Affaire Royale (Cordina series #1)

The updated cover of Affaire Royale

Book: Affaire Royale (Cordina series #1)

Author: Nora Roberts

Rating: M (Mature Audience – nothing out of the ordinary for a romance novel)

Bookshelves: 2012, Cordina, Cordina Royal Family, Cordina series, Europe, fiction, Nora Roberts, prince, princess, romance, royal family, royalty,

Begun: December 20, 2012

Finished: December 24, 2012

Media Type: paperback

Setting: Cordina (fictional country in Europe)

Characters: Her Serene Highness Princess Gabriella de Cordina (Brie), Reeve MacGee, Armand de Cordina, Alexander de Cordina, Bennett de Cordina, Nanny Carlotta Baryshnova, Christina Hamilton, Eve Hamilton

The original cover of Affaire Royale
 (c.1993)

Synopsis: Her Serene Highness Princess Gabriella de Cordina, known to her friends and family as Brie, was found running along a rural road like a woman possessed before she passed out. Coming back from the brink of death, Brie can’t remember anything. No one around her looks familiar; not her father, Prince Armand, ruler of Cordina, or her brothers Alexander and Bennett. Not even the handsome man who has come to protect her from an unknown danger. Reeve Bennett, wise and street savvy is the son of a friend whom Prince Armand went to college with. A former detective, Reeve was just a farmer looking forward to spending down time on the from porch of his farm house until the ruler of Cordina called his father to ask for a favor. He needed someone to play bodyguard to his eldest child, twenty-five year old, Brie, who was kidnapped while out on her own and held hostage at an undisclosed location for almost a week … biggest problem? Brie can’t remember anything from before waking up in a hospital surrounded by strangers! Can this streetwise America heartthrob help Her Serene Highness Gabriella? Or will Brie us her own skills to solve her mystery?

This is the compilation copy of books 1
through 3 that I am reading

Review: I liked this book. Knowing that it was one of Nora Robert’s earlier novels, I was a bit hesitant to read it. Some of her stuff from the 80s isn’t my cup of tea. This must have been one of the books where she began to flush out the bad writing and step more towards the author she is today. I like the intrigue and the amnesia-patient angle that we get out of Brie (and how she has to find her life out again like a jigsaw puzzle that’s been all jumbled up … and there is no picture on the front of the box). Her father is adamant that no one just … tell her … who she is. She’s got to do most of the “figuring out” on her own. That was a little bit annoying, to tell you the truth. The reader is just like: explain to her she is a princess with all the trappings and get it over with. Ultimately, you could figure out where the relationship with Brie and Reeve was going but I think Roberts let us simmer a little too long. You are told pretty early on that Reeve remembers and kind of lust after Brie after meeting her at her 16^th birthday/coming out party. Then, the reader has to wait to find out if Brie actually remembers meet him … ever.

This is definitely not one of Roberts' strongest books.

In my opinion, this book gets:

Good but not … great.