Setting: Europe, 1815 Sensuality: 5 Lovely Charity Beaufort is content to let her beautiful older sister take the brunt of their countess mother"s societal ambitions while Charity indulges her love of books, horses, and the company of her father, the earl of Beaufort. At seventeen, she"s considered too young to be wed, a fact which pleases her immensely. Charity has no inkling that her life is about to be dramatically changed when Bonaparte is defeated and a childhood idol, Prince Augustus of the tiny European nation of Jura, is betrothed to her older sister. While believing they are about to share a family connection as brother and sister-in-law, the prince and Charity discover they have a mutual passion for horses, books, and politics, and become close friends. Unbeknownst to him, the prince has powerful political enemies who are plotting to upset his plans for his kingdom. When their nefarious schemes create a scandal that reaches into his private life and threatens to damage his country, Charity agrees to aid him in a plan that changes the direction of both their lives. That direction doesn"t please the prince"s enemies, however, and before they can be discovered and arrested, both the prince and Charity will find themselves running for their very lives. Royal Bride is the tale of a heroine who grows from a girl into a young woman while coping with the demands of a world of court intrigue and learning about love. Interesting secondary characters enrich the story while the view of the world from a small nation struggling to survive in post-Bonaparte Europe is intriguing. Fans and new readers alike will thoroughly enjoy this latest novel from author Joan Wolf.--Lois Faye Dyer