Title: No Prince Charming
Author: Angel Payne & Victoria Blue
Publisher/Year: Waterhouse Press 3/6/18
Length: 232 Pages
Series: Secrets of Stone #1
Overview
Once upon a time, a girl attended a big party at the palace, met a prince, and they fell in love…
My name is Claire Montgomery, and I’m no princess. I’m a fighter. I’ve worked hard to earn my place with one of the largest public relations companies in the country, and I’m on the verge of one of the most important victories of my career. We’ve been called to Stone Global Corporation to clean up the family’s filthiest laundry, and I’m on my game. I’m ready. But am I ready for Killian Stone?
They say it’s never too late to live happily ever after…
I’m Killian Stone. They call me the Enigma of the Magnificent Mile. Elite tycoons want into my bank account, and their wives and daughters want into my pants. They’ll do anything for a piece of the enigma—until a crack in our castle is too large to ignore. I’m thrilled. This scandalous fissure distracts everyone’s attention from the bigger secret I’m hiding. But when Claire Montgomery walks through my door, I’m captivated. For the first time in my life, I long to shed the enigma. To share…my secret.
My Thoughts
Well, i came across this first book of the Stone series because i needed something to read post the ending of all those other series that i’ve been posting about. The cover art worked for me, and the story line seemed ok, so why not right?
What we have here is an introduction to a story that makes you want you to believe in fairy tales, but puts you in real life where there’s no reason to be that naive and allows you to see the grittier side of life and just be honest. (or not in this case)
Our leading lady Claire has had a very rough go at life for the past few years – having her heart broken and at the same time, finding herself mixed up in a situation that compromises a lot for her future. At the same time, she’s put in uncomfortable situations with people from school, with one girl in particular having it out for her, and surprise surprise, that girl becomes linked to her in ways that you wouldn’t wish upon anyone. So here we are in present day with Claire, who works at a PR firm, that owned by her soon to be step mother and her soon to be step sister (who is this horrid girl from college). She got the job on her own merit, and is damn good, but of course there are taboos about things like this now.
Anyhow, they are the best PR firm in the country (of course) and find themselves flying half way across the country to fix a mess from the Stone family, a family that has billions and some family members who are apt towards scandal. They need to fix a mess that the eldest Trey has caused, and Killian, the youngest is the one who’s trying to play fix-it man.
That’s where we come to Killian, a man who has so many secrets that we don’t know how they stay hidden, yet we know that it’s probably because he’s so gorgeous that no one really bothers to dig deeper. Claires step sister has her eyes set on him, but from the moment they step foot in the office, there’s this spark between Killian and Claire that can’t be controlled.
We spend the bulk of this story along two story lines. The first is figuring out how to get Trey and the Stones out of their mess, which is no easy task since there are vendettas against the family. They have to be creative, fast working and have faith in god that someone else will cause a bigger scandal to get them out of the eye for a second. The other story line is romance, and heat and chemistry.
There’s no way to fight it and our authors go to great lengths to show that there’s a huge push pull here as well. Claire wants him, but knows that it’s impossible because her step shrew has too much dirt against her. She is also afraid to open her heart again and that makes her beyond gun shy. Killian is a man who’s accustomed to getting what he wants and doesn’t like the idea of no.
The scenes between them are spicy, and hot, and make you really wish that you had a great phone sex partner. (yup, we go there in this book). They make it real, although compared to other series i’ve read, it’s a bit clumsy. Still hot though and honestly, i think that it’s got a lot of ‘realness’ to it.
We are left at a point in the story where they are found out, and claws are out. Claire’s father and Andrea, the owner of the PR firm are getting married, and it seems like everyone else’s path is in a happy and successful direction except Claires. So many questions on what we can expect and what we can hope for. We know that this isn’t fairytale and fantasy, but i think that there’s still the romantic in me that wants the grand gesture. So….onto book 2 to see what happens. Enjoy!