NOT FIT FOR A KING - Jane Porter
Harlequin Presents #3069
Miniseries: A Royal Scandal
ISBN: 978-0-373-13075-7
June 2012
Contemporary Series Romance

Raguva (a fictional country adjacent to Turkey and Greece on the Adriatic Sea)

Hannah Smith cannot believe that she agreed to switch places with Princess Emmeline of Brabant, but Emmeline promised, while in Palm Beach, that it would only be for a few hours. A couple of bottles of hair dye later, Emmeline slips out of the Palm Beach hotel unnoticed, and Hannah enjoys what she thinks will be a few hours of rest and relaxation. Three days later, with no sign of Emmeline, Hannah finds herself in Raguva, where she, or rather Emmeline, is scheduled to marry King Zale Patek of Raguva in ten days. Where is Emmeline? Other than a few texts and calls saying she is on her way, no sign of her yet, and Hannah finds herself in big, big trouble. No one suspects she is not Emmeline, whom Hannah barely knows, but she is having a hard time keeping quiet and is beginning to panic as her attraction to the handsome king grows with each passing hour.

King Zale Patek has had a difficult life despite his wealth and royal status. As the spare to the heir, he was raised impeccably and chose to pursue the life of a professional athlete in Europe. When his brother and parents died, King Patek inherited the throne and dedicated himself to fulfilling, among other duties, his parents' wishes that he marry Princess Emmeline, a match arranged when he was a young man of fifteen. He has been engaged to Emmeline for a year, but in that time has barely seen her, and what he has seen, has not been impressive. Now he has an opportunity to reacquaint himself with the Princess, and Zale is surprised to find himself strongly attracted to the Princess. As the two spend time together, he finds that Emmeline is also tremendously intelligent, kind and honest. Or so he thinks. The attraction has become much more than physical, but King Patek must be convinced he can trust Emmeline, given her behavior in the past year.

The theme of switching identities is not a new one, nor is the commoner and royal romance a particularly fresh idea, but the combination of the two and the way the author weaves the story together makes NOT FIT FOR A KING  a fun, refreshing, and original story. Both main characters are, within the confines of a series romance, well developed. I did spend more than a few minutes pondering how the happy ending would actually come about, and the ending was not disappointing. NOT FIT FOR A KING works and, of course, leaves the reader wondering what will become of Princess Emmeline, whose story is coming up in HIS MAJESTY'S MISTAKE, due out in July.

Astrid Kinn