Elizabeth Royle's sisters have made excellent marriages in spite of the circumstances of their birth. Rumors abound in society that they are Prinny's unacknowledged illegitimate daughters. Elizabeth ignores the gossip and concentrates on her prophetic dreams. She envisions a handsome prince coming to marry her before the summer is gone. Her sisters try to discourage her unrealistic fantasy until Elizabeth sees her dream prince at a jewelers. Discovering that he's buying a tiara for his future wife, Princess Charlotte, does not discourage Elizabeth. Her heart tells her this is the man she will marry.
Sumner, Lord Whitevale, impersonates his cousin Prince Leopold to confuse the assassins who stalk the prince. Leopold and Sumner are as close as brothers, and Sumner would sacrifice his life for Leopold. The masquerade has never bothered Sumner until he meets the woman of his dreams. Unable to tell her of the ruse, Sumner courts Elizabeth, begging her to believe in him regardless of his impending marriage to Princess Charlotte.
Elizabeth's head tells her the prince will marry the princess out of duty, but her heart tells her fate will surely intervene. After two assassination attempts while in Elizabeth's company, Sumner tries to keep her at arm's length with varying success. He must stay alive until the prince is safe and then he can confess the deception.
Ms. Caskie concludes her Royle sister trilogy with a romantic fairy tale of Elizabeth, who follows her dreams and rejects the naysayers. Included are interesting tidbits of history, such as a peer who uses the beheaded King Charles I's severed vertebrae as a saltcellar to shock his guest. It once again proves fact can be stranger and more absurd than fiction.
If the tiara fits, wear it!
And that is exactly what Elizabeth Royle intends to do. After all, if you can't be acknowledged as the daughter of a prince, the least you can do is marry one.
When Elizabeth, youngest of the notorious Royle sisters, comes face-to- face with her future husband, a man she's seen only in her dreams, she nearly swoonsβespecially when she discovers he is a prince. But her ecstasy is short-lived as she quickly learns that the man she longs for is betrothed to someone elseβa princess, no less. A lesser woman would give up, but Elizabeth is a Royle, after all.
Refusing to surrender her dreams of a royal wedding, Elizabeth takes the position of lady-in-waiting to the fiancΓ©e, determined to get close to her perfect match. But the lover she desires is not who he seems . . . and only once she discovers the true man behind the crown will she find the perfect love she's been longing for all her life.
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