I was going to wait until I read all three books in Elizabeth Hoyt’s trilogy before I commented on it but as I’ve bitten the bullet and gotten back to Udolpho it might be a while before I get to the other two books, and so here I go, gushing about The Raven Prince.

Right around here is where I would start squealing, because this book was just that good. I usually find myself disappointed by romances, as some authors are still afraid of calling a cock a cock and a pussy a pussy, but not Ms. Hoyt. Not only was this unfuckingbelievably erotic but it left a huge smile on my face.

Synopsis:
A widow takes a secretarial position to an elusive country Lord. He yells a lot, has pockmarks on his face, and he’s looking for a wife who will provide a child and is not grossed out by his face. Insert sexual tension, blackmail, scandal, and melt-your-eyeballs fucking.

Sex:
The last romance I can remember reading was by Liz Carlyle. I was shocked when the hero started masturbating before fucking the heroine in the barn. Don’t ask me why, I seem to be under the impression we don’t live in a world where I can see James Purefoy’s penis while watching The History Channel and I can buy Emma Holly in Walmart. The word cock is not so much shocking anymore, but if I see the word pussy in a romance I’d floored. Wet pussy, I’m out for days.

The first love scene between Edward de Raaf and Anna Wren has her disguised as a prostitute. Hoyt is very descriptive without being either flowery and boring or clinical and crass. It takes a lot of talent to describe the inner muscles of the vagina contracting without sounding like someone writing bad Hermoine/Malfoy fanfic. And later during a fellatio scene I was literally sitting there, jaw hung open, thinking, No, she’s not … oh my god, she’s not … no way … she is! It was so erotic and startling that days later I realized I had been so floored I never noticed whether the heroine spat or swallowed.

Story:
Usually when you throw blackmail into the mix you get a weepy heroine who has to be saved. I won’t spoil you, but Elizabeth Hoyt turned this standard on its ear. Anna Wren is no one’s little victim and because of this she might just be the most adorably plucky heroine I’ve encountered in a long time. And Edward … as I said he yells a lot. I love cranky heroes, and Edward was good and cranky. Pairing him with Anna was perfection. Just the back and forth between them regarding the naming of Edward’s dog will make you smile.

There’s nothing I don’t like about this book and its characters, main or secondary. For a less talented author, cramming so many characters into a story would be a disaster but for Hoyt, each enriches the story in a way I would have thought impossible, and I’ll be very pleased to see at least some of them again in the sequels.

Awesomesauce:
So I get to the end of book and I’m all giggly, yet I’m not off the hook yet. Turn the page and there is Romance Hero Rule Book, in which Edward de Raaf, hero of The Raven Prince, responds to ten rules:

6. Heroes always keep their temper

Edward: I do not have a temper and anyone who says so—(censored)

Pure win.

So in closing – read this! Even if you cringe when you read romances, read this!

Labels: reading