Some Enchanted Evening (Lost Princess Series #1) by Christina Dodd

From the Publisher

With her twenty-five glorious novels, New York Times bestselling author Christina Dodd has won the hearts of readers with her sexy, classic romances. Join her now as she weaves a magical story filled with smart humor, high action, and true love.

Once upon a time, high in the Pyrenees Mountains, there were two happy and prosperous kingdoms. In one kingdom, a son was born and declared the crown prince. In the other kingdom, three daughters were raised in royal splendor.

This is the story of one lost princess, Princess Clarice, who flees with her younger sister to Scotland, where they survive by their wits and daring. But just when Clarice begins to believe she's safe at last, she attracts the attention of one of Scotland's most powerful and dangerous men.

Robert MacKenzie, the earl of Hepburn, is enchanted by Clarice's dazzling beauty — and wary of her talent for disguise. For years justice had been his only desire. A war hero, he knows the cruelness of the world and he cares too much for the people of his village to let them be victimized and exploited. But the moment Robert sees Clarice riding into town — her lush, smiling lips, her copper-colored curls, her warm amber eyes — he is overcome with emotions that have been deeply buried for far too long. Feeling he must have her at any cost, he invites her to stay with him at his manor house and won't take no for an answer.

Now, he has the chance to uncover the nature of her mysterious business in town, and possibly the chance to satisfy his burning desire for her as well.

Soon Roberts knows all of Clarice's most guarded secrets, and he uses this knowledge toblackmail her into giving her unwilling aid to his own perilous plan. Caught between her need to protect her sister and the dangerous man who mixes dark emotions with passionate kisses, Clarice plunges into Robert's glamorous world. Her days are filled with colorful gowns, elaborate parties, and swirling waltzes. And her nights are marked by secret assignations and one all-consuming passion.

As Clarice's golden beauty draws Robert from the shadows and her bright wit teaches him to live again, the treachery around them deepens. He swears to keep her safe, never suspecting that he will face an even greater hazard: losing his heart to the mysterious princess who just might make him believe in happily-ever-after ...

Publishers Weekly

Propelled by the winning assurance, sensuality and humor that have pushed Dodd's paperback romances (Once Upon a Pillow, etc.) onto bestseller lists, this hardcover debut launches a trilogy centered on the Lost Princesses, three young women who fled their revolution-swept small country in the late 1700s and who must dodge the assassins set on their trail. Middle sister Clarice hides in plain sight, traveling from town to town, proclaiming herself a princess fallen on hard times and selling face creams made from royal recipes to village women. Honey-haired and stunning, Clarice has little trouble making sales but more difficulty fending off men. When Robert MacKenzie, Earl of Hepburn, invites her to stay at his manor, Clarice senses a seductive danger in accepting his offer, but she does so anyway. Clarice soon realizes her instincts were correct. Even as Robert ensnares her with kisses, he lures her into playing a part in an elaborate scheme of vengeance. Torn between her passion for Robert and her duty to remain a princess, Clarice must decide if her loyalty belongs to her heart or to her country. Engaging and witty, Dodd's voice shines through on every page, infusing Clarice and Robert with a genuine warmth and appeal in both the ballroom and the bedroom. Agent, Mel Berger. (July) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Best-selling romance author Dodd breaks into hardcover with the story of an incognito princess who gets tangled up with the scheming Earl of Hepburn. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

First installment in the Lost Princesses series. Megaselling romance author Dodd makes her hardcover debut with the story of Clarice, second of three royal sisters from the land of Beaumontagne. Forced by turmoil and anarchy to flee their Pyrenees homeland, the sisters are separated and sent to England. Some time later, around 1808, Princess Clarice Jayne Marie Nicole Lilly comes to the town of Freya Crags in Scotland. This dour and drab country, in her opinion, needs a little excitement-which she can provide, of course. Riding proudly into the marketplace on a chestnut horse, the princess catches the eye of Robert Mackenzie, Earl of Hepburn. He gets very excited indeed, and it's not long before they're having lots and lots of sex. In the meantime, Clarice's entrepreneurial spirit (she invents and sells beautifying creams and concealers) has her in trouble with the local authorities. Will randy Robert save her from a wrathful magistrate? Will she see her long-lost sisters again? More to come. Sometimes silly, but the plot never stops (and neither does the manly hero). Agency: William Morris

Product Details

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Table of Contents

Read a Sample Chapter

Some Enchanted Evening

William Morrow & Company

Chapter One

Scotland, 1808

The valley was his, the village was his, yet the woman rode into the town square of Freya Crags as if she owned it.

Robert MacKenzie, earl of Hepburn, frowned at the stranger who cantered over the stone bridge and into the bustling crowd. It was market day, and booths of brown canvas were set up along the perimeter of the town square. The place rang with the sound of a hundred voices calling out their wares, but the stranger dominated the crowd, towering above them on a fractious two-yearold colt. The chestnut stepped high, as if proud to carry her, and the quality of the horse alone would have turned heads.

The lady in the saddle attracted even more attention -- first fleeting looks, then open stares.

Robert glanced around at the small circle of old men gathered in the sunshine in front of the alehouse. Their wrinkled mouths sagged open as they gawked, the table and checkerboard before them forgotten. Around them the sounds of shoppers and merchants haggling turned into a buzz of speculation as every eye turned to view the stranger.

Her riding costume swathed her from neck to toe with black wool, preserving the illusion of propriety yet outlining every curve of her trim figure. Her black hat was tall, with a broad brim, and black veiling floated behind. The red trim on her sleeves matched the red scarf at her neck, and those small bits of vivid color shocked and pleasured the eye. Her bosom was generous, her waist narrow, her black boots shiny, and her face ...

Good God, her face.

Robert couldn't look away. If she'd been born in the Renaissance, painters would have flocked to her door, begging that she pose for them. They would have painted her as an angel, for her wavy, golden hair glowed with a light of its own, giving her a nimbus like a halo. Copper glints in the curls seemed to possess a power to warm the hands, and Robert's fingers itched to sink into the waves and discover the heat and the texture. Her softly rounded cheeks and large amber eyes under darkened brows made a man think of heaven, yet the stubborn set of her chin saved her face from a cloying sweetness. Her nose was slight, her chin too broad to be truly attractive, but her lips were wide, lush, and red. Too red. She rouged them, he was sure of it. She looked like an Englishwoman of good quality -- except, of course, no woman of good quality ever rouged her lips, and certainly never traveled alone.

She smiled, giving him a glimpse of straight white teeth -- and that mouth he planned to explore.

Robert straightened away from the wall of the alehouse.

Where in blazes had that thought come from?

Hamish MacQueen was boisterous and amusing, his one arm gone in a long-ago accident in His Majesty's Royal Navy. "Who do ye suppose she is?"

A good question, and Robert intended to get an answer.

"I dunna know, but I'd like t' part her beard," said Gilbert Wilson, his sly wit taking a wicked turn.

"I'd like t' give her a live sausage fer supper." Tomas MacTavish slapped his skinny knee and cackled.

Henry MacCulloch joined in the pastime. "I'd like t' play dog in the doublet wi' her."

All the old men cackled, remembering the days when they would have had a chance to woo a beautiful visitor. Now they were content to sit in the sun in front of the alehouse, comment on the doings of the town, and play checkers -- or they had been, until she rode into town.

Robert's gaze narrowed on the female. He was smart enough, and in his travels had seen enough, to recognize trouble when he saw it. On the surface he appeared to be mildly interested in the doings in the square, but his every sense was alert for a trick. Indeed, he anticipated a trick. After all, the world was not so secure a place as anyone in this small village imagined. The world was full of liars and cheats, murderers, and worse. It was men like him, like Robert, who kept this place safe, and through his vigilance he would continue to do so.

"Ye damned auld fools." The alewife, Hughina Gray, stood with her apron wrapped around her hands and glanced between Robert and the stranger. "Canna ye see she's na guid?"

"I'd wager she's verra guid," said Tomas's brother Benneit, and the old men laughed until they wheezed.

"Ye shouldn't talk so in front o' the laird," Hughina reproved with a sideways peep at Robert. Hughina was Robert's age, attractive, and a widow, and she'd made it clear she had room in her bed for him.

He hadn't accepted the invitation. When the laird slept with the women of his lands, trouble was sure to follow, so when the urge was on him, he traveled over the hills into Trevor and visited with Lady Edmundson. She enjoyed his body and his driving sexuality without caring a crumb whether he loved her, and that made a very satisfactory arrangement for them both.

Lately he hadn't suffered from the urge.

His hand crinkled the much-read letter in his pocket. He'd been too busy making plans, desperate plans, vengeful plans, and now those schemes had been set to naught because one woman failed to fulfill her promise. Damn her. Damn her to hell.

But for the moment he was distracted as the exotic stranger circled the booths, giving everyone a chance to see her, and Robert watched his people watch her. Their expressions were suspicious or inquisitive, but she beamed them a friendly smile as if she had not a speck of intelligence ...

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