Cassiopeia “Sopi” (seriously) Brodeur oversees the Lonely Lake Spa tucked away in the Canadian Rockies. She's been running the property since her father's death, as it was something he purchased for Sopi's mom. Unfortunately, her stepmother Maude, and her two vacuous stepsisters have decided they're bored with Europe and have come back to Lonely Lake. Even worse? They've cancelled all their bookings because Prince Rhys Charlemaine from one of those tiny made-up principalities that exist in Presents Land, has decided to visit. As a getaway. Except, of course, it's really not. Maude plans on shoving her daughters in his face thinking he'll want to marry one of them.
Rhys is a very eligible bachelor, so it doesn't take long for the spa to fill back up with single women vying for his attention. He's learned to expect this type of behavior, even as he's bored by it. The only reason he's visiting the spa is because Maude approached him about selling, and having an already impressive real estate portfolio, he's naturally curious. Also, even though he was in no rush, he knows it's time to find a wife. He's the spare, but his brother, who is blissfully married to the love his life, just found out he has testicular cancer. The chances of them producing an heir is slim to none, which means in order to keep the line of succession intact, it's falling on Rhys. Royals are obsessed with this kind of thing normally, but it's a heightened concern for Rhys. His parents died in a military coup, his brother and him struggled in exile for years, and only recently returned to the country to reclaim the throne. A sign of weakness, such as a failure to secure the line of succession, is something that cannot happen.
Before we know it Rhys and Sopi cross paths, sparks fly before he even knows her name, and once he finds out who she really is, he realizes that Maude is trying to swindle her inheritance out from under her. He also knows he's found the woman he wants to marry, but he's royal and she's a nobody - which, you guessed it, isn't going to fly given the precarious situation in his country.
This story leans hard into the Cinderella trope to the point that the only thing missing are seamstress rodents. Sopi is at the beck and call of her intolerable step-family and a jack-of-all-trades at the spa, doing everything from housekeeping, waitressing, to stepping in to help out with spa services. However she's not a saccharine doormat, there's fire and backbone in her.
Rhys baggage is really interesting, a man haunted by what happened to his parents and to him and his brother when they were mere children. As far as Presents go, this one is definitely kinder and gentler. The setting is unique and the hero isn't a raging Alphahole you want to take a baseball bat to upside the head.
But, c'mon, it's still a Presents. The story loses it's footing for me around the halfway point when the marriage of convenience plot heats up and there's pretty icky broodmare overtones. Yes, Rhys is royal. Yes, getting married and getting a woman knocked up is a big deal. Doesn't make it any less icky. He has an attraction to Sopi and certainly his sense of justice to thwart her stepmother kicks in, but it's not like he's declaring his love right away. The importance on getting pregnant, quite frankly, turned me off. Maybe because it's the 21st century and I like to think of women as more than their uteruses. Look, I understand WHY Rhys wants kids right away. The author sells that very well. Doesn't mean I still didn't find it icky.
Things end on a high note with a suitably emotional ending and Rhys having to reconcile with his past trauma. This is a really good example of what Presents can do so well, which is sell readers on a heightened, intense fairy tale - which this one does in spades.
Final Grade = B-
No comments:
Post a Comment