Review: Queens Gambit, Elizabeth Fremantle

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book on Netgalley from the publisher in return for an honest review*

Widowed for the second time at age thirty-one Katherine Parr falls deeply for the dashing courtier Thomas Seymour and hopes at last to marry for love. However, obliged to return to court, she attracts the attentions of the ailing, egotistical, and dangerously powerful Henry VIII, who dispatches his love rival, Seymour, to the Continent. No one is in a position to refuse a royal proposal so, haunted by the fates of his previous wives—two executions, two annulments, one death in childbirth—Katherine must wed Henry and become his sixth queen.

Katherine has to employ all her instincts to navigate the treachery of the court, drawing a tight circle of women around her, including her stepdaughter, Meg, traumatized by events from their past that are shrouded in secrecy, and their loyal servant Dot, who knows and sees more than she understands. With the Catholic faction on the rise once more, reformers being burned for heresy, and those close to the king vying for position, Katherine’s survival seems unlikely. Yet as she treads the razor’s edge of court intrigue, she never quite gives up on love.

Elizabeth Fremantle holds a first in English and an MA in creative Writing from Birkbeck. As a Fashion Editor she has contributed to various publications including Vogue, Elle, Vanity Fair and The Erotic Review and has had her fiction published in The Mechanic’s Institute Review. She presently works as a reader for Literary Scouts, Anne Louise Fisher Associates, whilst working on a series of novels based around the Tudor court

Yes... a review.. I can do this.. I guess. You know when you read a book and you are like.. yeah this is nice. The story does take a hold of you. You are involved. But when you finish it you are not really sure what you feel about a book. That was me with Queens Gambit. I enjoyed the story. The characters where alive but I missed something and I am not sure what. I had a week now to consider what I really felt and it just does not flare a spark of love or something with me. Still while reading I was really into the story. So I am just going to say "If you like Tudor books you can safely read this. It is not as strong as Gregory but enjoyable in it's own way"

Queens Gambit
Author: Elizabeth Fremantle
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 432
Format: eGalley
ISBN-10: 147670306X (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9781476703060 (Hardcover)
Simon & Schuster: eBook | Hardcover | AudioBook

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