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Royal Wedding Bells: An Anthology
The Prince's Forbidden Love by Raye Morgan
Prince Andre plans to see his ward, lovely Princess Julienne, married to his cousin, and then he'll restore peace to their country and move on. But Julienne disagrees. Making her escape from the convent, she turns Prince Andre's world upside down…
The Ordinary King by Nina Harrington
When Kate takes a job in Africa, the last person she expects to meet is her gorgeous ex, Simon, who, due to his charity work, is now an honorary king. If that wasn't enough, it seems that he's expected to take a queen—and she's his favorite candidate!
Prince Andre plans to see his ward, lovely Princess Julienne, married to his cousin, and then he'll restore peace to their country and move on. But Julienne disagrees. Making her escape from the convent, she turns Prince Andre's world upside down…
The Ordinary King by Nina Harrington
When Kate takes a job in Africa, the last person she expects to meet is her gorgeous ex, Simon, who, due to his charity work, is now an honorary king. If that wasn't enough, it seems that he's expected to take a queen—and she's his favorite candidate!
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
About the author
Raye Morgan
392 books28 followersAka Helen Conrad and Jena Hunt
Helen Conrad was born on April 11, 1945 in Pasadena, California, U.S.A. and grew up between Holland, Guam, and California, and spent a few years in Washington, D.C. as well. She obtained a B.A. in English Literature.
Helen was working toward a Master's in Library Science when she dropped out to have her first son. "One look into those baby blue eyes and I knew it was going to be a long time before I went back to school. But with young ones, you do have time to read, and the more I read, the more I learned about writing". She started writing because she felt guilty about spending so much time reading. "Through writing I figured I could still immerse myself in the stories I love, but I could actually claim I was working! The amazing thing was when I sold my first book and the excuse was justified. Dreams really do come true!"
After years of writing romantic suspense in the style of Mary Stewart and children's books in a lot of styles, she finally sold a romance to Jove's Second Chance at Love and there was celebration all around-at least in her ever-patient family of husband and four boys. She published four more romances for Jove under the name Jena Hunt, then began writing Silhouette Desires. A few sales to Bantam Loveswept and Harlequin Romance, Temptationand SuperRomance under the name Helen Conrad followed, as well as to Harpers, Dell Ecstasy, Mills & Boon, and even an historical with Zebra. Today, she is concentrating on Silhouette Romance, completely captivated by the breezy fun and touching poignancy of their compact, to-the-point form. She feels the perfect "quick read" should make the reader smile, sigh and put the book down feeling better about the state of love in the world.
Now, she lives in the Los Angeles area now with Nick, her geologist-computers cientist husband and the two of her four sons who still live at home."Having the boys around helps keep me up on the current trends," she says with a laugh. "But writing helps keep me in touch with the romance that weaves through the everyday lives we all live.
Helen Conrad was born on April 11, 1945 in Pasadena, California, U.S.A. and grew up between Holland, Guam, and California, and spent a few years in Washington, D.C. as well. She obtained a B.A. in English Literature.
Helen was working toward a Master's in Library Science when she dropped out to have her first son. "One look into those baby blue eyes and I knew it was going to be a long time before I went back to school. But with young ones, you do have time to read, and the more I read, the more I learned about writing". She started writing because she felt guilty about spending so much time reading. "Through writing I figured I could still immerse myself in the stories I love, but I could actually claim I was working! The amazing thing was when I sold my first book and the excuse was justified. Dreams really do come true!"
After years of writing romantic suspense in the style of Mary Stewart and children's books in a lot of styles, she finally sold a romance to Jove's Second Chance at Love and there was celebration all around-at least in her ever-patient family of husband and four boys. She published four more romances for Jove under the name Jena Hunt, then began writing Silhouette Desires. A few sales to Bantam Loveswept and Harlequin Romance, Temptationand SuperRomance under the name Helen Conrad followed, as well as to Harpers, Dell Ecstasy, Mills & Boon, and even an historical with Zebra. Today, she is concentrating on Silhouette Romance, completely captivated by the breezy fun and touching poignancy of their compact, to-the-point form. She feels the perfect "quick read" should make the reader smile, sigh and put the book down feeling better about the state of love in the world.
Now, she lives in the Los Angeles area now with Nick, her geologist-computers cientist husband and the two of her four sons who still live at home."Having the boys around helps keep me up on the current trends," she says with a laugh. "But writing helps keep me in touch with the romance that weaves through the everyday lives we all live.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 17, 2015
I don't make a habit of reviewing Harlequins, but there are always exceptions. In this case, we have two books in one, and I had markedly different reactions to them.
The Prince's Forbidden Love:
All fluff and no substance. Prince Patronizing has been Princess Pastry's guardian for years, several of which she's spent locked up (literally) in a convent while he ignores all her letters and pleas. Now she's escaped...only tothrow herself fall right back into his clutches.
'Princess Pastry?' you say. 'What does pastry have to do with anything?'
How good of you to ask!
Princess: (blushes) All I've ever wanted is to be a pastry chef.
Book: Isn't that wild! Unconventional! A princess who wants to cook!
Me: Ummm...no. Unconventional would be a princess who wants to be a car mechanic. Or a firefighter. Or a treasure-hunting deep-sea diver! A pirate! But a pastry chef? Come on now.
Erm. Anyway. Prince Patronizing has planned out Princess Pastry's life—she'll marry his cousin, a socially inept bug collector (who gives the insects names like 'Fred') who appears only in the periphery of the story, so that peace will last a little longer in their kingdom. And although Prince Patronizing has more or less total control of Princess Pastry (up to and including said decision about her marriage, which she vocally but immaturely opposes), he's ignored her and his duty to her because he's in lust and afraid he'll ravish her on the spot if she doesn't stay locked up in the convent with no access to the outside world.
It's a Harlequin, which means that the solution to the problem is for Prince Patronizing to marry Princess Pastry...a solution that .
Girl. Run.
A tepid two stars.
The Ordinary King:
A reasonably solid three stars with some reservations. This one stands out from the crowd somewhat in terms of the relationship setup—for once the heroine is the hero's boss rather than the other way round (although the hierarchy is balanced out by him being crowned an honorary Ghanaian king), and they manage to be adults about working together despite their complicated past. (Would that this were not such an anomaly in romance novels!) When logistics get in the way—for various reasons they want to be in different places—they actually compromise rather than one character (usually the heroine) making big sacrifices or realising that the other character was right all along. So that's nice.
The hero, Simon, also takes pains to point out that he is not the one who should be getting the attention and credit for the work he's done in the Volta region...really, it's the people in his village who should be getting said attention and credit. (Simon's the focus of a 'media frenzy' for being a white Westerner crowned as a Ghanaian king, and although I appreciate that his village is somewhere specific and not just 'somewhere in Africa', I will note that there have been other white Western kings in the region before.) This is undermined, though, by the inclusion of only a single Ghanaian character (with a speaking role, that is) in the entire tale.
This feels like a step in the right direction, but I'm still waiting for the day Harlequin publishes a book in one of its main lines with a romantic lead who isn't white-Western-heteronormative. (No, sheikhs don't count. Neither do Greek tycoons.)
The Prince's Forbidden Love:
All fluff and no substance. Prince Patronizing has been Princess Pastry's guardian for years, several of which she's spent locked up (literally) in a convent while he ignores all her letters and pleas. Now she's escaped...only to
'Princess Pastry?' you say. 'What does pastry have to do with anything?'
How good of you to ask!
Princess: (blushes) All I've ever wanted is to be a pastry chef.
Book: Isn't that wild! Unconventional! A princess who wants to cook!
Me: Ummm...no. Unconventional would be a princess who wants to be a car mechanic. Or a firefighter. Or a treasure-hunting deep-sea diver! A pirate! But a pastry chef? Come on now.
Erm. Anyway. Prince Patronizing has planned out Princess Pastry's life—she'll marry his cousin, a socially inept bug collector (who gives the insects names like 'Fred') who appears only in the periphery of the story, so that peace will last a little longer in their kingdom. And although Prince Patronizing has more or less total control of Princess Pastry (up to and including said decision about her marriage, which she vocally but immaturely opposes), he's ignored her and his duty to her because he's in lust and afraid he'll ravish her on the spot if she doesn't stay locked up in the convent with no access to the outside world.
It's a Harlequin, which means that the solution to the problem is for Prince Patronizing to marry Princess Pastry...a solution that .
Girl. Run.
A tepid two stars.
The Ordinary King:
A reasonably solid three stars with some reservations. This one stands out from the crowd somewhat in terms of the relationship setup—for once the heroine is the hero's boss rather than the other way round (although the hierarchy is balanced out by him being crowned an honorary Ghanaian king), and they manage to be adults about working together despite their complicated past. (Would that this were not such an anomaly in romance novels!) When logistics get in the way—for various reasons they want to be in different places—they actually compromise rather than one character (usually the heroine) making big sacrifices or realising that the other character was right all along. So that's nice.
The hero, Simon, also takes pains to point out that he is not the one who should be getting the attention and credit for the work he's done in the Volta region...really, it's the people in his village who should be getting said attention and credit. (Simon's the focus of a 'media frenzy' for being a white Westerner crowned as a Ghanaian king, and although I appreciate that his village is somewhere specific and not just 'somewhere in Africa', I will note that there have been other white Western kings in the region before.) This is undermined, though, by the inclusion of only a single Ghanaian character (with a speaking role, that is) in the entire tale.
This feels like a step in the right direction, but I'm still waiting for the day Harlequin publishes a book in one of its main lines with a romantic lead who isn't white-Western-heteronormative. (No, sheikhs don't count. Neither do Greek tycoons.)
April 1, 2023
I got introduced to the romance world reading the graphic novel of this book and went into the actual book itself eventually. I was originally just into young adult and popular fictional reads, but this was an opening to a door that has now led me to the romance reader I am.
October 31, 2011
I'm finally done reading Royal Wedding Bells: The Prince's Forbidden Love\The Ordinary King
by Raye Morgan, Nina Harrington. The 2 stories took me forever to read. I enjoyed both stories. 1st was about Prince Andre plans to see his ward, lovely Princess Julienne, married to his cousin, and then he'll restore peace to their country and move on. But Julienne disagrees. Making her escape from the convent, she turns Prince Andre's world upside down. 2nd was about when Kate takes a job in Africa, the last person she expects to meet is her gorgeous ex, Simon, who, due to his charity work, is now an honorary king. If that wasn't enough, it seems that he's expected to take a queen--and she's his favorite candidate. I give them a 3 and 3 stars. A little boring but fun books.
by Raye Morgan, Nina Harrington. The 2 stories took me forever to read. I enjoyed both stories. 1st was about Prince Andre plans to see his ward, lovely Princess Julienne, married to his cousin, and then he'll restore peace to their country and move on. But Julienne disagrees. Making her escape from the convent, she turns Prince Andre's world upside down. 2nd was about when Kate takes a job in Africa, the last person she expects to meet is her gorgeous ex, Simon, who, due to his charity work, is now an honorary king. If that wasn't enough, it seems that he's expected to take a queen--and she's his favorite candidate. I give them a 3 and 3 stars. A little boring but fun books.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews