I read this after I'd already read the second in the series. I was disappointed with that then so perhaps if I now read them in the right order, I'll appreciate them more.Because this is quite good. I was honestly gripped and interested, whereas I seem to remember finding The King's Daughter a bit tedious. I could believe in the character of Honor, even though her religious doubts seemed a little too modern. And Richard Thornleigh is just magnificent. All in all, not bad. Wow, what a book and what a roller coaster of a story that I enjoyed every moment of. Honor Larke is orphaned at 7 years old when her father abruptly dies excommunicated from the church. This terrible moment becomes the building blocks for her questions of faith. She is kidnapped by the priest who excommunicated her father and sold to a man who will then collect her land and titles when she is forced to marry his son. Eventually she is able to escape this situation with the help of her loyal servant Ralph. She flee's to Thomas More's home, a lawyer who she believes will be able to help her. She becomes More's ward and has a happy childhood learning from his teachings. Eventually she decides to leave More's home to become a lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine where she gets sucked into the intrigues of court. King Henry is in the process of trying to get an annulment to his marriage to Catherine since he is disgusted by her inability to give him a son and believes that by marrying Anne Boleyn he will be able to get a male heir. After some time in court she see's her loyal servant Ralph, who she has not seen since they both fled, and he is being burned at the stake for crimes of heresy. This begins her question of the Catholic faith and its ability to kill good people because they question the teachings. She gets pulled into the Protestant vs Catholic fight, and while raised by Thomas More, a staunch Catholic, she believes in the Catholic religion but feels it is not right to kill people because of what they believe in. Thus begins her fight against the church to save those they label as "heretics". Eventually she falls in love with Richard Thornleigh and they marry. She is happy with him but continues to fight what she believes is the terrible injustice of the Catholic church. The story continues with many mysteries and plot changes that kept me on the edge of my seat. I absolutely loved it.Kyle created characters I fell in love with. Honor's plight and struggles to do what she believed were right became something I also longed to see happen. I loved Thornleigh, and their relationship felt beautiful, I was so happy they both were able to get their HEA. This review does not do the book justice, it has such an intriguing plot that only a review pages in length could begin to scratch the surface. I will look for more books by this author.
Do You like book A Dangerous Temptation (1994)?
More theologically based than I was expecting, which made it more interesting at times,
—samhead
Surprisingly good for a book with so much cleavage on the cover.
—AprilDLC
A disappointment. Could not get past page 74. Borrrring ....
—kyery
