Bryce Grayson, Prince of Willias,
is sick again. He has a mysterious illness
that is re-occurring, but not fatal. When his
sickness strikes him, he can’t even get out of bed and he is weak for days afterward. Because of this illness, Bryce was not able to
graduate and get his Astronomy degree, and he was also not able to complete his training
to become a Knight in his father’s court.
Lady Marie Dutton is just coming home from a trip
to Egypt. She is one of the few women to have
earned her degree at Oxford, being a very well-known and respected historian. Unfortunately, she is also an orphan, but her
parents left her well off. As she is getting
off the boat, she notices her old friend, Cady Jickers, at the docks waiting for her. Cady and Marie were seeing each other for a time
but it didn’t work out. They have
remained close friends ever since. Cady is a
mooch and a rogue, and manages to get Marie to invite him to stay with her at her place.
Marie has come to Willias to watch the
tournaments. She notices a swordsman just as
he is starting another fight. Because of his
robes, she can’t get a good look at him, but she definitely admires his skill with a
sword. After the tournament is over, she
finds out that the swordsman is none other than the Prince of Willias himself. She finds herself attracted to him.
Bryce hates these State dinners, he doesn’t
like all the pomp and circumstance and tries to avoid them whenever possible. He notices a woman and is immediately attracted to
her, and finally gets the nerve to boot her dinner partner out of his spot and introduce
himself. As the women are getting ready to
leave the men to their port and cigars, Bryce and Marie go to the garden. They spend the rest of the evening together.
This is a story that is all about love. The King and Queen of Millias are famous for the
fact that they are in love and still behave like honeymooners. Now, it is Bryce’s turn to love and be loved. This story is filled with the love between Bryce
and Marie, the King and Queen, even Queen Elizabeth and William Shakespeare. Bryce tries to hide his illness from Marie, but
eventually she finds out about it. It is a
story of how the two of them grow up and mature and learn to become dependent on someone
other than themselves. They must learn to
accept themselves and each other, in spite of any illness and weaknesses.
I must admit that I did have a bit of a problem
with this story. It became very confusing to
me when cars are mentioned along with riding a horse to the castle. And I really have trouble with a story that
contains Shakespeare and also mentions Tammy Faye. I
had a bit of trouble trying to place this story time wise.
Then, when Bryce and Marie go to a ball that is given by Queen Elizabeth,
who dances with Shakespeare, I thought I had it figured it out, until Cady’s date was
wearing a very short sequined dress.
Other than all the time glitches, this is a very
entertaining moving tale of love.
Reviewed by
Chere Gruver for Road to Romance
June 8, 2003 |
