another nora bind up amp i think i would give it a,if i could. i usually always round down but for some reason i dont want to with this one, i like Command Performance more than Affaire Royale, amp i would rate the first aamp the second a, i like the Cordina series tho amp tbh i bought this to read at the beach amp it did exactly what i wanted it to.
i was entertained !!!!! sue me !!
purchased at Barnes amp Noble Layton These are two of the older Nora Roberts stories originally published in the lates.
If youre a fan, definitely check them out, Theyre on the more fairytale and sentimental side of her work, Got this in a raffle basket and it was a lovely break from the stress of the past December, Two nice related stories in a royal setting, with happilyeverafters, I might look into whether there's a final book to wrap up the overall plot, because I found that interesting,
Very cute stories, I'm glad that in the second story we get to see more of Brie and Reeve, as well, It's
one of my favorite things that Nora Roberts does with her series she always includes her previous happy ever afters in the continuation of the story.
I always appreciate that we get to see the original couples progress as we read through the next great love story,
It was actually two stories, One of Nora's more "harlequinest," but enjoyable, if you believe in fairy tales! Which secretly, I do, The fairy tales where a prince swoops in! A guilty pleasure! I actually got quite attached to the characters and the mystery even though it was very light.
In het fictieve landje aan de Middellandse Zee, het Koninkrijk Cordina, leeft een koninklijke familie, In dit boek wordt eerst een stuk van het leven van prinses Gabriela beschreven, Door haar familie wordt ze Brie genoemd, zodat je als lezer doorlopend denkt, dat je een boek over Franse kaas leest,
Brie wordt ontvoerd, gered door haar bodyguard, van wie ze in eerste instantie niets moet hebben, Hoe voorspelbaar.
In het tweede deel komt het leven van Alexander, de kroonprins, in beeld,
Helaas: hetzelfde gevoel van voorspelbaarheid en saaiheid overheerste, ondanks de bommen die ontploften,
De twee delen uit de serie over twee andere familieleden ga ik maar niet lezen, Cordina seems like a fairytale kingdom, but desire and danger lie just beneath the surface,
New York Times bestselling author NORA ROBERTS weaves a web of romance and intrigue in these classic tales about Cordina's royal family.
AFFAIRE ROYALE
She'd escaped but she'd lost her memory and her kidnappers were still on the loose, Now Princess Gabriella needed a protector fast, and brash American Reeve MacGee was the perfect man for the job, The handsome expoliceman could handle absolutely anything except falling in love with the stunning, vulnerable woman in his care,
COMMAND PERFORMANCE
Years ago she'd had a momentary schoolgirl crush on Prince Alexander, who was powerful, reserved, compelling, but he'd clearly disapproved of her.
Now Eve Hamilton was every inch a woman, and Alex discovered that he wanted to show her that he was all she could ever want in a man.
I thought this was an interesting introduction to the writing style of Nora Roberts which has been praised by my female relatives for so long.
The first story I found dull, predictable, and bland, However, it was worth reading for the second story presented which made up for what the first one lacked, I actually liked the characters it followed and their chemistry was much better than the previous story, While also a little predictable, I didn't mind for the cute romance it provided me, This book is actually two seperate books, so I'm going to review it that way,
GABRIELLA:
I'm not bothered by instalove, My big problem with romance books is that the heroine always ends up being a virgin, It seems strange that Gabriella could be one at, and have amnesia, and her family not mention that to Reeve, Oh well, minor irritation. I can't decide if Reeve saying that "he took something from her, but she gave him something in return" was trite or if it made up for the silly virgin plot.
I loved Brie and Reeve, I loved them enough that I wasn't even bothered by the "remember this always " post coitus stuff, They have such amazing chemistry, Of all of the characters in both books, they are the most real, In alot of it, I desperately wanted to be Brie, Even with her amnesia, that connection was amazing,
I mostly guessed who the bad guys were, Nora Roberts did a great job of throwing off the scent,
The sex scenes between them were not graphic or trite, Really this whole story made me think maybe I could read all of Nora's romances,
So this book was published in, but I'm still blown away at how often a character smokes a cigarette, Outside of the occasional cowboy, I've never read a character smoking,
ALEXANDER:
So in the first book, I really felt like Alexander had no personality, and I wished Bennett had the second book.
I changed my mind quickly,
Eve and Alexander were vastly different from Brie and Reeve, They both had feelings and they both spent all their time fighting with
the other one, I kinda wanted to hit them both,
Then the bomb went off and all of the romantic peices fell into place, Alexander's hard shell began to crack,
I have to admit, I had no idea whole the mole was this time, I think I was too, caught up in them.
Then what Eve did, I totally didn't see it coming, I thought she was going to destroy the vase, Yeah, that wasn't what she did,
Again with the smoking, in a hospital, They talk about the smell of the hospital, how could they even tell
The sex scenes with Eve and Alexander were much sexier.
I suppose its because they were both edgier characters, Still they weren't graphic or overly trite,
After reading both of these,I really wish I had Bennett's book, I wonder if that Duboque is in that one too, These stories are some of Robert's older story and are pretty reflective of stories published in the Harlequin Silhouette Romance books, I would say when you read each book individually they are OK books, but when put together in one book so you can continue the story more seamlessly they become a better story.
I wasn't a huge fan of Gabriella, she seemed a bit to waspish for my taste even giving her some leeway for the amnesia.
I enjoyed the second book better,
Roberts writing evolved quite a bit since the time these stories were written, her character development is a little thin in these stories but I think that was more because of the style of the time than her writing ability.
Overall, I enjoyed spending time in Cordinia and it was a nice way to spend time on a weekend while unwinding from the work week.
Nora Roberts is one of the most well known romance novelists in the USA, She began writing inunder the Silhouette Romance title with her first book Irish Thoroughbred, Since then she has written overnovels, many of which have made the top of the New York Time's best seller list, Her Royals of Cordina series comprises of four novels originally released in the lates and is currently being rereleased in two larger books, Gabrielle and Alexander's stories are covered in this volume in two stories titled "Affaire Royale" and "Command Performance"
"Affaire Royale" takes place after the Princess Gabriella has been found amnesiac after her kidnapping.
Unable to remember her own family let alone what happened to her during the few days she was missing her family hires an American bodyguard, the son of a family friend and a former police officer.
As Gabriella tries to remember she finds herself drawn toward Reeve and with a fake engagement to cover his presence in the palace every reason to spend time with him.
Unfortunately her kidnapper still plots in the shadows,
While a little on the cliche side, "Affaire Royale" kept me turning the pages up until the end of the novel, I found the characterizations of our cast of characters to be intriguing as we learnt about them from the perspective of Gabriella and Reeve, The switch between their perspectives is clear and easy to follow, something that many writers have trouble with, It took awhile for me to attach to Gabrielle, much of her perspective seeming distant until around halfway through her story, This is understandable as she has very little idea of who she is or anything personal, This makes it hard to connect with her but it does add to the feeling of amnesia and disconnect that she is experiencing,
Reeve also feels strangely off until later in the story, it takes up until the two begin to really romance each other that they become more relateable.
While it does show character development both in through the slow return of Gabriella's memory and Reeve opening himself up to her but I still have some doubts about the characterization.
Reeve doesn't immediately strike me as 'attractive' or 'desirable' in attitude, Not so sure about him physically but his personality and attitude aren't the best compared to other romantic protagonists I've read, Gabriella is intriguing, I've rarely seen a woman in the romance genre with such emotional poise and control, I don't know if that's because she's a royal or if its a sideeffect of the emotional distance caused by the amnesia,
The terrorist/political subplot was an interesting addition that helped weave the story together and keep things interesting, It provided a good string to tug everything along in the direction it needed to go compared to other, lighter plots I've seen in nonsuspense novels.
It does provide a good introduction to the "Royals of Cordina" series,
For its interesting plot and the great introduction to the characters it provided I would recommend "Affaire Royale" to anyone with a taste for Nora Roberts other works particularly if they have an appreciation for royal romances, bodyguards falling in love with their charges and political intrigue.
I would give ithearts out ofltltlt, Despite its positive aspects the characterization and romance are weak compared to other romances I have read and "Alexander" the next book in the series.
"Command Performance" on the other hand is easily the stronger novel of the two, It takes place a number of years after "Affaire Royale" and focuses on Eve Hamilton and Prince Alexander, Gabrielle's younger brother and heir to the throne.
Eve, once just the younger sister of Gabrielle's best friend is now a successful producer who has come to Cordina to help produce a series of plays for charity and once again encounters Prince Alexander, who she had a passing crush on which quickly flickered under his apparent dislike.
However upon meeting the independent and passionate woman she has become all Alexander wants is to show her is that he is all the man she will ever need.
Continuing with the major characters of "Affaire Royale" this book also shows what happened seven years after the last book, Gabriella and Reeve have gotten married and have had four children, Eve who we were briefly introduced to has become a producer of a wellknown theater troupe in America and the foiled plot of a few years ago still hangs over their heads.
as the opening night performance the threat of death against a member of the royal family if their demands aren't met, Through all of this, the passion between Alexander and Eve builds to a fever pitch,
Compared to "Affaire Royale" our main characters of "Command Performance" are much easier to connect with, Eve's ambition, her feelings, and pride are easy to relate with, Alexander, his temper and control are also easy to understand and he is shown to be both flawed and attractive at the same time, This is much stronger characterization then in the last book, perhaps because because there was less to introduce and explain about our setting and characters.
Cordina remains an amazing setting, building on what we were introduced to and continuing with the idea of royal duty, individuality, and romance in the context of the pressures of a royal title.
It allows us to further explore the world Roberts has created for our reading pleasure, The continuation of the intrigue plot does not feel forced and in fact helps to add character depth,
If you are a fan of Roberts and her Cordina series I would definitely recommend "command Performance" while it is pretty much necessary to read "Affaire Royale" first to truly understand the book I would say that most are going to enjoy this one better then the first.
I would give "Command Performance"hearts out ofand "Gabriella amp Alexander",hearts overall. I loved both of these fairy tales! They take place in Cordina with the royal family: Armand, Alexander, Gabriella and Bennett, Nora Roberts is the best at love stories, Add in Reeve and Eve for the romantic interests,.Another great couple of books by nora, I loved both couples. Steve was a bit standoffish but love changed him, With ale x i loved seeing his composure break though not for the reasons it did, As romance novels go, this is a light easy read, Technically a two parter, since there are two different stories told, but they tie together in that its the same family just different time periods.
Enjoyable, light read! I am convinced that there isn't a single book Nora Roberts can write that I don't fall in love with! I love her characters, the setting descriptions are gorgeous and the plots are phenomenal! this two story book is part of a series I had no idea even existed, but am so glad to have gotten! Can't wait to get my hands on the others! Cute stories and not predictable which i enjoy! Sickeningly sweet, I loved every single bit of this book.
I love Nora Roberts and her stories and Ive read some that didnt have both stories made to go together so I love that this one did.
I think thats what really kept it interesting for me even though the first book was about Brie and her life and the second story wasnt, we still know how shes doing and whats going on and vice versa.
Ive never given five before, maybe Im a sucker for love or maybe its my intrigue for royalty but this book definitely had me hooked from beginning to end! This was my first time reading Nora Roberts.
I really enjoyed both of the stories captured in this novel, I loved the mixture of mystery, romance and royalty, I usually don't enjoy contemporary romance but this added the right fairy tale romance and it was so tastefully written, that the spicy scenes were not over some of over described.
I look forward to reading the next book which includes two stories as well, .