September

THE REBEL PRINCE

by

RAYE MORGAN

FROM RAYE

If you’re going to have to fall in love with someone anyway, why not a prince? The only problem is putting yourself in the position to meet one.

Emma Valentine is thinking “career move”, not romance, when she takes the job of head chef for the royal coronation of Prince Sebastian in the adorable little country of Meridia. But very soon the two become intertwined and she finds it impossible to untangle them again.

I always jump at the chance to do a royal romance. You get to deal with fun things like castle mazes and masked balls and moats and serving wenches and plots to poison. I find it a happy mix of a certain historical sensibility with a contemporary attitude.

Pure delight!

HOW THE STORIES LINK

Emma Valentine is extremely fond of the twins, her half-sisters Rachel and Rebecca (Books 1 and 2). In fact, she stops in France to see Rachel on her way to her exciting new job as head chef for the coronation of Prince Sebastian. While staying in the castle and valiantly resisting the prince’s dark charms, she gets a visit from her cousin Louise (who appears prominently in books 4 and 8) who has just had a shocking family revelation and needs Emma’s support.

EXCERPT

Emma was racing through a thick forest, dodging trees. That shimmering white vision she’d just barely glimpsed had to be a unicorn. She had to find it. There! Wasn’t that it? She ran faster. You had to be clever to catch a unicorn and now she was tiring, her breath searing her throat. Just a little further. It had to be there. Just beyond that huge ragged trunk…

And then she was running even harder, because now the unicorn was chasing her and she had to get away—but she couldn’t breathe and she was so tired—oh so tired. Her feet were like stones and the unicorn’s hot breath was on her neck and …

Only it wasn’t that at all, it was a strong male hand on her shoulder and it felt divine. She looked up. It was that tall, handsome man again, the one with the incredible tan and the golden chest hair and the muscles that curled and swelled like waves on a Mediterranean sea. Was she still dreaming? He was really too good to be true.

His face was strong, his features even, and he had the most beautiful golden eyes she’d ever seen. His hair was naturally dark but the ends had been bleached out by the sun, giving him a sort of golden halo effect. That, along with the dark tan, gave mute testimony to a life spent outdoors—either doing manual labor or lazing about at seaside resorts. She had a feeling she knew which it might be.

******

She was in a castle, sitting beside an indoor swimming pool and being carefully examined by two of the most attractive men she’d ever seen. It was enough to turn a girl’s head.

But she had to keep hers right where it was. She had a job to do. She had to keep reminding herself of that.

“So what’s he like, anyway?” she asked them.

They both stared at her.

“Who?” they said at the same time.

“The prince.”

“Ah.” Will laughed softly as he put away his stethoscope. “The crown prince, now.”

“The prince?” Sebastian chimed in, eyes shining with what she took as amusement. “He’s a fine fellow. One of the best you’ll ever meet. The toast of the nation.”

Will snorted, but he went on.

“I’m sure songs will be written about him soon,” he said in a tone she thought might be a bit sarcastic, though she wasn’t certain she was reading him right. “Stories told, legends taken down. After all, he comes from a long line of kings, and he fits the part if you ask me. Tall as an Alpine cedar, honest as a cloistered nun, strong as a… as a….”

“A blue ox?” Will put in helpfully.

Sebastian gave him a baleful look and ignored his Paul Bunyon reference.

“Strong as a northern wind, sharp as a… .”

“Serpent’s tooth,” Will interjected. “And just as yellow.”

He leaned toward her earnestly. “Don’t listen to Monty. Truth be told, the prince is an ugly bloke. His eyes are small and evil and much too close together for comfort. And he’s got bad breath and he’s a bit of a drooler, if you know what I mean.”

“Really?” Emma was pretty sure he wasn’t being serious. Despite the fact that her mind was still full of cotton, she was alert enough to know when her leg was being pulled. “I’d heard he was quite handsome.”

“Who told you that?” Sebastian asked with interest.

But Will waved it away. “They always say that about royalty. You know the media. Always trying to hype their main product. They give royals attributes they don’t deserve, just to make them more interesting to the reading public.”

Emma frowned. “I don’t know if that’s true.” Her face cleared. “Oh, you’re teasing. I know he’s very handsome. I don’t think I’ve ever seen pictures myself--I don’t really follow the society pages. But I’ve heard it from others, people who pay attention to these things. I’m sure he’s quite good looking.”

“Well, don’t you believe it,” the doctor said cheerfully as he packed away his instruments. “I know him personally. Lazy lay-about, that’s what he is. Never done a day’s worth of work in his life. Always off on some yacht in the Mediterranean or the Caribbean.”

“Isn’t that pretty much the way they all are, those royals?” Emma asked him, looking to Sebastian for confirmation. “At least, from what I hear.”

Sebastian scowled but Will nodded wisely. “Over-endowed libido, under-endowed intellect,” he noted. “That’s our boy, the prince. Take my word for it.”

Sebastian’s head swung around at that and his mouth opened in protest. “Hey!”

“Yes, my dear,” Will droned on. “Centuries of inbreeding with their royal cousins.” He made a face. “Leaves them a little bewildered, you know. You’ll catch a glimpse of one now and then wandering mournfully about the castle like a lost sheep.”

“That does it,” Sebastian said, springing lightly to his feet and lunging for the doctor. “You’re going into the pool.”