Need to Read #14: To Die For

Title: To Die For

Author: Sandra Byrd

Book blurb: 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.

Quick endorsement: I found the history of the Tudor period simply fascinating, and when I saw this book, the first in the Ladies in Waiting series, I knew I had to give it a try. I wasn’t mistaken. Sandra is adept at writing clean and accurate historical fiction! If Anne Boleyn and Kateryn Parr interest you, try this book and its sequel (Secret Keeper).

Link to review: http://austenitis.blogspot.com/2012/02/to-die-for.html