The Leopard Prince

With The Leopard Prince, Elizabeth Hoyt has authored another solid story in the Princes Trilogy, and has once again, shown her talent for creating unusual characters in a unique situation, as well as an ability to write a good mystery. Ms. Hoyt continues her “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” theme with two rather ordinary characters. Georgina is described as a plain woman who is certainly no beauty. She is a bit too tall for a woman, has untamable curly red hair, and is a firmly on the shelf spinster, although she has the good fortune of being not only a titled lady but also a land-owning, independent woman of means thanks to an inheritance from a feminist-type aunt. Harry seems to be fairly unexceptional too. He has striking show more green eyes, but aside from that, he is never characterized as being gorgeous or fawned over by the ladies. He's missing a finger, and he's not even particularly tall. He's just plain Harry, and a common land steward to boot, so not someone that most people, especially an aristocrat, would even take notice of. Yet George does and thinks that he's quite handsome, and Harry can't seem to help but think she is beautiful as well. I loved the “opposite sides of the track” theme too, except in this case, it was a sort of reverse Cinderella story, a real rarity in romance, and one that I appreciated even more because the author never did anything to make Harry a more palatable match. Harry and George just were what they were, and had to work things out in spite of their class differences. The mystery of the sheep poisonings was very well done too, with lots of twists and turns. I went back and forth between several different potential culprits, and as the field narrowed, I finally did guess correctly, but not until very close to the reveal. Overall, The Leopard Prince was a very well-rounded story that sucked me in right from the first few pages, and kept me engrossed throughout, making it very difficult to put down at times.

Regardless of their differing social stations, I thought that Harry and George were perfect for each other. Harry is a very reserved man, but George has a pretty good knack for reading him in spite of his quietness and frequently guarded expressions. “Still waters run deep” is a phrase that seems to fit Harry well. He may be good at hiding his true feelings, but when he lets them be known, he is an incredibly passionate man. George is a woman with a fun sense of humor. She sometimes acts like a ninny, because it wasn't fashionable for a woman to be intelligent. When she's playing dumb though, she often says some funny and endearing things. George also talks a lot, which is in stark contrast to Harry's reticent nature, but she manages to draw him out enough for them to get to know each other on far more than just a superficial level. I thoroughly enjoyed the “dance” that Harry and George perform with him asking her what she wants and her at first, not quite knowing, and them when she figures it out, being a bit coy. These interactions as a whole built an absolutely exquisite sexual tension between them. George learned very quickly though that she needed to just be brave and tell Harry what she wanted, and once she did, the fireworks went off in a big way. Ms. Hoyt definitely knows how to write beautifully sensual love scenes in which the characters give of themselves in equal measure, creating some breathtaking love play. I was particularly impressed with the intimacy of one scene where Harry and George simply lie there after making love and share their thoughts and feelings. Sometimes it's the little things that really count. To sum it up, I just loved how George saw Harry as not merely a servant or a poor man, but a man worthy of her love, and I loved how Harry saw George as beautiful even though she's plain.

The Leopard Prince has a pretty large cast of secondary characters. George has three brothers and one sister. At first it seemed that her sister, Violet, was going to be a troublemaker, but I figured out pretty quickly what her problem was. Other than Violet's one slip, George's siblings were surprisingly supportive of her and her relationship with Harry. Everything was out in the open and handled with honesty. Harry has some very complex family relationships which I can't say much about without giving things away, but suffice it to say that the ones who mattered the most were equally supportive of him. There was the evil Lord Granville who has a vendetta against Harry, and Granville's spineless son who would do almost anything to gain his father's approval but sadly receives nothing but loathing in return. A number of villagers, tenants, and servants also play a part as either confidants or purveyors of information on the sheep killings. Last but certainly not least, Edward (The Raven Prince) and Simon (The Serpent Prince) put in an appearance to assist their friend, Harry, in his hour of need. I'm still left wondering about their seemingly unlikely alliance and whether there might be more to it than a simple bonding over a shared passion for agriculture. Now that I'm starting to get a feel for Elizabeth Hoyt's writing style and how she has a tendency to reveal things later rather than sooner, I sense that there could be something else that she hasn't yet shared about these three men.

There were a couple of other things of note which I really enjoyed about The Leopard Prince. First, it seems that Elizabeth Hoyt has an affinity for fairy tales, as do I, so I loved her inclusion of another one, also titled The Leopard Prince, in this book. George relates it to Harry in snippets throughout the story. It was rather humorous how Harry was always so incredulous about things that happened in the tale. I thought that Ms. Hoyt writing it this way was rather ingenious, because on the one hand, it may have been Harry just being a typical man who doesn't believe in such nonsense. On the other hand, it was pretty far-fetched sometimes, making it seem like George was just making it up as she went along, although she swore she wasn't. The other thing that I thought Ms. Hoyt did a good job with was bringing out all the angst, uncertainly and difficulties that would have been inherent in a servant/employer romance. In such a situation in that era, it would be natural for others to think that Harry was either after her money or merely her paid stud, but I liked that George never once thought that he was a gold-digger and more importantly, she never wavered in her belief of his innocence when he was accused of terrible crimes. It was equally understandable that Harry might feel rather emasculated to be married to a woman who had full control of the purse-strings, but even though the gesture was initially misunderstood, George went to great lengths to show her trust in Harry which was quite romantic.

Overall, The Leopard Prince came very close to perfection for me, but there were two small things that kept it from a perfect 5-stars. One was how Harry and George kept running away from each other because of their differing social statuses. I had no problem with giving each of them a pass the first two times, because they were both filled with self-doubt and doubts about whether they could ever make their relationship work publicly. However, when George did it a third time, I got a little frustrated with her. I thought that she should have stayed and communicated with Harry about their troubles instead of leaving him, especially given the circumstances. I was also a little disappointed that there wasn't a more solid plan for dealing with their differences, merely an acquiescence on both their parts, but all's well that ends well I suppose. George's actions did give Harry the opportunity to show just how much he loved her, giving a satisfying HEA ending. The other bothersome thing was that I didn't feel the author gave a good enough explanation of why Harry ended up as the scapegoat in the poisonings, nor why Lord Granville hated him so much. The reasoning ended up being little more than vague, hazy notions that I thought could have been better clarified, but ultimately, neither of these things detracted too much from my enjoyment of the novel. All in all, The Leopard Prince was another engaging story from Elizabeth Hoyt that has earned a spot on my keeper shelf right next to its predecessor, The Raven Prince, and with two winners in a row, Ms. Hoyt now has a spot on my favorite authors list as well. I'm greatly looking forward to the final book in the Princes Trilogy, The Serpent Prince.

Note: The depictions of the love scenes in The Leopard Prince are on par with most hotter mainstream romances, but some readers may be offended by a few explicit words which I rarely see used outside the erotic sub-genre. show less

Lady Georgina 'George' Maitland is an unusual woman. She's still single at 28, placing her decidedly in the old maid category, but she is in sole possession of her own estate in Yorkshire. Following a rash of sheep poisonings on her neighbour's property, she travels to her estate with her land steward, Harry Pye. But Harry has a history in the area and he's being accused of being the sheep poisoner. As the bodies of sheep begin to pile up and Harry is accused of another, more nefarious crime, George and Harry's illicit relationship becomes an increasing source of conflict between them.

The Leopard Prince is exactly what I want from my historical romance. Strong female characters and an interesting male lead mixed together for some decent show more suspense and steaminess. This particular novel is interesting for the class issues that surround George and Harry's relationship, as a member of the aristocracy should not be socializing with a high-level servant, nevermind all the hijinks George and Harry get up to. While the villain was painted with rather broad strokes, the rest of the novel was relatively believable. I also enjoyed all of George's many siblings who popped in and out of the narrative and her interest in collecting fairy tales. And I really appreciated that at no point in the novel was there damsel-in-distress syndrome, which was a nice change. A delightful piece of genre fiction. show less

This is the best kind of comfort read right now. A lady who pursues her love interest and acts as sexual instigator, a hero who is a land steward refusing to be used. Pages upon pages of sexual tension and mystery plot tension. Then pages upon pages of Hoyt-level hot sex. It's got that magic and sparkle from an overly practical and completely lovable heroine, George, and her equally broody and grounded hero, Harry. Their family dynamics were charming and touching.

Sex positive. Sex. Positive. Heart-warming and hot. Typical Hoyt, and one I will return to. Not a 5 for reasons I can't quite explain but definitely worth a read if you're a fan of Hoyt.

The Leopard Prince
4.5 Stars

Lady Georgina Maitland enjoys the freedom that being independently wealthy and unmarried brings her. Upon arriving at her estate in Yorkshire, George learns that her land steward, Harry Pye, is suspected of poisoning her neighbor’s sheep. As George and Harry grow closer, it becomes obvious that he is being framed and the two will have to get to the root of his past animosity with Sir Silas if he is to avoid the hangman’s noose.

The Leopard Prince is not your usual Regency fair. The hero is an untitled, hardworking and honorable commoner while the heroine is intelligent, independent and self-sufficient. Harry and George have an intense physical relationship, but their social differences create numerous show more obstacles and conflicts. Nevertheless, Hoyt handles the situation well and manages to make the resolution quite believable.

The poisoning subplot is rather dark and ominous for the historical romance genre. However, as an avid fan of romantic suspense, this storyline with its somewhat gory descriptions and vicious villain resonated nicely.

The final book in the trilogy is Simon’s and it should be highly entertaining if is is anything like the first two. show less

I was reluctant to read THE LEOPARD PRINCE. I tend to avoid romance novels about poor and low-ranked heroes who fall in love with wealthy and aristocratic heroines. I like my men alpha, and it's hard for a man to be alpha when the woman he loves has all the advantages. Even worse, I thought, when the hero is actually in the heroine's employ.

Luckily, THE RAVEN PRINCE gave me some faith in Elizabeth Hoyt and I'm grateful because THE LEOPARD PRINCE is a wonderful book and its hero, Harry Pye, is delicious. He is absolutely an alpha male, and it takes a whole lot of inner alpha to close the gap that separates a talented land steward from his aristocratic employer.

I was reminded more than once while reading of Lady Chatterley's Lover - show more Harry Pye's father was a gamekeeper, after all, and Harry's pure, unvarnished masculinity is what makes him so desirable to Georgina Maitland (George). He's manly in the best of ways - disciplined, intelligent, earthy and resolute. He's the kind of man who you'd say is like a rock - he is a hard man, but also reliable.

If Harry is masculinity personified, George is femininity personified. That's why they're such a perfect match. She's soft but not weak, warm but not cloying, charming and good at putting others at ease. She's incredibly likable, and I rooted for her from the start.

Once George decides to support Harry against nearly the entire local populace and believe that he is not responsible for a recent spate of sheep-poisonings, it's them against the world. Harry knows the region and it's people, while George is a city girl, and that gives him a measure of authority as they work together to find out who's really behind the killings.

There are many barriers to a love match between George and Harry, and it's incredibly moving to see them tumble one by one as the two grow closer. It's a very sweet and heartwrenching romance, but meanwhile their physical relationship is raw and so sizzling hot that sparks practically fly off the page. It's this combination of tenderness and violence that Hoyt seems to excel at, and I enjoyed seeing it here in THE LEOPARD PRINCE. show less

I loved The Leopard Prince. The back cover summary didn't sound all that interesting, so I hadn't been in any hurry to get to it. So it was a pleasant surprise to find another new favorite.

As with all satisfying romance novels, what separates them from the just-ok or mediocre ones is how they take familiar trope and enliven them with vivid characters, making their motivations and actions not just interesting but believable. And The Leopard Prince was all about lovable characters, ones that were evenly-matched, especially in terms of snappy, witty comebacks, giving as good as they get. I loved the hero and heroine, Harry and George were charming, their chemistry excellent, and their interactions funny in their sweetness and awkwardness. show more The obstacle to their love has different layers, so readers don't have to suffer through the same tiresome angst throughout the entire book.

This was such a terrific story and is definitely near the top of my favorites list. show less

I loved the first book in this series, and while I enjoyed this read, it did not bring nearly the same pleasure as that one did. There was a lot to like in the story, lots of action. Unfortunately, I could not find anything interesting in either of the two leads, and I thought there was a tonal inconsistency that impacted my enjoyment. I found the MMC crude and dull and the FMC flighty. She at least started as a strong and interesting woman, but then just stopped paying attention to her responsibilities to her estate and its residents, and mostly just wanted to get laid. This opened with acknowledgment of the rare luxury she had as a woman with property she fully owned at a time when women were almost always beholden to male property show more owners. Then the property meant nothing, and she just wanted her man. I stayed reasonably engaged throughout. I wouldn't guide anyone away from this one, but the messaging is not appealing, and the characters are not swoonworthy. Definitely lesser Elizabeth Hoyt. show less