Undercover Princess, by Suzanne Brockmann

Undercover Princess, by Suzanne Brockmann.

"THE NAME’S WIND, KATHY WIND..."

With those words, Princess Katherine Wyndham went from sensible sister to secret agent. Her mission: to locate her brother -- the long-lost crown prince. Her cover: nanny for handsome tycoon Trey Sutherland.

Caring for Trey’s kids came more naturally than any royal duty. And falling for the brooding widower was effortless. But Katherine had always been the plain-Jane princess. Was it too much to hope that he could want a happily-ever-after with her... especially once he discovered who she really was?

This, incredibly enough, was a B+. I don't like royalty romances, I don't like supermom nanny heroines and I don't like those gimmicky continuity series Harlequin is so fond of, but I enjoyed this one. But then, I like Brockmann's writing so much that I'd probably enjoy reading her version of a phone book.

The gimmick about the princesses trying to find their abducted brother didn't interest me in the least (so I'll not be buying the rest of the series, thank you very much), but thankfully, it was given minimum space, just a reason for the (very contrived, I'm afraid) setup and a small conflict near the end. The suspense subplot was just as perfunctory.

This meant most of the book was devoted to Kathy and Trey and the development of their relationship and the one between them and Trey's kids. This is what Brockmann does best, and what made me like this book. I almost had tears in my eyes when Dougie finally started talking to his dad, and I was pretty fond of Stacy.

There was a lot of chemistry between Kathy and Trey, and their love scenes were wonderfully steamy.

As much as I like Brockmann's latest books, I wish she'd get rid of the SEALs and go back to writing straight romance.