A jewel heist romance, but one in which the sophisticated thief is pursued neither by a consulting detective nor an insurance investigator, but by another sophisticated thief. Ever since Arthur Conan-Doyle nailed the former plot device in [b:A Scandal in Bohemia|12990177|A Scandal in Bohemia|Arthur Conan Doyle|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg|18150086] and John McTiernan hit the latter out of the ball park in his 1999 version of "The Thomas Crown Affair", it's been a hard act to follow.

Ms Gaines attempts to put a new spin on this old standard by making one of the thieves a bored aristocrat and the other an impoverished commoner posing as the princess of an improbably named state in central Europe. As other Goodreads reviewers have noted, the concept of an ill-treated governess successfully transforming herself into a princess feted and followed by the bachelors, gossips and wags of the ton opens up too many plot holes and stretches the reader's credulity too far.

I read the book in one sitting. Ms Gaines is nothing if not a consummately skilled writer, and [b:Always a Princess|12356608|Always a Princess|Alice Gaines|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51rGL-Tb8qL._SL75_.jpg|17058847] was a joy to read. The ending, however, had a hurried feel about it, as if the storyteller had a deadline to meet, or was distracted by ideas for future novels. ( )