Brave Enough to be the Queen's Servant? ~ Roses Have Thorns by Sandra Byrd ~ Review AND Giveaway!!

The third in a historical trilogy, “Roses Have Thorns” is set in the Tudor period, a time rife with conflict and rich in more than just the jewels and costumes.

           

Much like a movie playing out before the mind’s eye, this novel follows richly on the its cover’s promise. Dark and deep, telling in its portrayal of real life characters through the eyes of a fictional heroine, the novel takes place over more years than most titles can pull off.

           

A reader can travel years within one chapter, but a tip of my feather-decked hat to never once making me feel as though I were rushed. I would have really loved to see the layer of Thomas and Helena begin much sooner in the novel. I wanted to delve deeper into their relationship and their struggles.

          

  To be a servant to the queen? A woman with enough power to sever your head from your shoulders without being questioned? I don’t think I’d be brave enough. Helena was. 16^th century England was nothing short than a walking booby trap. What faith!        

         

   I felt much of the novel was circular. The same events happening over and over and with this, I lost a great deal of my initial interest. While the story as a whole, had great potential for good, I didn’t enjoy this one as much as “To Die For” (novel #1)

           

This review is my honest opinion. Thanks to the publishers for my copy to review.

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More about the novel....

From the acclaimed author of To Die For comes a stirring novel told that sheds new light on Elizabeth I and her court.Sandra Byrd has attracted countless fans for evoking the complexity, grandeur, and brutality of the Tudor period. In her latest tour de force, she poses the question: What happens when serving a queen may cost you your marriage—or your life?

In 1565, seventeen-year-old Elin von Snakenborg leaves Sweden on a treacherous journey to England. Her fiance has fallen in love with her sister and her dowry money has been gambled away, but ahead of her lies an adventure that will take her to the dizzying heights of Tudor power. Transformed through marriage into Helena, the Marchioness of Northampton, she becomes the highest-ranking woman in Elizabeth’s circle. But in a court that is surrounded by Catholic enemies who plot the queen’s downfall, Helena is forced to choose between an unyielding monarch and the husband she’s not sure she can trust—a choice that will provoke catastrophic consequences.

Vividly conjuring the years leading up to the beheading of Mary Queen of Scots, Roses Have Thorns is a brilliant exploration of treason, both to the realm and to the heart.

*~*CONTEST INFO*~*

Would you like to win your own copy of Sandra's latest novel and the pictured Elizabethan necklace?

I thought so. ;-) I'd enter myself, if I weren't hosting it!

Leave a comment below about why YOU'D like to read this book and I'll add your 

name to a drawing to win the title, Roses Have Thorns and the pictured necklace (actual prize might appear slightly different than pictured)

Standard contest rules apply. Only U.S. entries please! One entry per entrant in this contest. :-) 

I'll draw a winner and email them privately next Saturday, May 25th