The only thing I can remember about its book is its mediocrity,total lack of originality and a lesbian public makeout session :/ ( )

Delicious court intrigue, great characters. Alternative reality elizabethan fiction. It made me nervous, the way the main character is frequently skirting the edge of disaster. I love the bawdy quality as well. Very nice. ( )

This book looks like a romance version of [b:The Assassin's Apprentice|45107|Assassin's Apprentice (The Farseer Trilogy, Book 1)|Robin Hobb|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170273738s/45107.jpg|171715]. It is set in a thinly veiled version of the late 16th century (pretty much the only difference are the names--the redheaded, married to her country, virgin queen of a misty island is named "Lorraine," for instance) and follows the hidden struggle for supremacy. The main character is the secret, bastard daughter of "Lorraine" and her spymaster. Belinda spends the entirety of the book manipulating, killing, and spying in the courts of Europe. I expected it to be total trash. Imagine my surprise when I found the main character to be surprisingly sensible and cool headed, impatient with her flashes of loneliness or sympathy.
After years of pretending to be various peasants (and how refreshing, to see a spy who hides her pride and takes any dirty job), Belinda is unexpectedly thrust into the spotlight when she catches the eye of a prince. While using him to get closer to his mother's papers, Belinda and Prince Javier come to a startling realization: they share a witchy power. Their relationship deepens, but staying in one, high profile place is dangerous for Belinda. Her various plots and personas accumulate and might be about to catch up with her...

Belinda is a particularly interesting character because of her troubled interaction with power. Having spent the first twenty-two years as unthinkingly obedient and subservient, it is a true reversal for Belinda to not only order her own servants, but to control the minds of those around her, as well. Her sexual appetites awaken, and she begins struggling to maintain a properly humble facade. I was intrigued by Murphey's gender politics (which are very much to the forefront of this book) and by the galloping pace of the plot. I read this in a single sitting. ( )

I had a bit of trouble getting into it at first, but, once I did, I rather enjoyed it. The names kept throwing me off a bit. Pronunciation, unfortunately, is often an issue when it comes to fantasy novels. Also, I kept trying to place them with their real world counterparts which was distracting. Thankfully, I mostly let it go by the second half and was finally able to lose myself in the story.

~3.5 stars ( )

I wanted to like this, but a hundred pages in I'm just bored.