Karin A. (Jerseygirltoo) -
This was a fantastic book! Five stars from me for pure enjoyment and readability. It was a stay-up late page-turner, lots of action and danger, with two really strong main characters. What I loved about them was their total straightforwardness with each other, and their seriousness and dedication to their respective professions. What I adore about the author's concept(it's her first published book) is that she found two real, but not well known, historical figures, John Parker and Susanna Horenbout, who were at Henry VIII's court and actually were married to each other. The details of how they met and their relationship, and the mystery/suspense plot is fiction. But the basic facts of their lives, and the work they did(she was an artist, he was a courtier of the King) is real history!
If I had to nitpick anything, I would say that there is not much development of secondary characters. So it's obvious that the series will continue with more stories about these two, instead of different couples. But the fact that you are always with one or both of the main characters, and there is always something happening, makes for a fast moving story. There's no secondary plots or going off on a tangent.
Now I'm off to buy everything else Michelle Diener has written since this book came out.
If I had to nitpick anything, I would say that there is not much development of secondary characters. So it's obvious that the series will continue with more stories about these two, instead of different couples. But the fact that you are always with one or both of the main characters, and there is always something happening, makes for a fast moving story. There's no secondary plots or going off on a tangent.
Now I'm off to buy everything else Michelle Diener has written since this book came out.
