The Queen's Lady

Review originally published on my blog: AWordsWorth.blogspot.com
eARC provided by publisher for review

The Queen's Lady begins not long after The Other Countess ends, picking up the story of Lady Jane - and, of course, James Lacey. If you have not read The Other Countess, you won't be entirely lost, as references are made to the significant events from that novel - but since the focus is now on Jane and James (as opposed to Will and Ellie), it's another storyline entirely. Lady Jane's transformation from cold, social-climbing noblewoman into a beautiful young lady with a heart is complete, although she is not without her troubles.

As a member of Queen Elizabeth's Privy Chamber, her position (and person) should be safe - just as her late show more husband the Marquess desired. And with the reappearance of James Lacey at Court (although, regretfully, in the house of Sir Walter Raleigh), Jane's life should be all happiness. But things are never as they seem, and soon Jane learns of a disastrous plan her father and brother have concocted -- forcing Jane to sacrifice her own happiness and independence to save those of her dear childhood friend Milly (who is, conveniently, in love with James' valet Diego). James could set things right, but he has demons of his own to conquer, and is on his way - with Diego - to the Americas, scouting a colony site on the Outer Banks. Any chance of a happier alternative for Jane will come down to timing. And fate.

What I love about Edwards' writing is her ability to weave together multiple story lines. While this is the story of Lady Jane and James Lacey, it's also the story of Milly Porter, Diego, and the colorful Christopher Turner. And, of course, we get to peek into the married life of Will and Ellie (swoon), and the rest of the Lacey clan. These people all have color, life, dreams and demons, plans and flaws. Place all of this wonderful, character-driven story into the rich historical context of Elizabeth's Court - and Raleigh's explorations - and you've got the makings of an amazing historical journey. I read this in a day, devouring the story, and sighing mightily when I reached the end. Most definitely looking forward to The Rogue's Princess in January, when I can pick up the tale again, this time - apparently - following the fortunes of Turner. show less

Not gonna lie, the opening of The Queen's Lady threw me for a loop. Last I knew where the characters were left in The Other Countess, Lady Jane was going to go find James and tell him why she broke off her engagement to his brother (aka because she thought his younger brother was the sexy). In the opening section of this book, though, I am shocked and appalled to discover that Lady Jane has gone and married a wealthy old geezer (like she initially planned, although she does actually like him and he's saving her from shame, so that's good I guess) and James, accompanied by Diego, is at war. What?!?

From an intellectual standpoint, I guess I know that they can't confess their love at the beginning of a romance novel. I mean, where do you show more go from there? Babies, that's where. So this is all for the best, but it was still quite alarming. So watch out for that. It's always so startling when series pick up months or years down the road and everything waaaaay different than you expected.

The only real issue I have reading historical fiction is how freaky it is to think about how young these women are. Jane is 18 in this book, but was going to be married off in the first, when she was, unsurprisingly, younger. And she'd been eligible for marriage for a few years. Yikes. I am so glad that feminism happened. I mean, in olden days, I would either have a gaggle of children by now or be a spinste (note: I'm 24). The cover captures this awkwardness perfectly. The girl is quite pretty, but she looks a bit like a child trying on an adult's dress. This is what I remind myself of when I over-romanticize the past.

Although I did enjoy reading The Queen's Lady, I definitely preferred the first book in the series, The Other Countess. The difference lies mainly in the heroine. Ellie just had so much spirit and was very much not the typical lady in the Elizabethan era. Jane is much more well-behaved and rule-following. Of course, she does sometimes, but not nearly enough. She nearly gets herself trapped in a terrible future by not standing up for herself, which is just stupid. I guess I should have seen it coming, since she came close to doing so in the last book too.

Although I was slightly disappointed, you better believe I'll be reading the next book, The Rogue's Princess, when it comes out in January 2013. These are light, fun reads for anyone who wants a little more costume drama in their life! show less

This sequel to The Other Countess is set in 1584 and continues the story of Jane, one of the supporting characters from the first book. Jane was to marry Will Lacey, but broke off the betrothal so he would be free to marry his true love, Ellie, who was Jane's friend. But although she does not regret her decision, Jane's family was furious, and she was imprisoned in her own home and punished severely. She only escaped because a very kind elderly man married her to save her from her family. Though their marriage was in name only, Jane was very fond of her husband and grieved him when he died, because he was more of a father to her than her own ever was. His sons are horrible and forced her to leave her home, but thanks to a recommendation show more from her late husband, Jane is able to find a position at court as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I.

Shortly after arriving at court, to Jane's surprise she encounters James Lacey, the brother of the man she refused to marry. She still loves him, but he despises her at first because he doesn't know the real reason why she ended the betrothal, and thinks she jilted his brother. James soon learns the truth, but he does not feel he is good enough for Jane now, because he is haunted by atrocities he witnessed in war. He joins a voyage to the Americas to help scout a site for a possible future English colony in the New World, hoping the time away from home will help him recover from the terrible memories. However while James is gone, Jane's scheming relatives plot to force her into an unwanted marriage.

I enjoyed reading The Queen's Lady but I didn't like it as much as The Oher Countess, which was one of my favorite books that I read last year. Jane was a character I didn't like at first but ended up sympathizing with by the end of the first book, her family truly is just awful! So I was glad to read the continuation of her story. But honestly, I wanted to slap James or something for being such an idiot and running off to deal with his problems without seeing how much Jane needed him, and thinking he was unworthy of her for reasons that I thought were pretty stupid. I would still recommend this book to readers who enjoyed the first book, or who haven't read it yet but enjoy historical romance, and I still plan to read the third book, The Rogue's Princess, which will be published in July 2011. I'm just a little disappointed that I didn't love this book as much as The Other Countess. show less

Lady Jane Rievaulx is a widow at the ripe old age of 18. Her marriage ws one of convenience but she liked her husband and he her, although his family disliked her inheriting anything, they regarded her as a money-chaser. Her family has plans for her and they're nothing if ambitious, she's valuable for her marriageabilty and connections and they've found someone who will give them more power.

However she loves Master James Lacey, who is dealing with an aftermath of a war on his psyche and heading for America to find a purpose. While he's away she's trapped, will James get back in time to save her?

It's a fun read, the characters are well drawn and while some of the situations are flagged well in advance it kept me reading through.

I've been looking forward to reading the Lacey Chronicles books from Eve Edwards for a long time. But as someone who doesn't like to buy books from overseas, I forced myself to wait patiently until the books were release in the U.S. After I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in the series, The Other Countess, which I won just a few weeks ago from a Twitter contest, I was thrilled that the sequel, The Queen's Lady was already available on NetGalley for review.

The Queen's Lady follows the story of Lady Jane, one of Ellie's closest friends in The Other Countess. Much has happened to Jane since we last saw her. After ending her engagement to Will, Jane ended up in an unhappy marriage and was eventually sent home in disgrace. She was saved by show more another marriage, this time to a much older man who was looking for a companion to spend the rest of his days with. Soon after he dies, Jane comes to court as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I, a changed woman. That's where she reconnects to James Lacey, Will's brother. The pair soon fall in love, but tragedy and trials threaten to pull them apart.

I was really surprised at Jane here. She seemed like a completely different person from the flirty, somewhat scandalous young woman in The Other Countess -I almost didn't recognize her. While Edwards does give a quick back story behind this change that occurred between the two novels, the change was just so drastic that it didn't fit for me. It also led to such a significant change in Jane that the personality quirks that made me interesting to me in the previous book were completely gone here. I would also have liked to have seen some of that story on the page since it had such a profound affect on Jane.

The signature sweet romance I enjoyed in Other Countess is still here in Queen's Lady, but with more intrigue and conflict thrown in, as well as a stronger use of the period's context in ways that made the story seem more realistic. I would say that I didn't enjoy Queen's Lady as much as Other Countess, but it was still a satisfying sequel, and I liked seeing Jane have her own happy ending. show less

I continue to enjoy this renaissance romance series. It has a lightness to it that doesn't ignore the realities of the time period, but still appeals to a younger audience.

Requesting a digital copy of The Queen’s Lady by Eve Edwards from the publisher was a departure for me. It didn’t appear to be the kind of novel I normally read but I had been reading so many dark and twisty novels recently that I decided I needed to mix it up a bit.

The Queen’s Lady is Book #2 in The Lacey Chronicles; however, I found it worked quite well as a stand-alone novel. I was also pleasantly surprised because it was not only a lot of fun to read but it had a very nice plot. Read the rest of my review at http://popcornreads.com/?p=3622.