Book Review: The Lady Travelers Guide to Scoundrels and Other Gentlemen by Victoria Alexander

The Lady Travelers Guide to Scoundrels and Other Gentlemen
by Victoria Alexander
Book 1 in The Lady Travelers Society series
ARC, e-Book, 544 pages
HQN Books
May 23, 2017
★★★★ ½☆

Genre: Historical Romance

Source: Requested a review copy via Netgalley

Embark on the breathtaking romantic adventures of The Lady Travelers Society in the brand-new series by #1 New York Times bestselling author Victoria Alexander

Really, it's too much to expect any normal man to behave like a staid accountant in order to inherit the fortune he deserves to support the lifestyle of an earl. So when Derek Saunders's favorite elderly aunt and her ill-conceived—and possibly fraudulent—Lady Travelers Society loses one of their members, what's a man to do but step up to the challenge? Now he's escorting the world’s most maddening woman to the world’s most romantic city to find her missing relative.

While India Prendergast only suspects his organization defrauds gullible travelers, she’s certain a man with as scandalous a reputation as Derek Saunders cannot be trusted any farther than the distance around his very broad shoulders. As she struggles not to be distracted by his wicked smile and the allure of Paris, instead of finding a lost lady traveler, India just may lose her head, her luggage and her heart.

I can certainly tell you that I did not see this missing person case transpiring and resolving in the way that it did! Curveball to the extreme, but in a really good and unexpected way that I enjoyed immensely! The missing cousin storyline is heavily featured throughout the entire thread of the novel and is not lost at all in the romance storyline, the two elements play together nicely and in this story I don’t think that one could thrive well without the other.

If I had to pick one thing that brought the rating of this book down a little in my opinion it was the early characterization of India Prendergast. She is quite a pain-in-the-neck and unapproachable, not someone I could see myself being friends with at all. While she does grow on you and her transformation is believable, I found her difficult to really get to like through much of the novel. Derek Saunders on the other hand, who is certainly a rouge, has nothing but admirable qualities, from the perspective of the reader, even if India can’t see that until toward the very end.

While this is certainly a lengthy novel, it didn’t feel that way at all as the story kept moving forward and the missing person’s case picked up steam. This novel is certainly a strong stand-alone, and while I haven’t read the other books in the series I think that will define the series, just based on how it appears framed. I look forward to checking out others in this series. 

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• All About Romance
• The Romance Dish

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by Victoria Alexander:

The Proper Way to Stop a Wedding in Seven Days or Less (Lady Travelers .5)

The Rise and Fall of Reginald Everheart (Lady Travelers 1.5)

The Lady Travelers Guide to Larceny with a Dashing Stranger (Lady Travelers 2)

The Lady Travelers Guide to Deception with an Unlikely Earl (Lady Travelers 3)

Find Victoria Alexander: Website | Facebook | Twitter

Copyright © 2018 by The Maiden’s Court

Audiobook Review: Three Lessons in Seduction by Sofie Darling & Giveaway

Three Lessons in Seduction by Sofie Darling
Book 2 in the Shadows and Silk series
Unabridged; 9 hrs.
Sofie Darling
Mary Sarah (Narrator)
December 13, 2017
★★★★ ½☆

Genre: Historical Romance/Thriller

Source: Received download from Audible with Audiobookworm Productions tour

Paris, September 1824

Lord Nicholas Asquith needs his wife. Too bad he broke her heart ten years ago.

Can he resist a second chance at the love he lost?
When Mariana catches the eye of the man at the center of an assassination plot, Nick puts aside their painful past and enlists her to obtain information by any means necessary, even if it means seducing the enemy agent.
Even if the thought makes his blood boil.

Only by keeping his distance from Mariana these last ten years was he able to pretend indifference to her. With every moment spent with her, he feels his tightly held control slipping.

Can she trust the spy who broke her heart?

Mariana spent the last decade forgetting Nick. Now she has the chance to best him at his own game, an opportunity she can’t resist, even as her view of him begins to shift. Increasingly, she wants nothing more than to seduce her own husband.

It's only a matter of time before mad passion ignites, a passion never convincingly extinguished. A passion that insists on surrendering to the yearning of the flesh and, quite possibly, of the heart.

I always love romance novels where the characters are married right from the beginning. It brings a very different tone between the characters than that of two characters that are just meeting for the first time. In this case, Mariana and Nick are not at all happily married, they actually have had very limited interactions over the last few years and are brought together surprisingly to them both. How they find their way through the web of lies and intrigue that have existed between them to determine if they can ever be actually together is quite fun. The plot builds their romance up over time in a satisfying manner, a true slow burner. I found them to be such a fun pairing.

I have also always enjoyed historical thrillers, it just adds something more to the traditional historical novel and I appreciate thrillers in modern settings as well. Here, we add the layers of thriller on top of the layers of romance, which makes for added depth to the story and characters. It adds more complication to the relationship between Mariana and Nick it also moves the plot along more quickly as the spy lessons continue which also result in danger for Mariana.

Oh and I loved how each chapter began with an entry from The Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue! It was fun!

★★★★ ½☆

Narrator Mary Sarah has such a soothing voice that it is an absolute pleasure to listen to and I could listen to the novel for long periods of time without needing to take a break – even if I wasn’t enjoying the story! Her tone is also excellent for the thriller/spy aspect of the novel as well; it well conveys the intrigue/romance/anticipation throughout. She also has an excellent French accent for the characters from that country. Sarah appears to have narrated many romance novels and I think that is an excellent choice! I would listen to any of them!

You can preview a sample of the audiobook below:

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Two Ends of the Pen
• RT Book Reviews

Buy the Book: Amazon | Audible| iTunes

Also by Sofie Darling:

Tempted by the Viscount

Find Sofie Darling: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Find Mary Sarah: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Linkedin

Giveaway!

As part of the tour, there is a tour wide giveaway for a $50 Amazon gift card, open internationally.  The giveaway is open March 20 to the 26th.  All entries are made via the Gleam form on any of the tour stops.  Any questions should be directed to Audiobookworm Productions.  Good luck!!

Three Lessons in Seduction Giveaway: $50 Amazon Gift Card

Follow the Tour

On the Audiobookwork Productions website.

Mar. 20th:
T's Stuff (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Author Interview, Giveaway)
The Book Junkie Reads . . . (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)

Mar. 21st:
The Maiden's Court (Review)

Mar. 22nd:
What Is That Book About (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)

Mar. 23rd:
Jazzy Book Reviews (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Giveaway)
The Bookworm Lodge (Spotlight + Audio Excerpt)

Mar. 24th:
Lynn's Romance Enthusiasm (Review, Author Interview)

Mar. 25th:
Lilly's Book World (Review)

Mar. 26th:
The Book Addict's Reviews (Review, Spotlight + Audio Excerpt, Author Interview)

Copyright © 2018 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: The Phantom’s Apprentice by Heather Webb

The Phantom’s Apprentice by Heather Webb
ARC, e-Book, 350 pages
Sonnet Press
February 6, 2018
★★★★☆

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Received for review with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

In this re-imagining of Phantom of the Opera, meet a Christine Daaé you’ve never seen before…

Christine Daaé sings with her violinist Papa in salons all over Paris, but she longs to practice her favorite pastime—illusions. When her beloved Papa dies during a conjurer’s show, she abandons her magic and surrenders to grief and guilt. Life as a female illusionist seems too dangerous, and she must honor her father’s memory.

Concerned for her welfare, family friend Professor Delacroix secures an audition for her at the Nouvel Opéra—the most illustrious stage in Europe. Yet Christine soon discovers the darker side of Paris opera. Rumors of murder float through the halls, and she is quickly trapped between a scheming diva and a mysterious phantom. The Angel of Music.

But is the Angel truly a spirit, or a man obsessed, stalking Christine for mysterious reasons tangled in her past?

As Christine’s fears mount, she returns to her magical arts with the encouragement of her childhood friend, Raoul. Newfound hope and romance abounds…until one fateful night at the masquerade ball. Those she cares for—Delacroix, the Angel, and even Raoul—aren’t as they seem. Now she must decide whom she trusts and which is her rightful path: singer or illusionist.

To succeed, she will risk her life in the grandest illusion of all.

I approach The Phantom’s Apprentice possibly from a different angle than many readers do – I have no point of reference from The Phantom of the Opera to compare to: not movie, stage performance, nor book! So Webb’s treatment here is a completely fresh slate for me.

One thing that drew me to this novel was the exploration of the spiritualist movement sweeping the globe at this time. We still find magic and mysticism fascinating today, but it would be even more so at a point in time where technologies were blossoming and it was easier to pull magic on people, but also it was something that people were afraid of as well. So for me, I wasn’t drawn to Webb’s take on Christine or reimagining of the classic, but more so for the world that the story inhabited. Right from the start, we get thrown into the spiritualist movement and the clashes between those who believe in it and those who are either afraid or find it foolish; this dichotomy is even shown in the perspectives of Christine and her father. The other aspect that fascinated me was the world of the opera. I have only read one other novel that explored this profession, and that one was set States-side, so it was a very interesting perspective with all the intrigue that surrounds it.

From reading the Author’s Note I understand that Webb’s goal was to flesh out a more well-rounded and self-possessed Christine than that provided in the original context. It is always maddening to see a woman pushed to the sidelines of a novel and be wilting or one-dimensional. However, at the same time, I do like to see the characters represented in a way that would be true to societal norms of the time. I felt that Christine walked the line fairly well here and felt that I was able to dig into who she was and what made her tick.

I found the plot to be fun and fascinating. There were moments toward the beginning where it did feel a little bit slow, where Christine is sort of moping for quite some time about her life and not having a direction; however, it does pick up substantially with the introduction of the Phantom. From that point forward the plot barreled ahead and I literally read half of the book in one sitting as I just didn’t want to put it down and find out how it would all resolve itself. I was rather satisfied with the ending too.

While I can’t gauge the enjoyment of someone who is a huge Phantom fan, as someone with no preconceived notions, I did enjoy much about this novel.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Flashlight Commentary
• Linda’s Book Obsession

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by Heather Webb:

Becoming Josephine
[My Review]

Rodin’s Lover
[My Review]

Last Christmas in Paris
[My Review]

Fall of Poppies
[My Review]

Find Heather Webb: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

Tour Wide Giveaway

During the Blog Tour we are giving away two paperback copies of The Phantom’s Apprentice! To enter, please enter via the Gleam form below or on any of the participating blogs. If you have any questions please contact the HFVBT Tour Coordinator.

Giveaway Rules

• Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on February 26th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
• Giveaway is open to US & Canada residents only.
• Only one entry per household.
• All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
• Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

The Phantom's Apprentice

Follow the Tour!

On HFVBT Website or on Twitter: #ThePhantomsApprenticeBlogTour

Monday, February 5
Review at The Maiden’s Court

Tuesday, February 6
Review at The Lit Bitch
Feature at A Bookaholic Swede

Wednesday, February 7
Review at Just One More Chapter
Review at History From a Woman’s Perspective

Thursday, February 8
Review at A Bookish Affair

Friday, February 9
Review at Trisha Jenn Reads

Saturday, February 10
Review at Bookish

Monday, February 12
Review at Creating Herstory

Tuesday, February 13
Review at Linda’s Book Obsession

Wednesday, February 14
Review at Clarissa Reads it All

Thursday, February 15
Review at 100 Pages a Day

Friday, February 16
Review at Baer Books

Monday, February 19
Review at Cup of Sensibility
Review at Let Them Read Books
Review at Bookworms Anonymous

Tuesday, February 20
Feature at Passages to the Past

Wednesday, February 21
Review at Writing the Renaissance

Monday, February 26
Interview at Jorie Loves a Story

Copyright © 2018 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb

Last Christmas in Paris by Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb
Paperback, 384 pages
William Morrow Paperbacks
October 3, 2017
★★★★ ½☆

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Received for review with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours

August 1914. England is at war. As Evie Elliott watches her brother, Will, and his best friend, Thomas Harding, depart for the front, she believes—as everyone does—that it will be over by Christmas, when the trio plan to celebrate the holiday among the romantic cafes of Paris.

But as history tells us, it all happened so differently…
Evie and Thomas experience a very different war. Frustrated by life as a privileged young lady, Evie longs to play a greater part in the conflict—but how?—and as Thomas struggles with the unimaginable realities of war he also faces personal battles back home where War Office regulations on press reporting cause trouble at his father’s newspaper business. Through their letters, Evie and Thomas share their greatest hopes and fears—and grow ever fonder from afar. Can love flourish amid the horror of the First World War, or will fate intervene?

Christmas 1968. With failing health, Thomas returns to Paris—a cherished packet of letters in hand—determined to lay to rest the ghosts of his past. But one final letter is waiting for him…

Last Christmas in Paris was my first truly epistolary style novel that I have read. For those of you that are unfamiliar with this type of novel, it is a novel written almost entirely of letters between characters and not in the typical prose style that a novel usually contains. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this style. Thinking about it conceptually it could be more difficult to move the plot forward because how much drama can be put forth in correspondence! Additionally, given the time frame where this novel takes place, the letters were more constrained between the home and the front as both sides tried to keep the other’s spirits up and away from the grotesques of the war. But I have loved the work that I have read from both of these authors and I enjoy reading books set in this time period, so I was sure it would be handled well.

The book is framed within a narrative set in 1968 as Thomas is looking back at the letters from his time in the war as his health is failing – so there is some prose, but not much. The bulk of it is letters, with the majority being between Evie and Thomas, but also to some secondary characters of their friends, family, and business associates. These secondary characters were sometimes critical to advancing the plot and the groundwork for their inclusion was laid right from the start, even before their need was necessary. With letters just between two people the scope of the world is limited in ways similar to first person dialogue. These letters to friends who were located in different places and experiencing different things allows the reader to have a more rounded world view. Evie’s friend Alice goes to the front early on and Evie gets a view of the battlefield from a woman as well as that from Tom. We also learn about world events through Tom’s correspondence with the colleagues at the newspaper his family runs, which also helps with events too.

I think that the authors touched on SO many different aspects of the war that it felt so true to life for me – it is clear that they put time into the research. From small little details about daily life in the trenches, to large scale events like battles, it was all there. And what I think was really unique here was that we see what is transpiring on both sides at the same time – not chapters apart from each other like you might experience in a standard structure novel, which made it feel more real. Oh, and one of the things that I loved the most and made the letters real – the censoring that shows up in the book itself! Letters being sent from the front to their families back home were oftentimes heavily censored by the military before being released so that no locations or wartime data that they didn’t want the opposition to get their hands on would go out. Well, here in the letters from Tom we see actual blacked out portions of the letter, just like Evie would have seen if she was receiving that letter. This was excellent.

I felt that I truly was able to know Tom, Evie, and friends through their letters in ways that I might miss in another novel. In letters you can pour your heart out without the guard that we tend to put up sometimes when speaking directly with someone in person – which Evie actually addresses several times in her letters. I may have shed a few tears throughout this book!

I thoroughly enjoyed Last Christmas in Paris and can’t wait to read more, not only from these authors, but to give other epistolary novels a chance.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• A Literary Vacation
• Flashlight Commentary

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by Heather Webb:

Fall of Poppies
[My Review]

Rodin’s Lover
[My Review]

Becoming Josephine
[My Review]

The Phantom’s Apprentice
Coming 2018!

Also by Hazel Gaynor:

Fall of Poppies
[My Review]

The Cottingley Secret

The Girl Who Came Home

A Memory of Violets

The Girl from the Savoy

Find Heather Webb: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

Find Hazel Gaynor: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest

Tour Wide Giveaway

As part of the blog tour we have a tour wide giveaway open for 2 copies of Last Christmas in Paris! To enter, please enter via the Gleam form below.

Giveaway Rules

• Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on October 20th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
• Giveaway is open to residents in the US & Canada only.
• Only one entry per household.
• All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
• Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.
• If you have any questions please contact the tour coordinator as I am not involved in the giveaway administration.  Good luck!

Last Christmas in Paris

On the HFVBT website
or on Twitter: #LastChristmasinParisBlogTour

Monday, September 25
Review at 100 Pages a Day
Review at Books of All Kinds

Tuesday, September 26
Review at The Lit Bitch

Wednesday, September 27
Review at Just One More Chapter
Review at History From a Woman’s Perspective

Thursday, September 28
Review at So Many Books, So Little Time

Monday, October 2
Review at Let Them Read Books

Tuesday, October 3
Spotlight at Passages to the Past

Wednesday, October 4
Review at A Literary Vacation

Friday, October 6
Review at Library Educated

Monday, October 9
Review at A Bookish Affair
Review at Suzy Approved Books

Tuesday, October 10
Interview at A Bookish Affair

Thursday, October 12
Review at Creating Herstory

Friday, October 13
Review at Pursuing Stacie

Monday, October 16
Review at Curling up by the Fire

Tuesday, October 17
Review at Faery Tales Are Real

Wednesday, October 18
Review at The Maiden’s Court
Interview at Faery Tales Are Real

Thursday, October 19
Review at A Holland Reads

Friday, October 20
Review at CelticLady’s Reviews

Copyright © 2017 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
E-Book, 528 pages
William Morrow
June 6, 2017
★★★★★

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Personal Collection

In an enthralling new historical novel from national bestselling author Kate Quinn, two women—a female spy recruited to the real-life Alice Network in France during World War I and an unconventional American socialite searching for her cousin in 1947—are brought together in a mesmerizing story of courage and redemption.

1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She's also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie's parents banish her to Europe to have her "little problem" taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.

1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she's recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she's trained by the mesmerizing Lili, the "Queen of Spies", who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy's nose.

Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn't heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth ...no matter where it leads.

I have been a HUGE fan of Kate Quinn’s throughout her writing career having read almost all of her works (still trying to find time to finish Empress of the Seven Hills and start The Lion and the Rose). Her heroines always have this spunk and sass to them, that comes through when you meet the author as well, that instantly draws me to them. I’ve been a bigger fan of her novels set in the ancient world and had hesitantly taken interest in The Alice Network only because it is SO far removed from the era that I think Quinn excels in. The time period between and surrounding the World Wars hasn’t traditionally been my thing and I haven’t openly embraced it despite the shift in interest of the publishing houses to this arena lately. However, after hearing from successive bookish friends and bloggers just how much they loved The Alice Network, and finding myself with a big gaping hole in my reviewing schedule, I jumped at the opportunity to pick up a copy and get to it!

Each chapter alternates between the WWI period told from the perspective of Eve and the immediate post WWII period told from that of Charlie. There are parallels that can be drawn here between these ladies who are similarly aged but seemingly so different for so much of the book, however deep down, they are more alike than they realize. For awhile I was much more into the Charlie chapters. While I loved the behind-the-lines, spy storyline of Eve’s, I felt that Charlie’s internal narrative was more of a personal struggle and I loved watching her grow over the story. I also loved that Charlie’s narrative is where the pieces start to come together and resolve.

The characters were all fabulous. Eve is so unusual a heroine, but that would be why she was so effective a spy: she was easy to overlook, but she had so much going on under the hood and she was passionate and daring. She gave up so much of herself for something so much bigger than herself. Charlie is a girl in trouble, but also a girl on a mission. She is trying to redeem herself and escape from the shadow of her parents expectations and money. This makes her and Eve such a hilarious foil of each other. And throw Finn into the mix and they are one interesting road trippin’ trio. Really, I found Finn to be one of the only truly likable male characters, despite his background, and I LOVED his character development throughout the story and how he effected the other two ladies. And his relationship with his car is something else! This trio was phenomenal to read.

Kate’s writing is always fun to read and she throws in some humorous scenes throughout, even little moments that just take the edge off some of the deeper, more tension fraught scenes.

I very rarely read a book a second time (has only happened twice) or own a book in multiple formats, but simply based off my enjoyment of the book and the sample of the audio I have listened to, I am very interested in going through this one again as an audiobook (I also might need to get it in print because…deckle edge!!)

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Flashlight Commentary
• Literary Quicksand

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by Kate Quinn:

Mistress of Rome (Empress of Rome Book 1)
[My Review]

Daughters of Rome (Empress of Rome Book 2)
[My Review]

Empress of the Seven Hills (Empress of Rome Book 3)

The Three Fates (Empress of Rome Book 3.5)

Lady of the Eternal City (Empress of Rome Book 4)
[My Review]

The Serpent and the Pearl (The Borgias #1)
[My Review]

The Lion and the Rose (The Borgias #2)

A Song of War (Short Story Collaboration)
[My Review]

A Day of Fire (Short Story Collaboration)
[My Review]

A Year of Ravens (Short Story Collaboration)
[My Review]

Find Kate Quinn: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Copyright © 2017 by The Maiden’s Court

Book Review: The Enemies of Versailles by Sally Christie & Giveaway

The Enemies of Versailles by Sally Christie
Book 3 in the Mistresses of Versailles Series
ARC, e-book, 416 pages
Atria Books
March 21, 2017
★★★½☆☆

Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Received via Netgalley for Review with TLC Book Tours

In the final installment of Sally Christie’s “tantalizing” (New York Daily News) Mistresses of Versailles trilogy, Jeanne Becu, a woman of astounding beauty but humble birth, works her way from the grimy back streets of Paris to the palace of Versailles, where the aging King Louis XV has become a jaded and bitter old philanderer. Jeanne bursts into his life and, as the Comtesse du Barry, quickly becomes his official mistress.

“That beastly bourgeois Pompadour was one thing; a common prostitute quite another kettle of fish.”

After decades suffering the King's endless stream of Royal Favorites, the princesses of the Court have reached a breaking point. Horrified that he would bring the lowborn Comtesse du Barry into the hallowed halls of Versailles, Louis XV’s daughters, led by the indomitable Madame Adelaide, vow eternal enmity and enlist the young dauphiness Marie Antoinette in their fight against the new mistress. But as tensions rise and the French Revolution draws closer, a prostitute in the palace soon becomes the least of the nobility’s concerns.

Told in Christie’s witty and engaging style, the final book in The Mistresses of Versailles trilogy will delight and entrance fans as it once again brings to life the sumptuous and cruel world of eighteenth century Versailles, and France as it approaches inevitable revolution.

I have been fascinated with Christie’s Mistresses of Versailles series since the first pages of The Sisters of Versailles. French history in general is an area that I am not as familiar with and therefore the stories are always new and exciting. While I still found many of the things that I enjoyed about the prior novels in the series, Enemies of Versailles didn’t carry quite the same level of feelings that I had for the first two books. Let me explain.

In both The Sisters of Versailles and The Rivals of Versailles, the women featured were all lovers of the King. This lent the chapters a competitive nature and added to the scandal that it was of the time. The Enemies of Versailles pits du Barry, his last lover, against his eldest daughter, Adelaide, and then to some extent the dauphine and later Queen, Marie Antoinette. Understandably, there is a very different dynamic at play here; at the very least they are fighting over very different types of love and power. This wasn’t as compelling a driving force for me as had been previously. It was a different kind of rivalry than I had come to expect from this series that wasn’t quite what I was expecting.

Additionally, I couldn’t help but take the side of du Barry (because you always pick a side in these types of stories). While she was the King’s lover and raised up from the gutter, she was for the most part kind and easy to read her way of thinking in her chapters. Adelaide was more difficult. Her frustration with du Barry all was because of simply her role as the lover of her father was a sin and she wanted to bring him back to the right side of God. It truly felt like a little girl not getting her way, which wasn’t cute on like a 50 year old woman. She was vindictive and conniving, yet she was supposed to be above everyone else. So ultimately I enjoyed the du Barry chapters more. One thing that I did enjoy was when Adelaide was with her whole bevy of sisters. There interactions reminded me of that of the Nesle sisters from The Sisters of Versailles; the backbiting, the one-up-manship, etc.

This book presented a different view of Marie Antoinette as well. Typically books about her feature her as a central character and we see her in a sympathetic light, or juxtaposed against the view of her from the common people. This was interesting to see how the two factions, du Barry and Adelaide sort of fought for control over her when she first came to court. She is a more minor figure in this story, but she is still used as a tool in the battle between the women. I actually enjoyed her portion of the story, even seeing her in a different way.

Overall, this was a good read, but not my favorite of the whole series.

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

• Let Them Read Books
• The Lit Bitch

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by Sally Christie:

The Sisters of Versailles (Book 1)
[My Review]

The Rivals of Versailles (Book 2)
[My Review]

Find Sally Christie: Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Pinterest

Giveaway!

As part of the tour, I have the opportunity to giveaway one copy of The Enemies of Versailles to a reader from the USA or Canada.  Entries can be made via the Rafflecopter form below!  The giveaway will run until March 29th, 2017.  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Follow the Tour:

On TLC Book Tours Website

Monday, March 6th: Books Without Any Pictures

Tuesday, March 7th: Bewitched Bookworms

Wednesday, March 8th: Reading Reality

Friday, March 10th: Books à la Mode – Spotlight/Feature

Monday, March 13th: Historical-Fiction.com

Tuesday, March 14th: From the TBR Pile – Spotlight/Feature

Wednesday, March 15th: Let Them Read Books

Thursday, March 16th: Scandalous Women

Friday, March 17th: BookNAround

Monday, March 20th: Books ‘n Tea

Monday, March 20th: An Accidental Blog

Tuesday, March 21st: Read Love Blog – Spotlight/Feature

Wednesday, March 22nd: The Maiden’s Court

Thursday, March 23rd: Snowdrop Dreams of Books

Monday, March 27th: Must Read Faster

Tuesday, March 28th: Hoser’s Blook

Thursday, March 30th: Dreams, Etc.

Friday, March 31st: Book Reviews and More by Kathy – Spotlight/Feature

Monday, April 3rd: A Holland Reads – Spotlight/Feature

Wednesday, April 5th: Becky on Books

Friday, April 7th: A Literary Vacation

 

Copyright © 2017 by The Maiden’s Court