It is okay.
Amnesia. Bit of a mystery surrounding the kidnapping.
Second chance.
I think it's a bit dated.
I just didn't really connect with the couple. ( )

ZERO stars

Roberts may be hugely popular, and more power to her, but this book is just terrible. The writing is hackneyed; the plot is contrived, makes little sense and doesn’t flow; the characters are one-dimensional; the dialogue is inane.

The premise is that Princess Gabriella Bisset, Princess Royal of Cordina (a principality with a striking resemblance to Monaco), has been kidnapped but managed to escape with her life, but with no memory at all of who she is, who took her, how they did it, where she was kept, or how she escaped. She doesn’t recognize her father, the Crown Prince Armand, or her brothers, much less the servants or heads of state she regularly comes in contact with. Enter Reeve MacGee, an American whose father was a friend of Prince Armand, and who is a “retired” cop (or is that a CIA operative?). Armand asks him to come help protect Brie until her kidnappers can be captured. To explain his constant presence at her side, they concoct a fake engagement to throw the media off the real story.

My favorite quote comes on page 172 of the large print edition I read. Princess Brie is speaking:
”I want this to be over,”she said … All I could say to that was, ME, TOO!

This is the first Nora Roberts book I’ve read. I think it’s the last, also.

I've been aware for some time of Ms Roberts' illustrious career at the top of the best-seller charts, and her prolific output in several genres.

I don't know why I put off reading one of her books for so long. Perhaps it was a reluctance to open and drink a fine vintage wine.

I'm also not sure why I chose this book as a starter. Maybe it wasn't the best choice, or maybe it's representative of her work.

Whatever the case, I didn't enjoy it at all.

The characters were as anonymous as the models on the cover and the narrative as predictable as a long-running TV series.

But what really put me off was not the ludicrous Princess Diaries heroine and her manly protector, but the frequency with which he lit up cigarettes. The book could have been an ad for a tobacco company. The cigarettes had nothing to do with the story, and told us nothing about the hero, except that he smoked.

Could it be that Ms Roberts is a heavy smoker herself and likes her characters to share her enjoyment?

No one in the story reacts to the constant haze of carcinogenic smog generated by the hero, but it was too much for me. Didn't finish the book; awarded a couple of stars for the part I did read.

( )