1552 and the adventures of Richard Fitzwilliam, mercenary. With strife among his family and followers, does Richard trust anyone, where does his real loyalty lie.
An enjoyable, well-written story, with characters you do get to like, well some of them. Look forward to the next in the series. ( )

I’ve had to bail on this poorly written book. There is “flowery” language over every darned detail making this a lengthy, wordy, boring read. For example, a wife is described as “colorful, careless, and expensive.” And “skipping”! A little is fine; a lot is annoying. This is 1500s England: which I picture a lot less romantically than this author does. And practically nothing has happened 25% into this looong book.

In another example, the author or editor took a break on this section:

A character named Catherine just saw the MC Richard in a previous chapter; now she doesn’t recognize him, but then this same section ends noting she had met him 3 times! See below:

“Catherine, returning from the kitchens, saw a man she did not recognise unloading a cart drawn by a tired, dusty-looking horse....Red-faced, composure shattered, Catherine fled the stables in a flurry of skirts. She had met him three times and he had reduced her to tears on two of them.”

With too many over-the-top descriptions, non-sensical sections, and nothing happening well into the book, I can only give it 1/2 star for trying. ( )

I loved the historical aspect to the story. The intrigue was great. I felt, though, the characters were a bit underdeveloped and flat. Like they were written and put into designated boxes..."this is the arrogant, callous lady's man", "this one is the underdog with a chip on his shoulder who has tendencies to be careless, impulsive and a bit of a blockhead", etc and the characters never strayed from the confines of their "boxes". In reality, people often put on "masks" to hide aspects of themselves they don't want others to see and make themselves vulnerable, but not matter how carefully constructed the "mask", the qualities the person would like to hide have a way of peeking through eventually. I did not see that with these characters, and for me, because the were so one-dimensional, it made it a bit harder to believe. I did not like how they were consistently assuming what the other was thinking, what was motivating the others, why they did what they did and jumping to conclusions. I find that irritating in real life, and just as irritating in a book. Had these things been rectified, I would have given it a higher rating. The books rates as high as it does by me simply because I loved the historical aspect of it.
Read for twogalsandabook.com ( )

While it's nice to see a novel set during Mary's reign, rather than Henry's or Elizabeth's, this was badly written and poorly edited. The characters weren't particularly engaging, and I didn't find it interesting enough to want to find out what happens in the next book. ( )

This is a historical fiction novel set in England in the 1550's, at the time that Mary was Queen and was fearful Elizabeth would try to steal the throne. While this is a large part of the plot, the story itself centers around two half-brothers, Richard and Jack, mercenaries who play for both sides of the royal game.

Richard was long ago falsely accused of a crime he never commited, which stained him for life, causing him to live a shady life in the shadows. Skilled with the sword and possessing a crafty intellegence, he becomes leader of a band of mercenaries, hiring out to whoever pays top price.

Jack, disinherited of the family name and forgotten by all, is frowned on as the unfortunate product of the sins of his father. Convinced of his own low self value, he is a follower, not a leader. When fate brings him together with his half-brother, Richard, he joins up with him and his merry band of men. The tensions rise between him and Richard, as personalities clash.

This story is pouring with drama and the romance of Elizabethian England, with vivid sword plays that you can see in your mind as clearly as if you were there, and with a kind of tension so palpable it will make the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. It is an exciting read, and I enjoyed it. However, the occasional usage by the characters of modern slang detracted from the story, when they'd say things like "Shut up, man", "whatever", and the words "you know" in the midst of a sentence. I'd give it four out of five stars.

Note: this book is not really a stand-alone novel. It is part of a series, and you need to read the next in the series to find out what happens next. ( )