A Prince of a Guy
by Eileen Dreyer
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GENRE: Contemporary Romance
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BLURB:
When
New Yorker Casey Phillips visits the tiny country of Moritania, she simply
wants to see where her ancestors came from. Instead, she's mistaken for a
princess.
The real princess has
been kidnapped, and Crown Prince Eric von Lieberhaven insists Casey—a dead
ringer for the missing royal—step into the princess's shoes until she can be
freed.
As Casey upends royal
tradition, Eric finds himself hoping the cheeky American never returns home.
But can a secretary from Brooklyn really find happiness with a prince?
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Excerpt:
The Royal Palace of Moritania, the Alps, 1987
Eric handed her up the steps before him as a silent groom
appeared from somewhere and took the Bronco away. Casey half expected him to
sweep the cobblestones behind them. When they reached the door, it magically
opened, another liveried servant bowing and smiling as he passed them on.
"Rolph," Eric said, easing Casey along when she
slowed, "is Her Majesty the queen available for visitors?"
"I shall check for you, Your Highness.
Refreshments?"
He stole a look at Casey, who was rubbernecking the
paintings on the walls with undisguised astonishment. After a moment he nodded.
"Yes, I believe they will be needed. In the Great Hall, if you
please."
Rolph dispatched a discreetly questioning look, but bowed
and moved away. Casey was still trying to take in the extent of the entryway.
Train stations were smaller. The walls extended up some
thirty feet, decorated with what looked suspiciously like old masters and
terminating in a high, vaulted ceiling that some brave painter had gotten his
hands on. It was all light and froth, cherubs and swirling gold banners
swimming around a vault of milky white. The floors were of gleaming dark wood
covered in what had to be priceless Oriental rugs. The effect was one of
immense space, the inside of the building mirroring the image given by the
outside. Quiet, understated grace and wealth.
No need for ostentation here. It only made her want to see
more.
"Like your decorator," she finally managed,
casting a sidelong glance over to where Eric was enjoying her reaction.
"Moritania might not be big—" he bowed a little in
acknowledgment, "—but it is a country rife with good taste. I'd like to
show you something, if you don't mind."
"The only thing you could show me to beat this would be
the Sistine chapel."
Walking to the right side of the hall, Eric opened a great
oak door. Casey walked past him into an even more impressive room. It was long,
with six matched sets of crystal chandeliers and floor-to ceiling windows that
reflected in the mirrors along the opposite wall.
"Been to Versailles, had they?" she breathed,
coming to a stop.
Eric wouldn't let her. Instead, he took her by the elbow and
gently propelled her down the parquet flooring. "I'm sure you don't
know," he was saying, "but my brother just died recently."
Casey immediately turned to him. "Oh, I'm sorry. I
didn't."
He nodded with a sad little smile. "He was much older
than I, and his heart was bad. The upshot of it is that next week his daughter,
my niece, will become the new queen of Moritania. She is his only child, and
his wife is also dead."
Casey had no idea where the conversation was leading. He
seemed so reluctant to tell her that she knew it was something important to
him. She couldn't think of anything more to do than nod.
Then he stopped walking. Turning to her, he took hold of
both of her arms, his eyes trying to communicate something of import. They had
softened. Casey felt even more confused.
"What?"
"The portrait here at the end of the Great Hall has
just gone up. It is a painting of the next queen of Moritania, Her Royal
Highness the Crown Princess Cassandra."
He turned Casey to face the painting. Casey's jaw dropped.
Looking back at her from the canvas was a young woman with delicate features, a
gently molded face with deep, wide-set hazel eyes and a small, straight nose. A
small mouth curved just at the ends as if she was amusing herself immensely
with a private joke. Diamonds and rubies glittered at her throat, and a mane of
tawny hair swept back, thick and styled sleekly away from tiny ears where
teardrop diamonds hung.
Casey turned to Eric and then back to the picture and then
back to Eric again, unable to speak. Then she turned once again to the portrait
and finally admitted what he'd been trying to prepare her for. She was staring
at a portrait of herself.
"And here I thought losing the car was going to be the
high point of my day."
Copyright Eileen Dreyer
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
New York Times
bestselling, RWA Hall of Fame author Eileen Dreyer has published 31 romance
novels in most genres, 8 medicalforensic suspenses, and 10 short stories.
2015 sees
Eileen enjoying critical acclaim for her foray into historical romance, the
Drake’s Rakes series, which Eileen labels as Regency Romantic Adventure that
follows a group of Regency aristocrats who are willing to sacrifice everything
to keep their country safe. She is also working on her first nonfiction book,
TRAVELS WITH DAVE, about a journey she's been taking with a friend's ashes.
A retired
trauma nurse, Eileen lives in her native St. Louis with her husband, children,
and
large and noisy
Irish family, of which she is the reluctant matriarch. She has animals but
refuses to subject them to the limelight.
Purchase Link
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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION
Eileen will be awarding a $10 Amazon or
B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
