The Leopard Prince (Princes Trilogy, #2) in Around the World in 80 Books

Apr 30, 2011 Juliana Philippa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-may-reads, romance-historical, hr-hero-not-drop-dead-gorgeous-gasp, 0-reviewed, 4-to-5-stars, favorite-romance-heroines-ever, hr-light-mystery-subplot, 0-own-in-dead-tree-form, 0-own-in-dead-tree-form-mass-market, 0-own-avg-rating-3-point-8-plus

George + Harry + their relationship = amazing!!, but mystery subplot could have used some work (4.5 stars)

Another absolutely lovely book by Elizabeth Hoyt! At the time I'm writing this review, I've read all three in the Princes trilogy and have to say that my ranking in terms of preference follows their order in the series.

The Leopard Prince was close on the heels of The Raven Prince (5 stars), but the biggest complaint I have with this book was the mystery subplot. Had it been simpler, it could ...more

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Jan 01, 2013 Sam rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-2013, 4-historical-romance, reviewed

I loved The Leopard Prince. The back cover summary didn't sound all that interesting, so I hadn't been in any hurry to get to it. So it was a pleasant surprise to find another new favorite.

As with all satisfying romance novels, what separates them from the just-ok or mediocre ones is how they take familiar trope and enliven them with vivid characters, making their motivations and actions not just interesting but believable. And The Leopard Prince was all about lovable characters, ones that were ...more

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Dec 25, 2012 Nadine in NY Jones rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-romance, era-georgian

First sentence:

"After the carriage wreck and a bit before the horses ran away, Lady Georgina Maitland noticed that her land steward was a man."

Does that not hook you??? FANTASTIC first sentence!!! I imagine the author doing cartwheels of joy after she crafted that one!

The rest of the paragraph:

"Well, that is to say, naturally she knew Harry Pye was a man. She wasn't under the delusion that he was a lion or an elephant or a whale, or indeed any other member of the animal kingdom - if one could

First sentence:

"After the carriage wreck and a bit before the horses ran away, Lady Georgina Maitland noticed that her land steward was a man."

Does that not hook you??? FANTASTIC first sentence!!! I imagine the author doing cartwheels of joy after she crafted that one!

The rest of the paragraph:

"Well, that is to say, naturally she knew Harry Pye was a man. She wasn't under the delusion that he was a lion or an elephant or a whale, or indeed any other member of the animal kingdom - if one could call a whale an animal and not just a very big fish. What she meant was that his maleness had suddenly become very evident."

Happily, this book did not disappoint. It's really fantastic all the way through ... until the obligatory life-and-death upset scene towards the end. Romances are formulaic, you know how they go: man and woman meet, man and woman spend a lot of time alternately resisting their attraction and giving in to their attraction, then they finally decide one way or the other, then there is some sort of upset, sometimes involving one of them being close to death, that leads them to discover their true feelings. So, the big to-do in this one is okay, but the heroine's reaction afterwards is tiresome and childish and not really in line with the character we'd been presented with up to that point. So, that's annoying.

Along with the romance between red-headed Lady Georgina (aka "George" - which was confusing - I kept forgetting which one was George and which one was Harry, since both names work both ways) Maitland - who, quite unusually, OWNS her own estates (was that even legal back then???? 1760?), and her land steward Harry Pyle, who is kinda average looking but has great green eyes, we also have a mystery. Someone is poisoning the sheep of the neighboring estate, and framing Harry for the acts. Harry is a skilled whittler, he carves little animals, and someone is stealing his little carvings and leaving them at the scenes of the crimes. And sometimes leaving handy muddy footprints back to his cottage. Now, okay, maybe the villagers are stupid and don't realize he's OBVIOUSLY being framed and he OBVIOUSLY didn't do it, and okay the Lord Grenville of the neighboring estate hates Harry with a passion for some reason, so he is willing to accuse Harry one way or the other. But. It seems that it should have occurred to everyone ELSE that Harry is OBVIOUSLY being framed, and instead of focusing their energies on who hates Lord Grenville enough to kill his sheep, maybe they should have focused some energies on who would try to frame Harry. But no. They don't think that way. I don't get it. In the end, I will admit that I did not guess who the culprit was, but the solution wasn't particularly satisfying one way or the other. Solving the mystery just meant Harry was no longer being accused of the crime. ...more

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Jun 27, 2014 Pam rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance

AUTHOR: Hoyt, Elizabeth
TITLE: The Leopard Prince
DATE READ: 04/24/2015
RATING: 4.5/B+
GENRE/PUB DATE/PUBLISHER/# OF PGS Historical Romance / 2007/ Grand Central Publishing/ 345 pgs
SERIES/STAND-ALONE 2nd in Prince Trilogy
CHARACTERS Lady Georgina Maitland/ mid 20's not married but owner of property; Harry Pye/steward
TIME/PLACE Yorkshire, England; 1760
FIRST LINES: After the carriage wreck and a bit before the horses ran away, Lady Georgina Maitland noticed that her land steward was a man. Well, that ...more

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