Search - By His Majesty's Grace

If you enjoyed Jennifer Blake's "Master At Arms" series, you will enjoy this new series as well. Rand and Isabel must battle those closest to them and the intrigues of the English court in order to keep Rand out of the tower. A thoroughly enjoyable story without all the deceit and angst of most stories of this sort.

Isabel Milton has met her match in Sir Randall Braesford. The curse of The Three Graces of Graydon is not going to save her this time. Even though the previous five attempts on marrying her off has failed with disease, accident or warfare, Braesford fears nothing. On the day of their nuptials, unfortunately, Braesford’s half-brother William McConnell shows up to arrest him on the charge of murder of Juliette d’Amboise’s, Henry VII’s mistress, baby girl. Braesford knows that the charges are false and most likely a set-up on behalf of his half-brother who is jealous of him and upset that Henry VIII awarded his lands to Braesford.

After returning to London, Henry VIII still insists that the marriage happen. Isabel has no choice and is wedded and bedded before she knows it. At first she is opposed to all of it but as time goes on she finds that she does love this big brute. Now she needs to clear his name for her sake and his head because now the charges have changed to not only the death of the child but also the deather of Juliette. Isabel’s main suspects are her step-brother, Earl of Graydon, and Braesford’s half-brother, William McConnell. But to prove it she will have to be brave and try to get in the good graces of Margaret Beaufort, King Henry VII’s mother.

Blake does a wonderful job with making us feel like we are right there in the action but at times it was too much. I found myself skimming over a lot of the descriptions trying to get the heart of the story. All in all a good romance read but not one that I would say is a must read.

The first book of a trilogy sets the pace for the other two. It holds the attention and takes you to the fun, the hope and the terrible knowledge of the power a king has over his subjects. Isabel, for all her wealth and property, has no say over her life, but the strife and the endurance has made her strong and able to think for herself, although, her thinking gets her into a few trouble spots. After reading this first novel, I could not wait to read the other two. A great read.