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Sarah Stuart

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Dangerous Liaisons: The Backstreet Boy and the Royal Heiress (Royal Command Family Saga Book 1) Kindle Edition

by Sarah Stuart (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

4.1 150 ratings

Book 1 of 5: Royal Command Family Saga

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Michael’s road from poverty to riches is rough: charisma and talent versus pride. Elspeth, daughter of a wealthy Scottish laird, inherits Margaret Tudor’s diary. It contains the commands to “find love where ye may”, and that she must pass the book to a daughter conceived in love. Elspeth is determined to see Michael succeed, but is the promise she makes to him too high a price to pay?

Later, the relationship is challenged by their adult daughter. Lisette adores “The Diamond Superstar" and sees the royal command as permission to set a trap for Michael and indulge her forbidden love. One night of passion results in pregnancy, and the paparazzi are already suspicious of the father and daughter who play lovers onstage. Margaret Tudor succeeded in hiding the birth of an illegitimate baby from a sixteenth-century king, but can Elspeth hide the next royal heiress from modern bureaucracy? Does she love Michael enough to forgive him and try?

Editorial Reviews

Review

5 Stars - Reviewed by Marta Tandori for Readers' Favorite

Dangerous Liaisons by Sarah Stuart is one of the most wonderful and imaginatively unique stories that I've had the pleasure of reading. Part romance and part historical, the story is a spellbinding tapestry that will have readers who love romance and history engaged from beginning to end. The book has two primary story components; the first being how the two young protagonists, Lizzie and Michael, meet and fall in love while the second component focuses on their married life and their complicated relationships with their two children, James and Lisette. Woven throughout both components are the revelations contained in the sixteenth century diary, The Book of Hours.

The main protagonists in Dangerous Liaisons are both compelling and complex, which adds yet another texture to an already good story whose heart and soul is Queen Margaret's diary. What Stuart does exceptionally well is illustrate how complex families can be and how the choices they make in the past can affect and influence the lives of future generations. Lies, deceit, treachery, heartache, Dangerous Liaisons has it all but, most importantly, it also has the kind of ending most readers crave. A unique and highly satisfying read that is well worth the time!

From the Author

Writing Dangerous Liaisons, my first full-length novel, was an incredible experience. It was to be the first of the Royal Command Series, a contemporary family saga rooted in a royal diary written five centuries earlier. That gave me the opportunity to introduce the "founding" lovers in detail, and to explore the second generation.

Born a country girl and brought up to respect and value animals, in the wild and as pets, I found the research into the running of a shooting estate so distressing I donate all my royalties to animal preservation and rescue charities worldwide.

Theatre, music, travel, and history, are my passions, and, in part, my work, so the background to Dangerous Liaisons, and the four books that follow, were a delight to write and the stories are packed with insider knowledge that I have been delighted to find, from Amazon reviews and Goodreads discussions, my readers appreciate and enjoy.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00M9CU1Z6
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Amazon Digital Services; 1st edition (July 29, 2014)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ July 29, 2014
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 4949 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 347 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #1,536,307 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #9,134 in Action & Adventure Romance (Kindle Store)
- #12,348 in Action & Adventure Romance (Books)
- #33,113 in Contemporary Romance Fiction

Customer Reviews:
4.1 150 ratings

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Sarah Stuart

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Sarah Stuart lives in County Durham, North-East England, but London is her "second home". She loves the theatre - musicals, plays, opera, and ballet - and her knowledge of England's capital shows in the background of her books.

The Royal Command Family Saga series is based on Sarah's experience of supplying dogs for the stage, which brought her into contact with producers, directors, wannabe actors, and stars of stage and screen.

The Christian Richard and Maria Trilogy was written to show faith and closed bedroom doors are no bar to fast-paced stories. Sarah acknowledges her debt to Paul Tait, an American composer and performer. for permission to use his song lyrics.

Sarah Stuart's first crime thriller was written with the generous help of John Nicholl, best-selling author of psychological thrillers. He had read her romantic suspense novels and suggested this was the next logical step. Always up for a challenge, Sarah created the world of DCI Gerald Croft in the fictional London Borough of Garton.

Sarah donates her royalties to wildlife charities worldwide, and to rescue shelters for abandoned pets. Her own rescue dogs hold a special place in her home and in her heart.

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4.1 out of 5

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Amazon Customer

An Opera in 2 Acts

Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2017

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It’s love at first sight between Michael and Lizzie. He’s a poor boy with a big dream; she’s a descendant of an illegitimate daughter of Margaret Tudor, a queen of Scotland. Queen Margaret’s secret diary, the Book of Hours, which has been passed down to Lizzie by her mother, commands her lineage “to find love where they may.”
Lizzie is instrumental in making Michael Marsh a big theater star. Act 1 depicts their struggle to make their love triumph, ending with the birth of their daughter Lisette.
In Act 2, Michael and Lizzie’s happily ever after is far from a fairytale romance. Michael is touring all year leaving Lizzie alone and vulnerable to another man’s love. Lisette and James, Michael and Lizzie’s children, are left to themselves, making all the wrong choices in life. Lisette inherits the Book of Hours and the suggestions she gets from her readings have a disastrous effect on her life.
Like in Shakespeare dramas, the protagonists always assume the worst and act according to their erroneous beliefs, which creates catastrophic situations. Michael disappoints with his lack of self-control, indulging in the worst possible act a father can commit. Lisette spins out of control, and Lizzie fails those she loves most. In an attempt to keep the paparazzi, the real villains of the story, from exposing their secrets, the Marsh family must take extreme measures. Will they succeed?
Sarah Stuart expertly conducts an opera-like story where love and lives are sacrificed to the motto “the show must go on.” Her writing in part I is melodic and musical. In part 2, it becomes more urgent. The author doesn’t shy away from a taboo subject like incest. Some of the protagonists may lose the readers’ support but never their interest. Dangerous Liaisons: A showbiz Family Saga is a compelling and original story.

9 people found this helpful

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Ian

Fast-Paced Romance Read

Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2017

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This is the 2nd book I’ve read by the author now and I find a lot of my earlier comments still pertain. As romance writers go, this author’s style is very classy, elegant, and literary. Her stories also seem more full-bodied, and to have more facets to them than the typical romance. I enjoyed this one like I did the other. (Both are part of the same series, so I can’t say for certain if these qualities pertain to books outside the series.)

No real challenges with this one other than to say it will require your full attention. The twists come at you fast and furious, and the momentum is a mile a minute. So if your attention drifts for even a brief bit, as it might at the end of the day when you’re tired, you’ll have to go back and pick up reading where you left off. So I’d say set aside extra chunks of time for this one when you’re a bit fresher. (I found this to be true of book one as well.)

5 people found this helpful

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JanS

Oh What a Tangled Web We Weave!

Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2014

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When I picked Dangerous Liaisons to read, I had no idea what I was in for. The story starts with a young girl, an only child, raised on a hunting estate in Scotland. She has flaming red curls and a book that had been passed down to her through generations called the Book of Hours. Lizzie Cameron works diligently at decoding this diary of sorts written by her ancestors who were of royal lineage in the 1500s. The message was always the same, to find love where they may. Love is a gift of God, not of kings.
When Lizzie leaves home and finds her way on her own in London, she meets Michael Marsh, handsome, talented, backstreet boy seeking a career in theater. This story is a rollercoaster ride as we see Michael and Lizzie marry, him rise to international stardom and fame through Lizzie's determination and connections. They bear two children, a girl first, then a boy. When Lisette, their daughter, turns fourteen years of age, Lizzie passes the Book of Hours on to her. Michael is always gone touring. Lizzie spends too much time alone. She has an affair with another man and conceives his child. Then the unspeakable happens. Lisette is groomed her entire life for theater and is cast in a leading role opposite her father, Michael, who she hardly knows. The storyline involves nudity and love scenes. I won't write a spoiler and give away the plot, but I will say that Sarah Stuart certainly knows how to weave a web of lies, deceit, heartbreak, forgiveness and healing. If you enjoy a steamy love scene, this book is for you. If you enjoy a plot that takes so many twists and turns that you sometimes aren't quite sure where you are, this is the book for you. Sarah did an excellent job of bringing all of the loose ends of the story full circle with an ending that leaves you sighing with relief, A well written story by an Indie author!

8 people found this helpful

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Lesley Hayes

Operatic, Shakespearean, seductive...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 13, 2018

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Operatic, Shakespearean, seductive, with shades of Greek Tragedy and what Freud boldly named as The Electra Complex, Dangerous Liaisons lives up fully to its title. Having recently enjoyed another of Sarah Stuart’s titles, I felt confident enough to plunge straight in without reading the blurb, and was soon drawn deep into the emotional waters of this novel, fascinated by the authentic voice of history gradually unveiled in The Book of Hours which ran parallel with the unfolding events in present time. It was only in the second act of this drama that the waters became murky, and I had to come up for air and take a gulp or two before returning to the narrative. The story is beguiling, the characters so real you find yourself loving, judging, forgiving and accepting them, despite their questionable choices and their flaws. For personal reasons I found some of the plot hard to swallow, but it didn’t spoil my overall enjoyment of the novel. Sarah Stuart’s writing style is captivating, and she pulls back the curtain to reveal the backcloth of the theatre world and those in power behind the scenes in a way that rings with veracity. I like books that take me into uncharted and sometimes uncomfortable regions, as many of the classics do, causing me to think and evaluate my own moral compass. I particularly like books written by authors who have mastered their craft so well you soon lose sight of the person writing them and enter the world they have created. This is an author who achieves both, and one whose work I’ll be continuing to follow with interest.

3 people found this helpful

Bena Roberts

Backstreet Boys to Queens in books a massive Shakespearean style drama

Reviewed in Germany on June 26, 2018

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Modern Day Shakespeare with regency and love!

What an enjoyable read!
The Back Street boy is Michael. The queen or royal is Lizzie.

The Good
I love the secrecy the book passed down the family and found in the attic. The back story is historical and well thought out. The references to both Macbeth and perfume - were a great mix of the past and the present. Just as the title of the book is.

The Bad
Nothing is like in the movies and the fairytale that I thought we were going to get turned sour. This is like a Shakespearean tragedy as the book passes true time with lots of up and downs.

The Ugly
The titles of the chapters were perfect. I loved them and this really is like a mammoth read and film. It has it all if you love ups, downs, love, drama.

4.5 Stars - I want to find my own book of hours!

Reader of Romance

Fast and Furious

Reviewed in Australia on August 2, 2018

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This is a fast-paced book with lots of twists and turns, so hold on for the ride. Sarah Stuart cleverly entwines a modern day love affair and family saga with the story told in an ancient book, The Book of Hours, which is a legacy passed down through the female line. Some of the sexual content is on the darker side but Sarah writes this with subtlety, which is never graphic and is an integral part of the story. A very original and sophisticated romance.

Stuart Murray

True love doesn’t run smoothly

Reviewed in Canada on February 4, 2015

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True love doesn’t run smoothly, and relationships are complicated, evolving interactions governed by needs, emotions and circumstance. And in Sarah Stuart’s debut novel, Dangerous Liaisons, she explores and presents these aspects of life in a way that is unique, interesting and highly entertaining.
The characters are relatable and Sarah weaves a story linking them in ways that reveal their ambitions, weakness, pleasure and pain. And just as importantly the love and support they offer one another.
Sarah also deals with the issue of forbidden temptation and forbidden love, presenting it in a way that has the pages flying by as hitherto perfect love is put to the test by close, interconnecting relationships crossing boundaries that threaten to ruin not only careers, but friendship and more importantly, family. And she does it all in a crisp, elegant style that is her very own.
I am giving this carefully crafted, well developed, entertaining book 5 well deserved stars.

5 people found this helpful

Deborah Mitton

Wow What A Romance!!

Reviewed in Canada on December 11, 2014

Verified Purchase

(I purchased this novel on Amazon.ca)

I don't normally read romance novels but I am certainly glad that I picked this one up.

It was a really lovely love story until the middle of the book and surprise, surprise it turned into a Greek tragedy or a modern novel by Shakespeare. Without giving away spoilers I can say Sarah touches on topics that many writers would shy away from. That being said Sarah tackled them in an honest, forthright and in your face manner. Bravo!

It is also apparent that the author has a great deal of knowledge of the acting community and how it works.

Enjoyable!!! 5 Stars

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Dangerous Liaisons: The Backstreet Boy and the Royal Heiress (Royal Command Family Saga Book 1) Kindle Edition

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