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Friday, December 10, 2010

Book Review: A Royal Likeness by Christine Trent

A Royal Likeness by Christine Trent
ARC, Paperback, 472 pages
Kensington Press
December 28, 2010
★★★★★
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Genre: Historical Fiction

Source: Received from the author for the December HFBRT event
“As heiress to the famous Laurent Fashion Dolls business, Marguerite Ashby’s future seems secure. But France still seethes with violence in the wake of the Revolution. And when Marguerite’s husband is killed during a riot, the young widow travels to Edinburgh and becomes apprentice to her old friend, Marie Tussaud, who has established a wax exhibition. When Prime Minister William Pitt commissions a wax figure of Admiral Nelson, Marguerite becomes immersed in a dangerous adventure—and earns the admiration of two very different men. And as Britain battles to overthrow Napoleon, Marguerite will find her loyalties under
fire from all sides”.
Christine Trent’s second novel blows her first one away – and that is quite a feat as The Queen’s Dollmaker was phenomenal. Right from the very first chapters the events that unfold suck you right in to the story and immediately embed these characters in your mind. By the time you hit roughly page 200 you will not be able to put the book down – and if you have to, you will run right back to it ASAP.

The main character, Marguerite Ashby, was a young woman when we last left her in The Queen’s Dollmaker. Throughout A Royal Likeness we see her grow up right before our eyes. She becomes the apprentice to the renowned Madame Tussaud. I really loved Madame Tussaud because she was a very industrious businesswoman and she was so enjoyable to read about.

I was most surprised by how much I enjoyed the Battle of Trafalgar scenes in this novel. I am not one who usually enjoys battle or war scenes – but this was very well done. There was the right amount of the description of the battle topside as well as the action below deck. This was where I became enamored with this story and could absolutely not put it down – I sacrificed sleep to stay up and finish the last 100 pages.

I would recommend this book to everyone. It is not absolutely necessary to have read The Queen’s Dollmaker first – you will still have a very enjoyable story – but I would recommend it because they are both amazing.

You can read an excerpt of the book here.

Christine Trent is currently working on her third novel, tentatively titled The Prince’s Pavilion expected sometime in 2012.
Reviews of this book by other bloggers: 

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

Also by Christine Trent

the queen's dollmaker
The Queen’s Dollmaker
[My Review]

bythekingsdesign
By the King’s Design
[My Review]

ladyofashes
Lady of Ashes (Lady of Ashes #1)
[My Review]

stolen remains
Stolen Remains (Lady of Ashes #2)

a virtuous death
A Virtuous Death (Lady of Ashes #3)

mourning bells
The Mourning Bells (Lady of Ashes #4)

death at the abbey
Death at the Abbey (Lady of Ashes #5)

a grave celebration
A Grave Celebration (Lady of Ashes #6)


Find Christine Trent: Website | Facebook


Also today as part the HFBRT event:
Guest post by Christine Trent at Historically Obsessed


 
Copyright © 2010 by The Maiden’s Court 

7 comments:

  1. Wow! That's quite a recommendation! I enjoyed The Queen's Dollmaker, so I will definitely add A Royal Likeness to my bookshelf.

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  2. I liked The Queen's Dollmaker and am looking forward to reading this one!

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  3. Just recently read The Queen's Dollmaker and liked it alot. I find myself wishing I could own the dresses on some of these covers, this one included :)

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  4. Oh, even more impetus to get the Queen's Dollmaker and stat!

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  5. I love reading about this period of French History. This book must really be good if you could not put it down.

    Please enter me in this contest for this wonderful book.

    CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com

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  6. JoAnne, Audra, Daphne - I think you will love this book!

    Holly - I always love these costumes - the color of this one is extraordinary!

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  7. Thanks for the review. Each one adds something different to the impression of the book. I am glad to see she is working on another one.

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Thanks for leaving your comments! I love reading them and try to reply to all!