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Thursday, February 25, 2016

ARC Review: The Princess Wore Plaid (The Oxenburg Princes #2.5)

The Princess Wore Plaid (The Oxenburg Princes #2.5)

by Karen Hawkins 

Blurb:
A princess once bejeweled but now tattered…
Royal princess Tatiana Romanovin is the beautiful, wealthy, and spoiled favorite of the King of Oxenburg. On her way to her cousin’s wedding in the Scottish highlands, she and her entourage are held up by a gang of ruffians. Frightened, her servants flee, and Tatiana soon finds herself alone in an inn with no servants, no funds, and no proof of her identity. Destitute, she accepts the offer from a sympathetic (but unbelieving) innkeeper to work for her room and board while she waits for an answer to the missive she’s sent to her cousin Prince Nikolai. With no other recourse, Tatiana scrubs floors and dirty linens, waiting for her prince to come…
A proud lord once lost and now found…
After a brutal, bloody battle with the French Navy left Lord Buchan limping and surly, abandoned by his betrothed because of his twisted leg, his lordship hides away at his manor house in the countryside. He leaves only once a week to eat at the local inn, drawn by the expert cooking of the innkeeper’s wife. One day, Buchan arrives to find that the innkeeper has a new servant, a beautiful scullery maid with a queenly air, and flashing green eyes that leave him breathless and increasingly aware of his lonely existence…
Love may find them yet…
The challenge of winning his way into Tatiana’s heavily protected heart stirs Buchan back to life…but can he and his twisted leg—and broken heart—win a proud princess whose only goal is to leave Scotland and return to the court where she’s the crowning jewel?
Themes: historical
Rating: 3.75 stars
Heat Rating: 
Review:
The wait for the next story of the Oxenburg princes has been suspended temporarily with this lovely novella about their cousin Princess Tatiana, who finds herself stranded in Scotland after a carriage accident and wondering if she will ever find her way home.  For fans of this author and this series, Tatiana’s story has just the right amount of expected unexpectedness and the great sassy and sweet characters we all love.  The previous novels in this series have revolved around the princes of this small fictional eastern European country and the Scottish ladies that steal their hearts, but in an interesting twist we have a Scottish gent stealing his Princess’s heart.  Tatiana is stuck in the small town where she wandered after a carriage crash left her with temporary amnesia and no way to reach her family either in Scotland or back home.  Luckily a couple that runs the local inn offers her room and board in exchange for her serving as a maid.  Though she's clueless at first, she begins to appreciate the simple life and soon finds herself learning and appreciating all the skills and good things she once took for granted.  And then in walks the local landowner—Lord Buchan—who steals her heart in an instant, even as he refuses to believe her about her true identity.  Buchan has become a recluse and a bit of a grumpy brute since an accident left him disabled, but when he meets the fiery and sensual Tatiana he knows there is something different about her.  Soon his obsession and her desire to get to know him lead them down a dangerous path, but one they are both willing to walk if they can be together in the end.  When Buchan begins to believe Tatiana is who she says, he knows he cannot keep her, as much as he wants to, and he has to let her go.  But when he needs her most Tatiana refuses to be pushed away.  In the end Tatiana shows how truly strong a woman she is and finds a way to show this man that love is the best medicine for the pain in his life and only she can give him that.  I loved both of these characters and even though I doubt we will see them again in future novels, their story was a refreshing and sweet way to hold me over until the final story in the series.  Cannot wait to see who steals crown prince Nik’s heart in the finale.  Another great story and series, set in one of my favorite places on earth, and filled with characters that grab and keep my interest from beginning to end. 

*eARC provided by publisher (via netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.

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