Review: Lighthearted Romantic Suspense
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 13, 2013
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.  I rated it 4.5 out of 5 Stars.A Russian royal hiding in plain sight, a Russian princess trying to avoid an arranged marriage and a jewel heist all take center stage in Caridad Pineiro's To Catch A Princess.  With likable main characters, good dialogue, the right amount of intrigue and mystery and a sexy romance, Ms. Pineiro grabbed my attention from the first page and never let go.  With the action taking place in both the U.S. and Monaco, Ms. Pineiro gives us a whirlwind romance with a little mystery, and reminded me of some of my favorite classic Hollywood films.Young, beautiful and a royal, Princess Maria Theresa Tatiana Christiania Ivanov is used to living life on her own terms.  Second in command of the family business in the U.S., she never imagined her parents would have agreed to an arranged marriage on her behalf and expect her to go through with it.  Determined to marry for love, Tatiana has no intentions of marrying a stranger.Police Detective Peter Roman has three secrets; his real identity, Russian Grand Prince Pyotr Romanovich, a private family secret, and the fact that he's the only son of Grand Duke Roman Alexandrovich - and Tatiana's intended husband.  Though determined never to marry, Peter can't help but be attracted to Tatiana - the younger sister of Alexander, his best friend.  When an international jewel thief targets Tatiana's charity fundraising event in Monaco, Peter finds himself volunteering to be her personal guard.The scenes between Tatiana and Peter are full of smoldering chemistry, lively dialogue and light humor.  Both secretly attracted to the other, neither one is willing to risk losing their friendship.  Only Peter knows he has to tell Tatiana about who he really is if he wants to have a chance at saving whatever relationship they already have.  Angry at being lied to, Tatiana isn't sure she can forgive Peter for his lies of omission.  Ms. Pineiro does a good job developing both Tatiana and Peter, their attraction and their romance.  I really enjoyed watching them fall in love.The secondary characters were interesting and contributed quite a bit to the story, especially Tatiana's family and the international jewel thief known as the "Thief of Hearts".  While you would expect the villain to have been the jewel thief, he's really only the secondary villain; the primary villain is another character and is a nasty piece of work.Will Tatiana and Peter realize their love for each other is destined - even if they both opposed an arranged marriage?  Will they both make it out of Monaco alive and in good health?  And will the jewel thief end up having a heart of gold?  You'll have to read To Catch a Princess; I enjoyed it and look forward to reading more of Ms. Pineiro's work.