The Dollar Prince's Wife

The Dilhorne Dynasty #5

by Paula Marshall

From shy girl to assured beautyGauche, unloved Lady Dinah Freville finds a champion in Cobie Grant. They share the taint of illegitimacy, which the rich and handsome Cobie has overcome. And he is equally determined to see Dinah blossom.Tricking Dinah’s feckless half-brother into allowing them to marry, Cobie then sends his wife to Paris to be groomed. The lady who returns is a beautiful, assured woman. But he’s already made it clear to her that he’ll never fall in love….

Genres: Romance, Historical

Paperback

First published May 4, 2001

About the author

Paula was born in Leicester and grew up in Nottingham. After finishing school, she was employed as a research librarian, and studied for her library examinations after work.

Paula has three children, and when the third started school, she returned to work, beginning a new career as a part-time lecturer in English and general studies. After four years of teaching, it became necessary for her to gain a degree, and Paula did just that. She enrolled in the open university and spent the next four years earning a first class honors BA in history.

Reviews

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up. I enjoyed Cobie and Lady Dinah's story. Both are illegitimate, Cobie with a bit of a complicated reason for it that occurred in a previous book in the series. Cobie is very much like his grandfather, Tom Dilhorne, from the first book in the series, a brilliant and driven businessman and entrepreneur. Cobie was raised in America, but when visiting England he meets the downtrodden young Dinah, who is largely ignored by most of her family and emotionally abused by her cruel older (legitimate) half-sister.

It's an interesting story with a unique back story for Cobie, and original, non-cliche characters. There was even a touch of PNR with Cobie and Dinah making a deep connection that spills over into a couple of dreams and vision-like sequences. I liked the plot element about Cobie saving abused children, and this will presumably continue into the next book. I also enjoyed the way Dinah blossomed from a shy and oppressed eighteen-year-old into a stunning young woman.

I'm glad I had read the rest of the series first, because this gave the story and characters more depth, but I think the book could be read without the others first. It's not really a stand-alone though, because it finishes with happy-for-now rather than a HEA, and Cobie and Dinah's story continues in Prince of Secrets, which I will read next.

[ஐ Katya (Book Queen)ஐ · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story itself was pretty good but I was seriously annoyed that the book ended with too many loose ends. I had to go online to search and buy the sequel, Prince of Secrets, to get the story lines tied up. If you don't have both books, then I don't recommend reading this as it's like Part 1.

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love rereading this book

[Gloria Creech · Rating 4 out of 5]

The reader who feels the ending is unresolved will be happy to know there is a sequel, Prince of Secrets