title: The Perils of Pursuing a Prince (Desperate Debutantes, Book 2)
author:  Julia London 
description: Bestselling author London works a charming Regency twist on the story of Beauty and the Beast in the second installment of her Desperate Debutantes series, following last year's <i>The Hazards of Hunting a Duke</i>. Impoverished socialite Greer Fairchild has set out for her childhood home in Wales to collect a badly needed inheritance, which is thought to be controlled by the glowering Rhodrick Glendower, earl of Radnor. An unctuous fellow traveler named Owen Percy tells horrifying stories of Rhodrick, known locally as the prince of Powys, and when the pair arrive at his gloomy castle, the hulking Rhodrick confirms Percy's most troubling stories. Domineering, vulgar and possibly even murderous, Rhodrick holds Greer captive until she can produce proof of her identity. Eventually, Percy sets off to get help, and Greer reluctantly settles in, waiting for the letter from London that will validate her claims on the inheritance. As Greer and her host overcome their animosity and succumb to rising passion, further complications arise in a mystery from Greer's past. London's love story is tense and tender, held aloft by endearing, dynamic characters. <i>(May)</i> <br />Copyright  Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  The Perils of Pursuing a Prince
  
  Desperate Debutantes 2
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Julia London
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  One
  
  LLANMAIR  
  WALES, 1820
  
  F or some inexplicable reason, the first thing that occurred to Greer
  Fairchild when three men—robbers, for all she knew—stopped the coach in which
  she and Mr. Percy were traveling was that the death of Mrs. Smithington, to
  whom Greer was a traveling companion, was not only tragic, but extremely
  inconvenient.
  
  They had almost reached the foreboding Llanmair, having lumbered up a rutted
  road for the better part of an afternoon, yet the day’s gloomy light had not
  faded so much that Greer couldn’t distinguish the ancient gray castle from the
  crag on which it sat, rising high above the woods and mountains that
  surrounded it.
  
  It was an imposing structure, four stories high, built with gray stone, and
  anchored by four turrets in each corner. They were so close to the castle!
  They were so close to ending Greer’s ordeal, and now this