The third and final book in the All the King's Men trilogy. This is the book that my book club is reading and what lead me to read the first two. My read the books in order rule has not disappointed me.

King Henry has died young and left a young widow, Queen Katherine, and the toddler king. There are two factions, the Gloucesters and Winchesters, fighting to "guide" the young king, who has been taken from the foreign queen (Queen Katherine is French.) Lady Linnet, our heroine, is one of the queen's advisors, but her most urgent desire is to seek revenge for Grandfather against the men who cheated him and left her and her twin brother, Francois, to starve upon his death. She is intent so intent on revenge that she will sacrifice everything, including love, to achieve her goal.

Our story opens in France with Lady Linnet in bed with her childhood sweetheart, Sir Jamie Rayburn, the step-son of Lord William FitzAlan. Linnet is supposed to be engaged to another man when they are caught together in bed. But not by accident, for Linnet has no desire to marry the man her father has chosen for her, Guy Pomeroy. Jamie is unaware of Linnet's plot until they are discovered together and he leaves for England, heartsick at the cruelty of Linnet's refusal of his proposal.

Five years later in London, Jamie rescues Linnet from a near riot in the streets of London and learns that she is an advisor to the queen while he is an advisor to the Bishop of Winchester. Their romance is eventually reignited and eventually Linnet agrees to an engagement to Jamie with the promise to stop her quest for vengeance.

But one night, Linnet sees an opportunity to obtain her last revenge and she ignores her promise to Jamie, certain that he will never learn of her transgression. Linnet is wrong and Jamie learns of her betrayal and calls off the engagement.

Linnet stills wants Jamie, but Jamie is determined to find a wife he can trust and soon his family has arranged for him to marry a woman whose only desire is to enter a convent -- but her family has land, something that Jamie as the step-son of Lord FitzAlan does not have.

God's beard, when will our misguided lovers learn that they belong together? For sooth, certainly Jamie knows that Linnet needs him -- especially since her quest for vengeance is taking her into danger. (I just love the quaint little phrases used during the 15th century.)

Yes, another great story. I anxiously await more from this author.

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Well first off, this was an entertaining book. I didn't get sick of reading it, yet it wasn't one of those books that I couldn't put down. I liked the story enough, and the characters were well developed but there was a bit of a disconnect for me.

I think my biggest hurdle in this one was Linnet. I know she was looking for revenge, but she came off as being deceptive, and a bit of a brat. I just wasn't that thrilled with her as a main character. I liked Jamie quite a bit more. He was a scorned lover who was still in love, and that made me feel sympathy for him. I also liked him because he knew Linnet's game, and could (to an extent) beat her at it. He also was a great "Knight in Shinning Armor" so to speak.

The story was pretty good. The undertones of magic, sorcery, and such made it more appealing to me, as I tend to be drawn to stories with mystical or spiritual undertones. The love between Linnet and Jamie was a good catalyst for the story. I wanted Jamie to get what he wanted, but my disdain for Linnet made it seem bittersweet. I kept wishing she were a better person...

But despite Linnet I still think this was a decent read. I was able to escape into the story with little effort. The historical side of the story may not have been absolutely accurate, but I think it was accurate enough to make it believable.

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