Before reading "Castles", I suggest to start with "The Lion's Lady", then "The Guardian Angel", then "The Gift" and lastly, read Castles. The characters in all 4 books are friends/related to each other. It is more fitting if you know each character before reading the next book. If you read it in this order, I think it will bring more excitement as some questions are answered in the later books. Some secrets are also revealed before-hence.
Castle is a story of Colin, who is the younger brother of Caine (from The Guardian Angel). A troubled Princess Alesandra, is the ward of the Duke of Williamshire,who is Colin and Caine's father. Alesandra was searching for a good husband in three weeks time, in order to save herself from marrying a ruthless General, who wanted to marry her only for the title he would get. I find the search very enjoyable. The list of the names of every noble and every available earls and Dukes... and of course, the dipping of ink to cross each one off, as Colin, who is helping her, finds each name on the list horribly inappropriate. This is my favorite part. I find the heroine funny yet unselfish, charming and yet regal. Even in her frustrations and anger, mostly directed toward Colin, she manage to remind herself about "Dignity & Decorum". She is, after all, a princess. Her obsession of LISTING everything on note-cards is also quite amusing. Colin is a proud yet somewhat a sensitive man. The best way to describe him is to compare him to a wild horse that needed to be tamed. Alesandra did just that with love and patience. Flannagan, the butler, is also one of my favorite characters in this book. The Romance between the two is perfectly matched. There are just so many interesting and funny scenes. I don't want to give it all away so you have to pick up the book to find out yourself. It is worth your time. The whole family helping each other to solve a mystery crime is also thrilling and heart warming. Although, I had wished that Nathan and Jade (in the Gift), and Lyon and Christina (in The Lion's Lady) had been mentioned more in this book, I still enjoyed it.
Castle is a story of Colin, who is the younger brother of Caine (from The Guardian Angel). A troubled Princess Alesandra, is the ward of the Duke of Williamshire,who is Colin and Caine's father. Alesandra was searching for a good husband in three weeks time, in order to save herself from marrying a ruthless General, who wanted to marry her only for the title he would get. I find the search very enjoyable. The list of the names of every noble and every available earls and Dukes... and of course, the dipping of ink to cross each one off, as Colin, who is helping her, finds each name on the list horribly inappropriate. This is my favorite part. I find the heroine funny yet unselfish, charming and yet regal. Even in her frustrations and anger, mostly directed toward Colin, she manage to remind herself about "Dignity & Decorum". She is, after all, a princess. Her obsession of LISTING everything on note-cards is also quite amusing. Colin is a proud yet somewhat a sensitive man. The best way to describe him is to compare him to a wild horse that needed to be tamed. Alesandra did just that with love and patience. Flannagan, the butler, is also one of my favorite characters in this book. The Romance between the two is perfectly matched. There are just so many interesting and funny scenes. I don't want to give it all away so you have to pick up the book to find out yourself. It is worth your time. The whole family helping each other to solve a mystery crime is also thrilling and heart warming. Although, I had wished that Nathan and Jade (in the Gift), and Lyon and Christina (in The Lion's Lady) had been mentioned more in this book, I still enjoyed it.
Julie Garwood is a great author. I love all her books!
Castles is not just a love story but intertwined is a mystery of a cold blooded serial killer who at times you wonder who it is. The author is good at leaving the reader in suspense because sometimes I thought it was Colin then someone else. I would have enjoyed it so much more without the gore and it still would have been a good story. I don't usually read novels and I couldn't go on to read the next. It was the first I had read of Julie Garwood's and the last I'll read.
