Title: The Boleyn Deceit

Author: Laura Andersen

Series:?The Boleyn Trilogy (#2)

Publisher:?Ballantine Books

Release Date: November 5, 2013

Website:?http://www.lauraandersenbooks.com/

Book Summary:

Perfect for fans of Philippa Gregory and Allison Weir! After presenting readers with an irresistible premise in The Boleyn King (what if Anne gave birth to a healthy royal boy who would grow up to rule England?) Laura Andersen returns in this deepening saga, into the dangerous world of the Tudor court, where secrets can bring down an empire, and even the strongest of monarchs may not be able to prevent history from repeating…

Henry IX, known as William, is the son of Anne Boleyn and now the leader of England, his regency period finally at an end. His newfound power, however, comes with the looming specter of war with the other major powers of Europe, with strategic alliances that must be forged on both the battlefield and in the bedroom, and with a court, severed by religion, rife with plots to take over the throne. Will trusts only three people: his older sister, Elizabeth; his best friend and loyal counselor, Dominic; and Minuette, a young orphan raised as a royal ward by Anne Boleyn. But as the pressure rises alongside the threat to his life, even they William must begin to question-and to fear….

This is the second book in the Boleyn Trilogy series. I really liked the first one (I gave it a 4/5 on Goodreads last year when I read it). ?I liked this one better.It continues to follow the same four main characters from the last novel – Will, Dominic, Minuette, and Elizabeth. ?I believe there is an equal division of “page time” for each character – but I found myself wanting more time with every character but Will. ?The further I got into the book the more I found myself hating Will. ?There were other characters written as the bad guys, but more often than not I found myself hoping for the others to distance themselves from him – or at the very least less time spent from his point of view. ?He spends so much time manipulating people around Will – I found it hard to sympathize with him at all.

Minuette is by far my favourite character. ?I miss the fact that in the old book she was involved in more of the story – when it was told from another character’s point of view she was still in the scene. ?This time it almost feels like the four characters are hardly ever interacting with each other – aside from Dominic who seems to always share a scene with Minette or Will.

Overall, I thought the plot flowed nicely with some twists here and there. ?The characters did grow with every new experience and information they encountered. ?I found it wasn’t as predictable as the first book – which kept me entertained. ?I’m a huge fan of the Tudor era, and the fact that this is a fictional telling of events that never/couldn’t occur makes it a must read for anyone who’s a Tudor fan or Historical Fiction fan.

I can’t wait for the final book in the series to be released. ?If you haven’t started this series and you’re a fan of historical fiction – you should!

Rating: ?4 Stars – Great Book

Content:?Kissing and light talks of sex, no language (that I can remember), use of alcohol, some violence (war talk, threats, poisoning, attempted murder)

Source: Borrowed from local library

The Boleyn Deceit can be purchased at?Amazon.com,?Barnes & Noble, and?Chapters Indigo.