THE BLONDE BY Anna Godbersen

 

Publisher:     Hachette       

Published:     May 13, 2014

ISBN:        B00IHGVSR8

Genre:       Alternate History

Format:     Ebook

Obtained via:  Publisher via Edelweiss

Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina  Ginalrmreviews@gmail.com

TWO-1/2 HEARTS

 

She was a goddess who was beloved by all.

Or was she a lonely young woman who only wanted to be loved?

Or…was she something more?  Is there a chance she was actually a very intelligent woman who, in pursuit of a thrill, became a soviet spy with the goal of bringing down a president? 

In the days leading up to the presidential election of 1959 Marilyn Monroe is recruited by a Soviet spy to find out something about Jack Kennedy.  They want to control and possibly bring down the American President.  With promises of reuniting her with her father, Marilyn Monroe agrees to help them.  After all, her Russian handler helped her become the star she always wanted to be.  Or did he?

Unhappy with her marriage to playwright Arthur Miller, Marilyn has no problem seducing Jack.  It’s not like she is a stranger to infeldity.  But Jack Kennedy has a certain charisma…something that Marilyn cannot help but fall for.  Are they star crossed lovers?  Or are they players in a game only one can win?

From the first time I saw the Norma Jean movie staring Carol Baker I was fascinated by Marilyn Monroe’s story.  When I fisrt saw her movies, even as a teen, I remember marvelling at her talent.  She wasn’t just a blonde woman many of my generation aspired to be like—she was funny in movies like How to Marry a Millionaire and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.  And she was dramatic in movies like Bus Stop and Asphalt Jungle.  When I saw Godbersen’s book, THE BLONDE I had to check it out.

I was pretty disappointed.  The Marilyn in the book was not the Marilyn I knew from her movies and the biographies I’ve read about her.  Yes, her intelligence was seen in the pages of the book, as was the tragedy that permeated her life.  It was the writing that left me flat.  I just did not feel any emotion in the story.  There was a lot of telling—particularly in the scenes with the FBI agent trailing her.  But I never really felt her anger, her passion or the heights of happiness she would have with Kennedy.  I suppose in part my disappointment in the story is from my own wanting Marilyn to have a happier ending than the one she truly had.  Alternate histories can sometimes bring a resolution you wanted better; but when you know how it really ended, sometimes unless the writing is very strong, you just cannot suspend belief. 

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.

THE BOLEYN DECEIT by Laura Andersen

Publisher:  Ballantine
Date published:   November 5, 2013
ISBN 978-0345534118
Genre:   Alternative History
Format:  Paperback
Obtained via:  Publisher
Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina Gina@loveromancesandmorereviews.com

3-1/2

Christmas 1554 is heralded in by King William and Princess Elizabeth Tudor along with their lifelong friends Minuette and Dominic amid fireworks and a lunar eclipse.  As the sky darkens, Dominic finds his way to Minuette…their love a necessary secret as William as decided that the petite blonde is the only woman for him.  He declares his love for Minuette and his desire to marry her.  While she loves William, it is as a friend—it is Dominic who holds her heart.  But a marriage between them must be sanctioned by William, something he will not do.

As the holidays pass Minuette is called deeper into the king’s service to ferret out secrets that could cause him his throne.  She is more determined than ever to find who killed her friend Alyce.  Court intrigue leads her down one path and then another. 

Meanwhile Elizabeth waits in limbo—if William marries the ten year old French princess Elisabeth, the English Tudor princess may, just may, be able to marry for love—but the love of her life is married to antoher and William is not inclined to grant him a divorce. 

If William has his way and marries Minuette—after throwing over the young French princess, then it is Elizabeth who must marry for political gain. 

Intrigue lurks behind every corner as Minuette’s life is threatened, but by the Catholic or Protestant factions?  Or is the threat closer to home?  Perhaps someone in Elizabeth’s household?  And while William struggles to keep his feelings for Minuette hidden, at least until his alliances are secured, Dominic falls deeper and deeper in love with her and she with him.  Each walks a fine line, necessitated out of loyalty and political need, struggling with what is best for England.

I debated going forward reading Laura Andersen’s THE BOLEYN DECEIT because I wasn’t particularly enamoured of book one of her trilogy, THE BOLEYN KING.  In book 1 the author seemed undecided just what kind of book she wanted to write and it came across as the perverbial “throw it all at the wall and hope something useful comes from it.”  At times an adult mystery, at others a young adult, and sometimes historical fiction that didn’t come together all that well.  Book 2, the BOLEYN DECEIT was a complete turn around with a great story.  The tension between William, Dominic and Minuette was well done.  Ms. Andersen captured the angst a royal would suffer in choosing between his or her heart and what was good for his country.  The need for someone to turn to yet trusting no one lures you further into the story.  Who do you root for and why?

In addition to the reappearance of John Dee, other individuals who were in the real Queen Elizabeth I’s orbit are introduced into the story adding some wonderful dimension to the story.  Excellent descriptions of the scenery make the story more vivid. 

There are also characters that you just love to hate, like Eleanor, and I have to admit I enjoyed it when she got her own comeuppance.  I’m glad I continued on with the series and now find myself looking forward to book 3, the BOLEYN RECKONING.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement this book.

THE BOLEYN KING by Laura Anderson

Publisher:  Ballantine
Date published:   May 14, 2013
ISBN 978-0345534095
Genre:   Young Adult, Alternative History
Format:  Paperback
Obtained via:  Publisher
Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina Gina@loveromancesandmorereviews.com

2-1/2

In another time, another place, Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn did not die because she gave birth to a son. A healthy son named Henry William—known as William.  On the day of his birth another child, Minuette, was born.  An orphan, Minuette was raised as a royal ward of Anne who, even in this reality, gave birth to Elizabeth.  Together, William, Elizabeth, Minuette and their friend, Dominic, thrived in a different Tudor England.  Different in some ways, but in others, history was the same as ours and myriad other intrigues abounded.  While the foursome learn statecraft at the hand of Lord Rochford, France, Spain and Catholic Englishmen plot.  In the midst of the larger drama of the world a young lady in waiting, Alyce de Clare, a pregnant Alyce de Clare, plunges to her death. 

As William’s 18^th birthday, and therefore his majority approaches, the privy council prods more and more for him to choose a bride. But William has more on his mind than a bride.  With France and England about to engage in an alliance and a secret document that could bring down his reign, he sends the only people he can trust to the four corners of his kingdom and beyond.  Dominic leaves for France and Minuette seeks out Alyce’s killer and the secret document at home while Elizabeth holds Williams counsel. Amidst the intrigues of the times, William realizes where his heart lies and giving his heart to that woman could ultimately cost him his kingdom. 

I went back and forth with Laura Andersen’s THE BOLEYN KING between liking it and wanting to toss it aside. There were parts that were intriguing and drew me in.  Scenes with heightened emotion and solid mystery drew me in as did the premise of an alternative history where Anne Boleyn gave birth to a healthy son and because of that, Henry VIII remained true to her and she did not die.  And then there were scenes that just rambled and lost me.  At times I wondered if perhaps the book was written by two authors—one who wanted to write a young adult fantasy and another who wanted to weave of story with great mystery and intrigue.  In the end I could not reconcile the chick-litish teens with the intelligent and passionate adults they sometimes seemed to be.

The mystery was a good one and the killer completely caught me off guard.  How the villain was discovered was well done—but getting there are times was laborious and disjointed.  I believe if the author had either stuck with a young adult or gone for a solid alternate history with the characters behaving as the adults they would have been at the time the writing would have been tighter and the story much better.

The author engaged in a practice that seems to be increasing popularity with some writers but ultimately annoys readers—the story does not end at the last page, but leaves threads dangling so if you want to find out what happened you have to read (and therefore buy or borrow) the next book.  Since I already have book 2, THE BOLEYN DECEIT, I will read it if only to find out, hopefully who Minuette ultimately chooses to marry. 

THE BOLEYN KING has a great premise and if you can suspend your belief it is a story you will enjoy.  Treat it as a young adult romance with a bit of mystery thrown in without expectations of high drama and intrigue and you can’t miss.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement this book.