When Princess Guendolen’s privileged existence is shattered by tribal war and the threat of rape impends, she is left with no choice but to surrender her virginity to a lowly commoner. The spoiled sovereign expects a night of torment and shame. Instead, her unlikely bedfellow introduces her to a world of carnal delights.Prince Taran, dreaded leader of the savage Picts, approaches. He plans to … plans to pluck Guendolen’s prized maidenhead. Once she carries his heir he will claim her father’s throne. King Cedric hatches a frantic scheme. His daughter must lie with one of their own. Better a Briton babe growing in her womb than a Pictish one. With every last man fighting on the battlefield, there is only one lad who is available for such a task; and that is Phalen, her childhood nemesis.
Mysterious as he is defiant, the adopted son of the village blacksmith has little interest in Guendolen’s beauty and considers the overindulged “jewel of the kingdom” to be a royal pain in the rear. Sparks fly each time they meet. On the fated night, Guendolen does her best to obstruct Phalen from carrying out his orders, but what starts out as an act of duty soon turns into an evening of passion.
Our hero and heroine reunite two years later. She, having given birth to his son; and he, having returned from battle—now a formidable warrior. Under constant pressure from her father to marry, Guendolen agrees to wed the father of her bastard child, whose touch she still wears like a brand. The elusive Phalen continues to rile the Princess with his taunting gaze, denying her the attention she craves in and out of the bedchamber. Will she ever be able to win the favor of this dark and brooding man?
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It’s official. Tessa Bowen is the queen of stubborn romance. The kind of romance that makes you want to scream in frustration but you secretly enjoy the ride. And the outcome is well worth it. This book has that. Princess Guendolen is forced to take a mate by her father before their kingdom’s enemy takes her for himself. The problem is he chose her childhood enemy, the son of a blacksmith. After the deed is done they are separated by war for a few years. He returns a hero and becomes a father and her husband. Don’t go thinking a child made these two fall in love. Far from that. It’s a stubborn battle. Talk about enemies to lovers! Just when you think you have this story figured out this author hits you with an exposed secret that will shock you. I know I yelled “oh my god” myself. This story was a fun ride and I am pretty sure I felt every emotion possible. Romance fans, add this one to your list. And Tessa Bowen fans, get ready for what is I think her best one yet.
OMG! I love this one! I can’t believe this story!!! It’s so fun that I sit here with a smile on my face. The shocks and….maaann that witty back and forth banter?!? I can NOT get enough of that! This will easily be an audio I will listen to again and again. Guendolen (cool spelling) is a girl who is used as a pawn but turns it to her advantage. She is tenacious once she finds what she wants. I many times thought..”just move on! “ but she doesn’t want to and sinks her teeth in and hangs on!
Tessa Bowen did a great job with these two characters. They are smart and I really “felt” for them both on different occasions. The story moves along at a quick pace and did I mention that bantering? Oh I did? Well I loved it and it add to these characters.
I listened to this on audio and it was the best! I have not listened to Virginia Ferguson before and at first thought she would be hard to understand with the accent. BUT she surprised me and I ended up loving her voicing these characters. She really brought them to life!
I loved this book in every way! The conversations and quick comebacks these two have towards each other were fantastic! And the twist that you didn’t see coming was even better! Overall a great book and the pick of narration was absolutely perfect! The accent done here is perfect.
I had a hard time liking the heroine due to her entire focus being on image. I have to give her props though for constantly putting herself out there to a husband that constantly puts her down. The hero was very alpha and he gave us some great steamy scenes but he was also extremely rude and hard to like. A little too blunt and cold for me. There was a sub plot of the Britons and Picts fighting that was very good to the story line. To simplify, I believe this is a story trying to turn enemies into lovers. The narrator did a fantastic job of going at a great pace. She also put a lot of emotion into each character, bringing them to life.
The Marauder by Tessa Bowen is the first book in the Pillager Series. I listened to this book on audio narrated by Virginia Ferguson. Virginia dis a great job narrating with the different voices she uses for each of the characters. This is the third book of Tessa’s and Virginia’s collaboration that I have listened to and I look forward to future projects. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical romances with an Alpha male.