Lawson’s review of Her Every Pleasure by Gaelen Foley
Historical romance released by Ballantine 25 Mar 08

I have to admit that maybe I should have learned my lesson after the first two books in the Spice Trilogy, Her Only Desire and Her Secret Fantasy. When Sybil gave me this one, though, I couldn’t say no. I’ve loved Foley’s Knight Miscellany series and even though the first two didn’t work for me, I had hopes that Gabriel Knight’s story could help redeem things. With intrigue, a small measure of scandal and a enough chemistry to start a few explosions things may be looking up.

Last seen, Gabriel Knight had given up his inheritance to go live in the country to find peace after his life of warfare and violence in India. His near death experience has given him a new view of life, but when he finds a wayward girl in the loft of the barn things get thrown out the window. He things she’s been sent by his brother to ease his many needs, but he instead offers her a job as his maid.

Some sudden attraction later and a couple of misunderstandings they end up doing some things strangers usually don’t do and she steals off the next day leaving Gabriel hurt. He’s then summoned to help in a diplomatic matter and finds out his maid is in fact the princess, and soon queen, of a small Mediterranean island country that England wants to help. Gabriel then agrees to help protect Princess Sophia, but ends up promising more than his military knowledge and skills, and of course, risks everything.

What could be seen as a run of the mill plot, well it really is. If you’ve seen “The Bodyguard,” you’ll know how things work in this story. The only good thing was that Sophia never really did anything TSTL. She followed orders, protocol and had a sense of duty that a princess would have. At least where her safety was concerned. After Gabriel becomes her lead bodyguard, she’s rather reckless with her virtue for a princess and acts as petulant as a spoiled 21 year old princess might.

Gabriel is definitely the main attraction to the story and his nobility, honor and sensuality saved some of the dreary maudlin parts that Sophia tends to bring out. Their chemistry overrode the kidnapping and assassination plots on Sophia’s life by her enemy the Terrible Turk, Ali Pasha. Some of the secondary characters had some life, such as her Greek royal guards, but most of the secondary characters were members of the Knight family Foley wanted to revisit in this, which is probably the last of the Knight stories.

Unfortunately the great hero that Gabriel is and the nearly burn off the page chemistry can’t make up for one major flaw that I’ve tended to notice in Foley’s recent books. The dialogue is great, but it’s become more and more. . .modern. Not that I don’t mind that really, but the phrasing, some of the words and even the thoughts of the characters just don’t fit with the setting Foley is trying to create. For someone who takes pride in historical accuracy, how the characters talk, interact and think might help promote that feeling with the rest of the setting descriptions.

Though a good way to end the Spice Trilogy, with a better story than the first two, it seems the series was just a way to extend the Knight family when it wasn’t necessary. Hopefully Foley’s next series will help her have a fresh start and give a new set of characters to enjoy instead of going where she didn’t need to to continue the Knight stories.

Grade: C

Blurb:

From the glittering ballrooms of Regency England to the sapphire waters of the Mediterranean, the dazzling finale of Gaelen Foley’s Spice trilogy unfurls the passionate tale of a rebel princess and the powerful warrior destined to become her champion.

Princess Sophia was only a child when Napoleon conquered the island paradise ruled by her father. Raised in England and now twenty-one, she means to claim the throne that is rightfully hers and bring peace to her war-torn land. But an ambush by enemies forces Sophia into hiding outside London. Disguising herself as a peasant girl until she can safely return, she meets Major Gabriel Knight, a wounded warrior whose brush with death has utterly changed him.

Heir to a great fortune, and a master swordsman, Gabriel has given up his worldly possessions and laid down his arms. Sophia is fascinated by his brooding magnetism, and Gabriel, lured by her fiery beauty and healed by her touch, is drawn back inexorably toward the world of the living.

But when Sophia’s royal destiny is revealed, Gabriel knows he must take up his sword again, whatever the cost, to protect his princess from those who would destroy her. And as longing blossoms into passion, Gabriel discovers the one cause that is truly worth fighting for. . . .