A quick and easy read, fun and action-packed.

Susanna Horenbout travels from Belgium to England to join the court of Henry VIII as his personal painter. En route she unwittingly becomes entangled in a treasonous Yorkist plot and her life is in danger. She and her protector, John Parker, must discover who is behind the plot and who is trying to kill them.

There is lots to like in Diener's first novel. Susanna is a likable heroine, capable and assertive, yet without 21st century pretensions, and John Parker makes a very dashing male lead. I did appreciate the historical note at the end stating what was fact and what was fiction.

What let the book down imo was how Susanna walked from one attempt on her life into the next - the constant round of assasination attempts, abductions and muggings. People who like a lot of action with their historical fiction will like this, I didn't. The author clearly knows the time period, so I would have liked for her to mix it up a bit; as it was, we found ourselves in some alley every few pages, daggers and swords at the ready. I also would have liked to hear a bit more about Susanna's art, which I thought would have added a different dimension.

Because of the spacing between the lines the book is a lot shorter than the page count would suggest. This is the first book in a series and since the story isn't completely resolved, I will just have to get on with the next one.

In short, liked it but didn't love it. ( )

Despite a lot of modernisms, I really enjoyed it. Review coming... ( )

Tudor England! Historical fiction! Spies! Banter! Intrigue! Romance!
Yes, I very much liked this book. ( )

Tudor England! Historical fiction! Spies! Banter! Intrigue! Romance!
Yes, I very much liked this book. ( )

Tudor England! Historical fiction! Spies! Banter! Intrigue! Romance!
Yes, I very much liked this book. ( )