Prisoner of the Queen Blog Tour: Review

Publication Date: July 2014
Knight Media, LLC
Formats: eBook, Paperback

Series: Tales From the Tudor Court
Genre: Historical Fiction

Synopsis From Goodreads:

I have served three queens in my life. One was my sister, one was my savior, and one my bitterest enemy.

Knowing she was seen as a threat to the Queen she served, Lady Katherine Grey, legitimate heir to the throne, longs only for the comfort of a loving marriage and a quiet life far from the intrigue of the Tudor court. After seeing her sister become the pawn of their parents and others seeking royal power and then lose their lives for it, she is determined to avoid the vicious struggles over power and religion that dominate Queen Elizabeth’s court. Until she finds love—then Kat is willing to risk it all, even life in prison.

 So What Did I Think About The Story?:

There are few things I like better than a well told Tudor historical! There are so many angles to take and interpretations to present that show the many players and many sides in this political viper’s nest. While Jane Grey, the 9 days queen, is a key player in many novels surrounding the Tudor court her younger sisters, Katherine and Mary Grey, are usually relegated to the sidelines. Ms. Knight’s Prisoner of the Queen places Katherine front and center, letting her tell her heavy story of great love and much loss.

I have to say that I could not help but love Katharine! Sweet, generous and often innocently naïve, Katherine wants nothing more than to devote herself to helping others less fortunate and to find a marriage match based in true love and safety, something she has rarely seen among those of her class. But being a princess of the blood means many others – including her own cruel and unloving parents – will use her as a pawn in the dangerous game of power that always looms heavy around the throne. Seeing her sister beheaded by their own cousin, Queen Mary, for doing nothing more than being the unwitting recipient of the crown placed on her head by men who wished to rule through her, Katherine learns quickly she wants nothing of it. But everyone is suspicious of her and she can’t be sure who she can trust as she carefully slides around those jealous of her beauty and kindness, no one more than her other cousin, Queen Elizabeth. But don’t let her kindness deceive you! Katherine’s spine is all steel under her elaborate finery and she will let no one – not even the Queen – keep her from having the true love she finds in Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford.  She will live for her heart, regardless of the consequences. How can you not root for a woman like that?!

Elizabeth is portrayed as a nasty, vengeful young woman and, eventually, Queen. While she seeks the love of her subjects she is refused the passion and love of a man of her own, making her bitter and jealous of anyone else having it. She plays quite the loathsome villain with all her arrogant, vicious and hypocritical ways. I kept thinking a glimmer of heart would shimmer through all that cold and calculation but she proved to be too damaged and scarred to see beyond her selfishness and fear. The gilding on this glamorous court and its people is thoroughly stripped off and what is left is the defensiveness and cunning of a group of people always living on the line between greatness and destruction.

Even with this wonderful character development my favorite aspect of the novel would still be the elaborate descriptive style. The reader is so effectively saturated in period details and descriptions that they can almost hear the wind rustling the elaborately embroidered dresses and feel the abject fear flowing through Katherine’s royal blood. I felt completely transported into her world and wanted her to find the peace and happiness she so longed for – even as I knew her story couldn’t possibly end that way – as if she was a real friend of mine.

Prisoner of the Queen is top shelf historical fiction. Anyone as addicted to Tudor history as I am will love escaping into this heartbreaking yet touching look at a woman taking her own life into her hands and making her own choices despite what tragedies may come.

 

So What Did I Think About The Cover?:

I really like it! While the woman on the cover isn't exactly the picture of Katherine I had in my head I love her dress and the color scheme. I also enjoy the bare wall behind her, making me think of Katherine trapped in the Tower of London.

 

My Rating: 4.5/5.0

 

Thank you to Amy at Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for providing me with a free copy of Prisoner of the  Queen in exchange for an honest review! Be sure to continue below for more information about the author and the book tour.



About The Author

 

E. Knight is a member of the Historical Novel Society, Romance Writers of America and severalwww.historyundressed.com). Under the pseudonym Eliza Knight, she is a bestselling, award-winning, multi-published author of historical and erotic romance.

For more information please visit E. Knight’s website and blog. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

RWA affiliate writing chapters: Hearts Through History, Celtic Hearts, Maryland Romance Writers and Washington Romance Writers. Growing up playing in castle ruins and traipsing the halls of Versailles when visiting her grandparents during the summer, instilled in a love of history and royals at an early age. Feeding her love of history, she created the popular historical blog, History Undressed (

 

Tales From The Tudor Court Series

Book One: My Lady Viper
Book Two: Prisoner of the Queen

Prisoner of the Queen Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, September 15

Review at A Bookish Affair
Review at WTF Are You Reading?

Tuesday, September 16

Review & Giveaway at JulzReads
Review & Giveaway at Luxury Reading

Wednesday, September 17

Review at Just One More Chapter
Spotlight & Giveaway at Passages to the Past

Thursday, September 18
Review at A Chick Who Reads
Spotlight at Historical Fiction Connection

Friday, September 19
Guest Post at What Is That Book About

Monday, September 22
Review at Historical Fiction Obsession
Interview & Giveaway at The Tudor Enthusiast

Tuesday, September 23
Review at Book Nerd
Review at Historical Tapestry

Wednesday, September 24
Review at leeanna.me
Spotlight & Giveaway at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time

Thursday, September 25
Review at CelticLady’s Reviews
Review at Curling Up By the Fire

Friday, September 26
Review & Giveaway at Peeking Between the Pages

Monday, September 29
Review at Book Drunkard
Review at So Many Books, So Little Time

Tuesday, September 30
Review at Flashlight Commentary
Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book

Wednesday, October 1
Review at Caroline Wilson Writes
Review at 100 Pages a Day – Stephanie’s Book Reviews

Thursday, October 2
Review & Excerpt at Romantic Historical Reviews
Review & Giveaway at Luxury Reading

Friday, October 3
Review at The True Book Addict
Review at A Bibliotaph’s Reviews
Review & Giveaway at Broken Teepee



Her Last Assassin by Victoria Lamb: Review and Giveaway

Publication Date: February 27, 2014
Bantam Press
Hardcover; 352p

Synopsis from the book jacket:


Lady-in-waiting Lucy Morgan is once again torn between her dangerous attraction to William Shakespeare and her loyalty to Queen Elizabeth I.

England is facing its gravest threat yet. The Spanish have declared war, and Elizabeth finds herself attacked by sea - and by Catholic conspiracy from within her own court. Master Goodluck goes undercover, tasked with discovering the identity of this secret assassin, leaving his ward Lucy not knowing if the spy is alive or dead.

Meanwhile Queen Elizabeth is growing old in a court of troublesome young noblemen, while Lucy is struggling to love a man whose duties lie elsewhere.

When the final challenge comes, these two women must be ready to face it. But there is one last surprise in store for both of them...

So what did I think about the story?:

Her Last Assassin is the third book in the Lucy Morgan series by Victoria Lamb. Having not read the previous two books in the series I was nonetheless excited to plunge into the Tudor world I so love and can't get enough of. The author does a good job bringing new readers up to speed on the backstories of her characters so that they don't feel too lost by not reading the first two books. However, I do think reading the previous books would have been beneficial as it might have made it easier to fully understand and appreciate the various passionate relationships and vicious rivalries going on. And there are quite a few!

There are four main characters that are all very well developed and intriguing in their own way. Queen Elizabeth is older in this story and is having difficulty balancing the many problems around her - the ongoing Spanish war, the seemingly constant threat of assassins, the pressure on her to name an heir, the stress and jealousy of getting older while the courtiers and ladies around her are young and virile - while still appearing strong and completely in control. She's selfish, vain, hypocritical yet also caring and giving when she wants to be. I loved this aging, unpredictable Elizabeth! Master Goodluck, one of the queen's spies, is constantly searching for would-be assassins and dissenters and trying to balance his duty to the queen and to England with his concern and growing affection for his ward, Lucy Morgan. Lucy is a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth, known for her beautiful voice and dark skin. She spends the novel trying to follow the established rules of conduct for ladies-in-waiting while also trying to hide her passionate love affair with the married playwright William Shakespeare and, towards the end, another man. Shakespeare was my least favorite main character, completely abandoning his family in the country while gallivanting around London doing whatever he pleased. He seems to truly love only himself as  his affections seem easily changeable and he is about as disloyal as they come. He does show glimmers of guilt for his actions from time to time but even those end with him placing blame on someone else for what he does.

The relationships between the various characters kept changing, rather abruptly at times, so that I couldn't help but doubt the true intensity of their feelings for each other. So, while they are all interesting characters on their own I didn't really feel invested in their relationships together. There are two rather odd shifts in relationships that I didn't see coming and, to be honest, didn't really see as beneficial for the story as a whole. Maybe reading the previous two novels would help alleviate some of that confusion, but as it is I wasn't that interested in these shifts of passion.

What really drove the story and kept me turning the pages was the author's wonderful descriptions of the Tudor court and all the glitter and danger that comes with it. I loved the immersion in the intrigue and struggles facing England during this time and seeing how its court and the Queen's council kept transforming and shifting even as Elizabeth tried to keep it as she wanted it. I only hope that there is another book in the series as it leaves off without much resolution for its characters. I would love to see how Ms. Lamb could round out the storylines.

Her Last Assassin is enjoyable historical fiction set during a turbulent time in English history. There was more romance than I typically enjoy but I would definitely be interested in reading any follow up that might give some settlement to the loose ends in the characters lives. Each character's individual plotlines were enjoyable and I would love to see how the author could wrapped them up.

So what did I think about the cover?:    

I think it's beautiful although I don't think it has  much to do with the story. The woman on the front is clearly not Lucy and can't be Elizabeth as she is much older in the book. The only potential assassins mentioned in the story are men so that wouldn't fit either. It's still very eye catching and would be the sort of cover to draw my attention every time.

My rating: 3.0/5.0

It's Giveaway Time!:

I am so happy to be able to offer up one copy of Her Last Assassin for giveaway! It is open worldwide and will run through Sunday, March 9th. To enter, just leave a comment below and I will pick a winner at random on Monday, March 10th. Be sure to leave your email address in the comment so I can notify you if you are the winner (no email address, no entry). For extra entries just share online and leave a separate comment with where you shared and leave a link. Good luck!!!!