*I received a free copy of Tall, Dark and Royal from Kensington, Zebra Books via Netgalley. This has in no way influenced my voluntary review, which is honest and unbiased *
Tall, Dark and Royal by Vanessa Kelly Series: The Renegade Royals #2.5
Published by Kensington, Zebra Books on 25 November 2014
Genres: Adult, Historical Romance
Pages: 101
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
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He’s the man behind the mission to track down the illegitimate children of England’s Royal Princes and help them get their due. But his deepest desire is far more personal…
Magnificent and stubborn. Fourteen years apart had not changed Chloe Steele, or Dominic’s love for her. He’d been a street urchin, a boy raised at court, and finally a magistrate, yet he’d never belonged anywhere—except by her side. Now Chloe devoted herself to girls threatened by scandal—like she had been. But she was in danger, and Dominic was determined to help—and hopefully make up for lost time…
Even in childhood, Dominic had made Chloe feel safe. Now she also felt thrillingly flustered by the powerful man he’d become, and by the longing he inspired. Because Dominic meant not only to protect her, but to untangle the lies that had separated them. Yet for Chloe, surrendering to temptation may be easier than risking a future that could ruin them both…
Tall, Dark and Royal has mystery, chemistry and a very strong female character to make things interesting.
My Tall, Dark and Royal review:
Chloe and Dominic aren’t your usual HR characters, both because Chloe has pretended to be dead for a long time, and because they’re both older than the part of the ton who is out to get married and start a family. This certainly made Tall, Dark and Royal a very interesting read. Chloe is a very strong-minded woman, she has been on her own since she was fifteen, after her illegitimate son was taken from her, and she found work with an older woman. Helping other young women who found themselves pregnant but not married became Chloe’s life work.
In Confessions of a Royal Bridegroom, I met Chloe for the first time, and I was awed by her! I was happy she got her own story, even if Tall, Dark and Royal is a novella. She had to fight on all fronts, her son was the most supportive of her, but Dominic wanted to protect her from all that was bad in the world. On top of that, one of her charges had a criminal after her – one who didn’t want his offspring to grow up without him. Tall, Dark and Royal really is Dominic’s and Chloe’s story, though. It was obvious already in the previous story that they had strong feelings for each other, but Chloe had been accustomed to take care of herself, and was loath to give up her independence.
The character development was really good, especially Dominic showed that he was more than the strict and stern man I had found him to be, and Chloe realized that counting on someone didn’t necessarily make her weak. Written in third person past tense, Tall, Dark and Royal managed to show the different characters’ thoughts in a way that made me understand their point of view – even if I didn’t always agree with them.
Some of my favorite Tall, Dark and Royal quotes:
His eyes glittered with the strangest expression, but then his mouth twisted as if he couldn’t decide whether to grimace of smile. “Heaven forfend I should cause you to blush, my dear.”
“Dominic, do shut up,” she ordered in a gruff little voice. “And after you’ve don that, please kiss me.”
Until two months ago, that is, when Dominic had blazed back into her life and reminded her that she was no longer a frightened girl but a woman, with a woman’s emotions and needs and a desire for love so surprising and fierce it almost frightened her.
About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.
AAhhhh your killing me..I haven’t heard of this one and I loved this series..aah trying not to click on netgalley…oh who am I kidding..lol. 🙂
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Yes! The Renegade Royals are amazing! I hope you’ll get your hands on it, Stormi 🙂
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It’s good that you understood both POVs even though you didn’t always agree with them. I’ve heard about this author before and I remember great things being said about her books. Now, you know I have a huge soft spot for historical romances, so of course your review made me want to give this series a go even more! 😉
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This series is really good, Silvia 🙂 I’m sure you’d enjoy it.
Thanks for stopping by.
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“…counting on someone didn’t necessarily make her weak.” <– That is a hard lesson sometimes for strong-minded, independent women. (or anyone, I suppose) I like the sound of Chloe and am interested to know more about how she became who she is, coping with all the's gone through. And, of course, I want to see how Dominic broke through her walls. 🙂
Great review, Lexxie. Here you go again tempting me with HR. 😉 I *am* going to read ONE this month! I hope you're having a terrific day. It's very cold here and we had snow yesterday. I will enjoy our winter wonderland! 🙂 **BIG HUGS**
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Yeah, I’ve definitely been on an HR binge lately, Brandee, and all the stories have been really good, too! So yes, you do need to get one in this month.
Snow already? wow, I’m not really ready for that yet myself. It’s pretty dark and dreary, though, so it would actually be nicer with snow to lighten things up a bit.
Thanks for stopping by, my dear. *BIG HUGS*
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Havne’t heard of these but the character development def has my attention
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Yeah this one was definitely a winner, Brandi! Thanks for stopping by.
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I have this author’s books on my TBR list. I hadn’t heard of this novella but of course I want to check it out after reading your review 🙂 Thanks!
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I hope you’ll enjoy it, Samantha! I thought it was great 🙂
Thanks for stopping by.
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Just added this series to my wish-list, I really need to start reading HR for a change !
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YAY for more HR, Iza. I love the ones that are well done! So sexy, and all those pretty dresses to boot 😀
Thanks for stopping by.
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My review of this one is scheduled on the blog this Friday. I really enjoyed this novella as well. I think Dominic and Chloe deserve their happy ending.
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