Charming the Prince

This would have been great if not for the "oh hey you're crying because you're knocked up and not because your husband is an ass" trope. Barf.

Lord Bannor The Bold is the Pride of the English and the Terror of The French. He has fought many battles in the past 14 years; he has been tortured, scalded in boiling water and carries scars from arrows and sword fights. But as our book starts he is found cowering in the top tower of his fortress, praying to God to save him for he has finally met his match…..his children. All 12 of them.

For Bannor is not only all of the things above, he is also a prolific procreator. He is a legend; people say that he can impregnate a woman just by looking into her eyes. But now that the war against France is over and he has to stay put in this fortress with no wife (both his former wives died in accidents) he does not know what to do with the kids show more or with himself. He barely knows the children having spent most of his life away making war, coming home only occasionally to say hello for a few days and leaving the wife alive at that moment with a child in the making.

So he comes up with a plan: he needs a new wife to be a mother to them. But she must be unattractive so that he won’t feel tempted to have more children. So he sends off his steward to find a bride for him. The man goes around the country and has no luck until one day he sees from a distance a young woman, who seems to be quite plump surrounded by children, playing tenderly with them. So he goes to her father and asks for her hand in marriage for his Lord.

Enter Willow, our heroine, who of course, is not unattractive at all and as it just so happens, hates children. She grew up in a loveless home with a weak father, an eeeeevil step-mother and horrible siblings who treated her like crap. All she ever wanted was to be loved and she has this image of a prince charming coming to her rescue. So she jumps at the opportunity to get married to Bannor. She thinks she is leaving this loveless life behind but to her surprise as soon as she arrives at her new home, she is met with a band of ruthless brats and a husband who freaks out at the mere sight of her. Of course, she thinks he does not find her attractive at all and before she can say anything she is left to fend for herself. Bannor wants her to leave before he falls for her but has no courage to send her away so asks the children to drive her nuts. This way she will be the one to make the decision to end the marriage and he won’t feel guilty. But Willow is smart and turns the game around by joining the kids in their attempt to get his father’s attention.

Sounds silly right? It is. And yet this was exactly what I needed to read last Sunday afternoon when it was raining and I was not in the best of the moods. Cinderella meets Sound of Music. Without all the singing and dancing. And with sex.

It is certainly not the best of the books nor the most original out there, but it is not bad either. There were quite a few laugh-out-loud moments and the story turns from a comedy of errors to a true love story where we learn that there is much more to Bannor than meets the eye. As he learns to love his children and his wife and Willow finally gets her prince charming, I found myself letting out a satisfied sigh, or two. And sometimes there is all I could ask for.

Notable quotes/parts: The epilogue is a complete riot, easily one of the funniest parts of the book. The hardest battle Bannor has ever fought turns out to be the birth of his first child with the woman that he loves.

Additional thoughts: The secondary characters were lovely. The children were ever so funny and the love story between Edmund (Bannor’s oldest and heir) and Bea (Willow’s half-sister) was quite sweet. Although I did worry a bit – they were both 14 year old, isn’t that a tad too early for getting married, even in medieval times? Note to self: Must look it up!

Verdict: It is a light read for those moments when you need a pick me up. I am keeping mine for the time being but I may well give it to someone further down the road when I need the space in my bookcase.

Full Review at:
http://thebooksmugglers.blogspot.com/2008/01/book-review-charming-prince.html show less

Funny. Fast paced. Medeiros is a relatively new author for me. The book cracks me up. The story isn't all that unique -- a retelling of Cinderella -- but the characters make this a fun read.

I would rate this book 3.5.
I'd have to say that I rather enjoyed this Cinderella story. Lord Bannor the bold decides he needs to remarry, so that his new wife can look after his 12 (yes, I said 12) unruly children. His steward selects Willow for him, marrying her in Bannor's stead. Willow was forced to raise all her step siblings when her father remarried. Abused and neglected, with a creepy step brother, she jumps at the chance to escape her father's castle, but Bannor's dismayed when he sees how attractive she is, not wanting to sire anymore children. So he decides to drive her away but--of course--slowly falls in love with her instead.
Bannor's initial treatment of Willow, who just wants to be loved, almost caused me to put down the show more book. However, as time goes on we come to know Bannors back story. A dark warrior, the scourge of the French and beloved by the English, he lost his first two wifes while he was at war, and why he can't turn any new baby away who comes to his door. We see both Lord Bannor and Willow come to grow in their love for one another. I certainly had a good time reading this book. I liked Willow, a cheerful, well-adjusted character, who blossoms as a woman with the love of her husband. I came to enrjoy Lord Bannon, who's completed by his wife who forces him to learn how to deal with his children. Charming the Prince was certainly a fun read while not the best book I've read.
Jack Murphy show less

Should be retitled Charming the Princess! Lady Willow, the Cinderella-like daughter of Rufus of Bedlington, yearns for the love and affection she has been denied since her father brought home his second wife and her numerous children. Banner the Bold wants a mother for his unruly children but to his dismay he finds a love worth fighting for.

This is a fun twist on Medeiros's typical fairy-tale theming -- the children running amok make for good humour and devilish plot twists that keep the book entertaining.

No effort to make it even halfway historically correct. Silly interactions between the characters. The premise sounded good but the opportunity was wasted. Was supposed to be funny but was just ludicrous.