Title: For King and Country
Author:  Geneva Lee
Publisher/Year:  Westminster Press 5/5/14
Length:  275 Pages
Series: The Royals Saga #1

Overview

When he kissed me, I was shocked. He was a stranger and still so familiar. It wasn’t until I woke up to my picture splashed on the cover of tabloids that I realized I knew who he was.

Prince Alexander of Cambridge.

Royal bad boy.

Exiled heir to the throne.

He isn’t Prince Charming. He’s controlling. He’s demanding. He’s dangerous. And I can’t say no to him.

We both have secrets—secrets that could tear us apart or drive us closer together—and as the paparazzi exposes each one, I have to decide just how far I’m willing to go for King and Country.

My Thoughts

LOVED. IT.

I don’t say that lightly or often, but yes, i LOVED IT.  This was a take on the genre that i haven’t read at all before and it was so nice.  Not just the fact that it’s a royal and not a billionaire, but that there’s so much more complex about it because of that.

We begin this story on the precipice of something big for Clara our leading lady – she’s just graduating from Oxford and starting her life as an individual.  It’s at the ceremony / party that her best friend Belle tells her that she really needs to take some chances and get back out there in the dating world since she’s single and really needs to secure her future.  Among this crowd it’s all about money and title, and while Clara has the money, she’s still a bit scorned given that she’s semi-American – meaning that she’s got an American accent even though she has British citizenship since her father is a Brit.

So, it’s on this day that her life changes – while she’s running out of the party room to cry and de-stress, she sees a stranger in the darkness that she baits a bit – not intentionally of course – just telling him that smoking isn’t allowed – and these words really change her world.  He has this sexual magnetism that draws her in, and she finds herself in an intimate situation with him that she’s now sure she wants to end.  He’s a stranger and this is what makes it exciting.

It’s the next morning like the synopsis says that she discovers that he’s a stranger, but to only her – he’s the prince and her life is now in the tabloids.  What she soon learns though is that there’s so much darkness around him, and that maybe it’s still worth the exciting fling.  since that’s all she thinks he wants since he’s a ‘playboy’ or at least that’s what the gossip rags say.

Where we are taken on this journey is one where there are so many secrets that they both hold close to them, but they find that there’s definitely more than just a physical attraction.  The problem of course is that Alexander is the prince and there are expectations of who he will be with and what he’s to do.  His family is a mess – his father is domineering, his mother is dead, and his brother seems to be their only ally.  The circle that surrounds Alexander also makes things even more difficult given that Clara knows they will hate her and think she’s a whore – all of which Alexander couldn’t care less about.

What i think was really amazing about this story is that we’re given some of the secrets – not all – and i think that there’s definitely more to come.  Alexander is haunted by the death of his sister Sarah – a result of a car accident that he doesn’t remember – but i have a feeling that Pepper knows something – and that personally i think that it was her fault.  I don’t know.

What i do hope is that Clara and Alexander will find a way to be together and be happy – since that seems impossible.  they have such chemistry and passion between them that it seems like it’s suited for a happy ending.

The other nice thing here is that we see that Alexander is a dominant.  Not in the nice safe way at least – that’s what makes this even better – he’s got a fury and anger that he tries to control and reign in, but it manifests in a hot and over-powering need for Clara, all the time.  and he’s not gentle…which while i don’t know if i like – i can appreciate in this story.

I can’t wait not until book 2 comes out – and it sounds like i’ll have to wait until the fall.  I’ll be waiting eagerly for it, because i’m really invested now – i loved the characters -their dynamics, and i think that even without the heat between these 2, there’s still a great story.  we’re all hoping for the best for Edward, David, and even Belle  – and i think that their journeys will continue with gusto along side Clara and Alexander.

I’ll try to be patient – i don’t know how well that will work.  enjoy!!