Lord Jack Wilde is surrounded by medeling family members and when his favorite cousin Skye harasses him to meet Lady Sophie Fortin because she believes she is his "ideal mate," he agrees. Family legend has it that everyone will fall in love based on a fairy tale and Jack's chosen story is "Romeo and Juliet" since the Wilde family and the Fortin family have been feuding since a Wilde great-uncle killed a Fortin ancestor in a duel. He is shocked to find himself very attracted to Sophie and to discover that she is no wilting flower who shies away from a little flirtation. Sophie knows that Jack is the last person she should be associating with but she cannot deny that there is a spark between the two of them, especially when a stolen kiss ignites an inferno. Jack is horrified to learn that Sophie is soon to be engaged to an elderly Duke because her family needs his money and desires the connection that come with a titled family member, since Sophie's father was semi cheated out of his own title.
Jack has a past as he is the illegitimate offspring of a scandalous British lady who shocked the ton, and the Crown Prince of Navatarnia, a small but wealthy kingdom. He harbors a deep hatred of his father since he and his mother were abandoned in Paris at the height of the terror and his mother was killed and he was held captive before his British relatives rescued him. He has no desire to reconcile with his father even though he has been legitimized and offered the Crown, but he knows that the only way he could win over her family is to have a title. Sophie fears that the only reason Jack is contemplating returning to Navatania is to rescue her from a passionless marriage and wants a true marriage based on love. Unfortunately Sophie's father clings to his former hatred and Jack must find a way to prove himself to Sophie's father, but more importantly prove to Sophie that he is ready for love.
I really felt like Jack and Sophie were under developed characters and even though they were both given interesting back stories which were developed and interesting, I was never really engaged in their story or their relationship. A big deal is made about the feud between their families throughout the story and serves as a sticking point at several points throughout the story. Unfortunately this falls far short of the Capulet-Montagu feud and veers dangerously into ridiculous territory as it drags, as it is shown to be based on false assumptions, and as it becomes merely a tool to make the book longer. Sophie is apparently filled with warmth and a smile that can light up a room which just comes across as an attempt to make her likable without really saying why she is likable. Jack has a wild streak, which the reader is not really privy too, and by far the most interesting part of his story is his relationship with his father as he progressed from hatred to acceptance to learning to appreciate what he has. It was my favorite part of the story overall and she did a fabulous job of realistically portraying this difficult journey.
Sophie and Jack did spend a lot of time together during the book and I do consider quite a bit of it to be quality time but the two of them just did not connect for me. There was a much discussed physical attraction between them that seemed to be the main thing they had going for their relationship, and while there was quite a bit of sex in the book it was really not very hot and much of it was short and/ or purple flowery. Keeping in line with my favorite part of this book I did enjoy their interactions where the discussed his relationship with his father but I thought it could have been more. The writing in this book was flowery and the book was far longer than it needed to be as toward the end more and more road blocks were thrown in the way of their happiness, including obstacles that hadn't presented themselves until then.
Rating: An unengaging novel with two unengaging characters in a story that dragged far beyond when it should have ended.
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