by: Amanda Cinelli
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: July 25, 2023
Publisher: Harlequin Presents
The princess can pick any man…apart from him! Revel in the drama of this royal-reunion romance by Amanda Cinelli.
What will she choose:
Her duty or her heart?
Princess Minerva is set to inherit the crown of the small kingdom of Arqaleta. First, though, she must marry. A ripple of shock goes through her when she sees one completely off-limits candidate among her suitors: her ex-fiancé, exiled prince turned tycoon Liro!
When Liro broke their betrothal and disappeared, Minerva was devastated. Yet even with the past still raw between them, their passion erupts immediately! Her royal responsibility demands she choose another man. Only the more time she spends in Liro’s alluring presence, the more wearing anyone else’s ring feels unthinkable…
From Harlequin Presents: Escape to exotic locations where passion knows no bounds.
The garden party was in full swing when they arrived and Minerva was swept along a line of guests, greeting and bowing and accepting their well wishes. A brief moment of girlish excitement was allowed as she spied her best friend Bea, who had arrived to stay in Arqaleta for a number of weeks to work with the team at the palace’s stables and horse sanctuary. They didn’t get to see each other much nowadays, since Bea’s work took her all over the world, and something within Minerva calmed a little at just having her friend home.
But, once they’d had a moment to reconnect, she was pulled away by duty once more. Her mother made a point of introducing her to a large number of handsome men, some of them recognisable celebrities or businessmen, some of them distant royals from neighbouring kingdoms.
She didn’t consider herself classically beautiful, whatever that meant, but she knew that her appearance was pleasant enough on the eye—proved as each eligible bachelor gazed upon her with obvious interest. Her anxiety simmered in the back of her mind as she made the required small talk with a dizzying number of handsome counts, Formula One drivers and heirs. But, as the time for her speech grew nearer, she felt her nerves peak and at the first opportunity she could manage she wandered off in search of silence and refreshment.
Someone appeared suddenly on her peripheral vision and she turned, readying herself for another bout of polite chit-chat.
‘Good afternoon,’ she said, finding a red-haired man with dark sunglasses standing a small distance away. ‘Apologies if we haven’t been formally introduced yet. You are most welcome to Arqaleta.’
She prided herself on remembering names but she was pretty sure she would have remembered this guy. He was quite striking...handsome, with a sleek trimmed beard, impossibly tall and heavy with muscles in a way that seemed to contrast violently with the fitted black tuxedo he sported. Perhaps it was his thick red hair, a rare colour in these parts. It was a colour that reminded her of heartbreak, even after fourteen years.
She shook off that ridiculous thought, far more interested in another subtle undercurrent of emotion coursing through her—excitement. She rarely felt any kind of attraction to others, certainly never upon first glance, but it was undeniable that her attention had been piqued by this burly stranger.
Minerva shook off the thoroughly inappropriate sense of physical awareness coursing through her and busied herself refilling her glass of ice-water. She certainly needed cooling down. She subtly assessed the crowd behind her, noticing her mother’s attention was firmly rapt upon them. Could it be potentially that this guy was one of the suitors Mama had hand-picked? The thought wasn’t entirely uncomfortable. Or at least it wasn’t at first, until he spoke again, this time in a low voice meant just for the two of them.
‘Gracias, princesa.’ His voice was a low rumble, startling her out of her thoughts.
That voice…
Minerva felt a shiver run up her arms as something within her reacted to his tone, like an odd sense of déjà vu. She frowned, taking him in fully. He seemed so very out of place in this calm, sedate garden party. As if he was merely adopting a formal façade as a disguise of sorts, a temporary mask to fit in. She rather wished he wouldn’t. She found herself wondering where those hints of tattoos led...if they covered his whole body…
Shocked at the direction of her thoughts, she took a step backwards, almost knocking over a large ice sculpture of two kissing swans in the process. The man reached out, effortlessly catching the sculpture with one hand and tipping it back into place.
Without a word, he reached out with his other hand to steady her. His touch was warm and soft, despite the fact that his long fingers appeared callused and scarred. He had the hands of a man used to manual labour, his forearms corded with the kind of muscle that came from heavy lifting. The barest hint of dark tattoos was visible along the cuff of one white sleeve, quickly hidden as he straightened and stepped back.
Minerva let out a sigh of relief and ignored the small protest within her at the loss of his warmth. All in all, this man was possibly the furthest from polished royalty that a person could get. Almost as though he had heard her thoughts and wished to affirm their correctness, he growled and subtly pulled open the top button at his collar.
‘Apologies, I take personal issue with the necessity of strangling oneself in the name of high fashion.’
Minerva let out a sound that was half-laugh, half-squeak as a small triangle of curling hair was revealed inch by inch. That was it; she needed to move away before she made an utter fool of herself. Saved by duty... An aide appeared to guide her to get ready her for her speech.
‘My apologies, I hope you enjoy the rest of the festivities.’ She smiled politely, noticing that he still hadn’t bothered to remove his sunglasses. He hadn’t introduced himself either, but there was no time now as he lowered himself to a polite bow and she was guided quickly away. But, even as she put distance between them, the strange, unsettling feeling of anticipation remained. She fought not to look back, to get one more good look at him...no matter how intrigued she was.
But, once they’d had a moment to reconnect, she was pulled away by duty once more. Her mother made a point of introducing her to a large number of handsome men, some of them recognisable celebrities or businessmen, some of them distant royals from neighbouring kingdoms.
She didn’t consider herself classically beautiful, whatever that meant, but she knew that her appearance was pleasant enough on the eye—proved as each eligible bachelor gazed upon her with obvious interest. Her anxiety simmered in the back of her mind as she made the required small talk with a dizzying number of handsome counts, Formula One drivers and heirs. But, as the time for her speech grew nearer, she felt her nerves peak and at the first opportunity she could manage she wandered off in search of silence and refreshment.
Someone appeared suddenly on her peripheral vision and she turned, readying herself for another bout of polite chit-chat.
‘Good afternoon,’ she said, finding a red-haired man with dark sunglasses standing a small distance away. ‘Apologies if we haven’t been formally introduced yet. You are most welcome to Arqaleta.’
She prided herself on remembering names but she was pretty sure she would have remembered this guy. He was quite striking...handsome, with a sleek trimmed beard, impossibly tall and heavy with muscles in a way that seemed to contrast violently with the fitted black tuxedo he sported. Perhaps it was his thick red hair, a rare colour in these parts. It was a colour that reminded her of heartbreak, even after fourteen years.
She shook off that ridiculous thought, far more interested in another subtle undercurrent of emotion coursing through her—excitement. She rarely felt any kind of attraction to others, certainly never upon first glance, but it was undeniable that her attention had been piqued by this burly stranger.
Minerva shook off the thoroughly inappropriate sense of physical awareness coursing through her and busied herself refilling her glass of ice-water. She certainly needed cooling down. She subtly assessed the crowd behind her, noticing her mother’s attention was firmly rapt upon them. Could it be potentially that this guy was one of the suitors Mama had hand-picked? The thought wasn’t entirely uncomfortable. Or at least it wasn’t at first, until he spoke again, this time in a low voice meant just for the two of them.
‘Gracias, princesa.’ His voice was a low rumble, startling her out of her thoughts.
That voice…
Minerva felt a shiver run up her arms as something within her reacted to his tone, like an odd sense of déjà vu. She frowned, taking him in fully. He seemed so very out of place in this calm, sedate garden party. As if he was merely adopting a formal façade as a disguise of sorts, a temporary mask to fit in. She rather wished he wouldn’t. She found herself wondering where those hints of tattoos led...if they covered his whole body…
Shocked at the direction of her thoughts, she took a step backwards, almost knocking over a large ice sculpture of two kissing swans in the process. The man reached out, effortlessly catching the sculpture with one hand and tipping it back into place.
Without a word, he reached out with his other hand to steady her. His touch was warm and soft, despite the fact that his long fingers appeared callused and scarred. He had the hands of a man used to manual labour, his forearms corded with the kind of muscle that came from heavy lifting. The barest hint of dark tattoos was visible along the cuff of one white sleeve, quickly hidden as he straightened and stepped back.
Minerva let out a sigh of relief and ignored the small protest within her at the loss of his warmth. All in all, this man was possibly the furthest from polished royalty that a person could get. Almost as though he had heard her thoughts and wished to affirm their correctness, he growled and subtly pulled open the top button at his collar.
‘Apologies, I take personal issue with the necessity of strangling oneself in the name of high fashion.’
Minerva let out a sound that was half-laugh, half-squeak as a small triangle of curling hair was revealed inch by inch. That was it; she needed to move away before she made an utter fool of herself. Saved by duty... An aide appeared to guide her to get ready her for her speech.
‘My apologies, I hope you enjoy the rest of the festivities.’ She smiled politely, noticing that he still hadn’t bothered to remove his sunglasses. He hadn’t introduced himself either, but there was no time now as he lowered himself to a polite bow and she was guided quickly away. But, even as she put distance between them, the strange, unsettling feeling of anticipation remained. She fought not to look back, to get one more good look at him...no matter how intrigued she was.
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beautiful cover
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