The Queen's Lady by Eve Edwards

Release Date: 03/02/11
Publisher: Puffin
Pages: 324
Target Audience: Teens/Young Adults
Genre: Historical Fiction/Romance/Fiction

Synopsis: 1584 – Surrey, England When Lady Jane Rievaulx begins service to the Queen at Richmond Palace, she is thrilled at the court’s newest arrival . . . Master James Lacey. Despite her previous courtship with his older brother, James is the man she truly loves. And for his part, he cannot deny his fascination with her. However, James is setting sail on a treacherous journey to the Americas, seeking absolution for what he sees as past sins. But when Lady Jane is forced into a terrible situation by her own family, there is only one man to save her. Will Master James return to his lady ­- before it’s too late?


My Review: This is the second in The Lacey Chronicles and just as amazing as the first. Though I still maintain that living in this century probably would have resulted in me locked in the tower for offending some noble, you can't deny the escapism and realism that this series provides.  
The fact is that Eve Edwards writes with skill and in such a way I was able to pick this up and immediately lose myself in the story of a character whose story actually started in the previous book.


Lady Jane drew me in on so many levels; she's flawed and knows it, she's a strong female character who doesn't give up and she's one hell of a kick-ass heroine (considering the time this is set in, this stands out a lot!) Her connection to James is electric and, as in the previous book, I wanted to kick some sense into the lead male character, admittedly though at least he had a good reason for what he did.

I found that the peril in this novel was somewhat more intense than the last due to the way the plot played out and I was hoping and praying for a happy ending.

There is no shortage of romance and to top off the main storyline, there's another romance as well which is just as challenging and epic as the main storyline and also deals with racism and discrimination on some level. Love is love regardless of class, colour or religion and it will always win out in the end, that's my opinion anyway.

Summed up, this is an exceptional example of historical fiction/romance and I say to Miss Edwards, please write more books!