him, but is that because of her true feelings for him or is it just an ancient Nvengarian prophecy?

I didn't much care for this novel because it skipped all of the courting through the (somewhat cop-out) device of the prophecy. They are simply in love because of the prophecy, and so the book skips building trust and coming to terms with sexual identity in favor of simply getting to it as quickly as possible. I found Damien rather arrogant, domineering, and, well...slutty. I was not impressed. And if I don't like the hero, the story just won't work for me.

For the importance given Damien's relationship with his father and its impact on him and his search for love, it is not given the depth I had hoped. The end of the book is too pat with little explanation of Damien's approach to ruling. As not repeating the mistakes of the former king is the main motivation for the main character and his antagonist, it is given too little discussion.

This story just wasn't really for me. It seemed like only the more unconventional sex scenes were dwelt on in any sort of detail. The more conventional scenes were only perfunctorily described and lacked a real emotional component. I have no objection to some love scenes being slaking of lust (with none of the mushy stuff), but I don't like it when they are all like that. Additionally Damien just seemed to withdraw more and more into himself and lost all of his charm. ( )