Virgin Princess, Tycoon's Temptation (Silhouette Desire #2026) Book

Another solid read by Michelle Celmer.

I am not sure if I like Garrett or not and was still unsure even at the end of the book. Louisa is a very happy, outgoing and open person but considered to be a bit naive and Garrett played upon that. Even at the end I was not convinced of his motives or his love which kind of spoiled it a bit for me.

A fun dynamic between the hero and the heroine: he thinks he's seducing her while she, despite being labelled in the press as innocent and being known for her naivete, is in fact the one who consistently makes the first moves, sets the pace, grows and changes and gains maturity, and consistently asks for what she wants and isn't ashamed of her needs and desires. Within a week of their meeting, she tells him straight out she thinks about him and masturbates (okay, she's a princess and says she touches herself), not to mention that she's a frequent reader of Literotica (okay, she doesn't mention that site specifically, but I think it's implied) and has lots of ideas from it that she's interested in, and in a scene that amused me, she teases him about not knowing where her clitoris is (him: "I WAS TRYING TO TAKE MY TIME!"). So, their dynamic was enjoyable to read, and having enjoyed Michelle Celmer's characters and books before, I wasn't surprised, but this sort of dynamic isn't usually found in the Desire line!

The "plot" made this less enjoyable. He's seducing her to marry into the royal family and get power and land and whatever, but that motivation is more or less ignored for most of the book, basically to just be brought up again at the end of the book for some final conflict. And, this being a super short Desire, there wasn't much space for developing any nuances, which was unfortunate, because Louisa and her tone were a lot of fun to read.

So. I liked the book, and if a bold-but-sheltered heroine is your kind of thing and you can overlook a lesser-developed hero, I'd recommend giving it a try, but it doesn't quite rise above the category box it's stuck in.