I enjoyed this book. The plot was well paced and the characters were well developed. I would enjoy reading another book by this author in the future.

‘Alice watched as her niece, Lady Joanna, stepped lightly onto the stage.’

The novel opens at the Court of Poitiers in 1168. Fourteen-year-old Lady Joanna and her aunt Alice are at the court of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Alice hopes to make an appropriate match for Joanna, but Joanna is a headstrong young woman who does not always heed Alice’s advice. Can Alice protect Joanna from the men of the court? Alice wants to secure her own place at Eleanor’s court, close by her friend Marie, Eleanor’s daughter by Louis VII of France. And in the meantime, trouble continues to brew between Eleanor and her husband Henry II of England.

‘Eleanor swept into the room in a whirl of loveliness.’

Ms Mooney has chosen an interesting period of history in which to set her novel: there is plenty of intrigue between the court of Eleanor and that of Henry II and the times are turbulent. I confess that while I found the setting interesting, especially the hawking scenes, and was curious about Alice and her background, I did not much care for Joanna.

I believe that this is the first novel in a series, and I will definitely read the second novel in order to satisfy my curiosity.

Note: My thanks to NetGalley and Sapere Books for providing me with a free electronic copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

I really enjoyed this book it was well written with a wealth of well developed characters and a gripping storyline that was so well researched and vividly described that I fe;t I was right there at court. A really enjoyable work of historical fiction.

It's more historical fiction than historical romance, an entertaining and compelling read.
I think that Eleanor of Aquitaine is a very fascinating woman and I appreciated the descriptions of her court and the well researched historical background.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I love historical fiction, especially about strong queens. This book will engage you especially if you don't know anything about Eleanor of Aquitaine.
But, the weakest links are the protagonists. We are dropped into the court, opening with Bernard asking for Joanna's hand in marriage, with no background on why she matters. Google has no answers either. Therein lies the one flaw. Why should I care for Alice and Joanna? How is she any better than any other female character? I didn't grow to care for them. Interesting things happened to them, and yet the best character is Eleanor.

The men were unlikeable and rightly so. The privilege and obvious commentary like undertones in the narration feel like a modern feminist interpretation of things from 1000 years ago.

Eleanor of Aquitaine is one of my absolute favourite people in history which I why I wanted to read this book. as I thought the story’s setting would be interesting. So much intrigue and interesting points to explore. The main character is one the queen’s ladies in waiting (I think) so she’s in the middle of everything thar’s going on within the court.

Sad to say I was disappointed. This was boring. It just dragged on, and I can’t remember anything of importance.

With thanks to NetGalley and Sapere Books for the arc.

This novel is set in 1168 in the court of Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine and is primarily focused on two of her ladies- young Joanna (aged 14) and her aunt Alice. The backdrop to this story is based on real events - at a time of political turmoil and conflict between King Henry and Thomas Becket, and the relationship between Henry and Eleanor.

I found this book to be wonderfully descriptive, and life in court really came to life. It also sparked an interest in me to learn more about this time in history, and particularly about Queen Eleanor, who sounds absolutely fascinating - the author does a great job of demonstratinf her as a strong and fierce female in a male dominated world.

However, the synopsis of this book promises me "intrigue, danger and adventure" - I found all these lacking. I understood the main two characters and why they behaved as they did, though I found that I didn't really care for them. There were indications of a possible emerging romance with Alice - which I found fascinating and was quite excited to see where it would go - but it went nowhere, and I found the overall ending to be quite abrupt. I'm assuming that there is going to be a sequel - and as a 'laying the groundwork' book, it could lead the way for something quite special. I'd read the second book if there was one.

The moment I saw this book cover I knew that I wanted to read it. What a beautiful cover!

I like historical fiction, English history in particular, and a medieval romantic story sounded like something I didn't want to miss. This story however focuses more on the tensions between Eleanor of Aquitaine and King Henry, and Eleanor's maneuvering in politics, and less on love and emotions. Alice had romantic feelings for someone, and Joanna was supposedly passionately in love with someone too, yet I felt that the romantic plot is lacking and the author did not let us behind the scenes to learn how these feelings developed.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sapere Books for an Advance Review Copy.