Samhain Publishing, $4.50, ISBN 1-59998-750-3
Contemporary Romance, 2007

Lessons in Love pairs Brynn Dexter, the easy-going teacher, with Prince Philippe Alexandre du Charbonneaux of Laurivenia as she is hired to play the nanny to his five-year old daughter Carissa. Brynn initially expects to teach at an exclusive kindergarten in Laurivenia so she is stunned when she realizes that she’s expected to give personal tutoring to the Crown Prince’s daughter. I don’t really buy the reasoning that the subterfuge is needed due to security seasons but I suppose the author needs an excuse to get her characters to start off on the wrong foot.

Having said that, while Lessons in Love is generally a predictable and familiar story and the characters are pretty much familiar stereotypes as well, it remains nonetheless a very readable story. While Brynn is the supposed free-spirited American nanny with a little self-doubt about what her mother thinks of her and Alex is a rather familiar hero who has been burned by love before, they are generally likable characters. Apart from some obvious manipulative moments, Carissa is pretty much a tolerable kiddie character who doesn’t annoy me too much. The romance between Alex and Brynn may not be too exciting but on the whole it is pleasant and safe.

Lessons in Love therefore may not be something that I haven’t read before, but I still find it a pretty entertaining read due to Ms Davies’s easy going prose and occasional humor. The characters are pretty reasonable on the whole and they don’t do any particularly too stupid things. Therefore, this one is sort of like eating the usual meal in a restaurant which I frequent often.