The Prince's Pregnant Challenge: The Royals of Monaco, #2

By Leslie North

As the eldest daughter in the wealthy LeBlanc family, Liane has been betrothed to the crown prince of Monaco since a young age, but it's another prince who alters the course of her future.

 

Liane LeBlanc thought she had her whole life planned out for her until tall, handsome and supremely annoying Jean-Pierre changes everything. Liane can't stand the cocky, pretentious royal, so she can hardly understand why she harbors a secret attraction to him.  After years of rebuffing the relentless flirt's advances, one night of passion leaves Liane pregnant. With her reputation and her family's future on the line, Liane has no choice but to leave home.

 

Prince Jean-Pierre has been after Liane for years. Something about her beauty, her fire, and her sharp tongue sets him aflame. But when he finally gets her into his bed, he never expected to get her pregnant. To do the right thing, he has Liane come to live with him. But while he finds her more attractive than ever, their personalities continue to clash living under one roof.

 

Can Liane and Jean-Pierre learn to love with an uncertain future and a baby on the way?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Leslie North
• Release date: Oct 31, 2014
• ISBN: 9781501460265

Book preview

1

1 year ago

Ihope he isn’t here again , Liane thought to herself.

Liane LeBlanc arrived at the country club on a sunny Thursday afternoon and frowned at the flurry of activity going on around her. She had been going to the club at the same time every week for several years because it was normally quiet and the perfect time for her to relieve some stress from her princess lessons, as her sister called them.

Betrothed to the Crown Prince of Monaco for the past ten years and preparing to be the Crown Princess took a toll on her. While she understood that this was, a political alliance and not one based on love, the expectations placed upon her at an early age weren’t easy and she had missed having a normal childhood.

Walking into the dressing rooms to change into her riding gear, she overheard the other women talking about Jean Pierre, the queen's nephew. Sighing to herself, he was there today, why couldn’t he come on a different day instead of the one day she had to herself? Everyone was always trying to meet members of the royal family and Jean Pierre’s reputation as a partier made sure that there was always a large crowd of people following him around. Ignoring their chatter, she dressed and headed out to the stables.

Finding her mare, she rubbed her nose while the stable hand helped saddle her. Taking the reins, she walked her out to the yard before mounting her. Turning toward the track, they trotted out to the course and she immediately began to relax.

The afternoon breeze lifted her hair as they broke into a canter and then a gallop. There were days she wished that they could simply jump the fence and run away. Since she was a child, her life was no longer hers to control, which put a tremendous amount of pressure on her in terms of behavior. Seeing her friend Tracey waving at her, she slowed down to speak to her. Friends since they were in primary school and both from powerful families, even if they hadn’t met in school, they would be interacting constantly as they both ran in the same circles.

Jean Pierre is here, and you are out riding? Tracey asked her, as she dismounted.

What else should I be doing? Liane asked. She was out of breath.

You do not want to see?

See what? She wasn’t interested in Jean Pierre. He was a darling with the media and always seemed to have a different woman on his arm. She disliked his playboy attitude and couldn’t understand why he didn’t use his notoriety for something more meaningful.

Oh that's right; you are to wed the Crown Prince. So naturally, you do not desire any other man.

Liane laughed.

I don’t blame you. Prince Louis is very attractive. If I was engaged to him, I wouldn’t be interested in any another man either.

Wishing that were the case, Liane knew better. Their engagement was nothing more than a business transaction between two old families. Even if I wasn’t engaged, Jean Pierre is not my type, she replied.

Tracey frowned. He is everyone's type.

Liane knew she would never win with Tracey. Putting her gloves back on, she mounted her horse. After two more runs around the track, Liane dismounted as she and Tracey headed to the stables. On their way there, they ran into Jean Pierre who was surrounded by his entourage as he led his horse out. Tracey greeted him with a smile, but he didn’t bother to acknowledge her. He was so full of himself and that was what Liane detested most about him.

Admittedly, Jean Pierre was a good-looking man. One of the taller members of his family, he was more than six feet tall and had an average build. His hair was sandy brown and had highlights from spending so much time in the sun. As he smiled at a joke, Liane could see that his smile didn’t make it to his somber grey eyes.

Did he just walk past me without even greeting me? Tracey demanded.

Are you surprised? Liane asked. She shook her head as she hugged Tracey. Don’t take it so hard, he does it to everyone, she told her before she bid her friend farewell and left.

She needed to get back home promptly as there was an important dinner that evening. There was always a function to attend. It had gotten worse now, as her wedding date grew closer. It was exhausting but she couldn’t back out of the marriage. And she knew that she should be excited, this was her wedding day, but she simply couldn’t generate any enthusiasm. It wasn’t that the Crown Prince was undesirable, but other than the time they spent together as children, she didn’t know him for the person he had become other than what everyone else knew about him.

In the ten plus years since this arrangement was made, she had very little interaction with the prince. You would think that if you were going to marry someone, you might at least want to get to know her, but the prince showed very little interest in spending time with her. Sighing, Liane kept reminding herself that this was a political union and while she didn’t love the prince, perhaps in time, she would at least grow fond of him.

She arrived home and rushed upstairs to get dressed for the dinner. She walked into her bedroom, still wrapped in a towel to find her baby sister lying on her bed. Hey, baby girl, Liane said, as she walked to her closet to find something suitable to wear.

Hi, Annie, Macee replied.

Are you staying for dinner?

Definitely not.

Liane smiled. As the youngest, Macee and their mother didn’t see eye to eye on many things and Liane was sure that many of Macee’s antics were designed simply to rub their mother the wrong way. Not that she could blame her. As the oldest and the one betrothed to the Crown Prince of Monaco, the expectations laid upon her at an early age prevented her from living the life she would have preferred. In fact, she was often jealous of her sister’s free spirit. Macee truly hated these dinners their mother organized and Liane didn’t blame her; they were such a bore.

Liane dressed quickly and pinned up her hair before rushing downstairs to meet her parents. Her other sister, Francesca, was also there. Unlike Macee, she always attended the dinners and events her mother organized.

She watched as her mother and father greeted the guests, as they arrived. As the highest-ranking officer in the Compagnie des Carabiniers du Roi, Colonel LeBlanc was an advisor to the king and a long-time friend. While Mrs. LeBlanc introduced everyone, she made a point of reminding her guests that Liane was engaged to the Crown Prince, something that was continually the subject of conversation for their mother.

She nodded politely when yet another one of her mother’s guests vied for her attention. Quickly gathering her thoughts, she responded to the young Italian lord’s comments on the current political issues in his country.

Miss LeBlanc, I am impressed with your breadth of knowledge, the young man continued, as he smiled at her.

As the future Crown Princess of Monaco, it is her job to keep abreast of all current event topics, her mother interrupted as Liane rolled her eyes.

Forcing a smile to her face, Even if I wasn’t betrothed to the Crown Prince, I would still find your country fascinating, she informed him as she contemplated running away to the Italian countryside and leaving all this behind.

2

10 months ago

Liane was counting down the hours until she could go riding again. She needed to release all the stress that had built up inside her over the past week. Charles, the royal tutor, was driving her crazy. She had been training under him for the past ten years and he still treated her as if she was that same eleven-year-old girl all those years ago.

She was finally free of him and off to the country club. Her mother insisted that she have a driver given her pending role as princess and normally, she didn’t mind having a chauffeur as it gave her time