Historical Fiction Recommendation's

 This is a genre that I kind of always go back to, it doesn't matter what I read I always gravitate towards a historical book in form or another, so here are 10 books or series that I love....

1 - Outlander - Diana Gabaldon

I found this series in 2017, but i didn't start reading it until 2018, I am still chugging through it, it's a long one but it is so enjoyable and it's easy to lose yourself in this series.

2 - War's of the Roses' Series - Con Iggulden 

This is one of the first series that got me into the War's of the Roses era, it's so fascinating and it's also very well written unlike some i could mention.

3 - Parasol Protectorate - Gail Carriger 

This is a paranormal historical fiction but it is one that I absolutely love, it's set in Victorian London and full of amazingness. 

4 - Game of Thrones - George R.R Martin 

Does this really need explaining. 

5 - Devil's Consort - Anne O'Brien

This is a book about Eleanor of Aquitaine, it's so good, all of her books are but this the first i read from this author and it stuck with me. 

 

6 - Poldark - Winston Graham 

This is a series set in 18th Century Cornwall in England and it is full of intrigue and if you have watched the BBC series then this is a must read. 

7 - The Confession of Catherine Howard - Suzannah Dunn

I was around 14 or 15 when i read this book but it has stuck with me, it tells the story of the Catherine we know the least about, it is very good, and i highly recommend it. 

8 - To Defy a King - Elizabeth Chadwick 

This is another book that i loved, when i first read it, this is about the daughter of William Marshal one of the best Knight's in English history, but it's full of drama and it's just a very well written book. 

9 - Six Queens Series - Alison Weir

Sometimes i feel that the Six queens are overdone, but this series puts a new spin on them that no one else has thought of, and for that it is the most superior of Tudor fiction. 

10 - Diary of Anne Frank - Anne Frank 

I Feel that this is a must read for anyone, it is real and these events actually happened, i personally think that everyone should read this book to understand the history of what was going on. 

Renaissance - The Fall and Rise of a King - Marla Skidmore

Title - Renaissance - The Fall and Rise of a King
Author - Marla Skidmore (Twitter)
ISBN - 9781912183296
Genre - Historical Fiction 
My Copy - Purchased
Format - Softcopy 
Where You Can Find It - Goodreads - Amazon UK - Amazon US - Amazon CA -  Barnes & Noble - Book Depository 

The Plain of Redemore, 22nd August 1485

Richard III - betrayed and defeated!
His gaze sweeps over the bloody carnage surrounding him. A cry goes up: "We have found the king!" He sees Henry Tudor standing triumphant over a mauled and battered corpse and hears him whisper, "It is done. England is mine."

How can this be, when he is not dead?

With the help of his celestial mentor Father Gilbert, a Franciscan monk, Richard will learn that malign Tudor propaganda has not reigned supreme and that history did not entirely paint him as the child-killer king.

Will he grasp the chance of renaissance and exit the spiritual purgatory that has held him hostage for more than half a millennium?

"After Tewkesbury I murdered Henry VI and his son Edward Lancaster. I executed my brother Clarence - drowning him in a butt of Malmsey. I usurped England's throne to which i had no right. I killed my nephews. I poisoned my wife in order to incestuously marry my niece. My place in history is amongst the most reviled and evil villain's that ever existed. How can someone whose reputation is so mired in infamy find peace in heaven?"

Quote from Chapter 6 page 42

So first off let me start by saying that i am not a huge fan of Richard III and my opinion of him isn't the greatest since Henry VII is my personal favourite King in England's history but this book made me like Richard, with the way this book is written Skidmore tells the tale of a new version with Richard looking back on the few years he was King. 

Richard in this book kind of reminds me of the Richard from horrible histories (If you don't know what i am talking about click here) he has compassion, and he is not the monster that is mostly portrayed in books and TV, don't get me wrong i still am a firm believer that the best person won on the day but now i can understand Richard a bit more than i did before. 

The development of Richard's character was really good, he starts of this downtrodden, sad, and then he grows as he learns of his fate, i enjoyed this book immensely i love Marla Skidmore's writing she has a way with words that make you need to read more and more and not put the book down i was gripped from the very first page and it had me all the way to the end. 

This book is a true and wonderful Historical Fiction, it isn't filled with fairy tales, it isn't filled with boring facts and written like a biography, it is written in a way that is very hard to do, and my only complaint was that it is only 171 pages long, i wished it had been longer maybe to 250 pages but other than that i loved this book, and i cannot wait to read more of Skidmore's writing. I am so glad i went to the Bosworth Anniversary Weekend and found this Author and her book because it has become one of my favourites from this particular era and i can't wait for the next book which i believe is about Sir Francis Lovell, but for now if Historical fiction is something that you enjoy then you will enjoy this book completely and i highly recommend it. 

Until Next Time 

Happy Reading 

Jade 

🌹🌹🌹🌹

(there was no white roses)

Victoria - Daisy Goodwin

Title - Victoria
Author - Daisy Goodwin
ISBN - 9781250045461
My Copy - Purchased
Format - Paperback
Genre - Historical Fiction
Where You Can Find It - Goodreads - Waterstones - Barnes & Noble - Indigo - Book Depository - Amazon UK - Amazon US

In 1837, less than a month after her eighteenth birthday, Alexandrina Victoria – sheltered, small in stature, and female – became Queen of Great Britain and Ireland. Many thought it was preposterous: Alexandrina — Drina to her family — had always been tightly controlled by her mother and her household, and was surely too unprepossessing to hold the throne. Yet from the moment William IV died, the young Queen startled everyone: abandoning her hated first name in favor of Victoria; insisting, for the first time in her life, on sleeping in a room apart from her mother; resolute about meeting with her ministers alone.

One of those ministers, Lord Melbourne, became Victoria’s private secretary. Perhaps he might have become more than that, except everyone argued she was destined to marry her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. But Victoria had met Albert as a child and found him stiff and critical: surely the last man she would want for a husband….

So even if this review is technically spoiler free it is a book based off of a TV show and so i am going to try to talk about the actual storyline as little as possible. 

I loved the TV show and pre ordered this book but then i didn't read it right away, i read it about three months later, i did that for a specific reason and that was to actually distance myself from the TV show and read it as a book alone, but that was pretty much impossible even after the three months so i would say if you have seen the show then you are going to feel like you have deja vu a lot. I do however recommend reading the book before watching the show just because then you are not anticipating everything that is going to happen. 

Historically, there isn't much stock in most of the 'love' storyline and that was brought up vehemently among Historical fanatic's and that puts me on the back foot because i personally didn't like that 'Love' story when i saw it played out on screen because for me Albert and Victoria's marriage and happiness and he was not a second choice.  

There is a lot more detail in the book, but it ends before the series does, so that annoyed me and it was the main reason i gave it 4 instead of 5, i feel like it ends so prematurely. It just needed some more to finish it off properly.   

On the other hand Goodwin's writing was truly brilliant, and i do want to read more from her in the future just nothing based off of a real person.

** This should have gone up on Wednesday, but i was ill so it is going up now along with another post. 

Until Next Time

Happy Reading

Imprudence - Gail Garriger

Title - Imprudence
Author - Gail Carriger
Series - The Custard Protocol #2
ISBN - 9780316212212
Genre - Adult > Steampunk
My Copy - Purchased
Format - Paperback
Where You Can Find It - Goodreads - Waterstones - Barnes & Noble - Indigo - Book Depository - Amazon UK - Amazon US 

London is in chaos.
Rue and the crew of The Spotted Custard returned from India with revelations that shook the foundations of the scientific community. There is mass political upheaval, the vampires are tetchy, and something is seriously wrong with the local werewolf pack. To top it all off, Rue’s best friend Primrose keeps getting engaged to the most inappropriate military types.
Rue has got personal problems as well. Her vampire father is angry, her werewolf father is crazy, and her obstreperous mother is both. Worst of all, Rue’s beginning to suspect what they all really are… is frightened.
When the Custard is ordered to Egypt, transporting some highly unusual passengers, Rue’s problems go from personal to impossible. Can she get Percy to stop sulking? Will she find the true cause of Primrose’s lovesickness? And what is Quesnel hiding in the boiler room?

Even though i pre ordered this book, i wasn't sure i even wanted to read it, because i really didn't like the first book in this series i couldn't get into it and didn't really understand what was going on but i decided for my love of the Parasol Protectorate series i would carry on with this series and i am so glad that i did because it definitely got better than the first book. 

Imprudence had so much drama and action in it, and also a lot of love and tender family moments. The characters have come a long way since the first book they are more rounded and have been written better than before. Every character brought something to this book be an antagonist, a love interest, or a rival i finished this book in a couple of hours once i started reading i couldn't put it down. 

We go back to Egypt in this book the last time we were in Egypt was the last book in the Parasol Protectorate series and it was good to be back there was also some old faces, and some old enemies as well. There was so much packed into this tiny little book, and there was a lot of drama and craziness and one very awkward talk about sex between Alexia and Rue. 

The characters were as per usual were brilliantly written and they all added something to the book and it was good to have Lord Maccon and Alexia back in the series and the see the relationship between Rue and Quesnel grow as well. 

I am so glad this book was better than the first because if it wasn't i would not carry on with this series but now i need the next book now and i hope it will be even better than this book.

Until Next Time

Happy Reading

Jasper - Tony Riches

Title - Jasper
Author - Tony Riches
Series - The Tudor Trilogy #2
ISBN - 9781530642625
Genre - Biographical Fiction
My Copy - Purchased
Format - Kindle
Where You Can Find It - Goodreads - Barnes & Noble - Book Depository - Amazon UK - Amazon US

England 1461: The young King Edward of York has taken the country by force from King Henry VI of Lancaster. Sir Jasper Tudor, Earl of Pembroke, flees the massacre of his Welsh army at the Battle of Mortimer’s Cross and plans a rebellion to return his half-brother King Henry to the throne. 
When King Henry is imprisoned by Edward in the Tower of London and murdered, Jasper escapes to Brittany with his young nephew, Henry Tudor. Then after the sudden death of King Edward and the mysterious disappearance of his sons, a new king, Edward’s brother Richard III takes the English Throne. With nothing but his wits and charm, Jasper sees his chance to make young Henry Tudor king with a daring and reckless invasion of England. 

Set in the often brutal world of fifteenth century England, Wales, Scotland, France, Burgundy and Brittany, during the Wars of the Roses, this fast-paced story is one of courage and adventure, love and belief in the destiny of the Tudors. 

I read the first book Owen a couple of months ago and i have been meaning to read this for a while but i wasn't sure i wanted to but i have been reading a lot about Henry Vii recently and now realise i need to read this book and i read this book in one sitting and didn't get to sleep till around three AM just because i needed to finish this book. 

I loved every single character in this book there were so many but i loved most of them and i love the fact the the author doesn't by into the old stereotypes about the different characters because it is good to see something different. Jasper was very well written and you could just imagine this being the real Jasper Tudor and all of the characters added something to this book be it angst or love every single character was well written and none of them are forgettable.

This book is set in probably the most violent part of The Wars of the Roses so there is some violence and there is implied sex but you never actually read any which is surprising refreshing for a adult historical fiction. This book is set in so many places its hard to keep up its in England, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, and France. The story flowed of the page and was written in a way that it felt like a film in my head and that is always an amazing experience when that happens. I highly, highly, recommend this series so far it seems that the books are getting better as they go one so i now have very high expectations for the third and final book Henry. 

Until Next Time

Happy Reading

The Virgin Queen's Daughter - Ella March Chase

Title - The Virgin Queen's Daughter
Author - Ella March Chase
ISBN - 9781785034275
Genre - Adult > Historical Fiction
My Copy - Purchased
Format - Paperback
Where You Can Find It - Goodreads - Waterstones - Barnes & Noble - Book Depository - Amazon UK - Amazon US

It is a place where reputations can stand or fall on the merest hint of scandal. Lingering rumours even surround the Virgin Queen herself, despite the fate of those foolish enough to besmirch her reputation.
Recently arrived in court, Nell de Lacey is surprised to discover that many think she bears more than a passing resemblance to the younger queen. That, coupled with an old mystery about a missing portion of the Queen's past some years prior, is enough to set tongues wagging. And wherever the truth lies, even the rumour is sufficient to place Nell on a dangerous path that could all so easily end with her head on a block... 

I never expected to like this book as much as i did, it had me hooked from page one. It was intriguing and very well written, the characters and the story came to life. I loved this because it was a tale of lies, suspicion, love, family, and friendship. 

Nell was an amazing character with everything thing she deals with, and everything thrown at her with her attitude and her love of learning in a time when Gentle women were meant to bear children and run the household. She has to survive in a situation that could very well be the death of her.
The other characters were also really good from Gabriel and Mary to Queen Elizabeth And Dudley just made the book what it was. They were all brilliantly written, every single character in this book made it a fun reading experience.

The story was one that has been dabbled in but never really delved into, its a tiny bit of information that may not even be about Elizabeth I, but there is such a question mark to the time she spent 'ill' in bed after being sent away from Katherine Parr. It was very well written and probably one of my favourite books set in the Elizabethan period and the fact that the two main characters are fictional makes it even better because you don't have the truth or the proof of what really happened and you can let your imagination run wild.

Until Next Time

Happy Reading

Ravenspur - Conn Iggluden

Title - Ravenspur
Author - Conn Iggulden
Series - Wars of The Roses #4
ISBN - 9780718181420
Genre - Adult > Historical Fiction
My Copy - Purchased
Format - Hardback
Where You Can Find It - Goodreads - Waterstones - Book Depository - Amazon UK - Amazon US

This novel from bestselling author Conn Iggulden is the fourth book in the critically acclaimed Wars of the Roses series. Following Stormbird, Trinity and Bloodline this novel will continue through the brutal Civil War that we now know as the Wars of the Roses.

*** DISCLAIMER *** 
This is a spoiler free review but some the only thing i will be "spoiling" will be history i have a belief and that is if it is history i will say it and it isn't a spoiler, but i wont spoil the story or any twist and turns

I loved this book, it is on par with my favourite book in this series (Book #3 Bloodline), it was an amazing end to a fantastic series, that is probably my favourite Historical Series of all time. 

Again it had all of the characters POV's and i loved how it started and Finished with Jasper Tudors POV, because it just seemed fitting. This was also a different take on Edward IV & Elizabeth Woodvilles marriage one i personally haven't seen before and i loved the different take on it. Richard III as well hew wasn't evil like in Shakespeare or a hero like in Philippa Gregory's books, he was in between and that is probably the most truthful portrayal. Henry Tudor was also a very good portrayal as well, he was portrayed as a quiet and smart and calculating, again a very true to life portrayal. 

I feel like because it covered 15 years and it was only 453 pages long it did leave quite a bit out, like it had to skip a couple of years here and there but since i know the time line pretty much of by heart this didn't bother me so much. But at the same time, it flowed perfectly.

I liked where the book ended but i would have liked to see Henry VII and Elizabeth of York meeting or getting married, i really want him to do a continuation series on the early Tudors. Iggulden is such an amazing author and this series was a journey from the very first page to the very last.

Until Next Time

Happy Reading

   

That's What He Said Thursday's - Henry VIII - 12th May 2016

That's What He Said Thursdays was Created by Chapter Break and it is pretty much just a appreciation post for your favourite Male Protagonist's quotes to his girl.

I never thought i would have this Man in this list because he is known to be a tyrannous ruler but in the book i read last month he really did love his first wife, until circumstances ......

Henry VIII

The True Queen = Alison Weir

I desire you above all women, i love you,  and i have longed to Wed you for yourself.

Until Next Time

Happy Reading

 

Katherine of Aragon - The True Queen - Alison Weir

Title - Katherine of Aragon: The True Queen
Author - Alison Weir
Series - Six Tudor Queen's #1
Genre - Adult > Historical Fiction
Release Date - UK - 5th May 2016 -- US - 31st May 2016
My Copy - ARC
Format - Kindle
Where You Can Find It - Goodreads - Waterstones - Barnes & Noble - Book Depository - Amazon UK - Amazon US

Since two years of age Catalina of Aragon has known that she is to become Queen of England. In 1501 her destiny starts as the wife of The Prince of Wales, Arthur Tudor. But he is not what she was expecting and when the Wheel of Fortune spins and she is plunged into a life of poverty and destitute Then the Wheel turns again and her life is back on track then the wheel turns a final time it will change the course of English History forever.

This may be a long one since i have like 15 pages of notes to go through, so have this book pre ordered anyway as i am going to a talk about this book at Hampton Court Palace on the 9th May 2016 and i have read only one book by this author but i really enjoyed it and her writing so when i heard she was bringing this series out i was very excited. And it didn't disappoint.

So lets start with part 1 which is called The Princess from Spain, in this part we get to meet a lot of the characters for the first time. From Henry VII to The Duke of York, Prince Harry & also Catalina's Court of Spanish People. My personal favourite part of this chapter was meeting Elizabeth of York Katherine's Mother in Law and my personal favourite Queen Consort in English History, the way she was written like calling Harry a rouge and you can just imagine her being one of those mothers that are like Boys will be Boys. Katherine is in a strange Country with a different language and strange food with everything she is put through after the death of her husband after only a few short months of marriage she becomes a widow at the age of sixteen, with no family and no friends to help her find a place in the world she must rely on her Father in Law who is known for being tight fisted, and he gets extremely worse when Elizabeth his wife and true love Dies he becomes bitter and Katherine becomes just something else to deal with. We don't see much of Harry in the beginning of this part just a few bits here and there but towards the end he is in a few more times but even then because Henry VII is keeping Katherine away we don't see much of him or know of his character. But we definitely get to see more of that in part two, Harry then becomes King Henry VIII but not the tyrant we all know now he is nicer, kinder, more chivalrous and treats Katherine the way she deserves. 

Part Two: Queen of England, was my favourite part of this book it had the best part of their relationship but also the worse and it really showed their marriage for what it was a loving one in the beginning and then it turned into the car crash we know it to be today, so we start with the wedding night and it is a very different Henry than what we think of him now and we only really start getting to that Henry towards the end of Part Two also in this section we are introduced to 3 of her successors Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour & Katherine Parr, we also see Katherine go through so many miscarriages and still Born's it is very emotional and very hard hitting because you can feel the pain she and Henry are going through every time another of their children passes away. and we also see the beginning of the relationship between Henry & Anne and i can honestly say i have always loved Anne Boleyn but this book actually made me dislike her  i have never really read it from Katherine's POV before but know that i have i realised what a piece of work that woman was. 

Part Three: The True Queen, this is my least favourite of the parts only because it seemed to drag on and didn't seem to go anywhere, it was a lot of Anne is acting as if she is already Queen and Henry being really inconsiderate not only to Katherine but the the Girl who he called the Pearl of his life his daughter Mary. This part also sees Henry separating from Rome and changing the course of English religion forever. Even after leaving Katherine he still kept twisting the knife and it was heart breaking to read how devoted she was to him even with everything that he did to her. This book ends with the end of Kate's life it is a lovely scene where she is falling and she sees her children's arms reaching for her. 

I enjoyed this book, it was a tad too long for me some of it could have been cut out it bits that didn't permit to the story also it was a smidgen too slow also, but the bits that were good were really good, and i cannot wait for the rest of the series because Weirs writing and these Queens are a match made in Heaven.

Until Next Time

Happy Reading

Owen - Tony Riches

Title - Owen
Author - Tony Riches
Series - The Tudor Trilogy #1
ISBN - 9781502901019
Genre - Historical Fiction
My Copy - Purchased
Format - Kindle
Where You Can Find It - Goodreads - Barnes & Noble - Book Depository - Amazon UK - Amazon US

 England 1422: Owen Tudor, a Welsh servant, waits in Windsor Castle to meet his new mistress, the beautiful and lonely Queen Catherine of Valois, widow of the warrior king, Henry V. Her infant son is crowned King of England and France, and while the country simmers on the brink of civil war, Owen becomes her protector. They fall in love, risking Owen’s life and Queen Catherine’s reputation—but how do they found the dynasty which changes British history – the Tudors?

 This book tells the story of Owen Tudors life from 20 years old to 60 years old and his life was a eventful one a welsh servant to the wife of a French Princess and Queen Dowager. It was a good book i am not discrediting it at all and i will get into why i didn't enjoy it at times in a moment first i will tell you all about what was good ....

The characters in the beginning were a tad bland but towards the end, like when he is talking to his son about their illegitimate children it is just something that you can imagine happening and it was a strange kind of beautiful moment that you smile at. Catherine was a minor character really to be honest Juliette was more of a character than Catherine was and the fact that Catherine is his wife you would think that we would have more than what we did, but again i cant fault them because you see in the small amount of this book that is dedicated to them we see the love and respect they have for each other. The minor characters were at times confusing because of the Time jumps (i will get to those in a moment) characters aren't the same as they were in the last chapter, but you forget that and it does get confusing so i didn't pay much attention to the minor characters. 

I enjoyed how Historically Accurate it could be with the blank spaces in history but what we do know is in there and that is always a huge plus for me. And the fact that there were no NSFW scenes (Sex Scenes) i mean it was implied but nothing graphic and it was a nice change to read an adult Historical Fiction and not have a Sex Scene in every chapter.

Onto to the things i didn't like it felt like non fiction because it was so clinical there wasn't really any feeling behind Owen and that showed a lot and i guess if you are a man reading this it might not bother you but i am a romantic who loves to read about emotion in men even if its hidden but there was none in this book i hope we get some in Jasper and definitely hope we get some  Henry because i don't think i would be able to deal with it if we don't.
Also the time jumps it got pretty annoying to be honest i just gave up trying to figure out what year it was because sometimes it would skip in the middle of a chapter and not tell you. 

So overall i pushed through all of my problems with this book and in the end i did enjoy it it was a good and substantial Historical Fiction and i cant wait to carry on with this series.

Until Next Time

Happy Reading

Elizabeth & The Prince of Spain - Margaret Irwin - Spoiler Free Review

Title - Elizabeth & The Prince of Spain
Author - Margaret Irwin
Series - The Elizabeth Trilogy / Good Queen Bess Trilogy #3 
ISBN - 9780749012625
Genre - Adult > Historical Fiction
My Copy - Purchased
Format - Paperback
Where You Can Find It - Goodreads - Waterstones - Barnes & Noble - Book Depository - Amazon UK - Amazon US

 The final book in the Elizabeth Trilogy is an epic conclusion to the early life of Queen Elizabeth I, but Philip Prince of Spain doesn't not wish to make it easy for her to he has been warned about his Wife's half sister she is a heretic, a rebel and a potential enemy but there is something abut her, something that makes him want her near him even if she is a heretic she is an alluring Heretic.
Elizabeth is accused of Treason and the only person who can keep her from the Tower is her sisters husband but that will endure the wrath of Bloody Mary, can Elizabeth survive to take the throne and rule as a Queen in her own right as well as making sure Philip doesn't over step out of bounds.

So before i start i will say this is the best in the series by a mile, it didn't have the whiny characters like in the previous two books, and the characters seem to be acting their age and that was my biggest problem in the other books and that was solved and that is one of the main reasons this ended up with 4 stars and not 5. 

I did still have a couple minor problem but i just ignored them, and that is the fact we didn't see Elizabeth for the first 100pgs its all about Philip and i not sure how i feel about that he was a good character and i enjoyed reading his POV, but i love reading from Bess' more. Mary's character was as pathetic as usual and that makes me sad because i wish that for once we would get a strong woman like her Mother and Grandmothers. Bess on the other hand has really grown since the first book and that was amazing to see i hated her in the first book and now you cant start to see the Queen she becomes inside of her waiting to burst out. 

I liked the story there really wasn't much of one it was more Elizabeth trying to survive and Philip trying to get her to have sex with him. But what storyline there was it did flow pretty well and is one of the best series i have read in the Tudor Genre so for that I commend it since stories about Elizabeth I normally only keep my attention for the first book. but this entire series was enjoyable and some of the best historical fiction and it feels timeless when your are reading it you would never guess that it was first published in 1953 so i really hope you give this series a try it is one of the best i have read. 

Until Next Time

Happy Reading

The Queen's Choice - Anne O'Brien - Spoiler Free Review

Title - The Queen's Choice
Author - Anne O'Brien
ISBN - 9781848454071
Genre - Adult > Historical Fiction
My Copy - Purchased
Format - Hardback
Where You Can Find It - Goodreads - Waterstones - Book Depository - Amazon UK

Joanna must choose, her family and country or King Henry IV and England choosing one means she must leave her children behind and choosing the other means she will forever be unhappy. After making her choice Joanna must stumble through the life she has made for herself and the consequences of her actions and the people around hers actions as well the English will never accept a French bride let alone a Breton so will she make the right choice for her and everyone around hers sanity or will she throw it all in, in the name of love and lust.

I am not entirely sure how i feel about this book, at times i am really happy about how this story is portrayed then other times not so much, and at times it was confusing and not very clear. I definitely over looked that because i always fall in love with O'Brien writing and it draws you in, and keeps you hooked for the entire book.

The characters were good my only tiny mark down were there was just so many it got confusing at time, and also many of them had the same names it is nothing to do with the author since that is the way it was back then but just going in know you are going to have to pay attention to who's who. I like Joanna as a main character she was a very strong female lead for this time era and the male characters were all very different her first husband to Henry IV were complete opposites, and it seemed like all the men were contradictions of each other. 

The story was good and Anne O'Brien tells amazing stories and has such amazing world building it makes you feel like you are right there back in the 15th century but i would have liked a little bit more, but really only on emotions and not much else. It was very sad and emotional, i could never do what she had to do and O'Brien wrote this perfectly. What i love about O'Brien's writing is that even though this is an adult Historical Fiction she doesn't go for the Romance & Sex angle. There is romance but sex is not a huge part of it like it is in so many other AHF's novels. I have so far loved every book i have read by her and i cant wait to read more about the woman history forgot.

My only couple of marks down is the ending was very anti-climactic, it was amazing up until the last about 50 pages and then it sort of tailed off, not the best ending because it leaves you feeling unsatisfied and that isn't very fun when you have been reading this book for a while and the ending isn't memorable, and to go with that there were periods of this book that nothing really happened then it felt like at other times too much was happening it was very hard to find a balanced section where just the right amount of stuff was going on to be able to follow it. 

I really did enjoy this book it was good, sad, and happy all rolled into one. I cant wait to read more from this author. 

Until Next Time

Happy Reading