The Prince and I

Pocket Books

The Prince and I
Karen Hawkins
2015

The Summary
"Spirited Murian MacDonald seeks vengeance against the evil earl who's stolen Rowallen Castle from her family.  With a band of loyal retainers, she waylays the earl's wealthy London guests, trying to lure the earl and his guards into pursuit so she can sneak into the castle for evidence of his misdeeds.

"Murian's plan is working splendidly until she stops the coach of Gregori Maksim Romanovin, the commanding prince of Oxenburg, who is in Scotland on an important diplomatic mission.  Max challenges the masked highwayman to a duel and is furious when Murian not only bests him, but escapes!  Max vows to find the tempting Scottish vixen, no matter the cost.

"When Max discovers Murian's lair and hears her story, he resolves to assist her--whether she likes it or not--and a royal battle blazes.  But when Murian is betrayed, Max must choose between the strict dictates of his mission, or protecting the red-haired lass who has stolen his once-cold heart."

The Good
I rather liked The Prince and I.

It was a curious blending of romance and Robin Hood, and I enjoyed it.  Max is the quintessential hero:  dark, brooding, capable, confident--not to mention he's a prince.  Murian, on the other hand, is anything but a damsel in distress:  she's calm, competent, hard-working, and surprisingly agile with a blade.  She's been dealt a terrible hand, having not only lost her husband but her home, but she's making the best of her situation.

However, I think my favorite character was Max's grandmother, Grand Duchess Natasha Nikolaevna.

The Grand Duchess was, by far, the most comical character and, I think, the most knowledgeable.  She doesn't care how other perceive her; rather, she likes being considered a witch.  (It's why she most often threatens to turn others into goats and frogs.  She much prefers infamy to anonymity.)  Moreover, she's often in the thick of trouble, one way or another, and she somehow manages to turn circumstances exactly how she wants them.

This last quality makes me think that she's not the doddering old witch she likes her grandson to think.  Natasha is wily, not senile; in fact, she strikes me as being preternaturally intelligent.  For instance, if she hadn't lost in a card game to the earl, they never would have traveled to Scotland--Max would never have met Murian; Max never would have gotten involved in the earl's business and discovered what he did.

Honestly, Natasha is the force that propels the story forward.  She's the one who helps to shape it and, while she may seem laughably naive or even foolish, I have this feeling she's not.  I have this odd feeling that she knows exactly what she's doing, that she has calculated every move to her--and, by proxy, her grandson's--benefit.

The Bad
The Prince and I is a fine novel.  It's not great, it's not an immediate classic; however, it's not a terrible romance either.  It falls somewhere in between:  not quite fantastic, but enjoyable nevertheless.

The Ugly
The earl--and I can't remember his name to save my life, now--is a terrible character.  He's just a horrible person in general, and I really grew to hate him.  Not only does he manipulate, lie, and cheat, he's quite probably a murderer to boot; however, he was a forgettable sort of evil.  He's a bit of a caricature:  evil and spiteful enough as to be unbelievable.

I suppose it says something that I don't remember his name anymore.