Review: If you love The Tudors, you'll love this!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 3, 2013
From the moment I started reading this book, I was captivated by the heroine's situation.  Lady Blanche is a woman caught in the politics of her age, a York noblewoman at a time when the House of Lancaster has come to power.  As the book opens we see her celebrating her escape from marriage to the aging bridegroom King Henry Tudor has selected for her (he died of the pox), and hoping for a share of autonomy in running her household at Langley Manor.  But she celebrates too soon.  King Henry, himself having taken a York Queen, has decided all York women of property should be married off to Lancaster men who can then control their fortunes.  In the midst of Blanche's celebrations, yet another bridegroom arrives.He's not as bad as he might be - young (younger than Blanche, in fact) tall, good looking, and reasonably accommodating towards his intended bride. But from the moment he appears, Blanche in essence loses control of her own life.  Through the increasingly dangerous tangle of politics that follow she and her husband, Giles Beaufort, struggle to come to terms with their relationship and their feelings for each other.  Giles, more than happy with the wife he has been granted, sets out to seduce her.  Blanche, however she might enjoy his lovemaking, is reluctant to lay her fiery independence aside.  She doubts her husband's fidelity and honesty at every turn until the web of intrigue in which they are caught snares her and she finds herself imprisoned with everything to lose.  Only then does she fully realize what is in her heart.The author has done a fabulous job of giving us an authentic glimpse of English history peopled by living, breathing characters that make it vital and real.  Her research is impeccable and I learned a great deal about a period in history that led into the age of King Henry VIII.  In fact, readers who enjoy watching the Tudors and similar British dramas could not help but be drawn in by this story.  The good news is A Rose for Lancaster is just the first in a series of novellas, so I have the promise of more splendid reading ahead!  If you love history, romance, danger and a happy ending, you can't go wrong with this one.