This was a new to me author. It is a little bit older than I usually read, both in time period and date written, but I didn't mind either. The notion was interesting, and I especially liked how capable the heroine was. She started out a bit over dramatic for my tastes, but improved fairly quickly. The hero was actually the less reasonable one (quite often in real life, but less so in HR I find =) ). I wanted to like him, but it just took him absolutely ages to get with the program. Fought it every step of the way! lol. (I actually enjoy when a hero tries to resist falling in love, and fails spectacularly, but this felt like it was just contrariness at every turn and on every front. He seemed to be the last to believe her backstory, the last to think she maybe could be onto something treating the ill child, the last to see she's actually fantastic improving his lands and leading his people, and he doubts her feelings seemingly up to the last moment, all despite plenty of evidence to the contrary. And he kept trying to be mean to drive her away. It didn't work, but damn if he didn't double and triple down on the tactic! lol. Pretty much every aspect of his life was ruled by fear of loss, which is sad, but also I kinda wanted him to just realize that the potential rewards were worth the risk or something, much sooner. Overall I liked it well enough to read the next in the series. ( )

I have come to love the genre of historical romance, and this author does not disappoint with her descriptive and evocative writing. However, I did think that the story was somewhat predictable at the end, and thus, resulted in the three star rating. The novel is about Juliana Romanov, a Russian aristocrat, who narrowly escapes from the mass murder of her family by fleeing Russia with a band of gypsies. When she arrives in England, Juliana is mistaken for a vagabond horse thief, and King Henry VIII forces a bitter widower, Stephen de Lacey, the baron of Wimberleigh, to marry her against his will. Juliana is no ordinary woman, and she proves to be a commendable match to Stephen, as he clings to a long-held, heart- wrenching secret. When I looked up the historical background of King Henry VIII’s court and the Romanoff family, I was disappointed to find that King Henry VIII died as an obese man in 1547, but that the Romanoff family was executed in July of 1918. The author took liberties in putting these characters together, when in actuality, they were both of different eras. ( )

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The idea that first drew me to this book was the idea of a Russian lady in the Tudor court. They're two worlds that I've never seen done in any book before, romance or otherwise, so I was curious to explore that. And while I think I might have enjoyed a bit more of a look at the Russian world during this time period, I enjoyed the touches with Juliana's dog, the Gypsies, and Juliana's memories of her family and old world.

And boy did I love Juliana! She was soft and feminine where she needed to be. And yet, she's a woman who's not afraid to do what needs doing, without male approval or thought to herself. She took action where she saw a need and even when those actions probably weren't the wisest, she didn't sit and wait for the men in her life to decide what she should do. My kind of woman in any book, but especially in a romance.

I enjoyed the romance in the book. It was sweet, passionate, and complex. It wasn't a straightforward romance plot that we usually see where the girl is kidnapped by her future beloved or he's rescuing her from some tragic circumstances. Our two lovers are thrown together by unusual happenings that eventually blossoms into a wonderful love story over time and with understandable obstacles overcome. It's a love story that develops realistically and isn't just wham bam yeah we're in love!. While there were some serious issues with trust between our people that I felt was almost too drawn out for dramatic effect, the overall story made me sigh in romantic happiness. And at the end of the day, that's the best indicator of a well written romance. ( )

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