Review: The Serpent Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt

WHEN THE DEVIL MEETS AN ANGEL…
Country bred Lucy Craddock-Hayes is content with her quiet life. Until the day she trips over an unconscious man-a naked unconscious man-and loses her innocence forever.

HE CAN TAKE HER TO HEAVEN…
Viscount Simon Iddesleigh was nearly beaten to death by his enemies. Now he’s hell-bent on vengeance. But as Lucy nurses him back to health, her honesty startles his jaded sensibilities-even as it ignites a desire that threatens to consume them both.

OR TO HELL
Charmed by Simon’s sly wit, urbane manners, and even his red-heeled shoes, Lucy falls hard and fast for him. Yet as his honor keeps him from ravishing her, his revenge sends his attackers to her door. As Simon wages war on his foes, Lucy wages her own war for his soul using the only weapon she has-her love…

When Holly gushed about how good this book was, I took it with a grain of salt. After all, she gave this book a 5. I didn’t particularly like that book. So when she reviewed The Serpent Prince, I didn’t run out and buy it. I also don’t read the 3rd book in a series first (*ahem*). After I read The Raven Prince and The Leopard Prince, I was really looking forward to The Serpent Prince. While I really liked the book, it wasn’t my favorite in the series. It was really good, though.

When Lucy Craddock-Hayes finds a naked man laying dead in a ditch, she’s not quite sure what she should do. When she realizes that the dead man is very much alive, she has no other choice but to take him home. If she doesn’t, she knows that he’ll die. What she doesn’t expect is to become drawn to the injured man. Even after finding out that he is Viscount Simon Iddesleigh, she can’t stop her attraction to him.

Simon has never met a person that makes him feel so peaceful. He’s as drawn to Lucy as she is to him, but unlike Lucy, he knows that nothing good could come of it. While Simon doesn’t know exactly who wants him dead, he does know that it has something to do with his quest for revenge. After the death of his brother, Ethan, Simon has doggedly hunted down the men responsible. The last thing he wants to do is bring Lucy into his life at a time when all he can think about is revenge. Still, he’s drawn to this woman who he has dubbed his “angel”.

The Serpent Prince has one of my favorite plot lines…marriage of convenience. While Simon wants to stay away from Lucy, he finds that he’s unable to do so. He convinces himself that he can kill two birds with one stone. Not only will he be able to marry Lucy and have her in his bed, she’ll be safe. As for Lucy, even knowing that Simon has demons chasing him, she can’t turn down his offer of marriage.

One thing that made this book so powerful was when Lucy realized that her love wouldn’t be enough to save Simon from himself. Even though Simon wanted to give up his revenge, he couldn’t make himself do it. Not even if it meant he would lose the wife that brought so much peace and happiness in his life. This book definitely packed an emotional punch. The last part of the book was amazing. I think that EH did a great job of capturing the feelings that these two characters had for each other.

4.25 out of 5.

This book is available from Grand Central. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

Other books in the series:

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