Blog Tour: Roses Have Thorns

Author: Sandra Byrd

Genre: Life, history…which sounds boring, but isn’t.

Series: Ladies in Waiting

Number in series: 3^rd

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 9.5

Type: Historical fiction

Number of pages: 317

Time period: 1564-1603

Publisher and price: Howard Books (a division of Simon and Schuster), $14.99

My overall opinion: Oh, it was good! It was so much fun (and so interesting) to get to know Queen Elizabeth I a little better. I really did feel like I knew her pretty well by the end. And I love the cover too – more in person than online. The purple and gold are very stunning, and the entire trilogy looks so lovely all together on my shelf! Elin/Helena, the main heroine, is a lady in waiting to Elizabeth I and turned out to be a fascinating woman to “journey” with through this book, as she was telling the story herself (does that make sense?). I’m definitely sorry to see this series end – they are the best Tudor era fiction I’ve found. However, I do recommend them mostly for about age 16+ as they do occasionally deal with some more mature content – nothing explicit though.

The characters were all quite understandable and believable; perhaps the Queen most of all. At the beginning and end of the book are several informative family trees, plus an author’s note to wrap everything up. Sandra obviously put an amazing amount of research into this! One thing that I came across was that towards the beginning (page 52), one of Elin’s jobs was to warm the Queen’s bed every night for her. Yes, that means Elin got in, lay there until it was warm, then got out right before the Queen went to bed. If I were Queen? I’d get a bed-warmer. SO HANDY for cold nights. Anyway, that’s one thing that I’ve always rather wanted but never knew people did.  

All in all, a great book where you’ll learn history in a fascinating, memorable, and fun way!



Now, ready for the good part? I have not one but two giveaways! The first one is for Roses Have Thorns itself -- your very own copy. And the second? A lovely necklace from Belle on a Budget! Note that since the necklace is handmade, it may not look exactly like the one in the picture. Please note that BOTH of these giveaways are US only. Feel free to enter them both, and best of luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I find that the second giveaway isn't showing up like it should...if there's a link saying "a Rafflecopter giveaway" just click on it and you can go enter the same as you would if it was working just right! :)


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Lady in Waiting

Author: Susan Meissner

Genre: Life (I feel like I way over-use this tag, but I don’t know what other one to use!)

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8.5

Type: Historical fiction, fiction (contemporary)

Number of pages: 336

Time period: Present, 1500s

My overall opinion: Enjoyable! It’s two stories, neatly entwined, one contemporary, one historical fiction about Lady Jane Grey (a fascinating character). The stories were not every other chapter (thankfully) but more like every five or ten it would switch, in an obvious manner. I liked the Lady Jane parts most. It seemed historically accurate as far as everything else I’ve read about that goes, and the note at the end explained. I will keep this book! :)

Bourne & Tributary

Author: Lisa T. Bergren

Genre: Adventure, life, suspense, romance

Series: River of Time

Number in series: 4^th!!!!!

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 9.5 total

Type: Fiction

Number of pages: 322

Time period: 1500’s

My overall opinion: Oh wow…SOOOOO good. Here, we go, a bit about each book.

Bourne: Action packed, heart-stopping, and downright amazing. I loved seeing more of Gabi and Marcello, but really, Luca, Lia, and Lord Greco were the main characters of this book. Oh, and just about Luca and Lia in general? <3 Yay. :) Love them so much. Not only did my heart stop a few times in this book, it also spent a great deal of time pounding! Bourne was impossible to put down. It wraps up some suspense left over from Torrent, but left some un-answered questions for…

Tributary: Just when you think it can’t get any better, any more exciting, any sweeter…it does. Even better than Bourne! Again, packed with everything good and exciting and totally awesome. Less than 20 pages into the book, a kidnapping of a highly important character! The excitement never lets up from there on. And finally – the end is perfect. It wraps up everything you’ve spent SO much time wondering about.

BUT. Having said that? I’d still love to see more in this series! There’s got to be some way…



A week later...I've connected with Lisa, the author, on Twitter and learned that there will be another book, coming in 2013! I believe it's another short one, titled Deluge. Yippee! :)

The Secret Keeper

Author: Sandra Byrd

Genre: Life, King Henry VIII, King Henry VIII’s Wives

Series: Ladies in Waiting

Number in series: 2^nd

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 9

Type: Historical fiction

Number of pages: 330

Time period: 1500’s

My overall opinion: Once again, I loved Sandra Byrd’s book! I anticipated reading this book all summer, and was finally able to. It was certainly a book worth reading! It’s the story of Kateryn Parr, King Henry VIII’s sixth wife, the one who outlived him. Secret Keeper is written from the view-point of a fictional friend of Kateryn (or Kate), one who eventually becomes her lady-in-waiting. It is a riveting story, full of palace intrigue, adventure, a dash of romance, and the general trials and joys of life. It’s written for adults, and has some heavy material, so I’d recommend it for age 16 and up. However, there’s nothing explicit or bad. As you should know, the times of King Henry VIII weren’t pretty. As far as I know and could tell, it was factual to history; I now know more about Kate than I ever did before! I highly recommend this book if you enjoy reading about this time period, reading historical fiction, or have even a passing fancy to the cover. Did I mention I love the cover? I do. Great book, and worth paying full price for! Definitely keeping this one.

**Sandra Byrd, the author, sent me a copy of this book in return for my honest review. I have reviewed the book honestly, given my true opinion. I received no other compensation for this review.**

The Unquiet Bones

Author: Melvin R. Starr

Genre: Mystery, adventure

Series: Hugh de Singleton, Surgeon

Number in series: 1^st

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8

Type: Fiction

Number of pages: 256

Time period: 1500’s (?)

My overall opinion: In all my reading, I have never before read a medieval mystery! And that is exactly what this one is. :) It was interesting and exciting – not to mention that I learned stuff about medieval things from it! I didn’t love it, but it was an interesting one time read.

Shakespeare’s Lady

Author: Alexa Schnee

Genre: Life, romance

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8

Type: Historical fiction

Number of pages: 360

Time period: 1500’s

My overall opinion: I had hoped to enjoy this book more. One thing I greatly appreciated about it was that it had absolutely no seduction or bedroom scenes. Scratch that – there was one time when Emilia was in a man’s room in bed with him, but they were laying there talking, not doing other stuff. So that was nice. However, I was unimpressed with the morals of the 1500’s – they had practically none. But that’s historical, not a fault of this book. It was an interesting story, and I’m glad I read it…but I don’t know if I’ll keep the book, since I didn’t love it. All the details about the customs and dress of that time were very interesting! In her end note, the author says the main female character was real, but whether or not she had anything with Shakespeare is unknown. They definitely knew each other, though! Oh that reminds me…she is married to another man. But “loves” Shakespeare, and ends up sleeping with him (though no description). It’s not really pointed out as wrong, but… yeah. So I don’t know if you’ll want to read it or not! But it was interesting to see Queen Elizabeth I from this point of view!

Torrent

Author: Lisa T. Bergren

Genre: Adventure, some romance

Series: River of Time series

Number in series: 3rd

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 9.5 (a really high 9.5)

Type: Fiction

Number of pages: 385 or so

Time period: 1500’s Italy J

My overall opinion: I LOVED IT. As you probably know, I’ve loved the first two books in this series (Waterfall and Cascade) and knew to expect great things from this book. My trust was not unwarranted! It was amazing. My favorite of the series, which is saying a lot. And almost certainly my favorite book of March, which is also saying a lot since it’s only the 7^th . (rather, it was the 7th when I wrote this review) It had a wonderful wrap-up for the series. If you’ve read the first one or two books in the series, you’ve absolutely got to read this one! It’s…I can’t describe it. Great book. I very highly recommend it! Unbelievable. Heart-pounding.

Special thanks to Lisa Bergren, the author, who supplied me with a copy!

To Die For

Author: Sandra Byrd

Genre: Life

Series: Ladies in Waiting

Number in series: 1st

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 9

Type: Historical fiction

Number of pages: 329

Time period: 1500’s

My overall opinion: Somehow, back when I took that six week blogging break, this book was read but not reviewed, as I discovered very recently. How terrible! And I liked it a lot too. So I’m reviewing it now…and apologize for the long wait. This is Anne Boleyn’s story as seen through the eyes of her young friend Meg, who comes to live in King Henry VIII’s court with Anne. I found it well written and intriguing – most things concerning that particular time period are. This one more than some! It’s an amazing book and I highly recommend it to historical fiction lovers. And everyone else too.

Check out my cover focus: http://austenitis.blogspot.com/2011/09/cover-focus-to-die-for.html

A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver

Author: E. L. Konigsburg

Genre: Life

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8

Type: Historical fiction/biography

Number of pages: 200

Time period: 1500’s

My overall opinion: This is a sort of biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine. She and some friends are in Heaven, and those friends look back and tell the story of Eleanor’s life from their view-points. I found it interesting and informative.

The Shakespeare Stealer

Author: Gary Blackwood

Genre: Adventure, life

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8.5

Type: Historical fiction

Number of pages: 215

Time period: 1500’s

My overall opinion: It was excellent. Written for kids (well, middle-school age). The story was interesting and Blackwood was a good author. Exciting story of a boy who is sent to copy one of Shakespeare’s plays straight from the mouths of the players! Recommended historical fiction. J

Elizabeth and Mary

Author: Jane Dunn

Genre: Biography

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 7

Type: Non-fiction

Number of pages: 453

Time period: 1500's

Main characters: Elizabeth, Mary

My overall opinion: It was an interesting read. While I didn't find it riveting, I am glad I read it. Definitely learned more about Elizabeth I and Mary, Queen of Scots.

The Wives of Henry VIII

Author: Antonia Fraser

Genre: Ummm...biography.

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8

Type: Non-fiction

Number of pages: 479 (smallish print. Yeah, big book)

Time period: 1500's

Main characters: King Henry VIII, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anna of Cleves, Katherine Howard, Catherine Parr

My overall opinion: I found it to be a very interesting book. If you have either a little or else no interest in King Henry VIII and his wives, you will find this book very boring. I will admit, even I skimmed parts of it and it's one of the parts of history I find most riveting! But overall, I enjoyed it and learned SO much about them. I can now keep them apart. :) I recommend you try it. But be warned...it's a huge book.

Movie: A Man For All Seasons

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 7.5

Main characters: Sir Thomas More (and yes, I spelled that right), King Henry VIII

Genre: Adventure

Primary actors: Paul Scofield, Orson Welles

Length: Two hours

Based on: I believe it's based on the book/play called A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt.

Time period: 1500's

Exciting events: Yeah.

Year it came out: 1966

My overall opinion: It was a good film and I learned a lot about Sir Thomas More and the general people from that time period. I recommend it.

Mary: Queen of Scots

(sorry about the terrible picture...some books are impossible to find good pictures of!)

Author: Emily Hahn

Genre: Biography

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8

Type: Biography

Number of pages: 184

Time period: 1500's

Main characters: Mary, Darnley, Bothwell, Elizabeth (the First, of England)

Exciting events: Escape, capture, death, etc.

My overall opinion: It was an excellent biography and I learned a lot about the Scottish Mary.

Coronation of Glory

Author: Deborah Meroff

Genre: Biography (historical fiction)

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 9

Type: Biography/historical fiction

Number of pages: 298

Time period: 1500's

Main characters: Lady Jane Grey, Edward, Mary, many others

Exciting events: Court intrigue!

Passage from book: I remember perfectly that day in early spring of the year 1547. It had been only three months since our Sovereign King Henry the Eighth was laid in state beneath the stones of St. George's Chapel at Windsor; now my guardian and I were on our way to visit the Queen Dowager.

My overall opinion: An excellent book! Lady Jane is telling the story herself (hence the historical fiction) and at the same time, it's a biography of her. It was very very interesting. Deborah Meroff did a great job! I highly recommend this book, especially to anyone interested in King Henry's time.

My Escape from the Auto De Fe

Author: Don Fernando de la Mina, Wm. Timms

Genre: Adventure

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 7

Type: Historical fiction

Number of pages: 160

Time period: 1500's

Main characters: Don, Father Lorenzo, "my intended"

Exciting events: Escape!

My overall opinion: An interesting little book. :)

Movie: The Taming of the Shrew

My rating on a 1-10 scale: 8

Main characters: Petruchio, Katharina

Genre: Comedy, romance

Primary actors: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton

Length: About 2 hours.

Based on: The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare

Time period: 1500's

Exciting events: Chases and taming

Quote(s): Of all things living, a man's the worst!

Year it came out: 1967

My overall opinion: It's a good movie! There are some things that aren't for young viewers, and I recommend that you read about it here before watching. I'd say have your parents watch it first just in case. And the dresses are very immodest...well, like they are on the cover. I suppose they could be worse. However, it follows Shakespeare's story and is very fun!