The Prince's Bride

by Diane Alberts

The path to true love is never as smooth as we might hope and whilst this follows a familiar path in as much as it has a fairy tale feel about it, the scenario is very much current, the events are very much up to date and the angst is very much believable.

Alicia is making her way in the world and doing a darn good job of it, when you take her past into consideration, she has fought hard to not only finish school but to carve out a career. The one thing that’s he doesn’t have sorted is her personal life and that is because Alicia has been once beaten by the hand of heartache and has no desire to travel that path again.

But when the opportunity to work on a project overseas comes up she jumps at the chance, after all what has she to lose, it is one more experience that she can chalk off her list of things to do.

But I think fate had bigger and better things in story for the beautiful Alicia because when she heads out for the night, little did she know that the compulsory mask would hide more than she could have ever imagined because her past and her future we heading her way…all wrapped up in one glorious package.

Leo is a Prince and while he may be destined to inherit his father’s throne, he is absolutely certain that he will not marry someone that he doesn’t love, he will not tread that path, no matter what his father says. But when he joins in with the throng of clandestinely clad partygoer at a nightclub, it didn’t take him long to recognise someone he never thought he would see again.

Alicia might have been looking for a one night stand but Leo wanted his forever girl…could they make it happen?

Hidden behind the anonymity of the mask, Alicia might not have known what her suitor looked like but there was something, an invisible pull that was very difficult to put into words and it wasn’t only Alicia that felt that was. Leo was facing his own dilemma, especially when it became obvious that she had no idea who he was.

But one night, never ever going to be enough and in the light of the fairy-tale footprint, Leo cannot allow her to slip through his fingers again and his position dictates how his life is, including his love life and now that has come to bear firmly on the shoulders of Alicia too. Because ensuring that what they had remains private, she is brought to the palace and when she eventually sees who he is, there are more than a few choice words in the air.

He had her years ago and let her go when they were mere kids and he hurt her so much when it all fell apart, there isn’t a hope that’s he is going to let him do it again.

But can she fight the way she feels, can she fight the amount if effort he is putting in to earning her trust again? And when the secrets of their past are revealed how will they handle that they have both been victims of betrayal?

I liked Leo although I am sorry to say that I didn’t love him, I don’t exactly know why but I was just a little frustrated I think with the pop and circumstance of his situation, it made him difficult to warm to or it did for me anyway. But that is not to say that he was a bad guy, he wasn’t he was really sweet and so loving, he wanted Alicia and was prepared to do what it took to not only get her but to also keep her.

I did however love Alicia, she had an air of vulnerability, her past had left her slightly jaded and in that respect I felt sorry for her as it almost tarnished her outlook on love. She was slow to let go of pain, slow to trust and forgive but she had a heart that was full to the brim with both compassion and love and all of it was available to Leo, they just had to find a way to see that what they had was the stuff that fairy tales are made of