Royal Lockdown

Author: Rebecca York
Copyright: 2007 (Harlequin); pgs. 246
Series: Harlequin Intrigue #994; Lights Out
Sensuality: Warm

Who: Princess Ariana LeBron of Beau Pays and Shane Peters
Where: Boston, MA

Eleven years ago, Liam Shea was sent to prison.  He was part of a Special Forces task force, sent in to rescue hostages.  But when he supposedly cut the power too soon, the kidnappers were alerted and several of the hostages were killed before the task force could reach them.  Shea has long claimed he was set up, that he got an “all set” signal from someone else on the team.  But without proof, he’s found guilty.  Now out of prison, Shea is bent on revenge against the men of that task force.  Several of the members are attending a gala, and he sets his plan into motion.

Shane Peters was one of those men.  He’s now a millionaire security expert.  His primary interest in the gala is the Beau Pays sapphire, on display for the event.  He’s especially interested in what type of security it has, since he is looking to be hired by the king.  Then he sees Princess Ariana and is instantly attracted to her.  He manages to get her to dance with him and is therefore with Shane when Shea and his sons take the gala attendees hostage.

Ariana has always been a dutiful princess and is set to marry a minor noble of Beau Pays.  Meeting Shane, being instantly attracted to him, makes her rethink her decisions.  The more she gets to know him, the more certain Ariana is that Shane’s the one she wants to be with.  Ariana is so sure of this, she is more than willing to give into temptation, even while Shane himself is trying to avoid it.  He believes that a relationship between them could never work — he with his side job in the black ops field and her as the future queen.

But before all that can be settled, the pair has to survive the Sheas.  Liam’s primarily interested in Ariana because she is standing in for her father, who was on that ill-fated mission.  The king, being ill, sent her to the gala.  Shane makes it his mission to get her safely out of Boston.

The book moves along pretty quickly.  Ariana gets to show off her skills in self defense and fire arms.  Since this is the first book in a four-book mini-series, the kidnapping and revenge plot is not resolved.

Started: 18 August 2008
Finished: 28 August 2008

Rating:

Enjoyed it!

Teaser Tuesdays asks you to:

Grab your current read.
Let the book fall open to a random page.
Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.
You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

Please avoid spoilers!

The teaser:

Maybe the only advantage Shane had was surprise. From an inside pocket in his tuxedo jacket, he withdrew a small folding knife.

– from page 49, Harlequin Intrigue # 994: Royal Lockdown (Rebecca York)

Why I picked this book: Last year, when I was participating in the reading challenge on the official Harlequin website, I selected several titles from the Intrigue line. A sampling, to see if I might like this particular imprint. It also fills the “Y” slot for Author in the “A-Z Reading Challenge” hosted by Joy.