Book Review: The Royal Treatment by Mary Janice Davidson

The Royal Treatment by Mary Janice Davidson
Kensington, 2005

I love the premise of this story. Alaska is a country all on its own and it is ruled by an eccentric royal family. King Alexander II, head of the House of Baranov is the ruling sovereign and he has several children. The oldest son, the hero of this particular story is His Royal Highness David Alexander Marko Dmitri Baranov, crown prince of Alaska. Prince David doesn't mind that his father is matchmaking because as he says "...it doesn't really matter, right? As long as she's young and healthy and wants to have kids."

Our heroine is Christina Krabbe, a loud, potty-mouth American who has been fired from her job as cook on a cruise ship because she punched her boss when he sexually harassed her. Christina has been stranded in Alaska with no money, no friends and no place to stay but she's not terribly discouraged so she goes fishing. Enter the King, who meets Christina on the fishing boat that he was captain of [trying to be incognito with no success whatsoever] where he invites her to stay at the palace because they have plenty of room. What the King does NOT tell Christina right away is that he is matchmaking and that he has picked her for his oldest son, Crown Prince David.

Christina decides to go ahead and live at the palace for awhile since she's got nothing better to do. While she's there, she comes to know the entire family and becomes fond of them all. Eventually she decides that she might as well marry Prince David and the two try to get to know each other. A lot of humor is involved as the two get to know each other in spite of everyone getting in their way and keeping them apart when they try to become intimate. Christina also must learn the ways of royalty which is very funny since she's not quiet when she's suffering from boredom!

Bad things happen when the King is injured and not expected to live and suddenly Prince David and Princess Christina are the rulers of the country of Alaska. But all's well that ends well when everything works out just right and happy for one and all [except the bad guy].