Interesting historical fiction.
Many thanks to Serial Box and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

An interesting historical episode that piqued my interest into the time period. looking forward to reading more.

I wasn't sure what to expect as it is part of a series. I found it quite a hard read but persevered as I hope the series will be better.

This was an okay read. I like historical fiction, and enjoy the era written about. Delving into an extended serial just wasn't my cup of tea this go round.

DNF. I did not like the content of this book. It was not for me.

I don’t understand the purpose of this “Serial Box” each written by different authors. The first one is 50 pages long and is about Portuguese princess Catherine of Braganza who gets betrothed to King Charles II of England and her passage to his country. The Merry Monarch is known for his frivolous behavior. As Catherine makes her passage to England, Charles spends his time with his mistress. While she arrives in Portsmouth, he is too busy parting with “the wild young lords known as the Merry Gang” to meet her. After a week, he makes his way to Portsmouth and as soon as they meet this story ends.

I don’t know if this is the number of pages that makes me think that this story is not a well-developed. It seems as this number of pages for her passage and getting the first glimpse of Catherine and Charles should be enough. But this first part of the story wasn’t absorbing for me. I didn’t get connected to any of the characters. This form of “Serial Box” seems to be more appropriate for YA.

My first experience of a serialized novel was the trashy free stuff they had on the Mills & Boon website over 10 years ago. I am so happy that Embarkations is nothing like that. This installment opens the story with Catarina, Infanta of Portugal, leaving her homeland, to marry Charles II of England, who has recently been restored to the throne. The author does a marvelous job of describing the nervousness felt by a young bride in a foreign land and the hesitation of a new monarch who has spent his whole life fighting for a land he now must learn to govern. It was a very enjoyable first chapter and I was so enamored by it that I immediately bought the rest of the series!

What a treat to stumble across this here, as I had heard about it from another source and was keen to sample it. This first chapter is a tantalising introduction to a world of courtliness and wit, love and incipient heartbreak, and I was pleased to find the characters so generously drawn - each with their own perspective and motivations. I'm keen to find the rest of the series now, to find out how Charles and Catherine go along with one another, and to find out what our authors will make of Lady Castlemaine's scheming and the scabrous wit of the Earl of Rochester. A delicious Restoration romp in the making!