To Die For by Sandra Byrd

Meg Wyatt has been Anne Boleyn's closest friend since they grew up together on neighboring manors in Kent. So when twenty-five-year-old Anne's star begins to ascend, of course she takes Meg along for the ride.

Life in the court of Henry VIII is thrilling... at first. Meg is made mistress of Anne's wardrobe, and she enjoys the spoils of this privileged orbit and uses her influence for good. She is young and beautiful and in favor; everyone at court assumes that being close to her is being close to Anne.

But favor is fickle and envy is often laced with venom. As Anne falls, so does Meg, and it becomes nearly impossible for her to discern ally from enemy. Suddenly life's unwelcome surprises rub against the court's sheen to reveal the tarnished brass of false affections and the bona fide gold of those that are true. Both Anne and Meg may lose everything. When your best friend is married to fearsome Henry VIII, you may soon find yourself not only friendless but headless as well.

A rich alchemy of fact and fiction, To Die For chronicles the glittering court life, the sweeping romance, and the heartbreaking fall from grace of a forsaken queen and Meg, her closest companion, who was forgotten by the ages but who is destined to live in our hearts forever.

I am going to start this review by being very honest.  I didn't want to read this book, I mean how many times can one read about Anne Boleyn?  I know her story, who doesn't?  The only reason that I did end up reading this was because I won the sequel to it (thanks to Amy at Passages to the Past).  Every reader knows you can't read the second book in a series until you have read the first, I purchased it.  For that I am extremely grateful.

To me this isn't really about Anne Boleyn, well it is, but it is about friendship, about loyality, its about relationships. How a friend sticks with you through thick and thin, is there for you through the worst that life has to bring, and how much worse can it get then what happened to Anne Boleyn.

Definitely an author I will read more of.

1st Annual Historical Holiday Blog Hop & Giveaway

Welcome to the 1st Annual Historical Holiday Blog Hop hosted by Passages to the Past, running from Dec 10th to the 17th. 

2013 promises to be another great reading for Historical Fiction. These are some of the books that I am looking forward to.

I can't leave out those books that don't have covers yet:
Daughters of the Nile by Stephanie Dray
The Summer Queen by Elizabeth Chadwick
The White Princess by Philippa Gregory
The Empire of the Night by Eva Stachniak
The Last October Sky by Juliet Grey
The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel (#3 of the Wolf Hall series - just discovered that while writing this blog - guess I'd better hurry up and read the first 2)
The Secret History by Stephanie Thornton
Storm Bringers by Philippa Gregory

My giveaway is a preorder of a new release for 2013.  A book of you choice (up to $15), can be from The Book Depository or an ebook from amazon or kobo.  Or if you really don't want to wait till next year you can let me know what you would like. This is open worldwide (whereever Book Depository ships to)

To enter all you have to do is leave me a post telling me your favorite book of 2012 and one you are looking forward to in 2013.

A Dangerous Inheritance by Alison Weir

In this engrossing novel of historical suspense, New York Times bestselling author Alison Weir tells the dramatic intertwined stories of two women—Katherine Grey and Kate Plantagenet—separated by time but linked by twin destinies . . . . involving the mysterious tragic fate of the young Princes in the Tower.

When her older sister, Lady Jane Grey, the Nine Days’ Queen, is executed in 1554 for unlawfully accepting the English crown, Lady Katherine Grey’s world falls apart. Barely recovered from this tragic loss she risks all for love, only to incur the wrath of her formidable cousin Queen Elizabeth I, who sees Katherine as a rival for her insecure throne.

Interlaced with Katherine’s story is that of her distant kinswoman Kate Plantagenet, the bastard daughter of Richard III, the last Plantagenet king. In 1483, Kate travels to London for Richard’s coronation, and her world changes forever.

Kate loves her father, but before long she hears terrible rumors about him that threaten all she holds dear. Like Katherine Grey, she falls in love with a man who is forbidden to her. Then Kate embarks on what will become a perilous quest, covertly seeking the truth about what befell her cousins the Princes in the Tower, who may have been victims of Richard III’s lust for power. But time is not on Kate’s side, or on Katherine’s.

Katherine finds herself a prisoner in the Tower of London, the sinister fortress that overshadowed the lives of so many royal figures, including the boy princes. Will Elizabeth demand the full penalty for treason? And what secrets will Katherine find hidden within the Tower walls?

Alison Weir’s new novel is a page-turning story set within a framework of fascinating historical authenticity. In this rich and layered tapestry, Katherine and Kate discover that possessing royal blood can prove to be a dangerous inheritance.

My second Alison Weir novel, following An Innocent Traitor (which centered on the three Grey sisters).  Even though I knew the outcome of Katherine Grey's life I still wanted to grab her by the arm and tell her to run, run fast and run far.  But alas one cannot change history.

Kate Plantagenet I did not know even existed.  The illegitimate daughter of Richard III. Richard who is rumored to be responsible for the disappearance of his two nephews from the tower. A daughter who didn't want to believe the rumors could be true. The book jumps back and forth between the lives of these two young girls born over 50 years apart.

  I really enjoyed this book, to get a glimpse of the lives of the well known through the lessor known ones.  Even though very little is known about Kate Plantagenet the author wove a very believable, sympatetic story. More is known about Katherine Grey and her family.

Note: An e-copy of this novel was provided to me by the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for a fair and honest review

2013 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

I haven't done a reading challenge is a couple years.  Just discovered this one over at Historical Tapestry. The challenge runs January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2012. There are different levels to sign up for and and I think I'm going to enter in at the Ancient History level (which is 25+ books) because seriously most of my reading is historical fiction.

If there is a negative side (though not really that negative) is that I will get to see what others are reading, and not wanting to miss a good book I imagine my tbr pile will grow in leaps and bounds. 

Each month, a new post dedicated to the HF Challenge will be created. To participate, you only have to follow the rules:

1. Everyone can participate, even those who don't have a blog (you can add your book title and thoughts in the comment section if you wish)

2. Add the link(s) of your review(s) including your name and book title to the Mister Linky we’ll be adding to our monthly post (please, do not add your blog link, but the correct address that will guide us directly to your review)

3. Any kind of historical fiction is accepted (HF fantasy, HF young adult...)

During these following 12 months you can choose one of the different reading levels: 

20th century reader - 2 books
Victorian reader - 5 books
Renaissance Reader - 10 books
Medieval - 15 books
Ancient History -25+ books
 

1st Annual Historical Holiday Blog Hop

Calling all fans of Historical Fiction and blogs!  Beginning December 10th to the 17th, Amy and Passages to the Past will be hosting  The First Annual Historical Holiday Blog Hop!  

 So many authors are involved and as well as lots of of bloggers, too.  

The list of books on the grand prize page is a book lovers dream.

 

I will be participating with a giveaway (international) with one of my favorite Historical Fiction books (having a little trouble right now though deciding which one).

Be sure to come back and check it out.

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

1961 England. Laurel Nicolson is sixteen years old, dreaming alone in her childhood tree house during a family celebration at their home, Green Acres Farm. She spies a stranger coming up the long road to the farm and then observes her mother, Dorothy, speaking to him. And then she witnesses a crime.

Fifty years later, Laurel is a successful and well-regarded actress, living in London. She returns to Green Acres for Dorothy’s ninetieth birthday and finds herself overwhelmed by memories and questions she has not thought about for decades. She decides to find out the truth about the events of that summer day and lay to rest her own feelings of guilt. One photograph, of her mother and a woman Laurel has never met, called Vivian, is her first clue.

The Secret Keeper explores longings and dreams, the lengths some people go to fulfill them, and the strange consequences they sometimes have. It is a story of lovers, friends, dreamers and schemers, play-acting and deception told against a backdrop of events that changed the world.

 I received a copy of this from the publisher via Kate Morton's facebook page, which is also the cover pictured above.

Kate Morton has written a book that grabbed my attention with the prologue and really didn't let go until the last page. It was a book that I enjoyed so much that I savored it.  I didn't rush through it, but enjoyed the process.  I learned about Dorothy, Vivian and Jimmy.  I learned about their dreams, ambitions, struggles and fears during war torn England.  It was a book that was so smooth, all the dots connected nicely and an ending that I will admit didn't see coming.

Ever since The Forgotten Garden I have been a fan, then came The House at Riverton and it reminded me why Kate is a favorite of mine, now add this book and I am hooked.  Though I must say that the author does have her hands full topping this one, definitely a 5+ rating for me.

In My Mailbox

In My Mailbox is a cute meme hosted by The Story Siren and I love it.

I was away for the past 10 days, so the damage was minimal.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn - This was suppose to arrive before I left and would read on my trip, but alas it was not to be.  Having read so many good things about this book I am really hoping my expectations aren't too high.

The Queen's Secret by Victoria Lamb - never read anything by this author but I keep seeing her name buzzing around Goodreads and blogs.  Picked this up at Heathrow Airport

The Traitor's Wife by Susan Higginbotham - again another author I want to start reading.

This was an ebook purchased, on sale 80% off, how could I resist?

Wish there were more hours in a day.

In My Mailbox

Daughters of Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt (I have heard so about about this author lately and was lucky enough to find this book at my favorite thrift shop)

The Queen's Pawn by Christy English (closeoutbooks.com is right around the corner from my place)

Arthur - King of the Middle March by Kevin Crossley-Holland

Arthur - The seeing Stone by Kevin Crossley-Holland

Becoming Marie Antoinette by Juliet Grey (I received the second book in series from Netgalley, so need to read the first one first)

The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani (love the cover)

The Lady's Slipper by Deborah Swift (another thrift shop find)

The Assassin's Wife by Moonyeen Blakey

Second Sight is dangerous... Nan's visions of two noble boys imprisoned in a tower frighten her village priest. The penalty for witchcraft is death. Despite his warnings, Nan's determination to save these boys launches her on a nightmare journey. As fifteenth-century England teeters on the edge of civil war, her talent as a Seer draws powerful, ambitious people around her. Not all of them are honourable. Twists of fate bring her to a ghost-ridden house in Silver Street where she is entrusted with a secret which could destroy a dynasty. Pursued by the unscrupulous Bishop Stillington, she finds refuge with a gypsy wise-woman, until a chance encounter takes her to Middleham Castle. Here she embarks on a passionate affair with Miles Forrest, the Duke of Gloucester's trusted henchman. But is her lover all he seems?

"The author reveals through a vivid, gripping narrative the fear, violence and chaos of that time. Will the assassin's wife have the power to alter the course of history? Read this book and find out."

".a vivid and visceral journey into the darkest hearts of men during the Wars of the Roses... An incredible, unforgettable story, surely made for the screen. Moonyeen Blakey is a major new talent to watch."

Debut author Moonyeen Blakey is a force to be reckoned with.  She has taken a young girl named Nan, someone very likeable, someone that I immedately felt for, and placed her in a dangerous world.   A girl with visions, rejected by her own family and the community, with only a priest that listened to her and actually believed what she was saying.

An original story that brought an interesting view of the War of the Roses and the mystery surrounding the  Princes in the Tower.  I really like a story that does not focus on the main players but with background ones, in this case a fictional one along with main (real) players (Anne Neville being one, I had to read The Kingmaker's Daughter by Philippa Gregory as soon as I finished this book).

Definitely a author that I will be reading more of.

 

A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

Mattie Gokey has a word for everything. She collects words, 

stores them up as a way of fending off the hard truths of her life, the truths that she can't write down in stories.
The fresh pain of her mother's death. The burden of raising her sisters while her father struggles over his brokeback farm. The mad welter of feelings Mattie has for handsome but dull Royal Loomis, who says he wants to marry her. And the secret dreams that keep her going--visions of finishing high school, going to college in New York City, becoming a writer.
Yet when the drowned body of a young woman turns up at the hotel where Mattie works, all her words are useless. But in the dead woman's letters, Mattie again finds her voice, and a determination to live her own life.
Set in 1906 against the backdrop of the murder that inspired Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy, this coming-of-age novel effortlessly weaves romance, history, and a murder mystery into something moving, and real, and wholly original.

Hardcover, 389 pages

Published April 1st 2003 by HMH Books for Young Readers 

personal library

*****

Jennifer Donnelly became a favorite author of mine when I read Revolution and she delivered again with A Northern Light.  A wonderful coming of age book that I couldn't put down.  Any book that involves books in the story is a bonus too.  Through the voice of Mattie I just couldn't help but feel for her and what life has delivered her.  Set in 1906 women really didn't have much of a say in the direction their life would take.  Add a mother's death, younger siblings, dreams that she was fighting to keep alive, plus throw in a possible murder mystery and what do you get?  A book that kept me up and never wanting it to end, in fact I wish there was a sequel, that's how sad I was to see it end.