The Princess (The Montgomery/Taggert Family Book 8)

I picked up The Princess spur of the moment earlier this year, when the library was discarding a lot of the older books for mere pennies. I had heard of the author before and I thought 'What the heck, I'll give her a try'. The worst that could happen would be I hated it, and there went a day or reading and 25 cents, right? But on the other hand, I could end up loving it, and then I have not only a new book to add to my favorite's list, but also a whole new author to check out. Not bad outcomes, either way. But I'm very glad that I took the 'chance' and grabbed this book, along with a few others by Deveraux!

I will admit that at the beginning of the book, I was kind of hesitant and feared that I wouldn't end up liking the characters. The story line was interesting enough, even from page one, and the plot flowed at a nice, brisk speed. But the characters' actions and personalities seemed annoying, weak, and rude, and in my opinion, no matter how amazing the rest of the book is, it won't float my boat if I can't relate to the main characters.

At first, Jarl and Aria were constantly bickering, and Aria was dead set on keeping her cold 'I'm-the-Princess-and-I'm-too-good-for-anything-but-the-absolute-best' attitude, which annoyed me to no end! Now, I'm okay with the hero and heroine having their arguments, I think it's needed at times, and no one is perfect, especially not a working relationship, even in a fiction novel. Heck, it can even be highly entertaining at times! But their fights were almost boring, and I was tempted to just skip over the pages until they got past their problems. Luckily, I stuck it out, and I found that as the story moved on and the plot thickened, the characters also changed, growing more dynamic and 3-D, becoming someone that I could stand and actually wanted to learn more about. I was happy, and I settled back in for the ride, which I assure you was riddled with twists and turns and ups and downs!

For the most part, the beginning character flaws were the only problems I had with this book at all. The rest of it was enjoyable, humorous, sexy, and sweet, all in all, a great romance, even if it was written 21 years ago! As they say, a good book, a good classic, can be enjoyed by others years later.

Watching how Jarel slowly falls in love with Aria, and how he changes her attitude from snobby and cold to passionate and kind was wonderful. More than once I found myself sighing in pleasure after reading one of their conversations or giggling *Giggling, can you imagine it?!* after watching her stubbornness and innocence for the American way of life flare up yet again. And in between all of that, along with the mystery of who is trying to kill her, the love scenes were pretty warm, not boiling, but not written by a nun either! And what they lacked in steaminess they made up for in romance and tender moments.

4.5/5 STARS! A glorious love story that shows you that sometimes choosing between the two things you love is not the easiest thing to do. Touching romance, decent sex scenes, plenty of wit and charm, and yes, even a bit of mystery. In other words, a perfect read! I can't wait to find more books by this captivating author!

Jude Deveraux has once again delivered an enthralling romance with The Princess. Set in the year 1942, during World War II, this novel tells the story of Aria, the Princess of Lanconia, and what happens to her after she is kidnaped and left for dead on a Florida island during her first visit to the United States. Navy soldier J.T. Montgomery had looked forward to a quiet time of fishing and resting on the remote island when he sees men on a boat shooting at a dumped body in the sea. When he rescues the person, he sees that the person is a beautiful woman, but his life is never the same when the beautiful woman turns out to be royalty. A potential alliance with her country ensues and the US government forces J.T. to marry Aria, and when he is determined to show the pampered princess what married life to an American is like, he gets more than he's bargained for. Will Aria adjust to the simple American ways? Will feelings ensue between them? Who is trying to kill Aria? There are various twists throughout the novel.

This novel has a nice mixture of historical, romance and suspense. I couldn't put this book down and enjoyed the roller coaster ride of emotions. I almost threw the book across the room whenever J.T. was mean to Aria. Yes, Aria is irritating at times with her demands and her pampered ways, but she knows of no other way to live. She had never left the safe shell of her country and her castle before and knows nothing of commoners' ways and customs. J.T., on the other hand, got on my nerves big time. He is mean, demanding and insensitive and behaved like a typical 1940s, a woman's-place-is-in-the-kitchen male chauvinist. But he is absolutely hot in his developing feelings for Aria, and I love it when he calls her "baby" or "honey." So, even though his stubborn personality annoyed me at times, he was also a very appealing and sensual alpha male. He reminded me of a Judith McNaught hero. The protagonists have great chemistry and the love scenes are wonderful. I see that J.T. is the son of the couple from The Awakening, which I meant to read first, but hadn't gotten the order in on time, but I look forward to reading said novel soon. My two complaints are that Aria adjusts to American life rather quickly and that I would have liked there to be more of a backdrop of WWII and an epilogue. Ah, well. The Princess is another winner by Deveraux and I look forward to reading more of her stuff. I just can't get enough of this author!

Once again, here's another Judeveraux book you wouldn't want to miss. This book is sharp and fast-moving. Filled with Lovable characters, exciting and not too heavy (which I prefer) action-mystery twists. Lots of laugh out-loud, I-can't-believe-she-did-that scenes and oh so plenty of heart warming moments. This is also different than my usual England-Scotland settings but a welcome and a refreshing change at that.
Aria is definitely one heroine you couldn't forget so easily. A beautiful spoiled, stiff-by-the-rules Lanconian Princess and a daring, happy-go-lucky American wife all roll into one. One minute she is frustratingly pulling your hair then next thing you know, she'll make u laugh and love her at the same time. I truly love her character. I enjoyed reading about her transformation, her realization to her new found identity and happiness yet I also sigh for her confusions. My other favorites were Aria's initial reaction to the Americans and how they live, how they talked and even how they eat. Oh my, that sure was a riot! Another unforgettable part is the "NEW Aria's" heart warming interaction with her people. Meanwhile, our hero, J.T-Jarl Tynan (love that name) is an ever so impressive Montgomery. I've always been interested in Jude Deveraux's Montgomery-Taggert links eversince the Velvet Series, which is one of my favorite series books, and reading more of this lineage here in PRINCESS sure was a wonderful deja vu connection. Anyway, J.T is perhaps a man of every woman's dream. He is not only rich, smart, handsome, disciplined and honorable but he is also patient (to the extent), caring, humble and oh so VERY American. Ohhh, I sure love the way he talks, even the way he moves and the way he does things. American, Indeed!
Now, Aria and JT---Thrown in together however, we find the most opposite yet most lovable couple in the making. You don't know who you'll root for whenever they have a falling out as both have their own sets of reason and different upbringing. Here's a proof of "OPPOSITE attracts"... yet in the end, they benefitted each other and needed one another. Now, that is what I call LOVE. Accept and love that person despite the hundreds of differences and flaws. Truly heart warming!
My main complain is the very inept ending. The conclusion isn't to my liking at all. I mean, Aria and JT's story was so full of love and passion to end so abruptly like that. They deserve a more fulfilling finale with passionate confessions and profoundness. I was expecting more... truly! I was so disappointed, I kept flipping the pages and even counted the pages to make sure the book I bought was complete. I thought maybe a page or two was missing! Ugh, No Epilogue at all too! *Sigh* An Epilogue would have made up for that quick ending. Perhaps Ms. Deveraux would take time to revise this book? Oh well, nevertheless, I rated this book a four stars because it is indeed an entertaining read. If the ending was satisfying, this book would have been a fiver. That's only my opinion, of course. I suggest you read this one and form your own.

I really enjoyed this book. JT was the perfect Montgomery, even though I did want to smack him at times for being a male chauvenist pig. And Aria was absolutely INCREDIBLE. However I felt it dragged at times - I loved their stays in America, both when she first met him and was that uptight prig, and when she became Mrs. Montgomery. But once they got to Lanconia the story seemed to just keep going and going and going and there were points where it dragged. But the ending saved the book, I loved how they got together! Certainly not my favorite Jude Deveraux, those places are held by Eternity, Mountain Laurel (PS does anyone know how Hank is related to the Montgomery's of Eternity and Mountain Laurel? I know he has to be the son of one of them since his father's company is Warbrooke Shipping but I'm not sure which...) The Raider, and Twin of Ice, but definitely rates above Twin of Fire and The Heiress. Overall on the same level as The Temptress and The Awakening (which by the way I LOVED seeing what Amanda turned into after she married Hank, Chica Chica was great!!) Feel free to read this one it's great, but again don't make it your definitive Jude Deveraux novel

Okay this book is awsome! Another montgomery...enough said im sure...lol! Now alot of people didn't like Aria because she acted like a spoiled Bia, and she did at times. But who could blame her? That was how she was raised. Around the middle she started fitting in and letting go of her snobbish ways. Than other people didn't like J.T because he was so mean to her. Okay you know why he was really that mean??? Stupid male ego. He saw this hott babe who was basically drowning at the begining and saves her. He thinks she the most beautiful girl ever and she basically tells him to keep his hands off and he doesn't even get a thanks for saving her. Well yeah she was pretty harsh...again she was a princess thats how she was raised!!! Now after that his male ego kicked in and he basically was hurt. Okay thats just me reading between the lines. But readers got to realize you shouldn't shut you're self to a possible hero, or heroine. They can't all be peachy keen. They arn't all educated, drop dead sexy, or even nice all the time. You got to open you're heart and try to put you're self in their shoes. Yeah there was prob alota things you would have done diff in Aria's shoes but you know JD was going with a plot here. (lol) Charators have to have flaws...a good writer knows that...

I love reading Jude Deveraux's books ~~ I can count on her to carry me away into a different time and land ~~ better than any other Calagon moment!

This book, however, is not her best. While it is an entertaining read ~~ I felt that she rushed through the ending too quickly and wrapped it up nice and neatly. That is why I rated this book a three.

Aria was kidnapped and thrown overboard to die. However, she was rescued by J.T. Montgomery, an official with the Navy. He didn't believe her story that she is a princess of a small European kingdom, but he turned her over to the US goverment for safe-keeping, thinking he was done. That was just the beginning of a temptous love-affair.

If you're looking for a fun book to read this summer, this book would be it.

6-20-05

This man in the Army named Jarl T. Mongomery goes on leave to a deserted island(huh) Then Jarl meets a Princess whom Jarl helps escape a murder. Of course, he is stunningly handsome and she is stunningly beautiful. (No one is ever average in these books.) They get rescued and the army decides for some convulted reason I could not comprehend, to have them get married.

They fight a lot, and hate each other. They have sex in weird uncomfortable positions and places. Believe it or not it gets even more unbelievable. You could spend the time reading this book, or just rent the r rated version of the musical South Pacific.

Before I found Jennifer Crusie, this was one of the few romances I turned to when I wanted a good laugh. As other readers have attested, this book has *many* Laugh-Out-Loud moments. I dare you to find a funnier scene than the Carmen Miranda dance routine! It will live in infamy! If we all only had mother-in-laws like Amanda Caulden! ; ) Besides the wonderful comedy, this romance is steeped in American World War II culture and is part of Deveraux's Montgomery/Taggert series. Much appreciation to Jude Deveraux for what has become a classic romantic comedy!

This is definitely one of Jude's better books, in my opinion. Both characters felt "real" and made me believe they were in love with one another deeply. Both had great senses of humor too, which is always a plus.
Like many others that've posted their reviews, the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because the ending definitely should have been at LEAST a page or two longer. I couldn't believe it ended so abruptly.

The delight of Jude Deveraux's THE PRINCESS is its improbability, but the caper is fun to read because of its humor.
Just the thing for a swing and a glass of sweet tea as Aria, a princess from a small European county is ship wrecked and rescued by a Montgomery.
Nash Black, author of SSINS OF THE FATHERS and WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS.

This is definitely one of Jude's better books, in my opinion. Both characters felt "real" and made me believe they were in love with one another deeply. Both had great senses of humor too, which is always a plus.
Like many others that've posted their reviews, the only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because the ending definitely should have been at LEAST a page or two longer. I couldn't believe it ended so abruptly.

The delight of Jude Deveraux's THE PRINCESS is its improbability, but the caper is fun to read because of its humor.
Just the thing for a swing and a glass of sweet tea as Aria, a princess from a small European county is ship wrecked and rescued by a Montgomery.
Nash Black, author of SSINS OF THE FATHERS and WRITING AS A SMALL BUSINESS.

Jude Deverauz once again prove herself as a best story teller among all. The characters are well written and the reasonability for the story is acceptatble. However, I do very much agree to those other reviewers that the ending should be revised because she is so eager to please a happy ending, that she might loose the control for the reasonability. It makes no sense at all the J.T has to go back to the States only because he is so hurt in the process. Aria has claimed to him that she wants him to stay and wants to marry him, I am not sure if J.T. has that kind of stuffed mind.

All right- I usually enjoy reading Jude Deveraux's books. I don't understand what happened with this one. Love triumphs in the end, but did the characters have to be so cardboard? The spoiled brat, the spoiled brat, the amazing situation... la la la. Formula failed on this one, it's time to try something new.