Royal Secrets by Traci Hunter Abramson

Royal Secrets

Author: Traci Hunter Abramson

Published Date: February 2012

Publisher: Covenant Communications

Softcover; 288 pages

Genre: Romantic Suspense

ISBN# 978-1-60681-868-2

Reviewed by: Shanda

FTC FYI: review copy in exchange for an honest review

Summary

Alora DeSanto and her sons, Giancarlo and Dante, survived the fire that killed her husband and extended family, but life would never be the same. When her friend, Janessa, needs a personal assistent with Alora’s security skills to help her plan her wedding to Prince Garrett, Alora and her sons move to the royal chateau in Meridia. Also at the chateau is Prince Stefano, on orders to relax as he recovers from a car accident and suspected attempt on his life.

Alora is awed by her surroundings and the warm welcome she receives from everyone at the chateau. A friendship soon develops between Alora and Prince Stefano, one that the prince wants to further into a relationship but Alora isn’t sure her heart can handle it. With someone out to destroy the royal family, can she and her boys risk losing someone they love again?

Review

Royal Secrets is the long-awaited sequel to Royal Target and picks up shortly after Royal Target ends. Those of you who follow the blog know that I am a big fan of Traci’s Saint Squad series and how Traci weaves romance into her suspense. Royal Target and Royal Secrets are my guilty pleasures, though, based more in romance yet with enough of Traci’s classic suspense to keep things moving at a good pace.

Royal Secrets (and Royal Target) appeal to me because for a little while, I get to suspend reality and experience something very different from my normal life. For example:

• Meeting and falling in love with a handsome prince. (What woman hasn’t wondered what THAT would be like?)

• A faithful LDS woman as a main character who speaks several languages, travels the world and knows how to handle a weapon.

• A strong, well-trained security operative who can protect herself AND her man.

• Life in a Mediterranean beach-side chateau with a closet full of ball gowns and plenty of opportunities to wear them.

Something I appreciated in Royal Secrets was that though the focus is on Alora and Prince Stefano, the reader gets enough of a continuation of Janessa and Prince Garrett’s story to tie them all seamlessly together without detracting from Alora and Stefano’s budding romance. We get to see how things go when Prince Garrett meets Janessa’s parents (though I think Janessa should have clarified with Prince Garrett much earlier the importance of keeping her CIA employment status a secret from her family), as well as how the royal family handles things when the truth of Prince Garrett’s conversion is revealed.

Because I read 100+ books a year and it’s been a while since I read Royal Target, I took the opportunity to re-read it before reading Royal Secrets and I’m glad I did. It was nice to have the characters fresh in my mind as I read through Royal Secrets. If you have not read Royal Target yet, I suggest doing so first as the characters and plot in Royal Secrets rely heavily on the continuation of events from the first book.

Royal Secrets is an enjoyable read that I would recommend to any fan of romantic suspense.

Royal Secrets is available for purchase at AMAZON | DESERET BOOK | SEAGULL BOOK