Search - The Dark Queen (Dark Queen, Bk 1)

Excellant historical fiction. This is the first three, The Courtesan and The Silver Rose being 2 and 3, respectively. I highly recommend it

I picked up this book because there was supposed to be a lot of intrigue and murder and sorcery in it. I read the reviews stating there was a "dash" of romance, and thought "eh, I don't like romance novels, but I'll give this a try."

Don't be fooled. About 150 pages went by before there was anything of extreme note that did NOT have to do with romance. While the middle/end of the book focused more on the intrigue, etc., this book read (to me, who doesn't like romance novels) as a romance novel with some other stuff thrown in.

That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the story, or the characters. I did. It's a fluffy book, pretty easy to read, and the parts with Catherine de Medici were fascinating. I just wish the book had purported to be more about romance, because it was.

First in the series and very well written. An enjoying read with lots of historical details, a bit of the paranormal and a dash of romance too. Interesting characters and a well thought out plot round out this book and make it a very enjoyable read.

Ready for the next one! :D While I don't care for the references to witchcraft in the book, I still enjoyed it thoroughly.

I had higher hopes for this book. It was good, but the romance pretty much over road anything else that might have been interesting in the book. It was better than the average romantic drivel, but still the romance was the plot. Sigh. I love historical fiction for bringing into that period of time, but this book only gives a small glimpse. I liked the book better until the end where it had the typical romantic ending of the male lead forced to give up his deepest darkest secrets to prove his love. Oh please. At any rate, it is an easy mostly entertaining read that sets you up for the next books in the series and I admit I'm interested enough to order the next 3.