A good story. Typical mills and boon troupe but still good. Gorgeous new cover. ( )

Annie West says in the introduction to one of her books, “I hope, like me, you sigh with pleasure when you reach the final page.” Well, it’s even better than that. I sigh with pleasure when I first open one of her books, because I know what an incredible journey I’m going to take and how wonderful I’m going to feel when I get to that final page. I know there will be love and laughter, as well as sadness and tears, and I always, always, always get so caught up that I can’t put the book down until I get to the happily ever after.

His Majesty’s Temporary Bride is the first of two books in Annie West’s The Princess Seductions series. Cat Dubois is working in America as a bodyguard to the famous when she is approached by the St. Gallan Ambassador to the U.S. He wants her to stand in for her half-sister Amelie, Princess of St. Galla, who has mysteriously disappeared with her nephew after the death of her brother, the King, and his wife. As the secret illegitimate daughter of the previous King of St. Galla, Cat knows about Amelie, but they have never met and Amelie probably doesn’t even know Cat exists. St. Galla is not a place of happy memories for Cat; she couldn’t wait to leave after her mother’s funeral 10 years ago, but the payment offered by the Ambassador will let her realize a dream and is hard to resist, and something protective tugs at her heart – is her sister in danger?

Once Cat arrives in St. Galla things happen so quickly Cat is left breathless. First, she meets Prince Charming on a yacht. Well, he is as handsome as Prince Charming and the attraction between them is mutual - immediate and scorching. Then she learns that rather than merely standing in at a formal function, she is to meet King Alexander of Bengaria, who may be engaged to Princess Amelie. As for King Alexander, he has no intention of getting married yet, but was persuaded to attend the celebration in St. Galla. And – guess what? King Alexander is Alex, the man on the yacht. Alex doesn’t know that Cat is not Princess Amelie, she didn’t expect to have to pretend in front of a King, who just happens to be the man she makes her feel like no man ever has, and the St. Gallan Prime Minister seems to have plans of his own for the future leadership of St. Galla.

While at this point we just want to watch Cat swoon at Alex’s bone-melting smile and see where this chemistry between them leads, it’s not going to be that simple. She doesn’t want to deceive him but has signed a contract and still doesn’t know if Amelie is in danger. He still doesn’t want to marry but doesn’t want to give up any time – and sizzling romance – with Cat. And they both bring a lot of baggage from their pasts with them. She can’t tolerate anything that is unfair, and is strong and independent in her fight against it. Alex’s father was deceitful and cruel, so he cannot tolerate deception. And since Cat is pretending to be Princess Amelie and King Alexander will surely find out eventually, where will this lead?

Where it leads is to another story from Annie West that is sensual, exciting, moving and heart-warming, with characters you care about – and some steamy scenes that keep you flipping those pages as fast as you can! As always, I highly recommend this and all books by Annie West, and I can’t wait to meet Princess Amelie in book 2 of The Princess Seductions series. ( )