Since my days of reading the Royal Diaries in elementary school, I have been obsessed with French history. While I’ve read a lot about Marie Antoinette, her time at Versailles, and what came after, I’ve never read anything about the man who actually commissioned the Palace of Versailles.

Courting the Sun follows Sylvienne as she is summoned to court by Louis XIV and must learn to navigate the politics of the time and day-to-day life in 17th century France. Williams did an absolutely fantastic job at bringing many historical figures to life! Although Sylvienne herself is a fictional character, the way she was written gave many opportunities to see what life was like under the rule of the Sun King.

This was a very easy read that held my attention and introduced me to some new historical figures. I love the sprinklings of French throughout, and it was fun to pull out my high school French skills to see what I remembered!

I would recommend this to anyone interested in an easy, dramatic story about a fascinating period of time!

Thank you to NetGalley and Black Rose Writing for the opportunity to read this in exchange for my unbiased opinion!

This was a solid historical fiction read for me. I loved the characters and I felt like the author definitely hit the nail on the head when it came to the aesthetics of life at the french court. It was an intresting read and it kept my attention which I enjoyed. My only "negative" feedback would be that at times it felt like the plot was either moving too slowly or too fast. Other than that though, i throughly enjoyed reading this book and will probably pick up any others written by this author

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC.

Two weeks ago I was in Versailles on a vacation with my family and I began looking for historical fiction novels to read about the Sun King and/or Marie Antoinette. When I saw this book pop up on Netgalley it seemed like a perfect fit.

I couldn't put it down! We follow our heroine Sylvienne as she leaves the small town of Amiens and her beloved friends, possible romantic interest, and family to join the court of Louis XIV, the Sun King. At court she learns to play by the rules of the nobles who marry for money, curry favor with royalty and keep their private affairs as private as possible (which isn't very).

My biggest complaint is the ending. At about the 80% mark Sylvienne marries and things move very quickly after that. The book ends with a bit of a cliff hanger - I really hope there is a sequel! Definitely recommend to anyone who enjoys historical fiction with a bit of romance. A quick, easy read.

I really loved this story set in seventeenth century France. The author has done her research well, as Madame de Montespan did have lots of animals in her rooms, and also a bath big enough for two people to share, and the story about her husband showing up in a coach with antlers on each corner and hung with cloths that indicated he was in mourning is a matter of historical fact. These are just a few examples of historical research in the novel. I loved the court, especially the scenes where Louis dances as Apollo. All the main characters I have encountered in other historical fiction were there, such as Monsieur, the chevalier de Lorraine, Henriette and of course the Sun King. I loved the scenes set in Versailles most of all. A well crafted tale and highly recommended.