The second installment in The Royal Brotherhood series, "To Pleasure the Prince" proved to be a very absorbing and engaging read. The series revolves around the lives of three half-brothers, all illegitimate children of England's Prince of Wales, George. The brothers are, Alexander Black, the Earl of Iversley; Marcus North, the sixth Viscount Draker; and Gavin Byrne, a powerful man in his own right even if he's not an aristocrat -- and they are united in their desire to help each other, and in their deep dislike for their natural father, the Prince of Wales. The first book, "In the Prince's Bed" was Alexander's story; this one focuses of the Viscount Draker, known to one and all as the Dragon Viscount.
Having decided at a very young age that he has no time for the shallow company of his peers, Viscount Draker has spent much of his time at his ancestral estate, Castlemaine, taking care of his younger sister, Louisa, and of his estates. All this changes, however, when Louisa comes of age and is ready to make her debut into society. Fortunately, Draker can count on the support of his married half-brother Alexander to sponsor Louisa's debut and to keep and eye on her. For Draker's greatest fear is that his royal father will try and reestablish his relationship with Louisa in order to get to him (Draker, that is). And his fears are realised when he discovers that Louisa is being courted by the Duke of Foxmoor, an intimate of the Prince's. Determined to drag Louisa back to Castlemaine (and to shoot Foxmoor if he must), Draker is startled beyond anything when Foxmoor's beautiful sister, Lady Regina Tremaine, turns up at his doorstep, determined to plead her brother's and Louisa's case. Intrigued and beguiled by Lady Regina's beauty and courage, Draker agrees to allow Foxmoor to court Louisa if he can court Lady Regina. Picking up the gauntlet that Draker has thrown down, Lady Regina agrees. A young woman who has been "out" in society foe quite a few years now, Lady Regina is quite used to handling men, and is sure that she handle the blunt, ill humoured and angry Dragon Viscount, who is rumoured to be an uncultured lout. But in Draker's case, Lady Regina is beginning to fear that she has bitten off more than she can chew. However, as the two begin to spend more time with each other, each begins to discover facets in the other's character that indicates that they are more suitably matched that either had ever thought possible. But Draker suffers from an instinctual distrust of beautiful women, and Lady Regina hides a shameful secret that she can never share with anyone. With these two seemingly insurmountable obstacles it looks as if this courtship will go no where in spite of the powerful attraction each has for the other. And then there is the awful suspicion that Lady Regina is beginning to have, that Draker may have been correct about the motive behind Foxmoor's courtship of Louisa. With her loyalties severely tested, and with her dark secret to hide, Lady Regina isn't sure about what she should to do or to whom she should turn for help...
I enjoyed "To Pleasure the Prince" from beginning to end. It's one of those novels that snares your interest from the very first page -- a hero with a tortured past, a heroine with a secret, and the passionate and sensual romance that develops between them -- if you're looking for a Regency-era romance novel that is character driven and that has everything necessary for a good, engrossing read, you can't go very wrong with "To Pleasure the Prince." The pacing was even and well sustained; and the manner in which the author allowed the story to be told was well done as well. I liked the manner in which Sabrina Jeffries developed the romance between Draker and Regina -- she gave us a romance about two people who were not only passionately drawn to each other, but who also needed each other emotionally as well. Darker's and Regina's romance was not one of smooth sailings; it was full of ups and downs and mistakes that each makes before the cathartic ending when a happily-ever after ending is achieved. And it was emotionally fulfilling as a result. A well written novel (in spite of the many, many modern phrases), "To Pleasure the Prince" was a satisfying read from start to finish, and I'm eagerly looking forward to the next installment in the Royal Brotherhood.
