The Serpent Prince
Incredibly vivid lead characters, earthy writing and an intense love story buoy the third entry in Hoyt's Georgian-set romance series (followingThe Leopard Prince), which kicks off with Lucy Craddock-Hayes's page-one discovery of Viscount Simon Iddesleigh in a ditch near her home, naked and beaten almost to death. Though her blustery father fears for Lucy's virtue, they take the battered man in, and the insightful, beautiful Lucy is soon as drawn to the handsome, witty gentleman as he is to her. But Simon's mission, to avenge the death of his brother, pulls him in two opposing directions: his soul-deep need for revenge and his desire to protect Lucy. The exquisite romance, flawed slightly by a dearth of historical details, is touched by Hoyt's mesmerizing storytelling; in a less talented writer, the love story could easily have been overwhelmed by the revenge subplot, but Hoyt skillfully uses Lucy and Simon's internal and external conflicts—including the threats against their lives—to enhance her love story.(Sept.)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.