Prince Joe by Suzanne Brockmann *****

I first read this in February, 2009, and have now also heard it in audio book. My audio review is at the end, and here is my 2009 review:

This is the first of the Tall, Dark and Dangerous series by Suzanne Brockmann, and it's also her first foray into Navy SEAL territory (visit her website for more info on that). It's a Silhouette, which means short, category romance (sold in grocery stores for one month-type of thing) so it was a short, easy read. I also enjoyed it!

Veronica is an American with British roots, and she made some royal friends in boarding school - the Princess of Ustanzia, a fictional country somewhere in Europe. Now she's got her own company doing public relations, and the Prince is her first big client. Thing is, he's doing a tour of the States and there's been an assassination attempt on his life. Because the tour will mean so much to the economy of the country, the Prince and Veronica are hell-bent on seeing it through - and Prince knows just how. Seems there's a Navy SEAL out there who is practically his double. What if Veronica could do a Pygmalion on this SEAL and have him masquerade as the Prince until the bad guys are caught?

Joe is from the complete opposite side of the tracks from Veronica - New York accent, and less-than-savory upbringing. It seems pretty impossible to do the Prince and the Pauper switch here, but Veronica's in for several surprises. Apparently Joe is a language specialist with a gift for mimicry - dang, but that's convenient when one is the twin of royalty, huh?

Of course, there's a spark of interest between Veronica and Joe that simmers for several days until they give in and experience their first kiss. Then they are off on a series of misunderstandings - she says "it's a mistake" meaning not professional, and he hears her saying she's slumming. He wants her to stay away, meaning he's a target for a sharp-shooter and she might get shot, and she hears him telling her he doesn't want her around. Luckily, since it's a short book, Veronica is able to think clearly and figure out what he means before it's too late and the best thing to happen to either of them gets away!

It's also an exciting suspense story, with a smart terrorist pulling a fast one on the good guys, too! Plus we meet 3 more of the Alpha Team, Harvard, Blue and Cowboy, each of whom no doubt have a story in the series, which I believe has 10 in all.

It's on my Serial Challenge, and is one of the last books in my Double-or-Nothing Winter 2008 challenge - no notable pets. 5 stars! I enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series!

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Prince Joe by Suzanne Brockmann

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Once again I've gotten an audio book of something I've already read - and once again, I liked it just as much as the first time! I started Brockmann with the Troubleshooters series, and then tackled Tall, Dark & Dangerous, of which this is the first book. Brockmann takes a group of SEALS, turns them into these dangerous and charmingly vulnerable heartthrobs and throws a woman into the mix who turns their worlds upside down and makes them grovel. It's pure fantasy, even if there isn't anything actually paranormal other than their seeming immortality. Yeah, I like it.

This is my first for this narrator, Ashley Adlon, and she's good! I mean, really good - although she isn't a Barbara Rosenblat or Davina Porter. Her accents and voices were truly good - very accurate to my ears, and consistent. She has a kind of... well, for lack of a better word, bedroom voice - a sort of intimate, quiet voice one might use to read a child to sleep or murmur love words in a lover's ear. I guess you would have to hear it to understand how those two are similar. It was pleasant to listen to, but I kept thinking she needed more variation - not all the scenes called for quiet intimacy. I wondered as I listened how Anna Fields might have read it. I enjoyed it, though, and it worked for this book.



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