3.5
Kidnapped for His Royal Duty
ByPublisher Description
From a New York Times–bestselling author, a jilted royal abducts his personal assistant and proposes she be his wife in this sexy romance.
He needs a substitute bride . . .
And she will be his queen!
When desert prince Dal’s convenient bride is stolen, he must find a replacement—immediately. Suddenly shy secretary Poppy is kidnapped by her merciless boss and whisked away to his kingdom. She’s shocked to find herself willingly surrendering to his expert seduction! But when it becomes clear that Dal has more than pleasure in mind, will Poppy be persuaded to accept his royal proposal?
He needs a substitute bride . . .
And she will be his queen!
When desert prince Dal’s convenient bride is stolen, he must find a replacement—immediately. Suddenly shy secretary Poppy is kidnapped by her merciless boss and whisked away to his kingdom. She’s shocked to find herself willingly surrendering to his expert seduction! But when it becomes clear that Dal has more than pleasure in mind, will Poppy be persuaded to accept his royal proposal?
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3.5
Rere_Bookish
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“This has MAJOR, MAJOR, MAJOR Plot spoilers ahead. Read at your own risk.
Second warning: this is more of a plot summary than an actual review. So if you don’t want to know what happens in the book then STOP here now. Finally warning.
Loved. Loved. Loved.
This book was just utter perfection. Every moment I spent reading this book was just an absolute delight and pleasure. It had everything right going for it from the first word to the final. I was consumed with it the entire time. I don’t think I will be able to justice to just how good this was with this review, but I am going to try.
The story started off with a bang with the prologue as Randall Grant’s aka Dal intended bride got abducted by another man, Renzo, right from the chapel when I believe she was walking down the aisle to Dal. The twist being that the bridesmaid, Poppy, who was Sophie (intended bride) best friend and Dal’s secretary for the past four years, was the one who that sent a note to Renzo of Sophie’s upcoming wedding to Dal. Poppy knew that something had happened between Sophie and Renzo a few weeks back, and Sophie hadn’t been herself ever since. Poppy knew that this was no love match between Dal and Sophie, which Poppy believed that neither one of them deserved a loveless and unhappy marriage so Poppy thought she would bring a little happiness into Sophie’s life by informing Renzo of the wedding since it was apparent something paramount happened between Renzo and Sophie. So, Poppy really got the ball rolling, jumping right into the action. Oh, and to top it all off Poppy had been in love with Dal for the past four years ever since she started working with him, which just added another depth and layer to the complication. Heck, of a first chapter that really just gave the story a great setup and a heck of punch to the beginning of a story. I freaking loved that.
Once the dust settled from the busted wedding, Dal was furious, but he was even more furious because he knew that Poppy knew something about Renzo coming to his wedding to steal his bride. Wanting to get to the bottom of this, he confronted her while she denied knowing anything, which then created quite a nice little battle between them that soon created a fun cat and mouse game between them. This carried on for a good portion of the book as Dal was trying to figure out why Poppy did this, which he considered an act of betrayal that deeply wounded him because she thought she had loyalty to him. So, there was a great amount of head butting between the two.
Even though he was furious with Poppy, he vowed to make Poppy his new bride due to the fact he had to marry due to the fact that his father stated his will that Dal had to in order to inherit the title of Earl and everything that went along with it. Dal figured he had to do that in order to fulfill his promise to his father. So, he vowed that now Poppy would be his choice of bride. He figured he would have no problem doing so since he knew Poppy was in love with him even if he had to seduce her, which he thought would be no problem due to her feelings for him.
But Poppy didn’t make it easy. In fact she fought as hard as she could against the notion of marriage to Dal, knowing this wasn’t going to be a love marriage between them when that was what she wanted most in the world with him. Again that back and forth came again as he kept trying to convince her to his side, but she didn’t make it easy for him all, puzzling to him.
What I loved about this was while he was aiming to convince her of marriage to him, they had some really nice intimate and honest communication between them that got really intense and really deep between them. Not just feelings for each other, but feelings about how they viewed themselves, life, their own feelings, family, and just things in general. The each showed different sides to each other that they never showed before because they aimed to keep their relationship strictly professional plus he had been betrothed to her best friend. So, they were really learning about each other, and what made the other tick. What I felt while reading it was that they were falling in love with each other the more they got to know each other and got to the nitty gritty of their being. I thought was awesome. I loved that so much. It really made that great part of their romantic journey together.
It wasn’t only the emotional part though that was growing and intensifying, but it was the physical too. Yes, Dal was intent on seducing her by touching her lightly or getting in personal space, but it was more than that to. It was that awareness that kept building and growing between them the more time that they spent together. It was subtle, yet intense. It so freaking good. It built up the anticipation between the two of them perfectly. It really just increased anticipation and intensity between the two once that emotional foundation had grown between them. It was just done really well I thought. I loved that it took time before they got physical with each other. It was paced really, really nicely. It didn’t seemed dragged out or overly long. It was just right. I loved it.
Once they got into the desert, which was Dal’s mother’s home country, then it got really romantic. Part that was the seduction, but it was more than that. It was how the settings were described in such a beautiful language. The dresses that she wore were just so elegant, delicate added to the romance. I had a bit of an aww moment when one of the dresses was described when Poppy was trying to choose a dress, and the person help her suggested it the dress with poppies on since that was her name. That just touched my heart so much and put smile on my face when the servant said that. It was also meaningful because this was the first time Poppy was wearing those dresses to meet for her dinner date with Dal. The date nights like they had at dinner were eloquently described. It just really put me in the mood for romance while reading those descriptors, which gave off that romantic setting. It was great ambience, and I felt like I was right there with Dal and Poppy in the desert.
The seduction in the desert was so steamy and hot as Dal pulled out all the stops. Not that he didn’t want it too because he did very much, but he really knew how to draw her in and enjoy the pleasure that he could give her. Also just show off how chemistry they truly had together. That pool scene was something else. It was a fanning type of scene. It was so erotic, so sensual, so steamy, intense, yet emotional as well as Poppy’s fantasies for Dal were finally coming true. Her love was very firmly in her heart with every brush of his fingers, kisses on her lips, and pleasure brought to her entire body. The only reason that she responded to the pleasure like that was because it was him. It was amazing. It showed off their connection both emotionally and physically. It was a big scene for both of them as they realized what they could have together. It was great.
Eventually she did give into him, and the proceeded to get married. What touched me the most was what she thought was just going to be a simple civil service actually turned out to be this big celebration with a huge dinner and party as a surprise for her. She met his family members and was really enfolded into the mix. It put such a smile on my face and filled me with joy as she met his grandfather for the first time. It was really nice special moment. But it didn’t end there because Dal surprised her with fireworks because he remember when she told him years back that fireworks made her happy. That made me swoon so hard because it really showed how he cared about her and wanted to make this as special of a day for as he possibly could. It was wonderful.
As was the first time scene. That scene was just omg. It was written really well with its evocative language that brought me into the scene. The feelings that Poppy was feeling was portrayed really well, showing over her first time not only in general, but by being with him while knowing that she loved him, yet he didn’t love her. She was just nervous to have all her emotions on display to him as well as giving him that power over her mind, body, and soul. Just being vulnerable in general. Even though she wanted to be with him so badly, she struggled and that handled really well. Just the whole beauty of the scene was excellently done with the wording. When she did go out to him the first time in her sexy nightgown, he was on the couch, sensing she was nervous in the moment he told her to come to him. Not gonna lie I got choked up at this point because I thought what was going to happen was that there cuddle for a little bit before going into the main event because she told him that was what she wanted to do with her partner at night and just enjoy being with each other. That didn’t happen, but it still hit pretty hard that caused me to have a strong emotional reaction to what I thought was going to happen. Though they didn’t cuddle at that moment, he still gently took her in his arms and slowly started to kiss her. He never rushed her. He comforted her. He made sure she was feeling the ultimate pleasure that she knew that he found her sexy, sensual and beautiful. He allowed her to take some of the lead as they began this sensual journey together. It was so beautiful. So special. It had to be the ultimate wedding night scene that was made of fantasies. It was one of my favorite Presents wedding night scenes that I have ever read. It was that good. It was just the full experience and an all encompassing scene.
My heart broke a little bit when during the after glow scene she told him that she loved him, but he didn’t say it back to her. I could feel her heart breaking in that moment after this life changing experience she just had, and she wanted to express what she was feeling in that moment. She just couldn’t not say it after she felt that closeness to him. To be fair to him though, he didn’t get up and walk away, but instead cuddled her closer and asked her if that day was special for her. In a way that was his way of having emotional closeness with her even if that wasn’t what she wanted to hear. He tried in his own way to connect with her., which was nice. I think he was just overwhelmed with everything he was feeling as well because by that point I was pretty sure he was in love with her and had been for a long time even if he didn’t admit it yet.
It became very clear what he feelings for her were at the end when she wanted to leave the desert and go back to England without him. As soon as she said those words to him, I could see his amour really crack and how devastated he was at the thought of her leaving him. It broke him a little I think. It was his wake up call that he knew he couldn’t hide what was in his heart for her anymore. He apologized for disappointing her, but he was still learning because this was all new to him. His father instilled and bullied him not to be the sensitive, feeling child he was before his brother and mother were killed in a car accident. His father basically berated him for being so emotionally so Dal learned to cut off his emotions and just be numb to anything having to do with feelings. So, he had to relearn how to embrace his emotions and bask in them, speak them, accept them, and show them. Poppy would embrace them and never turn those feelings away from her, but Dal was still getting that after being numb for so many years. So, it wasn’t overnight process for him. He vowed to do better and go with her to England because he didn’t want to live without her. It was really the moment that became fully alive once he said those words to her. He was willing to do anything for his marriage and work in order to make it successful because he just felt so much for her in his heart and had for a long time. Plus he did a big grand gesture there, and though it was predictable no less impactful as he showed her what he did for her. It was so beautiful, emotional, and special that it really made my heart soar. I loved it so much. It just brought a very satisfying end to not only their love stories, but their individual stories as well. It was so good.
This was a lot more amazing stuff that happened that I didn’t even talk about because then this review would be ridiculously long. Every word, every sentence, and just everything was absolutely amazing about this story. It made me feel good while reading it. It gave me all the feels I was looking for. I was swept by the story, the romance, and the characters. I loved the writing because it brought such evocative reactions in me as well as made me feel right there on the romantic journey with them. I loved the romance that was in here. I loved how the story was built and paced as Dal and Poppy went on this amazing journey together. There was good passion between them. I loved that they had some subtle moment then some really intense ones. There were moment of affection and tenderness in here. It just really packed an emotional punch for me that made me have tears my eyes as well as choking up at a certain point. It just touched my heart so much. I loved. Loved. Loved. I don’t think I can say that enough. It was that mind blowing for me. I will definitely being reading this again because I enjoyed the journey that I went on so, so much. I can’t say enough good things about this one.
Highly recommend for Presents lovers, and lovers of sweeping, emotional, romantic, intense, epic romances because I think this will fit the bill for you.”
Ana
Created over 6 years agoShare
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Jo Ann Jackson
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About Jane Porter
Jane Porter loves central California's golden foothills and miles of farmland, rich with the sweet and heady fragrance of orange blossoms. Her parents fed her imagination by taking Jane to Europe for a year where she became passionate about Italy and those gorgeous Italian men! Jane never minds a rainy day – that's when she sits at her desk and writes stories about far-away places, fascinating people, and most important of all, love. Visit her website at: www.janeporter.com
Other books by Jane Porter
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