Prince of Dreams

Tall, indelicate and not possessing any beauty in the true sense, the heroine has always been horribly insecure with her body. So it's really no surprise that she falls prey to a fortune hunter. A few kind words, a soft touch and the promise of love is enough to cause the heroine to become truly enraptured with the idea of someone wanting her. Sad as it is, she even admits to herself that he is the only man who could ever want her. Though she knows he wants her money, she's convinced that she is in love with him and he with her. So when he breaks off all contact, she is devised, heart broken. She doesn't know who frightened him off but she can only assume it was her powerful and threatening father. This causes her to fly off the handle show more and their relationship becomes strained and distant. But though he disapproved of her involvement with the gentleman, it was actually the Russian prince who was the real culprit. Related to her stepmother and possessing a coldly charming and arrogant demeanor, the hero doesn't know how to feel emotions towards those around but he does know that he's wanted the heroine since she was 13 years old. And nothing will stop him from getting her. He begins a slow courtship, showering her with pretty things but nothing in the way of true feeling. When she discovers her old love has married, the pain drives her into his arms and they sleep together. The next morning he proposes and though she doesn't love him or like him all that much- he is rich and says she can maintain her freedom. And she does desire him. They marry against her families protest and though it's a marriage of sex and companionship, she is happy enough for a time. That is until she begins to show affection towards her husband. The idea of allowing himself to admit his growing feelings for her or worse, allowing her to grow to love him, terrifies him. It's what starts the divide between them and void grows larger every day. Made worse by the arrival of his bastard son, it gets to the point where they can barely spend time in the same room before reputing into an argument. Then the strangest thing happens. Viewing the portrait of his ancestor, the hero is thrust back into time and into the man's body. Strained in the past and forced to experience the life this man had lead, it's only then that the hero is able to open himself up emotionally. In the body of another man- the hero can forget the horrors of his childhood. He can forget that he is a cold merciless man. He can forget the fear of opening himself up to heartbreak or the terror that he could treat his son the way his father treated him. And he can learn to love his wife the way he should have from the start. Then he wakes up in the present and knows there's nothing he won't do to save his marriage and his relationship with his only son. The heroine is dumbstruck by the hero's 180 change is personality but she can't trust this change and fears it's a little too late to repair all the damage he's wrought. Loved this story. I couldn't put it down. It had such feeling and such a raw and true telling of how our past experiences mold us into who we are. You both hate and feel for the hero and he really can't help how his terror of a childhood and the loss of his brother has turned him into a cold and emotionally closed of man. At the same time, the things he does and the way he treats his wife and son are despicable. Not evil, and not violent but rather a slow severing of any idea they had to him loving them. In turn, I loved the heroine who is so honest and protective of the small boy yet horribly insecure and craving attention and love in any form she can get it. Be it her animals or her new step son. But I also disliked her because I found her to be selfish and childish most of time- shame on her for the way she treated her father. But regardless of the roller-coaster of the characters positive and negatives I was enraptured by the story. I think what I liked best was the hero's torment over trying to deny himself his wife's love. He showed his feelings the tiniest of ways but as the reader you can so tell. Great book by a great author. show less

I know many Kleypas fans don't care for this book. It's darker than some of her others and features elements many romance readers shy away from. I can't help myself, I adore it. There's something so raw about Nikolas, some indefinable thing that makes him worthy, even when he shouldn't be.

Emma is amazing. She's strong and caring and compassionate, but she isn't a doormat. Though parts of this are hard to read, it's an excellent novel.

WTAF is this book?? Am I supposed to root for an emotionally abusive, manipulative cheat??? And Emma herself is quite bratty.

DnF

This story is the follow up for MIDNIGHT ANGEL. We also get great look into Russia, its customs and history. There is quite a bit of information about the treatment of the citizens and how easy it was for someone to die for the wrong thing said or for making an enemy of anyone in power. There is a little bit of the mysticism that seems so much of early Russian life. It is an interesting premise and gives this story a unique plot device. We also get to know Prince Nikolas Angelovsky a little better as this story weaves through two different lives. I will say that Nikolas “Nikki” isn't the most likable of characters in the first half of the book. He is arrogant, selfish, cold and indifferent to the suffering he can cause. He is also show more afraid of the feelings he has for Emma. Having been abused for most of his childhood he has learned to keep his emotional scars hidden from all those around him. The torture he received at the end of MIDNIGHT ANGEL has only made him withdraw more. I don’t think that anyone has ever cared about Nikki or even loved him for that matter. He has no idea what love is or how to truly recognize it when it shows up in the form of Emma. Nikki changes in the last part of the book. A life altering event shows him what love is and how important it can be to fulfilling a life that has been so very empty. I quite enjoyed Nikki by the end of the story.

Emma Stokehurst is a spoiled child that expects everyone to be perfect and never fail her in anyway. She can be mean and spiteful to those that don’t meet her expectations. She is much more at ease with her animals, the wounded and abused creatures that she has saved over time. In many ways she is still a child emotionally. She does grow up and she begins to see that the world is filled with people that care about her but those people aren't perfect and they make mistakes. It starts when Nikki’s illegitimate son comes to live with them. At first she is angry that Nicholas would dare to have a son out of wedlock. She doesn't want him to stay at the house at all. She does come around when she realizes that she would welcome an injured animal no matter his parentage. Emma is also not the most likable character in the beginning but she grows and matures with the story so by the end she is a very nice and caring person. I was very glad that she made up with her father and step-mother. They both cared for her every much.

The antagonist in this piece is a deluded man that can only long for what he can’t have. Emma’s love interest at the beginning of the story is a weak man that needs a fortune to save his family. He isn't willing to stand up to Emma’s father and when Nikki threatens him he runs away. However as with so many of those that are weak he doesn't see that he might be part of the problem. He becomes that catalyst for the climax of the book.

This is a good story with some paranormal elements that add a nice twist to the story. These characters, while not likable in the beginning, grow in the reader as the story progresses. There is a lot of history in the book. For the time period that the book was written in it is a very good example of the early historical romance genre. Ms. Kleypas is a wonderful story teller and more people need to read her book. show less

Contrary to the statement of numerous reviewers who have claimed that this was not a good book, i would say that Lisa Kleypas has written a keeper. The story is rich with imagery and emotions as well as a well thought out plot. The main characters Emma and Nickolas were extremely well matched; intelligent, intriguing and most definitley good looking. I read midnight angel and was dying for emma to have her own story. Despitehis unflattering debut in 'midnight angel', he had reedemed himself at the very last part of the book giving a glimpse of a more caring side of Nickolas and had left me dying from curiousity as to how the romance between emma and him blossom and in Prince of dreams... i was not at all disappointed with the way their show more relationship had happened...and the much detested flashback seemed astoundingly appropriate and wonderfuly romantic under the circumstances. God knows why it was not a hit with the rest of Ms. Kleypas's fans. I was thourougly enchanted by the enlightenment Nickolas had reach BECAUSE of this flashback. A beautiful and well written story. DO NOT BE DETERED BY THE NEGATIVE REVIEWS!!! show less

Must be feeling better when I stay up way to late to read a book. Not your typical, cookie cutter historical romance which was nice. Also helped that I imagine Eric from True Blood as the dark and brooding hero (yes, I realize there are issues with this since there is a big difference between Sweede and Russian, sue me) As always, good for what ails you.

I's a sucker for a good historical romance, and Lisa Kleypas is one of the best, in my opinion.
She has a way of bringing her characters to life, drawing the reader into the story.
Prince of Dreams is the story on Nikki, an exiled Russian Prince and Emma, the womans he loves and is determined to have. Nikki has had a turtured past that he is trying to overcome,and though he is drawn to Emma, he keeps her at a distance, trying to save his heart. He fights his feelings tooth and nail. Of course, all works out in the end. :)