Meeting Dylan Hale has turned my life upside down. I'm dating an actual duke who's devastatingly handsome and deliciously naughty. On the surface, I'm living the high life. But this surreal world of royalty and paparazzi is getting out of control.
Someone knows way too much about Dylan and me-about the moments when we're alone, about how his hands leave a trail of fire over my skin . . . about the complete control he has over me between the sheets. And worse, it's starting to become clear that Dylan's keeping secrets from me, too . . .
“If this was his destiny, was
there really any place in it for me?”
Royal Disaster picks up a few weeks after Royal Affair with
Dylan and Lydia finding their feet after their relationship was exposed to the
public, the constant pressure of the press, being in the public eye and also,
we cannot forget the email black mailer.
This book centres around Lydia’s integration into the
aristocracy (or not) and the progression of her relationship with Dylan. Royal
Disaster certainly highlights the class divide and especially that us and them
mentality. It seems old fashioned prejudices are rife amongst the blue blood
and the prospect of a Duke carrying on with an American commoner is certainly
ruffling a few feathers, it seems the aristocracy want to carry on the
tradition of breeding amongst royalty only.
“That morning I’d woken up
feeling impossibly close to him, like the days was ours, like we could settle
into our world. But in the past hour, I’d been reminded, once again, of the
ways in which his life was a universe away from mine.”
Lydia really grew throughout this book, her confidence in her
work especially, oozes from the pages and with every day you see her get
stronger and stronger. Lydia is a woman that knows what she wants, she is
fiercely independent and what you see is definitely what you get. Despite
Dylan’s pressures for her to become reliant on him our American firecracker
digs in her heels and fights his English charms at every turn. The only thing
that Lydia wants out of her relationship with Dylan, is Dylan, the money and
the status are just an unfortunate by product of the man that she has chosen.
“I’m waiting for the part when I
get to support him through whatever it is he’s going through, when I get to
feel more like part of a team and less like a…like a concubine…”
Parker Swift does give us some background on Dylan in this book
that goes someway in explaining the way that Dylan is. Dylan is an impenetrable
fortress, he has many secrets, he keeps everything to himself and carries
around the weight of the world on his shoulders. Dylan is a man drowning in
burdens whether it be to the aristocracy, to the family company, to his own
architectural business or to Lydia herself. There is only so much one man can
take and Dylan definitely has choices to make or succumb and take his last
breath.
The relationship between Lydia and Dylan is definitely hard
fought. With the pressures from family, the public, the press, the aristocracy
in general and the blackmailer these two have a lot of fires to extinguish. I
will say however, I never once disbelieved the love that these two had for one
and other. Knighty and his Damsel’s love radiated off every page and you always
knew that the battle for this relationship to stand the course were always
going to be from outside interferences.
“I thought the best I could hope
for in this life would be flickers of feigned intimacy. That I’d have to settle
for the hollow pride of fulfilling those obligations alone. Then you came
along. And you started filling in the cracks. You made joy the norm – it was
rather un-British of you, actually…”
I loved the way that Lydia carried herself in this book, no
matter whose company she was in she managed to stay true to herself and her
roots while still being polite and dignified. It is hard at times to remember
that she is still grieving for her father while planting new roots in a new
country. This is a tumultuous time for Lydia and the constant press negativity,
the misogynistic opinions from the blue bloods coupled with their feelings of
grandiose and their self-opinionated beliefs all leave Lydia questioning whether
she has a place in this world after all.
This was a great second book and definitely no filler, I
loved the snippets into the Royals as a whole and this entire book had that
regal air about it which is hard to achieve. There was nothing too far-fetched,
all plot lines were believable and a natural progression within the story. The
underlying threat of the blackmailer had you constantly reading with that sense
of dread and being kept in the dark, along with Lydia, only intensified that
fear. I will admit I shed a few tears in this book such is the character
connection that I have for these two and all I can say is I was so glad for the
last few chapters else it would have been a completely different story.
“And the world would learn what I
already had: Throw a disaster our way, and see just how much stronger we are
together.”
I cannot wait for Royal Treatment, I need to know what
happens to these two going forward, with both their lives turned upside down
you know they still have a battle ahead of them but am hoping that the intense
love and support that they have for one and other will be enough to carry them
through. With no support surrounding them, they need each other more than ever.
Excerpt:
Dylan urged me through the door to his
bedroom, his palm spread widely across my lower back. “In you go,” he said
firmly.
I stepped into the dark room, lit only by the
light coming from the bathroom door.
Dylan moved behind me, to the side, and stood
me in front of a leather club chair. I waited as he poured himself a glass of
water and placed it on the table next to the chair after taking a long swig.
“What? No more Scotch?” I asked, following
his eyes as he circled me, coming to stand behind me.
“I want my senses about me for this. You were
bloody gorgeous tonight,” he said into my ear, his fingertips stroking my arms.
“So perfectly yourself. I want to reward you. I want to sink into you. I want
to goddamn consume you,” he said slowly, taking his time, and I gulped in
anticipation. “And no more talking,” he said softly, finally settling into the
chair before me and gazing up at me. “Undress.”
I giggled a little. “So it’s going to be that
kind of night.”
He tsk-ed at me, wagging his finger as he sat
down. “Shh, damsel. This will be better if you follow instructions.”
My skin was singing—it felt like there were a
million little weather systems moving in the air around me, all electric, all
feverish. My breathing was picking up.
I walked up to him, put my hands on the
armrests of the chair where he sat, leaned over, and kissed him slowly on the
lips. No tongue, just firm, warm lips.
“Can
you unzip me at least?” I whispered, our faces centimeters apart, the air
between us warming. Our eyes met, and my little challenge added heat to this
game. He was getting ready to devour me.
I stood and turned, so my back was to him,
and I felt him rise behind me. He dragged the zipper slowly down my back and
slid his hands into the dress. They were so warm and felt so big, like he could
grab me fully around my middle. His thumbs stroked my underarms, and the subtle
movements caused a ripple, a shiver of anticipation.
The dress, now loose, slumped off my
shoulders, making room for his hands. He unclasped my bra, and it fell into the
dress. Then he pushed the whole thing off my arms and down my body, so it hung
in front of me, and my bra spilled to the floor.
“On the bed, damsel.” He smacked my ass—hard.
I smiled, eager, scurried to his majestic four-poster canopy bed, and perched
myself on its edge. I bit my lip between my nervous teeth and sat on my hands.
My hair drifted around my shoulders. The pit in my stomach and the round ache
between my legs were getting sharper, firmer, more demanding. I wanted his
hands on me, all over me. He was taking this too slowly, like he was stalking
his prey.
Dylan reached into his bag, parked by the
base of the bed, and lifted out a long coil of velvety-looking fabric, wider
than rope, softer looking. “You game for this, sweetness?” I nodded hungrily,
shamelessly. “Good. Then up at the headboard. Now.”
I crawled on all fours and turned back to
look at Dylan stalking me. “Thought this through, did you?”
Smack.
Another crisp slap to my ass.
Right, no talking. But if that was my
punishment, I might have to keep rebelling. I couldn’t stop the eager smile
forming on my face, and Dylan shook his head. “Incorrigible.”
Behind the posh British accent, Dylan Hale possesses a down-and-dirty sexiness. Off-the-charts gorgeous, a ruthless architect . . . and did I mention he's a future duke? Every time we touch, it's wildfire. All need and lust and heat. But Dylan has rules: just sex, no one can know, and in the bedroom he gets complete control. All I have to do is follow the rules, because falling in love with Dylan Hale is all it would take to screw everything up . . . royally.
Parker Swift grew up in Providence, Rhode Island, and then grew up again in New York, London, and Minneapolis and currently lives in Connecticut. She has spent most of her adult life examining romantic relationships in an academic lab as a professor of social psychology. Now, she's exploring the romantic lives of her fictional characters in the pages of her books. When she's not writing, she spends her time with her bearded nautical husband and being told not to sing along to pop music in the car by her two sons.
