And it's always nice to go into Henry's early court before he went all hateful.

Granted it's not as dramatic or engaging as other books it was still a decent read. That being said, I was surprised with the majority of the book being historically accurate which says more about Emerson than other, bigger authors. And that fell a bit too close to my thesis which the point of reading a fun book was for me to avoid the damned thing. But in reality, this is just a sidebar to the downfall of the Duke of Buckingham due to his belief he had better claim to the English throne than the Tudors (which he did). It sounded like the crux of the story was going to be about Anne Stafford's affair with Will Compton (something that can't be proven or disproven historically). My biggest problem, however, was the misleading blurb on the back. It didn't directly deal with the big names of Henry VIII's early court as it's not about his marriage and mistresses, although they do make cameos. I probably would have given this 4 stars if I had read it 9-10 years ago (which wouldn't have happened because this was published in 2011). One moment I’d be on page 150 and the next 250! It reads fast and is hard to put down. Everything about it really pulled me in and held me tight.

It’s a real treat to see it all unfold on the pages of this wonderful book. Kate has really researched and mastered Tudor England history and it shows in At the King’s Pleasure. Boy, women didn’t have it easy back then. I don’t know if I would have been if I’d been put in some of the same situations. If you love Tudor novels, but are tired of the same old, grab one of Kate’s books and it will renew your interest simply because it’s a different point of view – and, you learn about someone you otherwise might not have ever heard of. Each of the books in this series tells the tale of a secondary character and I think that is what hooked me in the first place. The fourth book in her Secrets of the Tudor Court series, it is centered around a lesser known character in Henry VIII’s court, Anne Stafford, who is sister to the Duke of Buckingham. And wow, it’s going to be hard to top! I enjoyed it so much! At the King’s Pleasure by Kate Emerson is my first read of the year.

The pleasure palace by kate emerson