The Serpent Prince

by Elizabeth Hoyt

#9 Title from AAR top 100.

Rated 4 stars

Back Cover:

Lucy Craddock-Hayes thought the man lying in the ditch was dead, but he survived the assault. With the help of her servant, Lucy brings the gentleman home, and learns that he is Viscount Simon Iddesleigh. As Simon slowly recuperates, he finds himself falling in love with sharp-witted and surprisingly sharp-tongued Lucy, but he also knows that the longer he stays, the more likely it is that his quest for vengeance will endanger Lucy and her family.

My Thoughts:

Elizabeth Hoyt does it again. She wrote a steamy novel about the redemption of love. Simon is a lost soul bent on vengeance. Lucy is his angel of mercy, who attempts to save him from himself. I enjoyed the scenes at her home. He acts all unaffected. He blathers, she ignores his blather. He is astonished that she seems to see right through him. I like her cast of secondary characters. Here's what I didn't like. So, Ms Hoyt writes them steamy. She writes hotter than what I normally read. That's fine. I mean hey...a little steam is good for you, right?! Here's my issue....her Juicy scenes...are a little to "juicy". Now I'm not talking about steamy, sexy! I'm talking about juicy. She's describing the often wet details of their love. Her juices, coating, dripping/ his juices, spraying. Everything is slick and wet. Dewd! Made me want to hand someone a towlette. A little too slimy, oozey for me. I enjoyed when she got a gander at his, "mini me" the first time. She's all " Ooh, I finally get to see him. He's a shy fellow. Oh, and look here are his 2 friends to say hello as well." Cracked me up. Then she gets down to business.