Holding court in deadly olde England

REVIEWS BY SANDY HUSEBY

The power of the throne wields an exacting price for all within the sphere of its influence—courtiers, counselors, bishops alike—in Philippa Gregory's robust historical novel, The Virgin's Lover. When Elizabeth I becomes queen, Robert Dudley convinces himself that he can juggle two lives—as loving husband of Amy and as willing lover of Elizabeth. He and the new ruler have been friends since childhood, a friendship that even the taint of scandal has not diminished, so Dudley takes his place in the Tudor court as his due. But Elizabeth may no longer be the innocent girl Dudley reveres. Tempered by threats of war and the heightened tension between Protestants and loyal Catholic bishops, the court becomes a place of danger both epic and personal. But it is the untimely and mysterious death of Amy that rips apart Dudley's carefully contrived charade. Gregory has constructed a fascinating speculative history of the age of the first Elizabeth. While steeped in history, The Virgin's Lover highlights the foibles of human nature that still ring true today. A sure winner.


All booked up

In Stella Cameron's Now You See Him, a desperate prisoner's escape unleashes a chain of danger that threatens New Orleans bookshop owner Ellie Byron and challenges Joe Gable, the attorney determined to protect her whether she wants him to or not. Years before, Ellie witnessed a woman's violent death during Mardi Gras. Now the man convicted of that crime torments her—partly because she's not sure he was guilty. As the danger mounts, Ellie realizes that real life is playing out in the same pattern as a series of mystery bestsellers. The newest book in the series, which describes the murder of an eyewitness, seems to reflect the threats that swirl around Ellie. Stella Cameron's contemporary suspense novel sizzles with the steamy heat of New Orleans and plunges its colorful characters into pell-mell action exhilarating as a Mardi Gras parade.


And baby sister makes three

Daddy doesn't necessarily know best, especially when he seems determined to interfere in his youngest daughter's love life. Rachel Lear has her own ideas about love and marriage in Julia London's cheeky peek into the witchy ways of romance, Miss Fortune, the concluding tale in the trilogy of the Lear sisters. Rachel's determination to set her own course to true love is put to the test, however, when Flynn Oliver storms into her life and knocks her well-ordered world into an uproar. She sees Flynn as the knight in shining armor she's always dreamed of. When a series of art thefts ties in too closely with Rachel, she finally realizes that none of the men in her life is quite what he appears to be. Will Flynn win, or will Myron, the down-on-his-luck man from her past, captivate her dreamer's heart? Julia London conjures up a madcap cast of characters worthy of farce, fancy and just plain fun reading.


Truth and consequences

A moment's impetuous decision has lasting consequences for Philip Lyonbridge, who chooses to go to war rather than wed the woman he helped escape from marriage to his brother. The fateful choice he makes leaves Isabella to face consequences of her own in Kate Huntington's Regency delight, A Hero's Homecoming. Overcoming his reputation as a coward and wastrel will take more than heroic war exploits, but Philip's greatest challenge awaits as Isabella contemplates marrying him for the sake of their son, Jamie. It'll be no love match, she vows, even as Philip sets upon a courtship campaign determined to overcome her resistance. Kate Huntington's sparkling tale brings to life an era of mannered sensibilities and a hero's wanderlust tamed by the home fires of true love.


Sandy Huseby reviews from her homes in Fargo, North Dakota, and lakeside in northern Minnesota.

© 2004 ProMotion, inc.
www@bookpage.com