I HATED this book! I picked it up because I love Phillipa Gregory's Tudor series, but this is nothing like those books. I didn't realize this was book 3 of the series, but it really can be read as a stand alone book if you're so inclined. It just seemed way over the top. She spends so much time describing how everything looks, and if you see past that, you find that there is not much of a story here. Don't waste your time...