PENELOPE & PRINCE CHARMING

Author: Jennifer Ashley ISBN: 0843956062 4/2006 HISTORICAL Publisher: DORCHESTER/Leisure

His blue eyes beguiled. His muscular form could have satisfied any fantasy. He had a delicious foreign accent—and to top it off, he was royalty! What woman would dare refuse the most sought-after lover in Europe? Miss Twice-a-Jilt Penelope Trask, that's who. And, unfortunately for Damien, marrying Penelope was the only way to inherit his kingdom. Good thing this enchantingly infuriating woman didn't seem completely immune to his many chars. The passionate way she returned his kisses told Damien he wasn't the only one head over heels. But wooing was difficult amid assassination attempts, wild magic, and desire so strong it threatened to overwhelm him every time they touched. Why had no one mentioned the road to happily-ever-after was so difficult?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

I like the premise of PENELOPE & PRINCE CHARMING, with its historical/mystical/fairy tale storyline and a delectable alpha hero. I overheated at the sizzling sensuality that ignites between the two leads, Prince Damien and Penelope. I love the fact that there is a redeemable villain and the story is populated with such a wide variety of characters.

Why, then, does this story read so slowly and seem to go on forever, until at least the last one-third of the story? It's definitely not the action, as Ms. Ashley provides plenty of that.

My first guess why it's slow involves the descriptive passages of Nvengaria, the kingdom from whence the sexy prince cometh and whose name I'm not sure how to pronounce. (Is it spoken as "Envengaria?" Or perhaps it's "Vengaria" with a silent N? Or maybe it's "Kneevengaria"? Any way you choose it, this poor brain of mine stumbled and stuttered each time that word came up—and it came up quite a lot.) And while I understand that the telling of Nvengaria's ancient history, with its deeply rooted superstitions and sexy rituals, is elemental to the storyline, at times it was just too much detail (this, from a historical buff). Sometimes it's interesting, but sometimes it's not, which left me skipping paragraphs and more than just a few pages.

There are also a few irritating secondary characters that tended to slow things down a bit—Penelope's twiddle-headed mother, whose air-headedness drove me to distraction, and a best friend whose constant giggling I found far from endearing. It's also not too keen when you find the sinister and mysterious villain, the Arch Duke, much more compelling and sexy than the Prince, who just happens to be the leading man here, and the one I should find myself focused upon.

I do think Ms. Ashley is a very talented writer and no doubt fans of her pirate books—one of which I've read and enjoyed—will be eagerly awaiting this latest release. While I'm not that impressed with PENELOPE & PRINCE CHARMING, I definitely will be watching for Duke Alexander's story—that's one bad, but sexy man I find completely irresistible. And since most of the history of Nvengaria's now been told in PENELOPE & PRINCE CHARMING, that should leave more space for Duke Alexander.

Nancy Davis