Title : To Pleasure A Prince (The Royal Brotherhood #2)
Writer : Sabrina Jeffries
Year : 2005 (Indonesian edition first published in 2011 by Gramedia Pustaka Utama)
Language : English (translated into Indonesian by Anggraini Novitasari)
Well, finally I got hold on this book! As a fans of Sabrina Jeffries (yes, recently), I was really excited to read this one (the second installment of The Royal Brotherhood series). Ah, not really, actually, at the first time, since the synopsis didn’t interest me. But then I pushed myself to read To Pleasure A Prince, and voilà, I LIKE IT!! More and more than the first book.
The scheme of the story is just typically Jeffries: running an agreement and falling in love in the middle of the plan. And yes, the agreement between Marcus North, a.k.a the sixth Viscount Draker, and Miss Regina Tremaine is quite silly in my opinion. Regina wants Marcus to give way to her brother’s courtship to Marcus’ sister, Louisa. Somehow, Regina believes that her brother, Simon Tremaine (Duke of Foxmoor) really has a feeling on Louisa and intends to marry her. Marcus won’t agree because he knows Simon is Prinny’s right hand and he knows that marriage is not his intention. So, the agreement is made up: Marcus will let Simon court Louisa if Regina let him court her. As simply as that. So much for a serious thing.
And then the ‘courtship’ goes on. As the four of them go to the parties, opera, balls, and such (as you know it always exist in this historical-romance-kind of story), the sparking emotion and desire between Marcus and Regina rise up to the fever pitch (sorry for my ‘too-much’ language). But, like other stories written by Jeffries (assuming from my experiences reading her two Royal Brotherhood series and translating her two Swanlea Spinster series), the two different points of view of the main characters sometimes, somehow, are wracking havoc between the two of them. Marcus accuses Regina as La Belle Dame Sans Merci who’s always toying men’s affection, while Regina refuses those men because of her ‘secret’. Regina accuses Marcus being arrogant and stubborn, while Marcus is actually hiding his past.
The shocking part of the story is when Marcus feels insulted at being ‘toyed’ by Regina, she has to apologize and explain her real reason making ‘another’ agreement with her brother, Simon. She runs after him and gets inside his coach, making a scandal of herself. Thus, she and Marcus have to marry for the sake of her reputation in the society. Well, I was quite shock finding the main characters are getting married in the middle of the plot. Though the marriage is indeed the beginning of the climax.
Considering the simplicity of the story and the usual predictable plot, you readers might have some question in your mind: so why do I like this story, especially better than the first Royal Brotherhood series’ installment? First, I always like Sabrina Jeffries whatever the stories she wrote. Seriously. I like her writing-style, I like her smart humor, I like her meaningful and funny dialogues, and certainly I like her deep characters and emotion. Second, I like this one better than In the Prince’s Bed because the problem suggested here is more complex. I thought Marcus’ character is deeper, plus his horrid past with Prinny makes him ever harder to decipher. Reading this second book of Royal Brotherhood is just like reading the second book of Swanlea Spinster, A Notorious Love, the book I translated. Somehow you’ll find yourself crying at the end of the book.
Well, for all the qualities of the book, I still have an objection inside: the title. YES. For a nice book with a nice story, the title ‘To Pleasure A Prince’ is just too bawdy, if you know what I mean. Not to mention the original book cover.
Rating: 3
